@misc{Zhou, author = {Zhou, Xiaoyu}, title = {A Study of Alienation Dilemma in >Everything I Never Told You< from the Perspective of Humanism, Master thesis, World Literature, Liaoning University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China 2023 [application of Fromm's theories to art].}, abstract = {[Chinese abstract not available] Celeste Ng is one of the important Chinese American writers in American society, who becomes very popular at home and abroad with the publication of her first novel >Everything I Never Told You<. Ng's works focus on the living conditions of ethnic minorities and marginal people in society. Her writing style is mild and restrained, and she explores the relationship between people with a trivial story pattern. >Everything I Never Told You< tells the living dilemma of an Asian mixed-race family through the trivial things in daily life. This thesis mainly takes Fromm's humanism as the breakthrough point to deeply analyze the alienation performance of the protagonists in >Everything I Never Told You<, its causes and ways of salvation, and points out the pressure and challenges people face in modern society. As a representative of the Frankfurt School, Fromm reveals the universal alienation phenomenon in a capitalist society and researches this problem. His analysis expresses his concern and cogitation on the plight of human alienation. This thesis examines the alienation and suffering of the James' through humanistic thought and strives to find a way out in the alienated world. This thesis consists of three parts: introduction, main body, and conclusion. The first part is the introduction. This part mainly includes the introduction of Celeste Ng and her work >Everything I Never Told You< and the research review at home and abroad, and points out the purpose and significance of analyzing the works from the perspective of Fromm's humanism. The second part is the main body. The main part of the thesis consists three chapters: The first chapter analyzes the performance of the alienation dilemma. Firstly, the protagonists become marginal. In social life, James and Lydia are difficult integrating into society as Asians; in family, Marilyn's demands are ignored by family members, and Nath and Hannah are ignored by their parents. Secondly, people are trapped into self-contradiction. Marine falls into the contradiction between self-potential and short life, and Lydia is in the contradiction between life and death. Finally, the protagonists all become silent subordinates. Lydia has no courage to rebel her parents, and James and Marilyn follows the rules of society. These performances belong to the alienation of the relationship between man and man, man and society, and man and himself. The second chapter analyzes the reasons for the alienation dilemma. There are two main reasons for the alienation dilemma: family reasons and social reasons. The disharmony between husband and wife, the unbalanced love of parents for their children, and the estrangement between siblings constitute a complex family relationship. James, who lives in a white society as an Asian, has never been able to integrate into the white society truly. Although Marilyn is a white woman, she is still oppressed and discriminated against in terms of gender. These social discriminations also affect the alienation of characters. The third chapter analyzes the salvation ways of alienation dilemma. The broken family finally recognizes the reality and directly faces Lydia's death. Then they build personal subjectivity and overcome obstacles through the love between family members, and then the family is out of alienation dilemma. Fromm believes that love is an effective way of treating human dilemmas. At the same time, people can enrich their existence value and achieve spiritual integrity by giving love. The last part is the conclusion. This part summarizes the above discussion and finds the way of salvation through the analysis of alienation embodiments and causes. It hopes to arouse people's deep attention to the alienation dilemma of human existence in contemporary society, deepen people's self-identity cognition and thinking about the harmonious relationship between family and society. It also provides reference for other inter-racial families to solve the problems of family conflict, children relationship, social discrimination and so on. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 1/2025]}, language = {zh} } @misc{Zhou, author = {Zhou, Suzhen}, title = {The Survival Predicament of >the Beat Generation< - A Study of >On the Road< from the Perspective of Alienation, Master thesis, World Literature, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China 2023 [application of Fromm's theories to art].}, abstract = {[Chinese abstract not available] As one of the representative figures in the Beat Generation, Jack Kerouac presents a real and detailed life of the group in his semi-autobiographical novel >On the Road<. The uninhibited lifestyle of the young people and their desire for freedom profoundly reveal their perdue fear and discomposure beneath the social prosperity and stabilization in America after World War II. The rebellious behavior of the characters in the novel is a way for them to promote individuality and express their true feelings, which reflects their suppressed anger and anxiety. Because this group have been marginalized and stifled by dominant culture, they attempt to explore new lifestyles and values about human beings. With the theory of alienation by Fromm, this thesis aims to interpret the social reasons why the people who persistently pursue independence and freedom end up succumbing to secular discipline. Although this sub-cultural group oppose to the suppression of the society, they all choose to compromise with the community they have revolted. It is argued that the cause of their final choice of life is the highly-institutionalized mechanical civilization which condenses humans' space for personal survival and development. The alienation of labor resulting from mechanization alienated people's psychology, which leads to alienation of freedom and love. The commodities and prosperity in modern society do not bring about real meaning to them. On the contrary, the illusory happiness beguiles them into instant gratification to such an extent that they abnegate spiritual independence unconsciously. The three chapters of the thesis expound the contradictory behaviors of the main characters in the novel from the aspects of alienation of freedom, love and labor, aiming to clarify the source of their psychological alienation. According to the analysis of the thesis, it is argued that the alienation of labor emerging along with the development of capitalism is the main cause of psychological alienation and the suppressive social environment leads to rebellion of the youth. While as individual resistance and spiritual pursuit are not capable to resist mighty social discipline, they are doomed to compromise with the society. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 1/2025]}, language = {zh} } @misc{Zhang, author = {Zhang, Kainan}, title = {A Study of Fromm's Subject Conception, Master thesis, Marxist Philosophy, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, Henan, China 2023.}, abstract = {[Chinese abstract not available] Erich Fromm, an American German Jew. He is a representative figure of the Frankfurt School, as well as a famous philosopher, psychologist, and sociologist. Throughout his lifetime of academic research, it is not difficult to find that the concept of subjectivity runs through all of his theoretical achievements as the main thread. Although Erich Fromm criticized human subjectivity in modern western capitalist society, he also provided a new perspective for our society to examine subjectivity. Erich Fromm, through the construction of human subjectivity, hopes that people can actively and consciously participate in the face of irreversible free life, and can give full play to the productive and creative characteristics of people as the main body of social life, build a meaningful life on the basis of love and reason, and constantly obtain human self realization. Erich Fromm's thought not only critically inherits Freud's psychoanalysis theory, but also includes the absorption and reference of Marx's theory of alienated labor and humanism. There are similarities and differences between Erich Fromm's interpretation of human subjectivity and Marx's view that human beings actively transform the world by relying on their own subjective initiative. Erich Fromm's life has been calling for the return of human subjectivity, emphasizing the importance of human itself. Influenced by Marx, his understanding of the world is that of humans, a world where humans exist as the main body. Humans can transform the world through their own creative activities, and the world should become a world that gives people value and meaning. Erich Fromm's subjective view can help us understand what kind of social life subjects are needed in modern society, and provide useful enlightenment for us to cultivate and shape sound citizens in combination with the national conditions and folk conditions of Chinese society. However, Erich Fromm's subjective view also has certain limitations, that is, it is far away from the world outlook and methodology of materialism, and it also ignores the class problem. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 1/2025]}, language = {zh} } @misc{Zeng, author = {Zeng, Fanqi}, title = {The Alienation and Awakening of Characters in >Tree of Smoke<, Master thesis, World Literature, Harbin Normal University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China 2023 [application of Fromm's theories to art].}, abstract = {[Chinese abstract not available] >Tree of Smoke< is one of the most recognized works by American novelist and playwright Denis Johnson. The book won the 2007 U. S. National Book Award, and Denis has been called >the writers' writer<. With Vietnam War as the background, Denis' work portrays a number of characters such as American officers Skip, Colonel, Kathy, and the Houston brothers, providing a deep insight into the alienation and awakening of human nature during the war. Rather than depicting the large-scale scenes of fighting on the battlefield, the novel focuses more on the individual activities of the characters in the process of war, presenting the sinking and struggling of individuals and society in the war with a unique approach that conveys a genuine anti-war theme. With the support of Fromm's alienation theory, the thesis analyzes the alienation of the characters in >Tree of Smoke< by applying Fromm's alienation theory. In accord with Fromm's judgement, under the condition of capitalist society, alienation is present all the time and everywhere, it makes human beings become alienated individuals, limiting their self-development, which in turn affects the public. The alienated society and individuals oppress each other, forming a social atmosphere of alienation and indifference, the relationship of people's interests replaces warmth, only true love can eliminate this alienation. With the perspective of alienation theory, the characters' self-alienation, the alienation between the characters and society, and the alienation of the characters' interpersonal relationships are plainly visible in >Tree of Smoke<. Denis reveals the danger of war with profound strokes, appeals to opposing war and pursuing peace with the characters' awakening out of alienation. The thesis consists of an introduction, a conclusion and five main chapters. The introduction presents an overview of author Denis Johnson's life and major works, which focuses on the analyzed text of this dissertation, >Tree of Smoke<, the text's literary status and textual significance are described, along with the current state of the text's study at home and abroad. Then, the thesis' innovative points and thematic argu¬ments are outlined. Chapter one is the theoretical foundation, which introduces the origin and development of alienation theory, and focuses on the alienation theory that Fromm developed and constructed, which is mainly applied in this thesis. Chapter two explores the self-alienation of the characters in >Tree of Smoke< indicating that in the context of war and capitalist society, there exists alienation of the characters' self-perception, and the inhibition of the characters' self-development in such condition. Chapter three analyzes the alienation between the characters and society, illustrating the suppression of individuals in the environ¬ment of war by American and Vietnamese societies; individuals in such apathetic and repressive social environment become mechanically submissive. Chapter four analyzes the characters' alienation of inter¬personal relationships, exploring the dysfunctional family relationship and the distorted love relationships. Chapter five analyzes the gradual awakening of the characters in the process of war from three aspects: the self-alienation of individuals, the alienation between characters and society, and the alienated interpersonal relationships. Individuals rebuild their self-perceptions and explore their thoughts, the society as a whole reflects rationally on the war, and individuals no longer blindly follow the militant social atmosphere. In the presence of alienated interpersonal relationships, the characters also demonstrate different degrees of recognition and confrontation in both family and love. The conclusion points out that, against the background of war and capitalist society, the alienation, which is present everywhere, grows increasingly, resulting in the characters' self-development being restricted, separating the family members, and even going to the abyss of death. In the cruel war, the gradual awa¬kening of individuals is a resistance to alienation and a protest against war. The conclusion also indicates the significance and shortcomings of this study, with a purpose to provide a reference for the subsequent study of >Tree of Smoke<. Different from traditional Vietnam War fiction, Denis Johnson presents a complex series of scenes and plots that portray transformative characters, creating a new dimension beyond the universal elements of war fiction. With the characters' awakening out of alienation and their pursuit of self as the foundation, Johnson perpetuates his belief of embracing peace and rejecting war. Even though the characters in the book do not achieve a complete awakening in the end, their efforts to dissolve alienation and regain their true nature still have a positive guiding significance today, when the war still endangers humanity. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 1/2025]}, language = {zh} } @misc{Wu, author = {Wu, Linrong}, title = {A Study of Fromm's Ideas on Human Freedom and Emancipation, Master thesis, Marxist Philosophy, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China 2023.}, abstract = {[Chinese abstract not available] Fromm's lifelong focus has been on the analysis of the dilemma of human existence, the critique of the current state of society, and the proposal of prescriptions for its salvation. Faced with the pathological Western society, Fromm devoted himself to finding answers for the salvation of society in various disciplines. In this regard, Fromm's thought and his achievements have an important place in Western Marxism, and the study of Fromm and his writings is of great significance to the study of people and society at that time. The idea of liberal emancipation is the main element that runs through Fromm's entire ideological perspective and is an important contribution to his Marxist theory of emancipation. His lifelong focus was on the >isolated modern man<, and he devoted himself to exploring the root causes of social pathologies and the existence of sick individuals, and finally proposed a prescription for saving sick Western society. The study of Fromm's ideas not only deepens our understanding of Marxism, but also helps us understand the nature of capitalism and the superiority of socialism, and facilitates the essential criticism of the alienation of capitalist society. First, the thesis explores the ideological origins of Fromm's liberal emancipation. The first task of the study of Fromm's liberal emancipation idea is to achieve an exploration of its social background and theoretical origins. The heavy blows of the two world wars and the coexistence of prosperity and crisis in post-war capitalism have made people in capitalist society face the dilemma of being used as tools and suffering from relentless competition and pressure. While focusing on the development of Western capitalist society, Fromm focuses on drawing the essence of theories from Freudian psychoanalysis and Marxist theories and using them for himself, finally forming the idea of liberal liberation. Second, the dissertation analyzes and studies Fromm's ideological perspectives on sound society and sound man. Combining the analysis of Fromm's multiple texts, the thesis begins with Fromm's goal of liberating human freedom, i. e. building a sound society and cultivating sound human beings. Finally, he proposes that the path to freedom and liberation is through psychological and social revolutions, pointing out that psychologi¬cal revolution is the revelation of the social unconscious and the cultivation of love and rationality, while social revolution is the simultaneous change in the economic, political and cultural fields, aiming at building a new society that can better adapt to the new man. Humanity is the starting and ending point of Fromm's theory of freedom and emancipation. The goal of liberal emancipation is the return of human nature, which greatly highlights the status of human beings. But people in social life are always faced with various exis¬tential dilemmas, so the construction of a sound society is the need for the return of sound human beings. However, Fromm's placing the liberal emancipation of human beings in the field of human-social relations is not in line with the actual social development. Third, the thesis provides a comparative study of the relevant discourses of Fromm and Marx. Although Fromm has certain differences with Marxist theory, his theory of human nature and human emancipation involved in liberal emancipation enriches the overall alienation of Marxism with a microscopic perspective, and there are reasonable points that have positive effects on the framing of today's society and the shaping of sound human beings, and have important practical values for the development of contemporary China. From a dialectical point of view, Fromm's idea of liberal emancipation also has certain shortcomings, which, together with its inherent utopian nature, lead to deviations from Marxism in the establishment of the goal of emancipation and the planning of the path to emancipation, and its proposed program for a sound society does not have a Marxist practical nature. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 1/2025]}, language = {zh} } @misc{Wang, author = {Wang, Nana}, title = {Unconquerable Loneliness and Alienation: A Comparative Study of >The Heart is a Lonely Hunter< and >Of Mice and Men<, Master thesis, World Literature, Xi'an International Studies University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China 2023 [application of Fromm's theories to art].}, abstract = {[Chinese abstract not available] Both >the lonely hunter< Carson McCullers and >the spokesman for the underprivileged< John Steinbeck are considered the great American realists in the 20th century, and they share the common concern with the loneliness of marginalized characters in the process of Industrialization. In the novella >Of Mice and Men<, John Steinbeck pays attention to the miserable life of a group of itinerant ranch workers in California and tries to explore their spiritual predicament during the epochal times between 1929 and 1940, especially the various kinds of isolation suffered by them due to poverty, race, gender and disability. In Carson McCullers' >The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter<, the depiction of loneliness is revealed through five radically different grotesques in a mill town, whose troubled lives intersect in the Depression era of the South. As current studies have mainly focused on the two novels respectively, this thesis intends to make a comparative study of the two novels under the guidance of Fromm's alienation theory so as to examine the common alienation motif. By close reading of the two novels, this paper analyzes those isolated people's shared embodiment of alienation, desperate struggle against alienation and causes of their doomed failure, and summarizes the universality and inevitability of alienation in the Depression-era America. With the combined perspectives of both a female writer and a male writer on the same motif, the comparative study on the two novels can provide us a more comprehensive understanding of alienation and help us to explore the spiritual plight of American marginalized figures in that period more extensively and perceptively, so that we can have an overall picture of the American society in the process of historical change. [English: www.cnki.net, 3/2025]}, language = {zh} } @article{VamsiG, author = {Vamsi G, Madhu}, title = {Erich Fromm}, series = {Telangana Journal of IMA, Vol. 3 (No. 1, 2023), pp. 35-37. [Online ISSN 3050-6166] [journals.lww.com/tjima/toc/2023/03010]}, journal = {Telangana Journal of IMA, Vol. 3 (No. 1, 2023), pp. 35-37. [Online ISSN 3050-6166] [journals.lww.com/tjima/toc/2023/03010]}, abstract = {Erich Fromm, German-born American psychoanalyst and social philosopher who explored the interaction between psychology and society. By applying psychoanalytic principles to the remedy of cultural ills, Fromm believed, mankind could develop a psychologically balanced >sane society<.}, language = {en} } @article{SauerNicklich, author = {Sauer, Stefan and Nicklich, Manuel}, title = {Utopian Promises and the Risk of Regression - Erich Fromm and the Future of Work}, series = {Berlin Journal of Critical Theory, Vol. 7 (No. 2, July, 2023), pp. 79-103.}, journal = {Berlin Journal of Critical Theory, Vol. 7 (No. 2, July, 2023), pp. 79-103.}, abstract = {The discourse around digitalisation has become detached from the lived reality of the world of work. This discourse is dominated by vague, nebulous promises about new models of work on the one hand and dire warnings of a mass replacement of human labour on the other. Drawing on the work of Erich Fromm, we argue that this creates a risk of regression, as people turn to 'traditional' authority figures or a fatalistic solutionism that places unconditional faith in technology. We instead ropose an alternative approach rooted in people's actual experiences that looks for ways that digital technology can be used to support and augment, rather than replace, human labour.}, language = {en} } @misc{Rajković, author = {Rajković, Silvia}, title = {Kultura narcizma i (samo)predstavljanje u virtualnom prostoru [Culture of narcissism and (self)representation in virtual space], Undergraduate thesis, Faculty of Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia 2023, 17 + 4 pp. Croatian.}, abstract = {Rad se bavi teorijskom analizom društva narcizma i kako ono utječe na (samo)predstavljanje u virtualnom prostoru. Internet, točnije društvene mreže služe kao medij između narcizma i željene pažnje, a mnogi ih koriste u svrhu (samo)promocije. Potaknuti kulturom koja promovira individualizam, autentičnost, a samim time i narcizam u društvu, pojedinci se mogu poigrati i konstruirati više identiteta koji se većinom oblikuju kako bi ih predstavili u najboljem mogućem svjetlu. Nedostatak pažnje supstituira se objavama čiji lajkovi i komentari podižu raspoloženje i samopouzdanje osobe koja ih objavljuje.}, language = {mul} } @misc{Pan, author = {Pan, Wei}, title = {Study of Fromm's Religious Views, Master thesis, Religion, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China 2023.}, abstract = {[Chinese abstract not available] Fromm asserted that the problem of the nineteenth century was that God was dead, and that of the twentieth was that man was dead. The domestic academic research on Fromm focuses on the theory of human nature and the theory of alienation, so it often focuses on the last half of this sentence. The center of Fromm's first half sentence actually lies in the field of religion, and the research on Fromm's topic is still relatively limited. On the basis of grasping the development context of Fromm's religious thought, this paper tries to sort out the formation conditions and development history of Fromm's religious view by referring to the research achievements of Fromm's religious view at home and abroad, and analyzes the main contents of Fromm's religious view from the framework of essence view, function view, type view and history view, aiming at a better understanding of Marxist religious view. And better deal with the relationship between religion and socialist countries. The first part of this article reviews the background of Fromm's religious view. One is the realistic background. As a German Jew who emigrated to the United States, Fromm's thought was bound to be influenced by the social and historical conditions at that time. The First World War, the Zionist movement, and the rise of Nazism all had a significant impact on Fromm's religious view. The second is the theoretical origin. Whether it is Fromm's self-statement or the academic public theory, Marx and Freud are the two thinkers who have the greatest influence on him, providing rich nutrients for his religious view. The second part explores the development of Fromm's religious view. According to Fromm's writings in different periods, as well as his own religious and political activities, the development of his religious view can be divided into three stages: the first stage is the Jewish stage, the representative work is his doctoral thesis, which belongs to the embryonic stage of the formation of religious view; the second is the stage of orthodox Freudian, the representative work is the Doctrine of Christ, which belongs to the exploration period of the formation of religious view; the third is the stage of humanism and Marxism, the representative work is Psychoanalysis and Religion, which belongs to the mature stage of the formation of religious views. The third part of this article, grasp the main content of Fromm's religious view. This paper summarizes the main contents of its religious views from four aspects: religious essence view, religious function view, religious type view and religious history view. First of all, Fromm believes that the essence of religion is the thought and behavior system of group participation, which provides orientation framework and dedication goal for people. Secondly, this paper analyzes Fromm's judgment on the positive and negative functions of religion in different periods. Then, from the perspective of function and type, Fromm divides religion into positive religion and negative religion, authoritarianism religion and humanitarianism religion. Finally, this paper summarizes Fromm's view of religious history from three parts: the origin, historical form and extinction of religion. The fourth part of this paper expounds the evaluation of Fromm's religious view and the enlightenment to the contemporary society. Based on the viewpoint of Marxist religious view, this paper analyzes the extent to which Fromm carried forward Marx's religious view and the distortion and misunderstanding of Marx. On this basis, this paper refines the parts of Fromm's religious view that are still enlightening to the con¬temporary society. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 1/2025]}, language = {zh} }