The Alienation Of Human Nature In Consumer Culture

At the turn of 19th and 20th century, American society was experiencing a great shift from production-based to consumption-based, when the consumer culture began to permeate and dominate the society. The new consumption environment placed a great effect on Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser, who grew up and actively participated in such a background. Exposed to consumer culture to such a degree that Dreiser has presented vivid pictures of consumer society in almost all his works, among which The "Genius" stands out. Although being the most reviled novel of all Dreiser's works, actually The "Genius" is broad and profound offering many issues to explore. This thesis attempts to dissect it from a particular view:alienation of human nature in consumer culture, with a cultural approach of criticism.This thesis is divided into three chapters, except an introduction and a conclusion.Introduction presents Dreiser's life, the status in the literature, the studies of his works and the research development trends. Then it briefs on The "Genius", with the purpose and significance of choosing the topic.Chapter One deals with the theoretical knowledge of consumer culture and alienation, and the close relation between consumer culture and alienation.Chapter Two analyzes the negative impacts of consumer culture. It fabricates false desire, false satisfaction, and false sense of identity. Advertising creates desire, and flourishing city provokes the swelling of desire.Chapter Three demonstrates the alienation of human nature by consumer culture: man alienates with himself by losing inner spirit and power; man alienates with others by losing true love; man alienates with nature by losing his home.Through the study of The "Genius" in the context of consumer culture, the thesis finally reaches a conclusion that consumer culture leads to alienation of human nature, which is one of the major themes of modern society. Today, when consumer culture has prevailed all over the world, the exploration of the novel's new implication for the contemporary times is of great significance.