2021 is a landmark year in the history of the party and the country, and for Chinese children's literature, it is also a very extraordinary year of integrity, innovation, forge ahead, and achieve fruitful results. Looking back at 2021, when the light and shadow of the times are reflected in children's literature works, children's literature writers, theoretical critics and research scholars have also made affectionate reviews and prospects for their own creations and the development of Chinese children's literature in the form of keywords.
"China Story" and "Taste of China"
Among the keywords listed by many children's literature writers and theoretical critics in the field of children's literature, "Chinese story" and "Taste of China" ranked first. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "telling the Chinese story well, disseminating the Chinese voice, and showing a true, three-dimensional and comprehensive China is an important task to strengthen China's international communication capacity building." "Telling Chinese stories well and writing Chinese childhood well, this concept guides children's literature creation into a broader world." Writer Zhou Min said that in 2021, more children's literature writers will focus on "Chinese stories", whether it is realistic works or fantasy works, showing this trend, such as Lu Yingmo's "Blue Ocean Golden Steel", Wu Yan's "China Orbit", etc., all of which are in-depth and beneficial explorations in the creation of telling "Chinese stories". In addition, children's books telling "China Stories" are becoming more and more widely disseminated overseas. Due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, many overseas Chinese cannot return to China as often as before, and the Chinese books in the local library have naturally played a role in "soothing homesickness". For teenagers living in the local area, Chinese the kind and interesting characters in children's books, and they have become their good friends. She believes that we have every reason to believe that more and more "Chinese stories" will go to the world in the form of children's literature, so that children around the world can understand and fall in love with China.
In his speech at the opening ceremony of the Eleventh National Congress of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Tenth National Congress of the China Writers Association, General Secretary Xi Jinping said that "I hope that the vast number of literary and art workers will tell the Chinese story well with affection." Zhou Bowen, a young critic, believes that Chinese children's literature should be an important support and composition of the "Chinese story". Looking back at 2021, Chinese children's literature continues to make efforts in telling Chinese stories well, and novels, fairy tales, picture books, poetry, documentary literature and children's literature research all take Chinese stories and Chinese children's stories as important creative resources and objects of observation. For example, the "Colorful Chinese Dream" series of the China Youth Society reflects the real life of Chinese children from multiple angles and sides in the style of a novel; the "Chinese Folk Imagination Picture Book" of the Relay Society reshapes Chinese folk stories with modern values and diversified artistic techniques; and the "Liyuan Juvenile Trilogy" novel of Zhejiang Shaoshe is dedicated to creating the theme of Peking Opera and showing the essence of national art. These works are based on the innovative writing of national culture and local children's lives, showing the Chinese spirit and Chinese style of children's literature in the new era.
In the field of research, scholars Such as Wang Quangen, Zhu Ziqiang, Chen Hui, Zhang Guolong, and Cui Xinping sorted out the historical achievements of Chinese children's literature in the past century, original Chinese children's literature and picture books in the new era. Zhang Guolong's "The Value of Shaping the Image of Children in New Chinese Literature" focuses on the generation mechanism and development law of children's images in centuries-old Chinese literary stories; Chen Hui's "Reading and Speaking of Children's Picture Books" highlights the reading experiments and reading suggestions of 25 original Chinese picture books, and his "Dot Worm" series of picture books cooperated with painter Tian Yu has a special display in inheriting the tradition of Chinese painting art and the visual communication of Chinese culture.
Looking to the future, the "Chinese Story" that highlights national characteristics and local culture will continue to be the most unique tradition and the brightest background color of Chinese children's literature.
Young writer Liu Tianyi described the keyword of children's literature in 2021 as "Chinese taste", and Chinese children's literature has always been committed to telling children about ancient and brilliant civilizations, which now sound a bit strange but are full of secret words, which always make children can't help but peek into the end. Those traditional Chinese cultures and traditional skills that have been inherited, relied on and continued are more Chinese flavors that are more meaningful, and they are also more worthy of the world's attention. She said that children's literature writers should hold the hands of children and feel the Chinese aesthetics and oriental wisdom contained in these cultures in the book, and also hope that the children outside the books can light up more light and fire with their own hands, so that these traditional cultures can burst out more vivid light. When each cluster of throbbing flames is telling a unique Chinese story, when the world begins to marvel at the ever-changing wonders of Chinese culture, the taste of China will naturally remain in everyone's heart and become a precious and enduring memory.
"Theme Publishing" and "High-quality Development"
Looking back at the development of children's literature in 2021, scholar Fang Weiping believes that theme creation and publication should be a key word that cannot be avoided. From the perspective of institutional orientation, as a highly valued genre of children's literature, theme publishing books have been relatively easy to take advantage of in recent years in terms of publication planning, financial support, awards and discussions, publicity and promotion. Therefore, driven by the evaluation mechanism such as social benefits, many publishing houses have included theme publishing in the key topics and recruited various resources to build.
We should fully affirm the exploration and efforts made by creators and publishers in this regard, and at the same time realize that the problem now is mainly how to further focus on the pursuit of the artistic quality of children's literature after experiencing early anxiety and attempts. If the theme creation and theme publishing only grasp the skin of the theme, and there is no real novelty in the artistry of children's literature, or even lackluster, then the theme publishing may eventually be reduced to repeated publishing, mediocre publishing, and inferior publishing. The value of a literary work is never defined by the subject matter of the writing, and so is children's literature. He believes that the truly excellent children's literature works will always be those works that write the vivid appearance, real texture and rich connotation of a specific childhood life and life. In the face of thematic publishing, the standard of literature and art is always the first criterion for judging children's literature works. From this point of view, theme publishing puts forward new requirements and expectations for the current creation and criticism of children's literature, and only when it is successful in art can there be true theme creation and theme publishing.
"Children's Hearts to the Party • Centennial Glory" series of picture books
Critic Li Lifang believes that "high-quality development" is one of the key words of children's literature in 2021, which well reflects the new positioning and new requirements of the children's literature industry colleagues who are concerned about the great cause of national rejuvenation and the goal of children's literature construction in the new development stage. The selection of the 11th National Outstanding Children's Literature Award focuses on the leaps and bounds and historic achievements made by China's children's literature in the past four years, but while happily and excitedly facing the existing achievements, we are also calmly reflecting on the problems that deserve attention in the process of upward improvement and rapid development of China's children's literature, such as the current situation of children's lives in a general sense, the psychological and spiritual status quo is not comprehensive and timely, and the image of children with a sense of the times, pioneering and value-leading is very scarce and the vision is limited The future of Chinese children is not fully imagined. Since the beginning of the new century, all the experiences of the prosperity and development of Children's Literature in China have been enlightened at present, and they have converged on the proposition of the times such as "high-quality development". Celebrating the centenary of the Communist Party of China, carrying forward the great founding spirit of the party, focusing on telling the story of the party, the story of the revolution, and the story of the heroes for the children, so that the red gene and the revolutionary torch can be passed down from generation to generation, many publishing houses have carefully launched a series of excellent red children's literature readers, and the original innovative atmosphere of the theme publishing shows the children's literature of the new era, and is telling Chinese stories with a strong sense of historical initiative, with a high degree of cultural consciousness and cultural self-confidence, Actively guide the vast number of children and young people to draw spiritual strength from the magnificent century-old party history, build a solid historical memory in scientific historical cognition, and build a solid foundation of faith in firm historical self-confidence.
"Harvest" and "Pursuit"
Poet Qiu Yidong believes that if you want to summarize the key words of Chinese children's poetry in 2021, you may be able to summarize it with "harvest". In addition to the emergence of a number of outstanding poets' poems, the winning poetry collections of the National Outstanding Children's Literature Award have also been selected, which has produced important children's poetry achievements in recent years and aroused heated discussion among the majority of children's poetry authors. But for poets and researchers, 2021 seems to be more of a year of "pursuit", tracing the roots of children's poetry that has always been confused, exploring what poetry is, looking for lost poetry for children's poetry, and standing in front of children without shame. Children's poetry needs to be built, for a long time, the study of children's poetry almost only talks about themes and themes, rarely discusses how to write children's poems, how to write well, and even less discusses the expression skills of poetry. The creation and research of children's poetry cannot be far away from children, let alone away from poetry, otherwise it will fall into the crisis situation of confused writing and have a negative impact on children.
"Change" and "Challenge"
Scholar Fang Weiping said that the covid-19 pandemic has seriously affected our lives, including the literary lifestyle we have long been accustomed to, and many times, we have to adopt new means, including the use of online technology to reconstruct our literary exchanges and lifestyles. In 2021, he participated in many online seminars such as works seminars, regular work meetings, and literary awards, including the 7th Feng Zikai Children's Picture Book Award, and the selection of outstanding children's literature creations in Guangxi in the past 40 years of reform and opening up. At present, online seminars are just a change in the way of work and communication. Whether this change will intrinsically affect our literary lives and professional attitudes seems to remain to be seen. Neil Bozeman once proposed in "Entertainment to Death" that "medium is epistemology", the medium is often not just a medium or a means, just as computer writing "eliminated" the writer's manuscript, he believes that children's literature workers should think about what online discussion will bring us in addition to convenience and continuation of literary life.
Poet Lin Huanzhang said that due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, Taiwanese children's literature as an important part of Chinese children's literature in 2021 has also undergone complex changes in its writing and academic research ecology. The Xiaotianxia Publishing House, which can be called the "dragon head" in Taiwan's children's literature publishing circles, belongs to the private large-scale publishing unit, and still actively plans and actively invites manuscripts to publish children's literature works quantitatively in a planned manner. Due to changes in social culture and reading habits, the number of physical books on paper has been greatly reduced, and smaller publishing units such as Xiaobing Publishing House are undergoing a huge test. I hope that we children's literature workers can adhere to creation, be strict with ourselves, have the courage to face difficulties, and constantly explore paths, so that the next generation with high hopes can have better reading resources and develop reading into a habit of life.
"Role Models" and "Teenagers"
Children's literature is the earliest contact literature in children's lives, is children's spiritual food, and is also the best way to inherit culture. The growth of children needs spiritual guidance, and the role models and heroes of our time are the best examples. Writer Tang Sulan chose "role model" as the key word for children's literature in 2021. In recent years, she has participated in the writing of theme publications such as the Chinese Pioneer Story Collection, the Red Spirit Story Collection, and the "Picture Book Story of the Chinese Hero Theme of Several Popular Characters", and completed the biographies of the Chinese pioneers "Chang Xiangyu" and "Zhang Haidi". Through the writing of these stories, she has a deeper understanding of the significance and value of children's literature for children's growth. At the end of 2021, she created and completed the picture book stories of Yuan Longping, winners of the Order of the Republic, Lan Tianye and Ai Aiguo, recipients of the July 1st Medal, and Wu Wenjun, winner of national honorary titles. These themed books are written to tell the stories of the role models of our time—the revered scientists, artists, model workers, and craftsmen of the great powers—to the youth. Read their life stories, understand their struggles, each example is a broad book, they are a kind and respectable image of China, more than any fictional artistic figure can impress the reader. Through the power of example, more children can understand the value and meaning of life, have a broad mind and lofty ambitions, and like these role models, closely link their personal dreams with national interests and national dignity, and be people who benefit others and society, and benefit the country and the nation.
Writer Kurozuru said that if he were to summarize children's literature in 2021 with some kind of literary imagery, he thought it should be a healthy and sunny "teenager". He recalls the young readers he met at the readers' meeting when he attended the 2021 National Book Fair, and among the many readers was a thin teenager wearing a baseball cap dragging a heavy suitcase with a juvenile glow that never faded. He had seen the expression of a teenager at many reader meetings, an expression that belonged to real readers, who might have gotten a book at a very young age and then became loyal readers. As a writer of children's literature, Kurozuru said that his works have accompanied their growth, and readers can also see their own growth through their works.
"Poetic Wisdom"
Writer Tang Tang believes that "poetic wisdom" is an impression of reading the original Chinese fairy tales of 2021, and many works have jumped out of the shackles of ordinary thinking and presented a full and energetic momentum with fresh creativity, free thinking and unrestrained imagination. For example, short fairy tales such as Sweet Tiger's "Scare Under the Eaves", through childhood games to reflect the changes in the world, the idea of novelty; Yang Wanmi wrote a childlike and philosopher-like hedgehog in "The Hedgehog Who Loves To Swim", allowing readers to think about how to break the established rules and return to simplicity and purity, the story is astute, humorous and meaningful; In "Wild Goose Train", The Wild Goose Array sets up a blue button, press it, and the train driver can be freed from the monotonous life of day after day and return to the original home; Jia Ying's "Wild Goose Train" sets a blue button, press it, and the train driver can free from the monotonous life day after day and return to the original home; Jia Ying's "Wild Goose Train" Flower Dynasty", relying on the traditional festival "Flower Dynasty Festival", has a formal farewell with deceased relatives, which is mysterious and touching to read. There are three other fairy tale collections that are particularly eye-catching, one is Chen Shige's "A country that I met when I got lost and a group of dreamers who dreamed when I was awake", the author poured out fairy tale beliefs in his daily life, and interpreted the world universe with fairy tale thinking; the second was Ci Qi's "The Stories I Tell Are Not True", its fresh, light, detached imagery and aura flashed like jewels in the corners and corners of the book, like the gibberish of a small child, flying wild imagination and poetry-like sentences; the third was Huang Wenjun's "Slow Storyteller". This is also a collection of fairy tales with big brain holes, presenting a mysterious and real world and a complex and pure mind, which can be seen that the author has a very deep thinking about the passage of time and individual value. In general, in 2021, fairy tale writers are exploring more possibilities and more open territory of fairy tales, and fairy tales also reflect rich poetic wisdom and nurture new growth forces.
"Diversity" and "Focus"
In 2021, with the holding of the Children's Science Fiction Nebula Award and the awarding of the Galaxy Awards children's science fiction awards, children's science fiction is attracting more and more attention and showing a distinct and diversified situation. Writer Ma Chuansi believes that the key words of children's science fiction in 2021 are diversity and focus. First, a diversified pattern of author lineups is taking shape. In addition to a number of professional children's science fiction writers, many science fiction writers who previously mainly created for adult readers have also launched their own children's science fiction works. More and more children's literature writers are also experimenting with science fiction themes. For example, in May 2021, the first Kunpeng Youth Science Fiction Literature Award was officially launched, which was the first science fiction award for children and young creators. The pluralism of the writer's team will inevitably lead to the diversification of the style and theme of the work. Artificial intelligence, human cloning and other future technology fantasy themes, as well as alien exploration, historical mysteries and other traditional themes have long flourished, and some writers have tried their best to integrate locality, folklore and even ancient myths and legends into children's science fiction creation, and have made useful attempts to diversify children's science fiction. On the other hand, children's science fiction has the characteristics of "focus" in terms of ideological themes. Looking at the 2021 children's science fiction works, the excellent works often rely on the vigorous imagination to project reality, especially focusing on the growth environment of contemporary children and children, as well as the state and trend of today's social scientific and technological development, and the overall literary character has also been improved. A category of children's science fiction works adopts a "child-friendly" perspective, focusing on social issues such as science and technology, society and civilization development, that is, the "big environment" for children's growth. For example, the "Moon Summit" takes the development of the moon in the near-future society as the background, focuses on the development of China's aerospace science and technology, and imagines the impact of scientific and technological development on the future of mankind. "City of Ants" attempts to conduct thought experiments in extreme environments to stimulate children's thinking about human civilization and imagination of the future. Another category of children's science fiction focuses on the "small environment" of children's growth. They adhere to the "child-oriented" consciousness and maintain a distinct presence on the topic of "growth", which is both eternal and contemporary. For example, "Children in mobile phones", "Machine Girl", etc., or with a plot with whimsical colors, or with abundant science fiction elements to build a unique children's growth time and space, to refract and amplify the environmental problems and spiritual problems of contemporary children's growth, although it is a fantasy story, it has a real growth texture inside. He said that we have reason to believe that this year's children's science fiction will usher in more vigorous development, and will also open up a broader imagination space for the growth of Chinese children.