The “Mass Culture” in the 1990s by the Perspective of Enlightenment Rationality and Irrationality

The mass culture appearing in 1990s is the result of China's economic development since the reform and development and is also the result of development of Chinese Modernity. In this paper, the author analyzes the mass culture from the perspective of Enlightenment rationality, non- rationalism and the rebellion of great narration, such as sublime, authority and morality. The conclusion is that mass culture is the result of the development of Enlightenment rationality, and at the same time, it has the conclusion of non-rationalism. The emergence of mass culture in the 1990s has the special meaning of anti-autocracy, at the same time, it endows the general public with equal participation in social affairs in the way of Carnival, and shows the subjectivity of the bottom masses. Because of the deconstruction function of mass culture, it denies all authority and guards against slipping into the historical nihilism. To discuss the mass culture is to require us to balance the tension between enlightenment rationality and value rationality.