The Theoretical Dilemma And Possible Road Of “The Aestheticization Of Everyday Life”

A British scholar named Mike Featherstone proposed the concept of “the aestheticization of everyday life” in April 1988.It was introduced into China at the beginning of the 21 st century.Although it aroused heated discussion among domestic scholars,they still didn't profoundly analyze it at theoretical level,especially the misinterpreting of “the aestheticization of everyday life” as “aesthetic being assimilated into daily life” made the researches about“the aestheticization of everyday life” caught in a theory rut.This thesis includes three chapters and will specifically analyze it from three dimensions,that is the theoretical dilemma of “the aestheticization of everyday life”,the generating agent of theoretical dilemma and a possible road of the researches about “the aestheticization of everyday life”.The thesis includes three chapters besides exordium and conclusion.The first chapter redefines the concept of “the aestheticization of everyday life” on the basis of the reflections on present research achievements.The research achievements can be roughly classified into four types according to the keyword “aestheticization”: the first one is“sensibility”,thinking that “the aestheticization of everyday life” is all kinds of perceptual desires filled with our daily life.The second one is “pictorialization”,advocating studying“the aestheticization of everyday life” from pictorial perspective,and they also think“unrealistic” that one of characters of images is the same as “aestheticization”.The third one is “recreational”,interpreting “aestheticization” as “recreational” in accordance with amusing ourselves to death.The fourth one is “materialization”,interpreting “aestheticization” as“materialization” from the perspective of appearance of objects.While,actually “the aestheticization of everyday life” is the redemption and sublimation of daily life,and all of sensibility,image and desires is a blasphemy of aesthetic,it is actually the opposite of “the aestheticization of everyday life”.“The aestheticization of everyday life” and “aesthetic being assimilated into daily life” differs from each other in three aspects after in-depth analysis,namely,value orientation,interests,self-discipline.The second chapter analyzes the generating agent of “the aestheticization of everyday life” from three perspectives,namely,context,the theoretical resources and ideologies.There is a big difference between Chinese and Western social morphology,and literary theorymade an important theoretical transformation because of the rise of mass culture in the 1990 s.So nowadays chinese social culture is entirely different from the 1990's when mass culture,elite culture and mainstream culture stood like the three legs of a tripod.Western scholar put forward “the aestheticization of everyday life” on the basis of the reflections of modernity.The modernity caused the severe separation of aesthetic and daily life,so “the aestheticization of everyday life” advocates the merge of aesthetic and daily life.However,domestic scholars ignored not only the criticalness of theory,by explaining the present complicated cultural phenomenon mechanically,but the differences on social morphology.All of that led to the misinterpretation of “the aestheticization of everyday life”.Nowdays ideologies are no longer confined to the apparatus of state,political ideology,consumption culture and mass media all influence our daily life as ideologies,and all of them led to the variation of aesthetic.The third chapter tries to find a possible road of the study on “the aestheticization of everyday life”.The relation between aesthetic and daily life had different performance at different times,such as classical aesthetic represented by Kant,founding aesthetic represented by Baumgarten,modern aesthetic represented by Dewey.Mike Featherstone advocated the merge of aesthetic and daily life on the basis of the reflections on modernity.However,domestic scholars' s common concern on “aesthetic being assimilated into daily life” makes the original meaning of “the aestheticization of everyday life” misinterpreted continually,for the aesthetic and daily life that seems in harmony is a totally false appearance.Meanwhile the researches about the keyword of aesthetic had different concerns at different times.However,daily life includes not only the most basic human material activities on the physical level,such as food,clothing,shelter and transportation,but also sprits on the metaphysical level.Thus,the study about “the aestheticization of everyday life” should pay more attention to the sublimation of daily life rather than enslaved daily life by ideologies such as technology,consumption and mass media.