▲ Yang Zao, researcher of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (first from the left), Wang Xiang, researcher and critic of The Lu Xun Academy of Literature (second from the left), Xu Zechen, winner of the Mao Dun Literature Award (third from the left), Squid who loves diving by platinum writers of the Reading Group (third from the right), Yang Chen, vice president and editor-in-chief of the Reading Group (second from the right), and Cong Zhichen ,associate professor of Peking University and visiting researcher of the Museum of Modern Chinese Literature (first from the right), participated in the series of seminars on famous readers.
In the Internet era, the rapid development of online literature has greatly enriched the content themes and communication methods of literary works, and met the diversified spiritual and cultural needs of the people, so it has gradually become an important source of important content for the development of the cultural industry. However, with the formation of related industrial chains and the continuous deepening of the market-oriented operation of online literature, the industry is also facing the challenge of how to continuously achieve high-quality and high-quality development. On January 12, at the series of seminars on famous readers, the relationship between online literature and the development of the times, how to tell Chinese stories through online literature in the context of the new era, and how to promote the creation of online literature have aroused heated discussion among many participants. Participants believe that only by taking fine works as the creative goal, consciously promoting truth, goodness and beauty, transmitting positive energy, and constantly innovating can the online literature industry emerge more fine works that reflect the voice of the times and help online literature show its due social value.
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Online literature reflects the characteristics of the times
What is the relationship between online literary creation and the development of the times? On the same day, the participants invariably talked about this topic.
Li Jingze, vice chairman of the China Writers Association and director of the Museum of Modern Chinese Literature, said: "The mainstreaming of online literature, in my understanding, refers to the mainstreaming of spirit and values, and it should be a powerful, very prominent and clear reflection of the fundamental values of our times and nation, reflecting our spirit. ”
"The reason why literature can reflect people's hearts is that it has built an 'emotional community' that can resonate with the times." Its value background, relying on the traditional cultural concept of China's thousand-year-old heritage, is highlighted by the connection and concern with the times. Cheng Wu, vice president of Tencent Group and CEO of Reading Group, believes that online literature has an inevitable connection with the development of the times, so "developing in inheritance and endlessly living in innovation is the meaning of modern literature to classical literature, and it is also the meaning that we hope to see online literature play a role in classical literature." ”
Liang Hongying, editor-in-chief of Literature and Art Daily, believes that it is necessary to enthusiastically pay attention to and support the innovation of online literature and encourage the creativity, imagination and exploration of online literary writers. "Some works may be niche, and some authors may not be famous at the moment, but as long as they show the vigor of exploration, have the courage to respond to the questions of the times, and have a sense of problems that point directly to people's hearts, they should be promoted and supported."
As Liu Xun mentioned in the "Wenxin Carved Dragon Chronology": "The fortunes of the times have shifted, the qualitative literature has changed, and the ancient and modern are reasonable, as can be said." "Literature is a product of the times, and it is an objective law that literature changes with the development of the times. The birth and development of online literature has also been subtly influenced by the times, which is also an important reason why more and more online literary works have begun to observe reality and reflect the characteristics of the times.
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Derived from reality and higher than reality
The topic of online literature related to the times has also become the focus of the dialogue between Xu Zechen, an award-winning writer of the Mao Dun Literature Award, and the well-known online writer "The Squid Who Loves Diving".
Xu Zechen's work "If the Snow Closes the Door" won the Short Story Award of the 6th Lu Xun Literature Award, and in August 2019, he won the 10th Mao Dun Literature Award for his work "Going North". As one of the pioneers of the steampunk theme of online literature, the representative work of "Squid Who Loves Diving" is regarded as a representative work of classical immortals in online literature, and its other two works, "Martial Master" and "Lord of Mystery", have not only won many important awards in the industry, but also been permanently collected by the National Library.
In Xu Zechen's view, as a writer, if you want to write well about the current era and the lives of the people in the times, a very important path is to "turn back". "This retro is not a simple retro in the creation, nor is it a rule or chapter body, but we need to find something that can be used for us to deal with the current life from the traditional literary narrative resources, folk narrative resources, and cultural resources."
"The Squid Who Loves Diving" believes that online literature is a product of the times that came into being under the tide of the Internet. "Good online literature must be derived from reality and higher than reality." We must draw nourishment from reality, try to restore a vivid world in the novel, so that the reader feels that it is as if it really happened around us, and this sense of reality and reality is very important. ”
Xu Zechen and the "squid who loves diving" unanimously said that both online literature and traditional literature bear the important task entrusted by the times - inheriting Chinese culture and national spirit, making the essence of traditional culture become the value gene of the work, and creating a "spiritual homeland" that resonates with the people's emotions and resonates with the values of the times.
Wang Xiang, a researcher at the Lu Xun Academy of Literature and a literary critic, also believes that literary creation is closely related to the development of the times. "I have paid serious attention to the works of online literature writers such as 'Squid Who Loves Diving', and I feel that they have more obviously integrated their own cognition of this era in the creative process, but they have transformed their cognition of the times into the language system of online literature, that is, the system of mythological expression."
Yang Chen, vice president and editor-in-chief of Reading Group, who has witnessed the growth of many online writers, said that the growth of a group of outstanding online literature writers represented by the "squid who loves diving" and the growth of China's online literature platform are mutual witness and mutual achievement, and have obvious characteristics of the times. "And the creation of online literature itself is also a writing method that is very suitable for portraying the times - it can reflect the changes of the times and the development of society in a timely manner, and the background of the novel will change in time with the changes of the times and society." Yang Chen said.
▲ Launching ceremony of the series of seminars on famous readers
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Times Boutique promotes the high-quality development of the industry
The report of the Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that to adhere to the path of socialist cultural development with Chinese characteristics, stimulate the vitality of cultural innovation and creation of the whole nation, and build a socialist cultural power, we must adhere to the people-centered creative orientation, strengthen the creation of realistic themes, and continuously launch high-quality works.
In recent years, online literature has felt the call of the spirit of the times, people's pride in the development of the times, self-confidence in national culture, and love for a better life are no longer absent in online literature, but have become the background and starting point for the creation of online literature writers, which not only further enriches the creative themes of online literature, but also makes online literature win a wider range of readers and gain a broader space for development.
When discussing the topic of the future development of online literature, the "squid who loves diving" believes that online literature "is an industry with a big wave of sand and sand", and what can stay in the future must be those works that "can communicate with the reader's heart and spiritual resonance, are works that can reflect the spirit of the times, carry forward the feelings of the family and the country, highlight the spirit of struggle, and write the true feelings of the world, and the historical, national and national views embodied in the works are also correct and recognized by the public." This means that writers need to constantly observe reality and reflect the times in their creation.
Xu Zechen said that the development of the industry will definitely conform to the trend and context of the times. "The literature of the future is to make people say 'this is us' as soon as they see it, to be able to see the past, to see the state of the present, and to some extent to foresee some of our future."
Nowadays, China's online literature is in the critical stage of improving quality and upgrading, and launching more high-quality works that reflect the spirit of the times and shouldering the responsibility of the times in the construction of a cultural power is the proper meaning of the future development of the online literature industry. We believe that as long as time passes, Chinese internet literature will surely provide Chinese style and Chinese strength for the development of world literature in the Internet age. As Zhu Xiaofeng, director of the Digital Information Office of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said at the seminar: "In the process of Chinese culture going to the world, online literature is playing an increasingly important role, and online literature has become an important cultural business card of 'speaking well of Chinese voice and exporting Chinese ideas'. ”
(Photo courtesy of the organizer)
January 14, 2022 China Culture Daily
The 3rd edition featured a special report
"Online Literature: Letting Fine Literature "Shine" into Reality"
Editor-in-charge: Chen Xiaoyue