Art’s Commitment to Liberation in Marcuse’s Philosophy

Authors

  • Ding Guogi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25038/am.v0i7.86

Keywords:

Frankfurt School, Marcuse, artistic autonomy, liberation, man

Abstract

Art has a liberating function because it stands on the opposite side of a suppressed society; it is deeply connected with the public’s daily life and has an inherent characteristic of “catharsis”, like describing a good society and identifying with freedom. In the eyes of the theorists of the Frankfurt School, its form is what makes “art” art, while the autonomy of art is what realizes the transcendence and detachment of art over and from society and politics in reality by constructing a new and tangible kingdom of art. Artistic form, artistic autonomy, and the liberation of mankind are the integral parts that form art and they constitute all the elements that are needed in the art world. For as long as art exists, it will keep its commitment to truth, happiness, and liberation. This paper examines the inevitable inherent relationship between art and liberation mainly through discussing and studying Marcuse’s theories of art and aesthetics.

Author Biography

Ding Guogi

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing
China

professor and director of Marxist Literary Theory and Criticism Research Centre, Institute of Literature

References

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Kejian, Huang. A Personal Anthology of Huang Kejian. Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, 1998.

Lukes, Timonthy J. The Flight into Inwardness. Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania: Susquehanna University Press, 1985.

Marcuse, Herbert. “Art as Form of Reality.” New Left Review 74 (1972): 51–58.

Marcuse, Herbert. An Essay on Liberation. Boston: Beacon Press, 1969.

Marcuse, Herbert. Counter-revolution and Revolt. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3817/0972013147

Marcuse, Herbert. Eros and Civilization: A Philosophical Inquiry into Freud. Boston: Beacon Press, 1966.

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After the end of Soviet hegemony and the fall of socialist regimes in Central and Southeast Europe, the consideration of the relationship between art and politics seems urgent. The experience of more than two decades of political and structural changes toward the development of institutions of global capital also contributes to this urgency. The debate over the (political) nature of art becomes necessary, taking into account that this question has been superseded by a marketplace wherein all designations and forms of Art are available. It shows (itself) to be the best vehicle for manipulation and instrumentalization towards the current doxa that ‘everything is possible’. Moreover, the issue of the political aspect of art has been complicated by the dominant intellectual opinion and denunciations that all forms of utopian and social dimensions of art, as in the case of revolutionary and emancipatory perspectives of the avant-gardes, are responsible for the horrors of totalitarianism and terrorism. The aim of this issue therefore is to address the question of how to constitute and affirm an active Art today without slipping into essentialism. Focus Issue Editor: Bojana Matejić

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Published

15.04.2015

How to Cite

Guogi, D. (2015). Art’s Commitment to Liberation in Marcuse’s Philosophy. AM Journal of Art and Media Studies, (7), 30–38. https://doi.org/10.25038/am.v0i7.86

Issue

No. 7 (2015): Issue No. 7, April 2015 - Topic of Issue: Art and Politics: Agency, Autonomy, Emancipation

Section

Articles

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