Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.10, 2022

 

On the Dichotomy of Elegance and Vulgarity

(Abstract)

 

Nan Fan

 

The theoretical dichotomy of elegance and vulgarity has a long history and many branches, arousing various Tower of Babel-like confusions of tongues. Elegance and vulgarity have their own aesthetic origins, and are interpreted in relation to sociological categories such as social class and social strata. There is no abstract and absolute definition of the concept of elegance and vulgarity. In the course of history, the accumulation of professional knowledge, selected classics, avant garde art for art’s sake, and certain activities of the leisured class have often been considered “elegant,” while popular experience, folk revelry, and mass media content have been considered “vulgar.” In modern literary history in China, the concepts of enlightenment and of class were involved in the dichotomy of elegance and vulgarity in different ways. In Chinese culture in the second half of the twentieth century, this dichotomy began to be reorganized around the notions of “art” and “commodity.” The reconceptualization of elegance and vulgarity at each stage of history has often indicated a reconnection between aesthetic interests and history. In this sense, the debate between elegance and vulgarity has always been a testimony to cultural participation in history.