This sentence in Zhu Guangqian's "Talking about Beauty" concisely explains the essence that the aesthetic world exists independently of interest. Inspired by my husband, I thought of the non-utility of literature. Because in the modern world, the aesthetic significance of literature prevails: literature is mainly regarded as an aesthetic language work. In this sense, literature is subordinate to aesthetics. I have something to say about the non-utility of literature from the aesthetic point of view.
The non-utility of literature is obviously relative to the utility of literature. Non-utility and utility are primary and secondary relations. Just like the trunk and branches of a tree, literature can survive without utility, but with utilitarian nourishment, it looks more vibrant. In order to better explain the non-utility of literature, I will make a comparative analysis and discussion on the theory of literary uselessness and literary non-utility.
The theory of literary uselessness has existed since ancient times and is closely related to the fate of ancient literati. From the noise of "nine out of ten people are contemptible, and all useless are literati", to the fact that the literati in Yuan Dynasty were called smelly Laojiu and literature was useless on not fade away. For ignorant farmers, a kilo of rice is obviously more valuable than an article. This also directly illustrates a phenomenon, that is, "the theory of literary uselessness is a reflection of the middle and lower class consciousness." On the other hand, many people are not very clear about the concept of literature, and mistakenly regard those pornographic and violent books as literature, which inadvertently discredits literature. The mixed network literature has also injected a lot of water into literature, while some books are blasphemous.
Just like Zhu Guangqian's On Beauty, "Beauty is the most useless word in a narrow sense", people who hold the attitude of literary uselessness about the function of literature are obviously short-sighted and too practical. Han Shaogong once expounded this question in the article What's the Use of Literature: "People often ask: What's the use of literature? I understand these questioners, including some students who are hesitant to enter the liberal arts. Their subtext is probably: Can literature make money? Can you help me buy a house, a car and a brand-name watch? Can I become a stock market tycoon, a gold speculator and a VIP of a luxury club? I regret to tell them: No, but man is the spirit of all things because he has other ideological and moral pursuits besides food and clothing for ordinary animals, otherwise he will be ashamed of others, just like ordinary animals. In his speech at the Nobel Prize in Literature Prize Dinner, Mo Yan said: "Compared with other scientific prizes, the literature prize is not so useful. But perhaps the greatest use of literature is that it is useless. "The uselessness of literature is more manifested in the appreciation of aesthetic feelings, the baptism of the soul, the cultivation of sentiment and other intangible places.
In all fairness, the utilitarianism of literature is the sublimation of uselessness. Deny the view that "literature carries the Tao", emphasize political enlightenment or exaggerate literature such as "articles, great national undertakings and immortal events", fully affirm the spiritual value of literature, and advocate putting aside interests completely and entering the pure literary world to feel the beauty of literature and the power of literature on the soul. Yue Fei's poem Red River influenced many patriots to die for their country. Lu Xun's Scream inspired many people locked in iron cages to be fearless in the revolution? And these values cannot be equated with money. Zhou Zuoren wrote in On the Significance and Mission of Articles and the Loss of China's Modern Papers: "Those who write articles are also entrusted with the national spirit. The spirit is strong, the article is solid, and the spirit is weak. The article is enough to remedy it. Therefore, although the article is not practical, it has far-reaching achievements. " A clear-cut stand established his non-utilitarian literary view, which helps us to see the future.
Confucian culture with the goal of joining the WTO has the theory of "three immortals"-virtue, merit and speech, and the last one is actually the most likely to last forever. A Message from Dongting Lake was originally a poem expressing feelings, and it was a stepping stone for Meng Haoran, who was born as a commoner at that time, to enter the political arena. However, it can remain immortal, not because he implicitly expressed how superb his political frustration was and how sincere and strong his feelings were, but because of the grandeur and magnificence of his 800-mile cave, which made his artistic achievements unconsciously. Today, we appreciate it, almost without the sadness of "being like a duck to water", but only want to appreciate the magnificent scenery of "a misty valley that has been besieged Yueyang City", and only learn from the poet's splash-ink landscape. Li Yuruo, the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was really a sinner of the country because of the waste of literature. However, for thousands of years, the wheel of history has already crushed the rise and fall of the Southern Tang Dynasty into dust. People remember Li Yu's identity as a true poet, rude and careless, just sighing that he is "the emperor in the word, worthy of his color." As Mr. Wang asked, Qin Shihuang ruled the whole country, and Cao Cao held the emperor to make the princes. They think that these achievements of future generations are just like the Ganges River. What does it mean to you and me today? Instead, Meng De's sentence "How can I relieve my troubles?"? Only Du Kang "was talked about by scholars of all ages, and it stood up the backbone of Jian 'an. ".
The beauty of literature lies in the endless singing and sighing in The Book of Songs, in Zhuang Zhou's dream butterfly beauty, in the pastoral like Border Town, in the strangeness and magnificence like Weeds, and in pure non-utility. There is no denying the moral education and propaganda function of literature, so the Analects of Confucius in ancient times ruled the world by half, and there is no denying that some writers today made their fortune by selling bestsellers, which is why they have the current rich list of writers. But utilitarianism is always only the shadow of literature, not the noumenon. We should be sober, when we see the shadow of utilitarianism in front of us, the sunshine of literature is shining on non-utilitarianism.