Study On The Theory And Criticism Of "Kitsch" In Contemporary China

In the cultural environment of contemporary China,it is an important and indisputable fact that the phenomenon of "kitsch" exists and its influence on the aesthetic concept of popular culture.This paper takes "kitsch" as the object of discussion,trying to analyze and think about it from the standpoint of culture,aesthetics.art theory and criticism,in order to grasp the context of contemporary culture and imagine its future development direction."Kitsch" originated from the west.After nearly 200 years of development,its meaning has been greatly expanded and changed,and it has become a concept with aesthetic,ethical,sociological,artistic and philosophical significance.China’s acceptance of kitsch mainly comes from the translation of Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Life in the 1990s.At present,the existing research can be divided into three aspects:etymological analysis and theoretical introduction,reflection on modernity and criticism of specific cultural phenomena.The first chapter focuses on the China process of kitsch theory.On the one hand,the acceptance of kitsch in China shows obvious stage characteristics.On the other hand,at the translation level,the Chinese translation of kitsch properly shows the hypocrisy and superficiality of kitsch,but it also obscures the positive significance of kitsch itself because of its excessive emotional color,which needs to be treated dialectically.At the same time,the spread of kitsch theory in China catered to the demands of contemporary China for the construction of cultural identity,and then the modern vision just responded to the call of academic circles,helping domestic cultural research and literary criticism to exceed modernity itself.The second chapter focuses on the kitsch cultural landscape in contemporary China.In contemporary China,kitsch has already penetrated into literature,art,culture,life and other fields,among which kitsch in consumption is the most representative.The contemporary kitsch in China is the inevitable result of the transformation of refined and popular culture,an irreversible trend in the process of urbanization and modernization,and an inevitable trend in the construction of cultural identity,showing the disconnection and conflict between cultural theory research and cultural practice.The third chapter tries to draw inspiration for China’s cultural and literary creation through the multiple dimensions of kitsch theory and criticism.Kitsch originated in the modern society where deconstruction is prevalent,and it has become a way for modern people to escape the questioning of meaning in banter and spoof.Moreover,it replaces the real appreciation of art with superficial and symbolic experience,which is deceptive for kitsch.At the same time,kitsch is naturally avant-garde and rebellious because of its bottom-up generation mode,which can reflect the daily aestheticization and democratization of art.However,the concept of kitsch itself is also an imperfect concept,which is constantly evolving,transmuting and changing in modern society,and the incompleteness of kitsch and its infinite possibilities are also born here.The phenomenon of kitsch itself can be said to be a non-theoretical and situational thing.To truly understand the kitsch theory in China’s cultural studies,we must combine it with contemporary China’s cultural practice.We should not only face up to the deception of kitsch,but also give full play to its positive role in aesthetic democratization and daily life,and we should not cover up its rebellious edge.