Rebellion And Beyond

As the waves of the various western vanguard literary trends have been gradually subsiding in recent years and the times of "the contention of various schools of thought" are being reexamined, it is found that the aestheticism which was once ignored has many complicated signs exceeding the literary field and the experience view of that period. This thesis is working on the direction of unearthing these signs and their deeper reasons, discovering the possible influences to the literature and non-literature field, and reappraising the value and the limitations of aestheticism on its basis.This thesis presents double sides of the aestheticism : " art for art's sake " and " life for art's sake " on the basis of history and culture context of the western modern society on its turning point. The inner-relationship and the logic evolution of the double sides are also analyzed based on the theoretic framework of aestheticism. The significance and the value of aestheticism are clearly displayed when we make a synchronic and diachronic comparison research. That is: As a literary and artistic movement, aestheticism is the prelude of modern literature and art with its conception of "art for art's sake". As a social change movement, aestheticism reformed and portrayed the field of literature, art, daily life, esthetic way of thinking and even the field of economic.