Susan Sontag's Early Study Of The Concept Of Art

In the1960s, the Revolution of anti-cultural sweep through United States and most ofdeveloped countries, and the Rumor of Cultural Extinction as well as the Culturalradicalism is so rampant. Class of elite hopes that avant-garde art to repel any invaderof popular culture and control the right to speak in art area, but they failed to take upthis task. Researches based on Works turns to be a dead end, and the development ofthe arts urgent needs to broaden their vision. It is in this context that Susan Sontagproposes the theory of “new sensibility”, which extends the field of art researches torebuild the artistic ideal with intrinsic value of the aesthetic. Sontag’s theory ofaesthetics plays an important impact on Isere, Jesus. However, radicalism andformalism has obscured the value of her theory, so the “new sensibility” researchturns to be complicated. Still, the theory of “new sensibility” is valuable for us tosolve some problems in the process of cultural commercialization and popularization.It is given a new mission and meaning in this moment to Re-evaluation the theory of“new sensibility”.This paper mainly focuses on Sontag’s theory of Reception Aesthetics in her early life.Firstly, finds out the background of the theory of the “new sensibility”, and thenoutlines the basic connotation of the “new sensibility” theory, and finally try toevaluate this theory. The first chapter starts from Sontag’s view of the crisis ofcontemporary art, mainly bases on the key words of anti-interpretation and aestheticsensibility, to find out the necessity and possibility of a new sensibility theory; In thesecond chapter, research focuses on outlining the basic outline of a new sensibilitytheory, especially relationship between sensibility and art history, art forms andaesthetic taste; Chapter III focus on how Sontag re-construct aesthetic ideal with anintrinsic value, as well as the relationship of sensibility and the human will, moral,political; Conclusion section provides a brief overview of the complete picture of theof Sontag new sensibility theory, as well as the inadequacies and contemporary valuesof her theory.