The Sensibility Awakening And Aesthetic Utopia Construct In Fahrenheit451

Ray Bradbury was an American writer in the "golden age" of 20th century science fiction,and was praised as "the most important person who brought modern science fiction into the mainstream of literature".Different from other contemporary science fiction writers' pursuit of technological accuracy,Bradbury paid more attention to the literary and ideological communication of his works.Bradbury's masterpiece Fahrenheit 451 is considered to be another important dystopian novel after the three classic dystopian novels We,1984 and Brave New World.Different from previous dystopian literature works,Fahrenheit 451 not only shows dystopian elements and criticizes the society that represses human nature,but also places the hope of human recovery on the perceptual awakening,so as to explore the way for individuals to get rid of cultural repression in the alienated society and seek the way to realize human freedom and liberation.The expression of the perceptual awakening in the novel coincides with the "Aesthetic Salvation" thought of the Frankfurt School,especially the "New Sensibility"theory of Marcuse.The thesis consists of three parts:introduction,body and conclusion,and the body is divided into four chapters.The first chapter explores the dystopian factors in Fahrenheit 451.By borrowing from Marcuse's cultural critical theory,it can be seen that the perceptual alienation of pleasure distortion and emotional numbness,as well as the ideological stagnation of anti-intellectualism and the loss of critical thinking follow the happy image of the novel society.This seemingly good social essence is a " One-Dimensional Society" which is suppressed by both technical rationality and totalitarianism.The second chapter analyzes the self-seeking course of the protagonist Montag with the help of Marcuse's "New Sensibility" theory.The first is the recovery of sensibility.Montag,under the influence of Clarice,another character in the novel,has shaken off the original state of numbness and recovered his keen sensibility.The second is the recovery of introspection.The recovered memory and liberated imagination reveal the real shortcomings of the society in a different dimension from the reality.Finally,it is the formation of aesthetic ability.Montag's self-awakening is also manifested in the search for poetic language and the thirst for books,which makes him change from the instinctive rebellion to the conscious resistance against the existing society.The third chapter uses the future vision of the Frankfurt School to reflect the ideal society conceived in the novel.First of all,the future ideal society in Fahrenheit 451 contains the spirit of utopian hope,and it is also an aesthetically oriented "utopia" that has not been described as a blueprint.Secondly,as the important foundation of the ideal society,books have the double connotation of sensibility and intelligence.Finally,the new technology view and aesthetic education construct the utopian vision of the new society.The fourth chapter explores the reasons why Fahrenheit 451 focuses on emotional liberation.First,the nuclear threat,the problems of the mass media,and the McCarthyism of censorship,together constituted the American social culture of the 1950s,the background of the novel.Secondly,Bradbury's personal concepts,his views on sensibility and art,literature and reality,and the future world,are to some extent reflected in his literary works.Finally,the critical theory of mass media,artistic self-discipline,"Aesthetic Salvation" and other western philosophical and aesthetic thoughts constitute the response to the problem of modernity.The conclusion makes a holistic exploration of the unique features of classic dystopian novels such as Fahrenheit 451 and 1984,and summarizes the profound implications of the novel in the light of the thought of "Aesthetic Salvation".