The Ideology Of Aesthetics: From Louis Althusser To Terry Eagleton

As a representative of the Althusserian school, Eagleton's theories are the heritage and development of Althusser's. My thesis does not do the research all-sidedly, but centers on their creative and influential theories of ideology, Ideology of the Aesthetics, and also their relations and differences in the historical development of Marxism ideology theories.Throwing off the theoretical framework of consciousness / existence and spirit / existence, Althusser's ideological theory is a turning point during ideology investigation. By paying much attention to the research of linguistic practice and expressive process, it initiates a direction to linguistics.Althusser asserts: Man is an ideological animal by nature. (â…°) Ideology represents imaginary relations between individuals and conditions of real existence; (â…±) Ideology possesses a material existence. That is two propositions about ideological structure and function. "All ideology has the function which defines it, of 'Constituting' concrete individuals as Subjects". It fully reveals ideology's construction and interpellation for a subject, "which is only a subject dancing with fetters".However Eagleton realizes there still exist some doubts in Althusser's creative investigation. Therefore he intentionally revises it and involves the ideology in the history of Capitalism development. As a result, the inferior individual / subject in Althusserian theories becomes more dynamic. The Ideology of the Aesthetics is an application and further development of ideological theories. In the view of scientific principles, Althusser's Ideology of Aesthetics is so popular a theory that it has defeated the literary theory of self-discipline, more profound and reasonable than Frankfurt school's.Aesthetic transformation theory is one of the great achievement in Althusser's theories of the Ideology Aesthetics. He proves that aesthetic transformation is an aesthetic change in real relations. He means holding the disguised social relations through aesthetic transformation. Young Eagleton, based on Althusser's ideologicaltheories, attempted to shape Scientific Marxism Literary Critical Theories.In recent years, Eagleton is apt to keep away from Althusser. Eagleton has a historical analysis on the aesthetic science---Aesthetics, by which he has combined the historical material conditions and traditional political topics, such as body (body as a labor, body as a desire, body as a will ) and state , class contradictions and mode of production. So Aesthetics' ideological function and its political significance appear. A series of new views are put forward.However Althusser and Eagliton's enlightening theories still have difficulty and blind-spots, which demand a further investigation and research on individual ideology, in particular, should be greatly highlighted.