Post modernist critical spirit: its cultural influence and impact on music and schools of thought[1]
Zhiguo Wang[2]
Xueping Wang[3]
Abstract: Western postmodernism is a cultural trend of thought that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. Its influence involves many fields, such as art, literature, philosophyand aesthetics, which indicates that a major change has taken place in the whole Western society, and also has a profound impact on contemporary culture and art. By analyzing the far-reaching influence of postmodernism on music and philosophy, this paper provided development strategies and suggestions for music and philosophy under the background of postmodernism. This paper studied the positive and negative effects of postmodernism on philosophy and music from two aspects: music and philosophy. The positive influence of postmodernism on philosophy and music is manifested in advocating equality, harmony between man and nature, innovation and critical spirit. Of course, the postmodernism trend of thought also has some negative effects, which should be viewed dialectically on its impact on music and philosophy. On the premise of encouraging innovation, respecting freedom and difference, self-confidence value should be established, so as to promote the further development of philosophy and music. Postmodernism is a cultural form in the later period of capitalism. In the field of music, it is necessary to not only adhere to the rebellion and openness brought by postmodernism, but also attach importance to the artistic value of music works to prevent the production and proliferation of vulgar music works. The influence of postmodernism on music and philosophy, studied in this paper, has important practical significance.
Keywords: Western Postmodernism. Music and Philosophy. Positive Influence. Negative Influence.
introduction
Music is a bridge and bond among people’s souls. Its artistic characteristics make it inseparable from aesthetics, which also belongs to a branch of philosophy. Music can be used to directly express one’s emotions, while philosophy can analyze it. The beauty brought by music is very similar to the comfort brought by philosophy, both of which can bring a sense of satisfaction. The difference lies in the fact that music is an instant. People must immerse themselves in the environment created by music, while philosophical thinking can be unfolded at any time, and its existence is short-lived for the former and long-lasting for the latter. Music and philosophy have a profound impact on human society, and contemporary music and philosophy have also been deeply influenced by Western postmodernism. Postmodernism encourages music creators to explore new fields and break traditional music rules and structures. This has led to the emergence of various musical styles, including psychedelic rock, experimental music, post-punk, electronic music, and so on. These musical styles often have complex sound structures and unconventional rhythms, reflecting the postmodernism way of thinking.
Lyrics in music often involve philosophical concepts and ideas. Lyrics can express emotions, morality, social problems and philosophical themes. Some songs quote philosophers’ ideas to inspire the audience to think. Therefore, music can be regarded as a medium to convey philosophical views. The meaning of music is to make people happy, and inspire and empower them, thereby improving their physical and mental health. Music has significant emotional characteristics. Timbre, range and contour can play an important role in conveying musical emotions (Justus; Laura; Adela, 2018, p. 229). Philosophy can help humans establish a correct sense of development in modern technology, and it can have an important and fruitful impact on science. Several examples, in the field of contemporary life sciences, can illustrate this viewpoint (Lucie; Paolo; Ralph et al. 2019, p. 3948).
Studying the changes in music and philosophy is of great significance for people to have a deeper understanding of music and philosophy. Analyzing the cultural evolution of music and applying methods to measure its evolution in music evolution research can help promote people’s understanding of music and facilitate music creators to inherit classic music culture (Savage, 2019, p. 1). In addition, studying the evolution of music is also beneficial for musicians to seek inspiration from it and create better music works (Wang; Luo; Wang, 2021, p. 97). The same applies to the study of changes in philosophy. From the origin of philosophy in ancient Greece to the philosophy of postmodernism, the changes in philosophical thinking reflect the human society’s progress and the reflection of human civilization on itself, and also inspire people to constantly explore values and world views (Sahu; Harihar; Partha, 2021, p. 4). In the history of music and philosophy, the influence of postmodernism is undoubtedly enormous. If music and philosophy want to pursue further development, they must clarify the negative and positive effects of postmodernism on themselves, take its essence and discard its dross, and keep pace with the times’ pace.
Western postmodernism has a profound impact, which has profoundly changed the way philosophy perceives the world and affected the exploration of new forms of self-expression in the period of Western postmodernism society (Kyrychenko; Nikitenko; Voronkova et al. 2021, p. 248). Postmodernism emphasizes relativism and holds that truth and values are related to cultural, historical and social backgrounds, and there is no universally applicable standard (Cui, 2019, p. 98). Postmodernism also has a profound impact on the style development of Latvia’s music history (Kudins, 2018, p. 97). Under the influence of postmodernism, music works and music forms are more abundant, and music styles are more diverse (Rychter, 2019, p. 43). Postmodernism separates the boundaries between high culture and mass culture, and people’s cultural experience has changed (Venkateswaran; Sabarirajan; Rajest, et al. 2019, p. 97). Postmodernism tries to explore and understand the world’s potential meaning, structure and intention. Postmodernism allows researchers to challenge the essence and expression of truth. It allows them to question and deconstruct the essence of those who challenge the truth. This view has promoted the development of medical education (Ellaway, 2020, p. 856). Postmodernism has influenced human society’s many fields. It is necessary to analyze postmodernism from the perspectives of music and philosophy.
This paper analyzes the influence of Western postmodernism thoughts from the two fields of music and philosophy, and explores the positive and negative effects of postmodernism thoughts. This paper argues that, although postmodernism shows respect for the differences between different subjects and cultures, respects the spirit of free creation, and advocates equality and harmonious coexistence between man and nature, postmodernism has also brought about negative effects, such as excessive criticism, value nihilism and influence on the transcendence value of music spirit. Based on this, this article explores the development strategies of philosophy and music in the new era, in order to promote the further development of philosophy and music in the context of China’s modernization. Postmodernism encourages respect for differences between different subjects and cultures, which contributes to diversity and cultural exchange in the field of music. It urges music creators to explore different music styles and traditions, thus enriching music. By discussing the influence of postmodernism on music and culture, this paper provides a critical perspective to think about postmodernism, including its positive and negative effects on the music field. This helps to provide a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the music culture in the postmodernism era.
1 Rise of Western postmodernism and the manifestation of postmodernism
1.1 Rise of Western postmodernism
Ideologically, it is generally believed that postmodernism started from Nietzsche (Chen, 2019, p. 794). Ideology refers to a set of opinions, beliefs, principles and value systems about social, political, cultural and moral values. Ideology reflects a group’s core values, views on social and ethical issues, and ways of understanding the world. Michel Foucault and Leonta are typical representatives of postmodernism. The former views modernity as an “attitude” (a method of thinking and action), revealing hidden phenomena, such as mental disorder and crime that are commonly overlooked by humans, and creatively analyzing them with unique philosophical methods. He opposed the “either this or that” mindset and held a dialectical attitude towards enlightenment (Muldoon, 2019, p. 125). In the latter’s view, postmodern society is a society built on the computer industry, where knowledge is a form of productivity, manifested in a symbolic form of rights. Whoever possesses knowledge can determine the direction of productivity development.
Modernism tends to pay attention to cultural diversity and dispersion, while social change usually requires common social motivation. The theory of social motivation helps to explain why people participate in social movements, political activities and social changes, which is an important issue facing postmodernism society. At present, the social motivation theory is generally considered as the reason for the rise of Western postmodernism (Chen; Ning, 2020, p. 21). The social motivation theory believes that the social movement against racial discrimination, gender discrimination and imperialism has broken the traditional social order (Sun; Zhou, 2020, p. 159). The post-industrialization theory advocates that “theoretical knowledge” has replaced “capital” and “labor” as the “central principle of society”, leading to fundamental changes in the human society’s form. In addition, there are also theories, such as “consumer society theory” and “cultural rebellion theory” (Wei; Wang, 2019, p. 5).
Postmodernism is essentially an anti-Marxist Western trend of thought, which has the characteristics of denying everything, doubting everything, denying grand narrative and universalism, and advocating differences and pluralism (Feng, 2022, p. 35). This paper argues that, to understand the reasons for the rise of postmodernism in the West, the background of the rise of postmodernism must be understood. At that time, the West had already established a relatively large industrial system using advanced scientific theories and applied technologies. On the basis of a large and relatively mature industrial system, the bourgeoisie greedily exploits its surplus value from the working class, and brings exploitation and plunder to the world’s backward regions. With the advent of the information age, the West has gradually entered the post-industrial era, and the development of productivity has promoted the enrichment of people’s material living standards. People have gradually shown a desire for a rich spiritual life, and are more eager for desires and emotions. At the same time, the industrial system in the West has also caused significant damage to the natural environment. The bourgeoisie’s strong desire for profit and the urgent demand for raw materials, in the industrial system, have caused significant and sustained damage to natural ecological environments, such as farmland, forests, atmosphere and oceans. People can firsthand experience the capitalist society’s negative impact on the living environment.
In the field of social production, people no longer believe that advanced scientific theories and applied technologies only bring benefits to people, but rather believe that, in capitalist society, technology is opposed to human value rationality, and technology is a tool for the bourgeoisie to obtain benefits (Yi, 2020, p. 31). The development and improvement of the industrial system have, to some extent, improved people’s material living standards, but for people, this improvement also means sacrificing their subjective initiative (Jiang, 2023, p. 1).
In the industrial society, people’s demand for machinery and repeated labor production is growing, and people’s dependence on machinery is also growing. At the sociocultural level, the discovery of technological theories and the development of applied technologies have raised doubts about the authority of traditional social sciences. The development of humanities and art is gradually influenced by the capital economy. Technological philosophy is a theory or viewpoint about technology and its influence, which can include philosophy of technology, theory of technological decision-making, sociology of technology and traditional social science fields, such as sociology, psychology, economics, etc.
Traditional social sciences usually use a series of theories and methods to explain social and cultural phenomena. The emerging technology theory and the application of new technology question the viewpoint and authority of traditional social science, because traditional social science may not be enough to explain how new technology changes society and culture. This suspicion may prompt people to re-examine and rethink the methods and theories of traditional social sciences in order to better understand the technological influence in modern society. The human society’s cultural behavior is gradually yielding to the needs of the market. Works of art have become more and more commercialized, and post-modern art has gradually become fragmentation (Munir; Qamar, 2021, p. 53). Under the influence of such a social culture, interpersonal communication has gradually become utilitarian and secular, with less and less genuine emotional exchanges. Words and actions are no longer a manifestation of people’s true feelings, but gradually possess the characteristics of performance. At that time, the Western society’s industrial production model has a profound impact on people’s ways of thinking and behavior. Those who advocate freedom and rationality begin to view the industrial system and science and technology with a critical perspective.
1.2 Performance of postmodernism
Postmodernism is an ideological and cultural trend with great influence in the world today. The research scope of postmodernism is very wide, including architecture, art, popular culture, philosophy, etc., and there is a trend of cross integration of postmodern ethics, postmodern administration, postmodern sociology and other disciplines (Shi, 2018, p. 27). The manifestations of postmodernism include, but are not limited to, the following: Opposing unity and universality: postmodernism opposes the invariability of modernism, and believes that difference is the world’s unique and sustainable feature (Munir; Qamar, 2021, p. 53). Postmodernism believes that it is impossible to generalize human life world with logic. There is no widely applicable logic in human activities, and an effective way of thinking cannot be seen as having universal significance. Resistance to “grand narratives”: postmodernism always holds a skeptical attitude towards “grand narratives”, such as rationality and human liberation, and uses this as the purpose to dispel them (Munir; Qamar, 2021, p. 53). The desire for freedom and human nature: human subjectivity in technology and the pursuit of freedom are emphasized, with a strong sense of rebellion and critical (Munir; Qamar, 2021, p. 53).
2 Impact of Western postmodernism
For westerners, postmodern thinking has brought them a new way of thinking, resulting in significant changes in their values, attitudes and ideologies. The postmodernism trend of thought is a resistance to “bullying the weak with the strong” and an inheritance of the critical spirit of modern philosophy. Postmodernism thought strongly criticizes some defects of modernization from the social, cultural, scientific and technological levels. Postmodern thinking has also had some negative impacts on philosophy. The excessive pursuit of differences, fragments and uncertainty may lead to new one-sidedness and absoluteness. The emphasis on diversity and uncertainty in postmodern philosophy, as well as the contemplation of the singularity of things, are all irrational. This paper analyzes the influence of postmodernism.
2.1 Positive impact of Western postmodernism
The rise of postmodernism in the West has had a profound impact on social science and philosophy. However, with the time’s passage , some scholars may begin to think that there are some limitations in the ideological framework of postmodernism, especially in explaining social motives and social changes.
2.1.1 Positive influence of Western postmodernism on philosophy
Postmodernism believes that there is a symbiotic and equal relationship among people and between people and nature. It advocates treating others and animals with an equal and friendly attitude, and advocates maintaining a harmonious relationship between people and nature (Cui; He, 2019, p. 21). In thinking about the relationship between man and nature, postmodernism points out that the rapid development of science and technology has greatly met people’s material needs and improved people’s social wealth. At the same time, it has also brought great damage to the nature’s ecological environment. With the continuous expansion and improvement of the industrial system, the transition from rural areas to cities has brought a series of environmental pollution and ecological destruction.
Growing wealth and consumption-based society have led to the development of resources in poor countries, which has caused wealth gap and environmental challenges. For example, in terms of water resources, industrialization and urbanization have led to an increase in water consumption, and the huge industrial system and dense urban population have increased the demand for natural water. With the expansion of this demand, if natural water bodies cannot meet the expanding needs of industrialization and urbanization, it causes irreversible damage to the natural ecology. The sewage discharged from factories and urban domestic sewage also leads to the generation and intensification of water pollution. For example, in air pollution, the exhaust gas and dust, emitted by various types of factories, vehicles and buildings, cause air pollution, damage to the respiratory system and ultimately threaten human health, reduce quality of life and lose happiness. In addition, soil pollution and loss, caused by industrialization and urbanization, have exacerbated the phenomenon of heat islands, disrupting ecological balance and biodiversity. The environment, on which human beings depend for existence, is greatly damaged. The postmodernism trend of thought believes that this is not conducive to human survival and development.
On the issue of supervision and operation of power, postmodernism takes the micro power theory as its basis and tool. It adopts fragmentation, discontinuity and diversity to explain power, and regards power as a kind of non-subject, non-centralized, decentralized and pluralistic power. Postmodernism explores the scientific nature of economic distribution, the relationship between counter-terrorism and nonviolence, and the construction of international order from the perspective of nonviolence. Postmodernism shows its philosophical reality by discussing the above issues, and helps people to be more scientific and cautious about social, economic and technological issues. Ideologically, postmodernism philosophy advocates the coordination and unity of the three elements of liberty, equality and fraternity, and advocates caring for the Earth and human health, hoping to establish a fraternity mechanism. It advocates equal dialogue between large and small countries, opposes hegemonism, and advocates eliminating the gap between rich and poor (Despotopoulou, 2011, p. 90). In the field of technology, postmodern philosophy holds a negative attitude towards the abuse of technology. It opposes the use of technology to harm the humanity’s long-term interests , criticizes the environmental and ecological problems caused by technological development, and reflects on the scientific authorities and technical experts’ impact on ordinary people.
Postmodernism philosophy advocates the innovation of thought and technology, and puts forward a new method of philosophical research. It treats enlightenment with dialectical thinking and conducts specific in-depth analysis towards specific research objects. Postmodernism philosophy has put forward a variety of cognitive styles, such as anti-rationalism cognitive style, scepticism cognitive style, pluralism cognitive style, and so on. The anti-rationalism cognitive style denies the meaning of morality, negates human logical thinking, advocates freedom of will, and emphasizes trust in individual psychological feelings and intuition. The cognitive approach of skepticism questions whether the objective world exists and whether objective truth can be known by people. The pluralistic cognitive approach seeks coordination among social classes, interest groups and other groups, as well as whether public opinions can be conveyed to decision-makers in a timely manner.
Postmodernism is different from the traditional philosophy. It opposes the emphasis on Eastern and Western cultures, advocates pluralism, and respects the differences between subjects and cultures (Yin, 2018, p. 193). Postmodernism has abandoned the traditional idea of absolute reason to understand the world in different ways. Postmodernism takes a tolerant attitude towards cultural differences, respects cultural differences and recognizes that different cultures have different ways to deal with social relations. The postmodernism trend of thought attaches importance to individual differences and individuality, and opposes requiring everyone with unchanging standards. Postmodernism advocates innovation, which advocates the breakthrough of traditional thinking mode and the freedom of thought and creation. The postmodernism trend of thought is an idea that advocates “gender equality”, which conflicts with the traditional philosophy that emphasizes “male supremacy” (Oladeji, 2019, p. 88).
2.1.2 Positive influence of western postmodernism on music
Postmodern thinking has aroused people’s desire and pursuit for freedom, equality and self in contemporary society, opening up a new value orientation, a new path of understanding and a new aesthetic path. From a sociocultural perspective, the rise of popular culture has provided people with vast creative space and met their diverse needs for literature and art. Before postmodernism, Western music tended to pursue rationality, loftiness and sacredness. Modern music covers various styles and schools, reflecting cultural diversity. This helps young people better understand and respect the differences among different cultures, and promotes cultural exchange and understanding. Under the impact of postmodernism, music has also begun to pursue the people’s sensibility and the true feelings. The trend of thought of postmodernism endows music with a strong sense of rebellion, a spirit and the courage to break the tradition and blaze a new trail. The rebellious consciousness, contained in the postmodernism trend of thought, has provided music creators with a new perspective. Musicians have carried out innovative experiments on music with the fearless critical spirit and the courage to break the tradition (Yuen, 2008, p. 79). The forms of innovative experiments include electronic music, biological music, etc.
Under the influence of the postmodernism trend of thought, music shows a more open characteristic. It advocates diversification in thinking mode and multi-angle artistic creation. The openness, brought by the postmodernism trend of thought, breaks the cage of people’s stereotyped thinking. The trend of thought of postmodernism makes music more exploratory. Postmodern music has explored because of the original form, or added some new elements, which reflects the public’s new exploration for emotional expression in music, and also reflects the use of new musical elements by music creators.
Influenced by traditional Western philosophical thoughts, music tends to be “sacred” and “sublime”. Therefore, although classical music contains rich cultural and artistic values, its forms of expression are difficult to enter public life. Postmodern thinking has gradually moved music towards sensibility, making it more diverse in form, more creative, open and authentic.
2.2 Negative impact of Western postmodernism
2.2.1 Negative influence of Western postmodernism on philosophy
The uncertainty emphasized by postmodern philosophy and the thorough rebellion against traditional culture, advocated by it, have led to the loss of human spiritual beliefs, confusion between human historical culture and value orientation, and even led to a state of suspicion and negation of all historical culture. Postmodernism focuses on the deconstruction of subjectivity, which inevitably leads to nihilism. Postmodernism has broken the tradition or left it alone, and criticized and doubted all values, which may lead to value nihilism.
The excessive deconstruction of multicultural values, by postmodernism, has resulted in the rootlessness of people’s values. The pursuit of leisure, relaxed and indulgent consumption of the postmodernism constantly dispels people’s pursuit of ideals and beliefs, and, finally, makes people fall into the empty field of value. At the same time, postmodern philosophy has a negative attitude towards human initiative, truth, consensus, social progress and denial of social development, which may lead to historical nihilism. The denial of rationality and science of postmodernism is too extreme. It denies human scientific and technological achievements and believes that the deficiency of rationality, science and technology has led to natural ecological crisis. Postmodern philosophy advocates a holistic critique of traditional philosophy, belittling the excellent as the inferior and abandoning the noble. The excessive pursuit of individual freedom and ideals, advocated by the postmodernism trend of thought, may lead people to fall into the vortex of utilitarianism, thus moving in the opposite direction of value rationality, leading people to always pay attention to their own interests and feelings when making decisions, while ignoring the other people’s feelings in society. The postmodernism trend of thought makes people stand on an individualistic position when doing anything, without considering the public and the collective’s interests, which has a great impact on their recognition of the value of collectivism, as well as their recognition of the national society.
The postmodernism trend of thought, while propagating the disillusionment of ideals, the dissolution of subjects, the loss of traditions, cultural nihility, anti-essence, anti-law and other ideological concepts, has also abandoned the exploration of the life’s, the society’s and the world’s ultimate level , which reflects the ideal, belief and cultural crisis, faced by Western society. The postmodernism trend of thought causes nihility of value and history, and it also causes people to feel confused and uneasy in real life and at a loss in society, which aggravates the disintegration of people’s outlook on life and values, and induces people to exile their ideals, thus losing the direction of life development. People’s life goals are gradually achieved with a casual attitude towards life, and the life’s value tends to zero. Postmodernism has criticized and denied essentialism. It unilaterally emphasizes the elimination of responsibility, believing that responsibility is a shackle that binds people and a burden imposed on their shoulders. Therefore, it is unnecessary to pay attention to and bear the related responsibilities. This makes it easy for people to breed self-interest thoughts, resulting in people’s weak collective consciousness, thus losing the sense of collective responsibility, unwilling to participate in collective activities, unrelated to their own interests, and also affecting people’s identification with the country.
2.2.2 Negative impact of Western postmodernism on music
Postmodernism has a certain impact on the value of transcendence of music spirit. The skeptical attitude of postmodernism has influenced the construction of basic value standards, and caused the confusion of pluralism in the field of music. Some meaningless noises are randomly added. The excessive criticism of traditional aesthetics, by postmodernism, has inappropriately belittled the traditional music culture and completely abandoned the valuable things, which is detrimental to the long-term development of music. Affected by postmodernism, postmodern music lacks the public’s active participation. The form of postmodernism music creation is different from traditional music. For ordinary people, some works are not audible. Postmodernism music is no longer for the general public to appreciate, but is increasingly being paid attention to by the academic community. Influenced by postmodern thoughts, music has also developed characteristics of “fragmented” and “centerless”, with postmodernism music tending towards a “collage” style.
The postmodernism trend of thought has a one-sided skepticism towards the traditional music culture, criticizes it and completely negates the value it contains. The trend of postmodernism has had an impact on the aesthetic significance of music to a certain extent, making the aesthetic significance of music works lose depth. It is difficult to interpret music works. Postmodernism music is a kind of listing and expression that does not pursue depth, but only appearances. It does not focus on results, but only on process. All things are flat statements. Although postmodernism music has greatly developed in form, some postmodernism music works have been mixed with many meaningless factors, exhibiting a diverse mixture of “ multi-center” and “no center”, and the music presents a tendency of “collage”. For the general public, this diverse and mixed non-material collage music is difficult to accept.
3 Exploration of the development of philosophy and music in the new era
Postmodernism music is often manifested as a mixture of various musical styles, genres and traditions, which is not bound by traditional music rules and encourages music creators to cross boundaries and create new sounds and forms. In the development of philosophy, there is a need to have a correct understanding of the impact of postmodernism on philosophy, and rationally adhere to the pluralism advocated by postmodernism. At the same time, it is necessary to respect individual and cultural differences, encourage the spirit of innovation and freedom of creation, and adhere to equality and harmony between people and things, and between people and ecology. However, it must be also realized that postmodernism has the disadvantage of “too much deconstruction, but not enough construction”. It not only fails to achieve the profound reflection of Marxism, but also is not suitable for the context of modernity in China. The postmodernism trend of thought focuses on the criticism of the mainstream ideology and often falls into the dilemma of deconstruction. It may seem to criticize a lot, but lacks construction. It differs greatly from Marxism in terms of critical perspective, critical strategies and critical depth.
Postmodernism is an idea based on modern society, which reflects, criticizes, refutes and deepens modernity. China is still in the process of modernization. Therefore, it is inappropriate to introduce postmodernism into China and use it to evaluate and judge China that has not yet completed modernization. For the development of Chinese philosophy and social sciences, it cannot blindly introduce the Western postmodernism trend of thought. Instead, it should proceed from China’s reality, taking the spirit of the CPC, as the guide, and constantly combine the research of philosophy with practice, and the theory of philosophy with practice organically. Philosophers should focus on the important theoretical and practical issues of China’s modernization. In the context of informatization, through the “empowerment” activities of the “new think tank platform”, the new think tank platform can be improved, and research topics, on decision-making consultation, can be given more attention to promote the efficient transformation of its achievements, thereby providing more spiritual strength and intellectual support for the construction of China’s modernization (Wang; Luo; Wang, 2021, p. 97). The speculative characteristics, in the philosophy of music education, are helpful to highly explain the connotation of music, which leads people to think about the fundamental problems of music education (Zhang, 2018, p. 139).
With the times’ changes and of cultures, music still plays a crucial role in the future, bringing more joy, comfort and enlightenment to humanity. As far as the development of music is concerned, it is necessary to not only adhere to the “creativity”, “openness” and “authenticity” added to music by postmodernism, but also pay attention to the negative impact of the excessive criticism of postmodernism. When creating music, musicians can draw inspiration from elements with high artistic value in traditional classical music, deeply explore and inherit the historical and cultural connotations of music, and explore and protect the cultural heritage of traditional music. At the same time, they should promote the integration and innovation of traditional and modern music, rather than completely denying traditional music. Musicians should increase their efforts to promote music culture, so that more people have a better understanding of it and have more interest in it. At the same time, modern technological means are applied to provide people with more convenient and high-quality music exposure and experience.
Conclusions
Postmodernism is a cultural form in the later stage of capitalism and a reflection of post-industrial society. At this stage, natural sciences have made rapid progress, and the material world has fully developed. However, humanities are becoming increasingly corrupt, and human freedom and autonomy are being suppressed. This paper discussed the influence of postmodernism on philosophy and music, and drew relevant conclusions. This paper argued tha,t in the new era, the influence of postmodernism should be viewed with dialectical thinking, and its essence should be taken to discard its dross. For the positive impact of postmodernism, it is necessary to adhere to pluralism, respect differences, encourage creativity, and adhere to the concept of equality and freedom. Of course, it is also necessary to reflect on the negative impact of postmodernism. It is necessary to actively promote excellent traditional culture and strengthen people’s value rationality to improve their ability to clarify values and help people establish confidence in core values to meet their spiritual needs.
In the field of music, it is necessary to adhere to the rebellion and openness brought about by the postmodernism trend of thought, prevent the traditional classical music culture from being devalued and the excellent music culture from being discarded as dross, and also pay attention to the artistic value of music works to prevent the emergence and proliferation of vulgar music works. In short, it is necessary to correctly understand the impact of Western postmodernism on philosophy and music, and promote the high-quality development of philosophy and music in the context of China’s modernization. Modern music can convey cultural values through social media and other platforms and influence the younger generation’s social norms. This paper discussed how music shapes people’s ideas and behaviors in internet social interaction, and whether this leads to a social norm of cultural communication. Future research can further study the spread and sharing of music on social media and how it affects the younger generation’s social concept. This may need to explore the differences between different music genres and cultures.
Resumo: O pós-modernismo ocidental é uma tendência cultural de pensamento que surgiu nas décadas de 1960 e 1970. Sua influência envolve muitos campos, como arte, literatura, filosofia e estética, o que indica que uma grande mudança ocorreu em toda a sociedade ocidental e também tem um impacto profundo na cultura e na arte contemporâneas. Ao analisar a influência de longo alcance do pós-modernismo, na música e na filosofia, este artigo fornece estratégias de desenvolvimento e sugestões para a música e a filosofia, sob o pano de fundo do pós-modernismo. Este texto estudou os efeitos positivos e negativos do pós-modernismo na filosofia e na música, sob dois aspectos: música e filosofia. A influência positiva do pós-modernismo na filosofia e na música manifesta-se na defesa da igualdade, da harmonia entre o homem e a natureza, da inovação e do espírito crítico. É claro que a tendência de pensamento do pós-modernismo também tem alguns efeitos negativos, os quais devem ser vistos dialeticamente, em seu impacto sobre a música e a filosofia. Com a premissa de incentivar a inovação, respeitar a liberdade e a diferença, deve-se estabelecer uma autoconfiança de valor, de modo a promover o desenvolvimento da filosofia e da música. O pós-modernismo é uma forma cultural do período posterior do capitalismo. No campo da música, é necessário não apenas aderir à rebeldia e à abertura trazidas pelo pós-modernismo, mas também dar importância ao valor artístico das obras musicais para evitar a produção e a proliferação de obras musicais vulgarizadas. A influência do pós-modernismo na música e na filosofia, que estudamos neste artigo, tem um significado prático importante.
Palavras-chave: Pós-modernismo ocidental. Música e filosofia. Influência positiva. Influência negativa.
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Received: 07/09/2023 – Approved: 13/11/2023 – Published: 18/04/2024
[1] This worked by the Jiangsu Social Science Foundation Art Youth Project "Research on the Innovation and Development of Jiangnan Ancient Poetry and Songs from the Perspective of Cultural Power" in 2023 (Project nº 23YSC003), host. This worked by the Jiangsu Province Education Science "14th Five-Year Plan" college youth special project "Practice Research on the integration of Chinese ancient poetry songs into college music Teaching under the background of Cultural confidence" in 2022 (C/2022/01/25), host. School of Education Science, Nantong University, Nantong, 226019 - China. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2381-7231. E-mail: wang135148@aliyun.com.
[2]School of Education Science, Nantong University, Nantong, 226019 - China. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2381-7231. E-mail: wang135148@aliyun.com.
[3]School of Education Science, Nantong University, Nantong, 226019 - China. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1623-6837. E-mail: wang241654@163.com.