德国古典美学的生机和危机对话--中心场域中的边缘问题

A Dialogue on the Vitality and Crisis of German Classical Aesthetics--Marginal Issues on the Central Field

作为马克思主义文艺思想重要来源之一,德国古典美学的诞生、兴起和衰落离不开它身处其中的历史现场。德国古典美学对崇高风格的强调、推崇植根于特殊的历史情境,包含着深厚的道德哲学关切,但其将崇高与东方相关联的历史哲学预设,仍旧难逃西方中心主义的藩篱。德国古典美学又敏锐捕捉到,在近代,艺术的本质规定由摹仿转向对个体内心情感的呈现。它一方面为艺术转型提供了现代理解,另一方面始终难以克服现代艺术与生活的分离,而自身最终也走向了理论解体。德国古典美学的成型离不开对英国文化观念与艺术趣味的接纳,以及对法国启蒙批判精神和社会理念的吸收,但在它尝试摄纳、平衡这些异质性因素的同时,并没有达到自身的理论预期,为人们找到一条现实的社会解放或审美解放的道路。

As one of the important sources of Marxist literary and artistic thought,the birth,rise and decline of German classical aesthetics cannot be separated from the historical scene in which it is embedded.The empha⁃sis and esteem of the sublime style in German classical aesthetics is rooted in a particular historical context and contains deep moral-philosophical concerns.However,its historical-philosophical presupposition of asso⁃ciating the sublime with the East is still inescapable from the fence of Western centrism.Classical German aes⁃thetics also acutely captured the fact that in modern times the essential prescription of art shifted from imita⁃tion to the presentation of the individual’s inner emotions.It provided a modern understanding of the transfor⁃mation of art.But on the other hand,it was always difficult to overcome the separation of modern art from life.Eventually,it led to its own theoretical disintegration.German classical aesthetics could not take shape with⁃out the acceptance of British cultural concepts and artistic interests,as well as the absorption of the critical spirit of the French Enlightenment and social ideas.However,while it tried to take in and balance these het⁃erogeneous elements,it did not live up to its own theoretical expectations and find a realistic path to social,or aesthetic,emancipation for people.