The Study Of Arnold Hauser’s Sociology Of The Arts

Arnold Hauser was a famous European art historian and one of the founders of the sociology of the arts in the 20 th century.This study takes Hauser’s sociology of the arts as the main research object,and summarizes the basic contents and the basic methods of his theory.The basic contents of his theory include two parts: the relationship between art and society,and the relationship between art and ideology.The interactive relationship between art and society is the core point of Hauser’s theory.Society is the environment on which the existence and development of art depend.Society affects art through natural factors,generational factors,and cultural factors.And cultural strata influences the differentiation of art taste.Meanwhile,art can also affect society.Art can not only reflect social reality,but also criticize problems of society and provoke social revolution.It can also be used as an alternative compensation for life to comfort and ease social conflicts and dissatisfaction.As a Marxist scholar,Hauser not only paid attention to the relationship between art and society,but also focused on the relationship of art and ideology.He believed that art is an ideology,and also can be influenced by ideology.Ideology affects the style and form of art.Traditional factors in ideology can limit the development and innovation of art.Ideology can also dominate the evaluation and re-evaluation of art history.Meanwhile,art is a propaganda tool for ideology.And it also promotes us to explore the truth and science.Then we will acquire a more advanced world view.Hauser’s dialectical thought and the combination of sociology,aesthetics and psychology can be showed in the basic contents of Hauser’s theory.As the methodology of his theory,dialectics are embodied in the paradoxes of art,artistic creation,art structure,art reception and the process of art history.The contradictions between factors from inside and outside are the necessary condition for the existence and development of art.Meanwhile,Hauser’s theory attached importance to the combination of sociology,aesthetics and psychology.Sociology emphasizes social goals.Aesthetics emphasizes form and medium.And psychology emphasizes personal motivation.By using this method,the wholeness and unity of art can be manifested.The construction of Hauser’s theory is a process of continuous revision and improvement of previous theories.Compared with general sociologists,Hauser had a very rich experience in writing general history of art.Compared with traditional art historians,Hauser’s study was guided by systematic sociology of the arts.The superiority of Hauser’s theory is reflected in the connection and interaction between his sociology of the arts and social history of art.In his study,the social history of art is the theoretical source and testing tool of the sociology of the arts,and the sociology of the arts is the theoretical analysis tool of the social history of art.By studying the basic content,basic methods,and the relationship between Hauser’s sociology of the arts and the social history of art,Hauser’s theory presents three characteristics: extensive research objects,unique theoretical tools,and macroscopic research perspective.Although Hauser’s sociology of the arts has many advantages,but it also has some internal and external limitations.In conclusion,it can still open up a new view for art research,and to some extent explain the study of Chinese art history.