Aestheticism, or the Aesthetic Movement

唯美主义或唯美主义运动

Aestheticism, or the Aesthetic Movement, was a European phenomenon during the late nineteenth century that had its chief headquarters in France. In opposition to the dominance of scientific thinking, and in defiance of the widespread indifference or hospitality of the middle-class society of their time to any art that was not useful or did not teach moral values, French writers developed the view that a work of art is the supreme value among human products precisely because it is self-sufficient and has no use or moral aim outside its own being. A rallying cry of Aestheticism became the phrase “l’art pour l’art” – art for art’s sake.

唯美主义运动是19世纪后期以法国为中心、波及欧洲的一种文艺思潮。当时的法国科学思想占主导地位，中产阶级对任何不宣扬功利主义或教化道德价值观的艺术持冷漠甚至敌视态度。为抵制这一趋势，法国作家提出了这样一种艺术宗旨，即艺术品是人类成果中最有价值的东西，因为艺术品是傲然自足的，除了自我存在，无其他任何功利或道德目的。唯美主义的呼声最终成了“为艺术而艺术”的口号。