On January 24, 2022, the "Contemporary" Long Story Forum 2021 Annual Long Story Top Five" was officially released, plus the previously released "Chinese Novel Society 2021 Annual Good Novel", "2021 Harvest Literature List", "Yangtze River Literary Review 2021 Annual Literary Ranking", "2021 Chinese Contemporary Literature Latest Works Ranking", "2021 'Urban Literature' Ranking", "Sixth Annual Golden List of Novels (2021)", which are related in the literary circle" The 2021 Chinese Literature "major rankings" are almost all out.
As last year, The Paper's reporters made a special form to compare the major lists by category, hoping to explore the face of Chinese literature in 2021 from certain perspectives.
Comparison of the rankings of novels in 2021 in major literary rankings (click to view the larger image) Full text chart: The Paper's reporter Luo Xin
Let's start with the novel. Comparing the five major lists in the above figure, the highest ranking rate is Yu Hua's "Wencheng", Luo Weizhang's "Who Knocks on the Door", Dongxi's "Echo" (4 times), followed by Liu Zhenyun's "One Day and Three Autumns" (3 times), as well as Lin Bai's "North Stream" and Lin Zhao's "Tide Map" (2 times).
Although there is a certain overlap between the works on the list of several major lists, there are great differences in the ranking of works and the top works on the list, and the top works of the five lists are even completely different, namely Chen Yan's "Comedy", Yu Hua's "Wencheng", Lin Bai's "Beiliu", Luo Weizhang's "Who Is Knocking", and Wang Anyi's "A Knife, A Thousand Words". It can be said that the phenomenon of "In the Clouds" and "People, or All Soldiers" in 2019 has not recurred in 2021.
But in terms of this year's literary circle rankings, Yu Hua's "Wencheng" has triggered a particularly interesting "bipolar" phenomenon. In the list such as "Chinese Novel Society 2021 Good Novel", "Wencheng" did not appear. However, in the later "2021 Harvest Literature List", "Yangzijiang Literary Review 2021 Annual Literary Ranking", "Sixth Annual Gold List of Novels", "Wencheng" "is either the first or the second". On the other hand, in the Douban reading list that represents a certain reader market, only "Wencheng" is listed in the "Most Concerned Books of 2021",Chinese and "Wencheng" is also ranked first in "2021 Chinese Literature (Novel Category)" (the second is Liu Zhenyun's "One Day and Three Autumns").
Some list judges revealed to the surging news reporter that the literary circles do have different evaluations of "Wencheng", some people do not have a high evaluation of "Wencheng", some people insist that "Wencheng" is not as good as "Alive" and other early works of Yu Hua, and some people think that "Wencheng" does not have to be compared with "Alive", it is still prominent in 2021 works. In any case, there is no doubt that "Wencheng", which has a circulation of more than a million in less than a year, is the most talked about Chinese novel in 2021.
Another widely controversial novel is young writer Lin Zhao's "Tidal Chart". Among the long-form listed authors, Lin Zhao is the only "post-80s", who was still a fresh face for many literary practitioners before. She only published her first novel, Flowing Creek, in 2020, and Tidal Chart is her second novel. Those who like it say that its language has brought storms and innovations, and those who dislike it bluntly say that it is "difficult to understand". According to several judges, discussions about her are also common in the 2021 rankings.
It is also worth noting that Yu Hua's "Wencheng" and Luo Weizhang's "Who Knocks on the Door" in the above works are rare works that are not published in full in literary journals first, but both have been recognized in both the reader market and the industry evaluation. In addition, different literary lists may have different "time" considerations for the works on the annual list, some look at the time of the first publication of the single book of the work, and some look at the time of the first publication of the full text of the work. For example, Wang Anyi's "A Knife, a Thousand Words", a single book was first published in 2021, but the full text of the work was first published in 2020, which is also the top of the "2020 Harvest Literature List".
Comparison of the top novellas in 2021 by major literary charts (click for a larger image)
Because the publication of short and medium stories in collections (single books) often takes more time, the annual ranking of these two parts is basically based on the first publication time of literary journals. In the novella part, the difference between the various lists is significantly greater than that of the long list. Relatively speaking, Ai Wei's "Past" is the most recognized novella in 2021, occupying the top spot in the "2021 Good Novel of the Chinese Novel Society" and the "Yangtze River Literary Review 2021 Annual Literary Rankings", and also ranks third in the "2021 Harvest Literature List".
In addition, Wang William's "Your Gaze", Sun Pin's "Heavenly Creature Market", Bai Lin's "Rose on the Forehead", Hu Xuewen's "Jumping Carp", Ge Liang's "Tile Cat", Li Hongwei's "Moon Hermit", and Lin Sen's "Only Water Young" are also works with a high ranking rate, but most of them are only listed twice, which shows the great difference between the lists. Sun Pin is also famous in the other two novellas "The North of the Gods" and "In the Name of Birds and Beasts" in addition to "Heavenly Creature Ruins".
Comparison of short stories in 2021 by major literary charts (click for a larger image)
The overlap rate of short stories on the list is higher than that of novellas. The most eye-catching is Tie Ning's "The Messenger", which is on the five lists at the same time, and all rank in the top three, and is undoubtedly the most recognized short story in the literary circle in 2021.
Pan Xiangli's "Lotus Ginger" is the second most popular short story (4 times), followed by Zhong Qiushi's "Sky on the Ground" and Chi Zijian's "The Sound of Drinking Soup" (3 times). Deng Yiguang's "Take You to see the Light Show", Xu Zechen's "The Boat Is Getting Slower and Slower", Lu Nei's "Vaulting Horse", Zhu Shanpo's "Sahel Wasteland" and "Post-90s" writer Sansan's "Late Spring" are also on the list twice. Judging from the top of the list, Zhong Qiushi's "Sky on the Ground" is the top of the two short story lists, and the other three short story lists are Tie Ning's "Messenger", Chi Zijian's "The Sound of Drinking Soup", and Deng Yiguang's "Take You to See the Light Show".
As for other literary categories, the "Chinese Novel Society Novel Rankings" added the List of Small Novels and Miniature Novels after adding the Online Novels Rankings in 2019; the "Ranking of the Latest Works of Contemporary Chinese Literature" also focuses on "Prose Essays" and "Reportage Literature"; and the "Yangtze River Literary Review" Literary Rankings have always set separate lists for poetry and prose (including non-fiction). The "Harvest Literature Ranking" also has a non-fiction list, focusing more on long stories. In this year's non-fiction rankings, Chen Fumin's "Forty Degrees North Latitude", Zhou Xiaofeng's "Kiss of espers", Li Jingze's "Heaven and Spring and Autumn", and Liang Hong's "Liang Zhuang Ten Years" have received the most recognition.
Comparison of non-fiction works in 2021 by major literary charts (click for a larger image)
Most of the above lists are sponsored by literary magazines or literary groups. "2021 Good Novel of the Chinese Novel Society" is sponsored by the Chinese Novel Society and organized by the Propaganda Department of the Xinghua Municipal Party Committee of Jiangsu Province; the "2021 Harvest Literature List" is hosted by Harvest Magazine; the "Yangtze River Literary Review 2021 Annual Literary Ranking" is hosted by the Jiangsu Writers Association and the Yangtze River Literary Review; the "2021 List of The Latest Works of Chinese Contemporary Literature" is hosted by Beijing Literature Monthly; and the "2021 'Urban Literature' Ranking" is hosted by Youth Literature The "Sixth Annual Gold List of Novels (2021)" is jointly sponsored by Selected Novels Magazine, the Hai'an Municipal Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the Hai'an Municipal People's Government; the "Contemporary" Long Story Forum 2021 Annual Long Story Top Five" is sponsored by the People's Literature Publishing House and the Contemporary Magazine.
Therefore, the members of the jury are mainly industry critics, scholars and journal editors:
The final judges of the "2021 Good Novel of the Chinese Novel Society" include Wu Yiqin, He Xiangyang, Shi Zhanjun, Wang Chunlin, Hong Zhigang, Xie Youshun, Zhang Xuexin, Li Guoping, Wang Damin and other 47 people.
The long and non-fiction judges of the "2021 Harvest Literature List" are Pan Kaixiong, Wang Yao, Zhang Xinxin, Wang Chunlin, Zhang Li, Li Weichang, and Liu Daxian; the short and medium-length judges are Zong Renfa, Xu Kun, Wu Xuan, He Ping, Yang Qingxiang, Huang Dehai, and Jin Li.
The recommended judges for the "2021 Latest Works of Chinese Contemporary Literature Ranking" are Meng Fanhua, Niu Yuqiu, Xu Kun, Yang Qingxiang, Chen Tao, Xu Fuwei, He Ziying, Liang Bin, Hu Ping, Han Xiaohui, Wang Jianbing, Ge Yimin, Ding Xiaoyuan, Li Chaoquan, and Wang Hui.
The leader of the jury of the "2021 'Urban Literature' Ranking" is Qiu Huadong, the deputy leader of the jury is Li Shidong, and the expert group of the re-examination and judging committee includes Meng Fanhua, He Shaojun, Zhang Ning, He Ping, Liu Daxian, Huan Li, Ma Bing, Huang Dehai, Zhang Pingjin, Rao Xiang, Chen Tao, Li Weichang, Xu Gang, Yue Wen, Li Denan, and Nie Meng. The participating review and adjudication judges are selected from the above list.
The director of the jury of the "Sixth Annual Gold List of Novels (2021)" is Yan Jingming, and the judges include Wu Yiqin, Liang Hongying, Xu Kun, Fu Xiuying, Kong Lingyan, and Yang Qingxiang.
The director of the review committee of the "Contemporary" Long Story Forum 2021 Long Story Top Five is Yan Jingming, and the judges include Shi Zhanjun, He Shaojun, Xu Kun, Zhang Li, and Yang Qingxiang.
(Editor's note: The "Yangtze River Literary Review's 2021 Annual Literary Ranking" has not yet announced the list of judges.) ）
Of course, all the lists are the result of the pursuit of "consensus" and mutual compromise. It must have regrets, such as the minority obeying the majority when voting, such as the judges can not have works to participate, for example, in the case of multiple works of the same author shortlisted for the final evaluation, often only one shortlisted work is kept. A judge told the surging news reporter that each literary list has its own characteristics, make up for each other, and sometimes it is necessary to combine several lists into one, so that you can see the annual status of literary creation more comprehensively.
In addition, the "literary circle list" sponsored by literary magazines or literary groups often represents the opinions of professional readers (critics, scholars, literary editors), and the reading feelings and impressions of ordinary readers may provide us with another way to understand the literary situation of that year.