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Malaise of Modernity in Ian McEwan’s >The Children Act<, Master thesis, Yanbin University, Yanji, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin, China 2022 [application of Fromm's theories to art].

  • >The Children Act< (2014) is a novel published by Ian McEwan, one of the most influential contemporary British writers. The novel explores the tensions and conflicts between slave mentality and master mentality, law and religion, emotion and rationality, unfolds the aftermath caused by those conflicts and eventually ends up with the failed salvation. Taking Max Weber’s instrumental rationality and value rationality as the theoretical framework, this thesis draws on Nietzsche’s philosophy of the will to power and love of one’s fate, as well as Erich Fromm’s interpretation of freedom, etc. Through meticulous textual analysis, this thesis exposes the crisis of modernity caused by the unilateral emphasis on instrumental rationality in society at the expense of value rationality and explores the gradual degeneration of modern man into a one-dimensional man in the general environment of utilitarian supremacy and negative freedom. This thesis consists of five parts. The first part introduces McEwan and >The Children Act<, and the literature review and the structure of this thesis are also included. The second part discusses the tensions and conflicts in >The Children Act<, such as the conflicts between slave mentality and master mentality, the irreconcilable conflict between religion and law, and the imbalance between emotion and rationality. The third part is the aftermath of tensions and conflicts in modern society, such as fear of freedom, one-dimensional man and utilitarianism. This part mainly discusses the paradox of freedom and the typical escape mechanism of negative freedom through the spiritual exploration and destruction of the character Adam. The fourth part explores the importance of value rationality using Adam’s resentment and self-destruction and analyzes the essential roles of literature and art in modern society. The fifth part is the conclusion of this thesis. It is fully elucidated in McEwan’s novel that the balance between instrumental rationality and value rationality is indispensable, and the aesthetic experience brought by poetry and music in modern fast-paced life is the possible way to restore the harmonious relationship. [www.cnki.net, 11/2022]

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Metadaten
Author:Yinfan Kong
Document Type:Dissertations
Language:Chinese
Year of first Publication:2022
Release Date:2024/04/04
Format:no download and copy possible
IdNo:Kong_Yifan_2022
Writings about Erich Fromm (Secondary Literature):Dissertations / Dissertationen
Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive:Dissertations / Dissertationen
Licence (German):
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