From Pure Aesthetics to Sensory Gratification: Shifting Paradigm of Aesthetic Pleasure in Indian Popular Campus Fiction

Abstract

This paper explores the shifting paradigm of ‘aesthetic pleasure’ in the field of popular literature with an emergence of cultural studies in Literary Theory. It focuses on the concept of pleasure as a significant measure in analyzing the origin and development of Indian popular campus fiction as a distinct genre. It examines how the concept of ‘pleasure’ has shifted from a purely aesthetic appreciation of the values of truth, beauty and goodness to the contemporary aspects of hedonistic and somatic pleasures in the works of popular arts. The paper also sheds light on various theories, propounded by different cultural critics like Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse and Leo Lowenthal to analyze the ways the cultural industry has incorporated the values of enjoyment and entertainment into the aesthetic appreciation of pleasure, offering the emotional engagement of readers in these popular texts.