Chinese Journal of Literary Criticism

No.2, 2022

The Marxist Theory of Aesthetic Needs and Its Inspiration for Literary Research

(Abstract)

Fu Qilin

Taking people’s needs and development as the reason, Marxist aesthetics has developed a systematic theory of aesthetic value and aesthetic function. It commands profound interpretive and analytical strength for literary, artistic and aesthetic phenomena, promoting the positive integration of self-improvement of individuals and development of social goodness. The Marxist aesthetic needs manifest the fusion of sensibility and rationality, and the objectification of essential human power, which is an important dimension of human richness and freedom. As an extension of the theory of aesthetic needs, the theory of literary needs contains the descriptiveness of history and the normativity of values.