现代性语境中的大众文化

【作者】 贾明；

【导师】 王纪人；

【作者基本信息】 上海师范大学 ， 文艺学， 2006， 博士

【摘要】 大众文化的发展和扩张是20世纪以来世界最为瞩目的文化现象之一，它是由于深刻的社会变革而导致文化转向的结果，标志着现代社会中一种新型文化的产生和一种新的文化格局的形成。大众文化改变了传统文化和艺术的本性，影响着人们的日常生活和审美观念。大众文化的出现不是偶然的，而是在现代性语境中生长、发展和扩张的，它是社会现代性和文化现代性的结果及其表征。从文化发展上讲，文化并不具备跨越时间和空间的恒定的内容和价值，它实际上是随着社会历史的变幻和发展而不断充实、改变着自己的疆域。从文化概念演进的历史来看，文化的内涵从精英走向大众，从高雅走向通俗，从狭隘走向宽泛，从神圣的领地走向日常生活，是文化发展的历史趋势和规律。大众文化成为文化的一部分，也就是文化演进的结果。而从社会发展上讲，大众文化的产生是和具有现代特征的大众的出现密不可分的。大众的出现表明了社会性质以及人们和社会的关系发生了根本改变，同时也引起社会结构、价值结构和人性结构的变化。大众文化作为当代社会中最广泛、最丰富和最普及的文化形式，从来没有像其他文化形态那样，表现出与现代社会的经济、政治、生产、技术、都市、媒介、消费、日常生活等等直接而广泛的联系，因此大众文化不仅作为一种文化现象，而且也是一种经济现象、政治现象、科学技术现象、都市世俗化现象、人们的日常生活现象、消费现象等等。它交融了现代社会中许多重要的因素，因而也成为了各种现代性特征的集中体现。任何文化形态的产生及其性质都是与传播方式分不开的，不同的传播方式和媒介正对应着不同的社会历史形态和文化形态。现代大众媒介的产生和发展必然导致相应的文化出现，而大众文化就是以大众传播媒介尤其是电子媒介生产和传播的文化。这种文化在生产方式、存在方式和接受方式上都不同于传统的文化艺术，从而改写了文化艺术的特征。大众媒介凭借着自己的经济实力和科技手段到处扩张，表现了强大的文化聚合力，成为社会所有权力机制中的核心。大众传播的广泛性和大众文化的普及性，也将越来越多的大众都结合进公共领域中来，在某种程度上实现了大众对于文化的参与性，表明了文化的民主性。而在大众媒介中体现的科学技术对文化艺术的影响和渗透，改变了人们的生活方式，改变传统的文化艺术形式，也改变了人们感知、体验世界的方式和内在的心理经验，塑造了新的审美观念和审美心理。现代都市和大众文化都是社会和文化发展到一定阶段即走向现代化的必然产物。如果说现代都市的产生是由于工业化和后工业化导致的现代性在物质和现实层面上展开的话，那么大众文化就是现代性在精神和心理层面上的演绎。都市对于大众文化的重要意义在于，大众文化只有在现代都市中才能滋生和发展。大众文化包含了都市文化的主要特性和秘密，因而就是现代都市文化的衍生形态，是现代都市生活的主要的展开形式。大众文化成为都市大众消遣的主要文化形式，切合了现代都市人心理特点，是都市生活方式、都市心态和都市精神在文化上的反映和表征。决定大众文化发展和扩张的最重要的因素之一就是都市文化产业的崛起。都市作为经济发达的地方必然也是文化产业发达的地方，都市为文化产业提供了经济、文化、社会等诸多基础和保障，支撑着文化产业复杂的部门和系统。因此，文化产业必然与都市背景休戚相关，大众文化在本质上是一种都市文化的意义也在于此。后工业化时期的都市远离了大机器的时代和劳动密集型的产业，传统的工业逐步失去在都市产业结构中的主导地位，取而代之的是高科技产业如先进的通讯和信息技术等成为现代都市经济增长的主要来源。文化资本代替了工业资本成为都市强大的经济动力，都市同时成为文化产业的中心。而且消费大众文化是现代都市大众主要的休闲方式。现代休闲很大一部分是围绕着大众文化来进行的，大众文化作为人们休闲的需要，必然是和它的娱乐功能密切相关的。作为大众文化的策源地，都市也是时尚发生和演化的场域。都市不仅在源源不断地生产和制造时尚，而且都市本身就是各种时尚的载体，成为时尚的天然舞台。现代时尚更多地由社会中产阶级和青年所制造和领引，分别表现为中产阶级的趣味和青年流行文化的特征。作为现代社会中的“大众”，中产阶级具有与传统不同的生活方式和态度、价值观和文化趣味；而时尚作为都市青年的文化标志和文化语言，始终是与青年人的热情、活力、敏感、反叛、寻求自由、向往独立联系在一起，充满了时代感。大众文化具有了鲜明的青年文化的品格。大众文化也是与现代消费社会休戚相关的文化现象。消费社会的重要标志就是大众消费的兴起。在消费社会中，消费渗透进社会生活的各个领域，一切都被改写成消费和被消费的关系。消费不仅体现了人与物品的关系，而且体现了人与人，人与社会，人与世界的关系，成为现代社会自我表达的重要方式。大众文化就是随着消费社会的形成和成熟而生长和繁荣的，它的生产和流通更是表现出消费文化的特征。大众文化产品都以商品的形式进入生产和消费的过程，不仅表现出一定的文化意义，而且表现出特定的经济学意义。商品性是文化艺术的重要特征，市场经济为大众文化产生和繁荣提供了重要的条件，也是大众文化发展的重要的社会基础。现代消费就是由物品向符号转化的过程，或者说是物品符号意义的实现过程。这实际上造成了物品向符号转化，符号向文化扩张，商业活动向文化活动蔓延。消费成为了一种凸现和渲染符号和文化意义的社会文化活动，成为了大众文化的一部分。大众媒介和大众文化对符号和意象的编码和操作，总是围绕着一个核心，就是激发和表现人们的消费欲望。所以对物品符号和意象的消费成为对欲望消费，因而消费叙事也就成为欲望叙事。更多还原

【Abstract】 The development and expansion of popular culture have been one of the most remarkable cultural phenomena in the world since early in twenty century, which is a result of social and culture change, and indicates a new cultural form and structure in the modern society. Popular culture is changing the characteristics of culture and art, and influences people’s daily life and aesthetical concepts. The emergence of popular culture is not fortuitous. Popular culture arises, develops and explants in the context of modernity, which is the result and expression of the social and cultural modernity.The meaning of culture has been changing in pace with the social and historical development. From the cultural history point of view, the meaning of culture changes round from elitist to popular, from narrow to general and from sacred to worldly, which is historical trend of cultural development. Popular culture, as a part of culture, is result of the cultural development. From social history point of view, The emergence of popular culture had close relationship with the emergence of the masses. The emergence of masses indicated the change of social characteristics, as well as the change of social structure, value structure and humanity structure. As a most widespread and varied culture, popular culture is related to economic, politic, production, technology, city, media, consumption, daily life and so on. Popular culture is not only a cultural phenomenon, but also a economical, political, technological, consumable and urban phenomenon. It contains many important factors of modern society, so it reflects varied characteristics of modernity.The characteristic of culture is related to its means of communication. Different means of communication and medium corresponds to different social and historical formation and cultural formation. The emergence and development of the modern mass media inevitably brings about the relevant cultural formation. Popular culture is produced and transmitted by the mass media especial electronic media. Popular culture is quite different from traditional culture and art in the way of production and acceptance, It changed the characteristic of traditional culture and art. Depending its economical and technological strength, the mass media boundlessly extends its influence, shows its strong cultural force, and has become the core of social power system. Because of the dissemination of the mass media and popular culture, more and more people are brought into ’the public sphere’, and reflects cultural democratization. As result of the influence and infiltration of science and technology, the mass media and popular culture have changed the way of people’s life, as well as the way which people perceive the world, and people’s psychological experiences, having formed new aesthetical concept and psychology.Both city and popular culture are the productions of modernization. Big city means modernity caused by industrialization and post-industrialization showing in reality, and popular culture means modernity showing in people’s spirit and psychology. The important significance of city to popular culture is that only in city can popular culture aroused and developed, so popular culture contains main character and secret of urban culture. Popular culture is main cultural form of urban people’s diversions, which fits in with the psychological character of urban people, and is also the reflections and expressions of way of urban life and urban spirit. An important decisive factor for the development and expansion of popular culture is the emergence of culture industry. As a developed area, city is the area where culture industry is flourishing. The city in the time of post-industrialization is out of the time of machines, and the high-tech industry such as advanced communications and information technology has become main source of increasing in economic of city. Cultural capital, instead of industrial capital has become the motive force of urban economic, and city has become the center of culture industry. As the source of popular culture, city is the place where fashion is flourishing, and it is naturally a fashionable arena. Fashion is generally created and led by the middle-class and young people in the modern society, which expresses the middle-class tastes and the character of youth culture. As ’the mass’ of the modern society, the middle-class has deferent way and attitute of life, values, tastes from those of traditional society, and as the cultural symbol and language, fashion is always related to enthusiasm, vigor, sensitivity, disobedience, eagerness for freedom and independence, which is full of sense of time. Popular culture has the distinct character of youth culture.Popular culture is bound up with the modern consumption society. A important symbol of the consumption society is the emergence of the mass consumption. Now consumption infiltrates every region of the society. The consumption shows not only the relations between people and goods, but also the relations between people and society, as well as people and the world. Popular culture aroused and developed in space with the emergence and maturity of the consumption society, its production and circulation shows the character of consumption, which expresses not only the cultural significance but economical significance, Marketing economic gives the important conditions for the emergence and flourishing of popular culture, which also is the important social foundation of development of popular culture.Modern consumption is a process of transforming goods to sign, or the process of realizing the sign meaning of goods, so the consumption becomes social and cultural activity, and a part of popular culture. Mass media and popular culture create the signs and images of goods, and express and stimulate people’s consume desire. A large number of signs and images of goods and life have been creating by mass media and popular culture. This phenomenon is not only in the people’s consume activities, but is the important character of the modern society.更多还原