Research On The Paradigm Evolution Of Chinese Modern Art Criticism

The so-called "paradigm of art criticism" refers to the conventions of art criticism composed of critical traditions,theoretical frameworks,values,critical methods and writing techniques that are jointly recognized by a specific "literary and artistic community" when it conducts art criticism activities in a certain period of time.The"paradigm of art criticism" is formed in a series of typical "examples" of art criticism,which are aggregated by "family similarity".Once formed,it continues to guide the writing of art criticism and constantly supplements and adjusts in the continuous development.The framework of "art criticism paradigm" is clear but the edge is fuzzy,and it is closely related to the "literary and artistic community"characterized by "priority" and "synchronicity".Modern times are not only an era of rapid changes in Chinese society,but also a historical period in which art is being rapidly modernized in the conflicts between China and the West and transformation from ancient to the modern.Taking the "art criticism paradigm" as a theoretical horizon to study Chinese modern art criticism is helpful for us to understand its development process and evolvement logic.If we Look back on the history of ancient art criticism,we can see the Chinese traditional art criticism,based on its unique historical and cultural background,has formed a stable "Classic-humanistic Paradigm" in the group of literati.This paradigm takes classics as the highest standard of art evaluation,pursues humanism spirit in the traditional context,and builds up Chinese traditional art spirit in the complementarity of Confucianism and Taoism.On the one hand,the "Classic-humanistic Paradigm"regards art as a tool to maintain morality under the leadership of Confucianism.On the other hand,it also accommodates hundreds of schools and uses art as a medium to communicate "Humanity" and "the Tao of Heaven".The "Classic-humanistic paradigm" centers on the classic work,evolving in the respect and interpretation of them and establishing a system of art criticism with rich content in a stable framework by taking as the form the special style of ancient Chinese literary and art criticism.Up to the modern times when Chinese society had changed rapidly,the traditional art criticism faced the challenge of "modernity",and then its "paradigm" evolved in the overall upheaval of society and art.In the process of modernization in modern China for more than 100 years,the "Classic-humanistic Paradigm" of traditional art criticism has been transformed into the modern pluralistic form composed of four major paradigms:"Classic-humanistic Paradigm","Aesthetic Education-enlightenment Paradigm","Revolution-salvation Paradigm" and"Aesthetic-commercial Paradigm",thus from the stable structure of one paradigm to the interactive symphony of multiple paradigms.In modern times,the four major paradigms of modern art criticism appeared by turns in different literary and artistic communities,but they also coexisted in a certain period of time,and showed obvious differences in critical principles and standards.After rapid development in the modern times,the "Classic-humanistic Paradigm" of traditional art criticism has gradually declined,while the newly emerged "Aesthetic Education-enlightenment Paradigm","Revolution-salvation Paradigm" and "Aesthetic-commercial Paradigm" on the one hand reflect the impact of social changes on art,and on the other hand,they also promote the "modernization" process of Chinese art and even Chinese society by changing the social aesthetic concept.The evolution of the paradigm of art criticism has complex historical causes,both internal reasons based on the law of art’s own development and external factors caused by social changes.Among them,we should pay special attention to the changes of social group organization and aesthetic psychology caused by social reform.In modern China,art acceptance groups changed.With the change of economic structure,citizen stratum became the main participants in art activities,and elegant art originally belonging to literati and scholar-officials was introduced into civil society.Large cities bring a new way of life,with Shanghai as the representative of the modern large cities in the endless aesthetic wonders emerging.The rapid development of the modern newspaper industry has promoted the formation of a new type of critical discourse,and different voices of art criticism have been presented in the fast-spreading newspapers and periodicals,making different artistic concepts interact in the rapid flow.In these complicated phenomena of art criticism,we can still find many clues presented in the rapid evolution of art criticism paradigm,linking the traditional art criticism with the modern art criticism,so that we can understand the continuity and fission between tradition and modernity.Among them,the important clues are:the"new" and "old" disputes caused by the "Sino-Western dispute" and the "ancient and modern changes" related to it;the continuation of art criticism under the influence of"scholar spirit";the development of art concept related to the formation of the concept of "art" in China;the "stability" and "revolution" of Art Criticism paradigm......These clues connect the phenomenon of modern Chinese art criticism,and constitute the academic pedigree of theoretical significance.One end of these clues is connected with the paradigm of ancient art criticism,the other end is connected with the paradigm of modern art criticism,which implies the unique modernization road of Chinese art in the change of ancient and modern times.In general,the study of the evolution of the paradigm of modern Chinese art criticism should not be a simple historical restoration,but an attempt to find the law in the development process of art criticism,so as to provide reference for contemporary art criticism.As a theory,"art criticism paradigm" provides us with a new view of art history and a new thinking perspective and research path for us to understand the development of art and art criticism.The core problem presented by the paradigm evolution of Chinese modern art criticism is the "modernization" of Chinese art.The"modernization" in modern China is a passive reaction to the impact of Western culture.Chinese "tradition" and Western "modernity" collide and constitute a unique"modernity" landscape in China.However,even today,China’s unique"modernization" path is still in the process of exploration.China’s "modernization"obviously can not follow the western "modernization" road,but should be,to avoid the maladies of "modernity",in line with the reality of China.In the field of art criticism,we should fully reflect on the "modernization" development path of Chinese art criticism in the past two hundred years,construct the theoretical structure of Chinese art criticism,and affirm the value of multiple criticism paradigm within this framework,so as to guide the healthy development of Chinese art criticism in the future.