Study On Space Function Of Librairie Avant-grade

This study respectively describes three space attributes, namely cultural space, communication space and aesthetic space by means of qualitative research, field observation and interview under the theoretical framework of cultural sociology.As an independent bookstore, Librairie Avant-grade has made some efforts for maintaining its independence, showing the elite culture character different from traditional bookstore in terms of book selection, culture creativity product design, cultural activity content and bookstore environment layout. Meanwhile, this elite character is enhanced by the reports of domestic and foreign media and the initiative participation of urgan culture elite. Consequently, Librairie Avant-grade becomes the cultural space, contact space and aesthetic space standing for the middle class ideology, differing from common bookstores.Librairie Avant-grade, the cultural landmark of Nanjing, is honored as the most beautiful bookstore by domestic and foreign media. Its beauty lies in the elite culture character. The first chapter of this thesis mainly discusses Librairie Avant-grade, as the culture space, is deprived from traditional bookstore while Librairie Avant-grade sticks to only sell books of social science and art, making it become the position of elite culture. It encourages readers to read in bookstore so as to develop the atmosphere of reading sharing and multiply reading space to break through the heterogeneity and isolation of modern metropolis. Besides, its complete openness makes it become the communication position of multi-culture, especially minority culture and contribute to showing the multi-culture of society. The second chapter introduces that Librairie Avant-grade takes the reading area and coffee area as the public communication space and private communication space respectively. In reading area, the public communication is mainly about the diversified public topics based on the equality between both sides; in coffee area, the books serve as the background and prop of private communication, aiming at revealing the cultural capital of communication subjects. What’s more, in the special space image of coffee area in the bookstore, the cultural capital of communication subjects tends to be revealed in the form of physical capital.Finally, this thesis conducts detailed description and analysis of the most beautiful image of Librairie Avant-grade. The middle class, the main consumers of Librairie Avant-grade, can be divided into the group of intellectual and the group of new cultural intermediaries according to the cultural capital and occupation. Under the background of consumer society, Librairie Avant-grade sets up different aesthetic images so as to attract the two groups according to their aesthetic tendency. It sets up the aesthetic images such as the Cross, The Thinker and black-and-white photograph to attract the group of intellectual with grand torchbearer feelings and concerning about historical profundity; it employs such aesthetic images as culture creativity products, plants, space layout with western lifestyle to cater for the group of new cultural intermediaries concerning about the feeling of present and life. However, the two groups are not totally separated from each other in aesthetic tendency but have some aspects in common as the middle class which can be found in the overall layout of bookstore.This thesis is designed to demonstrate that Librairie Avant-grade, as the representative of elite culture character, possesses the social function of city class distinction and the cultural capital becomes an important basis in reflecting the class attributes of group. This kind of culture in Librairie Avant-grade is resulting in the social distinction by virtue of circle culture. In addition, Librairie Avant-grade is acknowledged as the landmark of Nanjing’s city cultural image, which indicates that the public takes the aesthetic taste of middle class as the benchmark and acknowledges the aesthetic tendency of middle class.