民主、民生、民享——论威廉·莫里斯的生态社会主义艺术观

The Art of the People, by the People, and for the People:William Morris’ Eco-Socialist View of Art

威廉·莫里斯结合马克思主义理论和19世纪英国社会现实,提出了独具特色的劳动艺术观念,具有民主、民生、民享三大特征。莫里斯认为艺术活动应归属劳动人民,艺术品不仅由手工艺人创造,更应由全民享有。同时,艺术品的生产和使用应满足人民生活需求,造福自然生态。最后,劳动创造美,这既表示劳动的产物应以美为目标,更意味着劳动者在生产过程中享有美的愉悦感。由此可见,莫里斯的艺术观符合马克思主义思想传统,具有明显的生态社会主义特征,对于新时代中国特色社会主义的艺术事业建设具有一定借鉴意义。

Combining Marxism and the social reality of 19th-century Great Britain, William Morris puts forward his artistic theories of labor, which feature the art of the people, by the people, and for the people.Morris insists that artistic activities belong to the working class, and works of art are created not only by the people but also for them. Meanwhile, whether in their creation or in their use, artistic works should satisfy daily needs of the people as well as benefit the natural ecology. At last, labor produces beauty, which means the products from labor aim at beauty. More importantly, the laborers could get aesthetic pleasure out of the production process. In a word, Morris’ view of art follows Marxist tradition, and embodies eco-socialism,which can offer some references for the ongoing construction of socialist arts-related enterprises with Chinese characteristics in the new era.