중국 ‘신좌파(新左派)’의 대중문화 담론 고찰 ― 재현된 계급적 대중문화 담론과 좌파 지식인

Abstract

This thesis is to critically investigate mass culture discourse that the Chinese ‘New Left’ proposed. The ‘New Left’ fundamentally views mass culture as middle class or white collar. This provision of class is to aim at criticizing mass culture using culture of specific class. Mass culture discourse of the ‘New Left’ includes Frankfurt’s critical theory, especially notion of culture industry functions as a mainly theoretical resource. Critical theory that considers the production subject as culture industry understands receiving subject as passive and mechanical existence. As a result, criticism of mass culture and audience as passive(or negative) objects are placed in the discourse structure. Mao Dun defined mass culture as petit bourgeois's culture and criticized their low quality tastes. He chose a negative word, ‘petit bourgeois’ instead of ‘the mass’ word to keep his imaginary(or significant) ‘the mass’. Despite the difference of historical context, the New Left and Mao Dun's mass culture discourse consist of very similar logistic system. In this aspect, criticism of mass culture that the New Left and socialistic intellectuals progressed in the 1930's is placed in a continual line. However, for them, negative recognition of this mass culture(or the mass) shares hidden ideological effects which affirm the discourse subjects, or intellectuals. That is, it exists that the more criticized petit bourgeois is, the more distinct social function and role are. The main characteristic which mass culture discourse of the New Left has is revealed as ‘politicalism’ and ‘counterculture’. Political attitudes demanding macropolitical practices are that the New Left himself criticizes ‘academic politics’. But paradoxically, they don’t free themselves from academic politics. Unlike socialistic intellectuals, their discourse has countercultural characteristic with the boundary which can't include socialistic future society in their discourse inner.