On the Development of the Culture Industry of China under the Western Popular Cultural Criticism Horizon〔*〕

Zhang Wei

(Hunan University of Technology，Zhuzhou Hunan 412007)

Ⅰ．Research background

The emerging of popular culture not only promotes the formation and expansion of cultural industry but also brings fundamental changes to the mode of culture production，i．e．from being created by a few people to mass production．In the process of advancing cultural industry to build socialist culture with distinct Chinese characteristics，it is necessary to study and learn theories and practices on cultural industry development in other countries．

Since western popular culture theories have provided thought resources for the significant development of popular culture industry in Europe and America，it is worthwhile to probe into western popular culture theories to enlighten the construction of socialist cultural industry in China．

Ⅱ．Dispute between different schools

Schools of cultural studies have different views on the influence of popular culture on human society．The Frankfurt school insists that popular culture is a disaster，while the Birmingham school holds that it marks major progress of the development of human culture to let popular culture stand on equal footing with elite culture．

Max Horkheimer，a member of the Frankfurt school，criticized that popular culture cultivates all people into the same pattern．He regarded culture and arts as a unique field where people can make independent judgment and create works at their own will．The Frankfurt school believes that negativity is an essential feature of culture，because it tends to criticize and go beyond reality．They consider massproduced popular culture as an industry subject to market rules and the laws of value，so cultural products have been reduced to symbols of material desire．Their argument reveals the attribute of popular culture as commodities to chase profit which has a negative impact on culture and arts．However，they overstate its adverse influence and fail to perceive the inevitability of popular culture and its positive impact on and great contribution to human society which Walter Benjamin and the Birmingham school notice．

Different from other philosophers of the Frankfort school，Benjamin perceived progress and positive effects brought by popular culture characterized by mechanical reproduction with technology optimism．In his opinion，mechanical reproduction enables the public to appreciate cultural and artistic works at any time so as to vitalize the works and expand the scope of their use．Besides，mechanical reproduction highlights the recreational attribute of public cultural consumption instead of worship，so popular culture promotes the popularization and democratization of culture and arts．The Birmingham school acknowledges the value of popular culture，which could be seen in Bernard Williams’view on culture．He held that the real culture should be created on the basis of the public’s life experience，production activities and communication．He strongly advocated common people’s ways of entertainment and cultural consumption including reading paper，watching television programs and chatting in bars．Therefore，the Birmingham school holds an inclusive and positive view on popular culture．

Ⅲ．Basic propositions

The comparison above brings the question:should we acknowledge the status of popular culture or adopt industrial development mode while advancing socialist cultural undertakings with Chinese characteristics?

Before answering that question，it is necessary to examine the two schools’views on the relation between popular culture and ideology．The Frankfurt school insists that popular culture serves politics，economy and the ruling class to spread the dominant ideology，while the Birmingham school holds that popular culture is created by the public in daily life，which derives from the masses instead of the ruling class．The Birmingham school’s view is in line with that of schools on socialist popular culture studies in China which propose that mass culture is the socialist core value．

The two schools’argument over ideological attribute of cultural industry urges us to explore the issue seriously．Against the backdrop of developing cultural industry in China，it is of great significance to guide its development with socialist core value system，which is determined by the following reasons．However，they can complement each other．On the one hand，the positive factors of popular culture should be assimilated into the socialist core value system so that it could be accepted by the masses．On the other hand，popular culture should be guided by the socialist core value system，the essence of the spirit of the time，for its sound development．

Therefore，we should strengthen the development of cultural industry to meet the public’s increasing demand for cultural products，and take into account both economic and social benefits of the industry to expand it according to the law of value while vigorously developing public cultural undertakings．At the crucial time of accelerating economic transformation in China，it has become one of important and urgent tasks to vigorously advance the cultural industry．

Ⅳ．Dispute of routes

With the advancement of China’s internationalization，it has become a national strategic to popularize Chinese culture．It has been a significant issue to properly coordinate the economic benefit and social benefit of cultural industry．The discussion of Frankfurt school on the issue may offer some ideas．

1．Technical rationality and social benefit

Technical rationality refers to the idea which advocates changing the world by means of scientific knowledge，technology and tools so as to free human beings from the shackles of nature and absolutism，promotes scientific spirit and develops human beings’initiative and creativity．It’s the idea that pushes modernization forward in western society，establishes and consolidates the rule of capitalism and makes scientific and humanistic spirit deeply rooted in people’s hearts so as to develop their initiative and creativity．However，the Frankfort school criticizes technical rationalism as the cause of the mass production of cultural products and the pursuit of the economic benefit over the social benefit．

Horkheimer argued that it is inevitable that cultural industry upholding the supremacy of technical rationality values the economic benefit，because with the de velopment of cultural industry，results，decoration and techniques gain the dominate position over cultural works．Cultural consumption pursues techniques other than the content．Therefore，profits and standards of the market shall take priority over the inherent standards of culture．The nature of cultural industry is to meet the public’s demand for consumption and recreation by chasing surplus value of cultural products．Though cultural products are means of recreation for the public，they could not get relaxed or gain enjoyment by using the products because they are produced under the guide of technical rationality．

Developing socialist culture with distinct Chinese characteristics is an important part of the construction of socialism with Chinese feature，and it rises as a crucial issue to properly handle the relation between the economic benefit and the social benefit of the cultural industry．It is necessary to have a thorough understanding of the nature of cultural products while balancing the relations between the economic and social benefits of the industry．As commodities，cultural products have the same value as other commodities．They can meet people’s needs，be bartered in the market and be sold for profit．However，they have the unique value to consolidate and serve the economic foundation by spreading certain views and values．

So，the economic and social benefits of cultural products are determined by their inherent nature．They are consistent with each other to pursue the same goal of meeting the public’s growing spiritual and cultural needs by providing healthy cultural products．They are also organically unified:the social benefit of cultural products guarantees their value as commodities，while the economic benefit supports the manufacturing of cultural products．

2．Cultural corruption and cultural renaissance

Western popular culture critical theory concludes that cultural industry inevitably leads to cultural corruption and deterioration．Guided by economic interest，culture producers and creators shall go all the way to cater for the public’s aesthetics and consumption trends，which is bound to sour culture．For example，in order to entertain the audience，scriptwriters would sacrifice notions，meanings and clues which should be presented in a movie to create simple but horrible settings and pursue bizarre plots．Therefore，cultural industry turns culture and arts from food for the mind into hard stones．

The Frankfurt school’s comment on the supremacy of the economic benefit of cultural industry reveals the drawback of cultural industry，but it is a one-sided view．Their comments on cultural industry reflect their views on modernity．In fact，no consensus has been reached on it within the Frankfurt school．Some take it as a hopeless practice，while others regard it as an unfinished cause．Habermas calls for dialectical exploration into it and advocates to save it．It reveals the fact that modern means of production should not be rejected while producing cultural prod ucts．The key issue is not whether we should develop cultural industry but how to advance it and balance the economic and social benefits of the industry．

Here are some major points for the healthy development of cultural industry in China．First，we should put social benefit in the first place and strive to develop public cultural undertakings．Since cultural industry is the carrier of concepts，aesthetic tastes and values，content is the prime factor to determine the quality of cultural products．Therefore，content should be underlined to improve the quality of cultural products throughout the development of cultural industry．When the economic benefit clashes with the social benefit，the former should unconditionally obey the latter．Second，modern cultural industry system should be constructed to be one of the pillars of national economy．A batch of culture enterprises should be fostered to be the major force for cultural industry development．The structure of cultural industry should be adjusted to promote the development of emerging cultural industry including digital publishing，mobile multimedia，cartoon，video games and internet products．The pattern of ownership of cultural industry should also be changed to form one with public ownership playing the dominant role and other ownership advancing jointly．Third，technology and innovation should be promoted in cultural industry．Cultural industry is a kind of creative industries in nature，which is driven by technology and innovation．Science and technology should be increasingly applied to the transformation and upgrading of traditional culture enterprises．A market-oriented cultural innovation system which mainly involves culture enterprises and promotes the application of science and technology in cultural products manufacturing should be established to manufacture products with high technology，rich connotations and strong competitiveness ．

Notes:

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〔5〕新華社特約評論員:《推動文化產(chǎn)業(yè)成為國民經(jīng)濟支柱產(chǎn)業(yè)》，http://news．xinhuanet．com/politics/2011-10/22/c_111115982．htm。

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〔7〕〔美〕約翰·費斯克:《理解大眾文化》，王曉玨、宋偉杰譯，北京:中央編譯出版社，2001年。