A Critical Theory Of Popular Culture And Its Contemporary Values At The Frankfurt School

The Frankfurt School is one of the most representative major schools of Western Marxism,which has created an era context for late capitalist studies with its unique critical theory of mass culture,and expanded the theoretical space of Marxist philosophy in the field of cultural criticism.Stemming from the dual influence of totalitarianism and consumer society,the critical theory of mass culture of the Frankfurt School has obtained rich theoretical nourishment from ideological resources such as irrationalism,Marx’s theory of alienation,and Lukacs’ s theory of materialization.It takes "cultural criticism" as its logical starting point and focuses the spearhead of criticism on the phenomenon of cultural alienation.The popular,vulgar and vulgar cultural products produced by popular culture for the purpose of profit through patterning and mechanization dissolve the unique value created by culture and art,and the transcendence of art is lost.The bourgeoisie tries to sell false happiness to society through a deceptive culture,dismantling the masses’ reflection on real problems and the yearning for ultimate goals.The Frankfurt School,on the other hand,aims to restore the essence of culture with cultural criticism and awaken the public’s desire for the soul of a free and conscious state of existence.It creatively interprets Marxist philosophy,exposes the alien rule of capitalist mass culture over people from the cultural roots,and realizes the fundamental transformation of cultural criticism into social criticism.In the search for a return to high culture,the Frankfurt School has always held an elitist attitude,and its words reveal pessimism about the cultural industry,which gives its theory certain ideological limitations.However,the practical value and social influence of the Frankfurt School’s critical theory of mass culture is indelible.In the prosperity and development of China’s socialist culture,if we explore the epochal value of Marxist philosophy in cultural construction,it is still necessary to draw on the excellent theoretical and ideological resources of China and the West,combine the practical problems of Chinese mass culture,and embark on a realistic path suitable for the healthy development of China’s mass culture,so as to enhance and deepen the cultural aesthetic ability of the public,and highlight the close relationship between the beautiful life after the aestheticization of daily life and the realization of human freedom and all-round development.