He Xiangyang: The two-way empowerment of literature and film and television

He Xiangyang

As an important component of human spiritual life, literature plays an irreplaceable role in the history of cultural and civilization development. In recent years, corresponding to the development of media technology and the transformation of aesthetics, literature and film and television complement each other, blend and coexist, and achieve the prosperity of Literature and Art in the new era of China. In the two-way drive of literature and film and television, literary works that profoundly reflect the changes of the times and real life, represent the development achievements of contemporary Chinese literature, condense the dazzling light of realism, and have rich regional cultural characteristics and profound epic traditions stand out, constantly radiate vigorous artistic vitality, and deeply participate in the construction of people's spiritual culture and personality psychology. The successful adaptation and popularity of Liang Xiaosheng's "Human World", the winner of the 10th Mao Dun Literature Award, is a strong example.

The good interaction between literature and film and television comes from itself, and the famous works of new Chinese directors are mostly based on literary classics, such as Shui Hua's "Lin Jia Puzi" (1959), "Wounded Death" (1981) adapted from Mao Dun and Lu Xun's novel of the same name, Cui Song's "Song of Youth" (1959) adapted from Yang Mo's novel of the same name, Ling Zifeng put Liang Bin's "Red Flag Spectrum" (film 1960), Lao She's "Camel Xiangzi" (1982 film of the same name) on the screen, Xie Tieli's film "Early Spring february" (1963) Adapted from Roushi's novel "February", in 1970, his "Wise Tiger Mountain" was adapted from Qu Bo's "Lin Hai Xueyuan", Lu Yanzhou's "Legend of Tianyun Mountain", Guhua's "Furong Town" was successively adapted to the screen by Xie Jin in 1980 and 1987, and Xie Fei's "Black Horse" (1995) was also adapted from Zhang Chengzhi's novel of the same name... These are all examples of the mutual achievements of literature and film. After the reform and opening up, the fifth generation of directors, whose representative works are more inextricably linked to literature, Chen Kaige's "Yellow Land" adapted from Ke Lan's essay "Echoes of the Deep Valley" (1984), and Zhang Yimou's film of the same name adapted from Mo Yan's novel "Red Sorghum" (1987), which have become landmark works in the history of Chinese cinema.

Of course, this list can also be listed for a long time.

Ba Jin's "Cold Night", Qian Zhongshu's "Siege of the City", Wang Meng's "Long Live Youth", Tie Ning's "Oh, Xiangxue", Liu Heng's "The Happy Life of Poor Mouth Zhang Damin", Feng Jicai's "Divine Whip", Xia Min's "Good Big Pair of Sheep", Yelkxi's "Eternal Sheep" adapted from the film and TV series, Xiao Hong's "Field of Life and Death", Chen Zhongzhong's "White Deer Plain", Wang Meng's "Activity Transforms Into Human Form" adapted dramas, etc., presenting the deep interaction between literature and film, television and drama art. The publication of Liu Xinglong's "Phoenix Qin" and the successful adaptation of movies and TELEVISION series not only brought attention to the private teacher group, but also played a role in promoting the regularization of the 2 million private teachers in the country at that time, and nearly 30 years after the publication of "Phoenix Qin", it also promoted the birth of a "Phoenix Qin Village" in Hubei, which is an example of literature going out of "paper" and entering the reconstruction of social life, which shows the great influence of excellent literary and artistic works.

With the continuous growth of the spiritual and cultural needs of the masses of the people, the "mother" role of literature in all arts has been strongly brought into play. The film and television works adapted by Lu Yao's "Ordinary World", Chen Zhongzhong's "White Deer Plain", Chen Yan's "Loading Stage", Zhou Daxin's "Requiem", and Ku Peiyuan's "First Secretary of the Countryside" have had a wide impact and obtained a "circle-breaking" effect. Following "Ordinary World", Liang Xiaosheng's TV series of the same name adapted from "The World of Man" triggered a ratings boom as soon as it was broadcast, becoming a "spiritual feast" for the people in the Spring Festival of 2022, and its positive inheritance of Chinese culture and the successful practice of literature into the modern communication pattern highlight the value and progress of literature and art in the new era.

Since 1982, the Mao Dun Literature Award has been evaluated for ten times, a total of 48 award-winning novels, 31 works have been adapted into movies, TV series, Peking Opera, dramas, etc., Lu Yao's "Ordinary World", Chen Zhongzhong's "White Deer Plain", Zhang Ping's "Choice", Alai's "Dust Settled", Wang Anyi's "Long Hate Song", Xu Guixiang's "Historical Sky", Mai Jia's "Dark Calculation", Bi Feiyu's "Tuina", Jin Yucheng's "Blossoms" His adaptations have won the Golden Rooster Award of Chinese Film, the Hundred Flowers Award of Popular Film, the "Five One Project" Award, the Golden Eagle Award of China Television, the Feitian Award of Chinese Television Drama, the Magnolia Award of Shanghai TV Festival, the Silver Bear Award of Berlin International Film Festival, and the Open Award of Venice Film Festival.

Shi Shuqing's "Knife in Clear Water", which won the 2nd Lu Xun Literature Award, was adapted into a film of the same name, won the New Wave Award, the highest award of the "New Wave Unit" of the Busan Film Festival, and "Shouting Mountain", which won the 4th Lu Xun Literature Award, was adapted into a film of the same name; Ak dove shooting "Cliff Village", which won the 12th National Ethnic Minority Literature Horse Award, was adapted into the national dance drama "The Echo of Daliangshan" and the national opera "Hear Soma"; Cao Wenxuan's "Grass House", which won the 4th National Outstanding Children's Literature Award, was adapted into a film of the same name. Hu Yonghong's "Ballad of Going to School", which won the 11th National Outstanding Children's Literature Award, Ye Guangqian's film and children's drama adaptations of "Uncle Rat Got Up Late", have achieved good reputation. In addition, the TV series adapted by Chen Yan's "Protagonist" and Xu Zechen's "Going North" by the winners of the 10th Mao Dun Literature Award are also being filmed, and these collaborations present an intimate interaction between literature and film and television.

At the same time, the creation of young writers has gradually attracted the attention of the film and television industry. Film and television dramas adapted from works such as Haifei, Yu Yu, Xiao Jianghong, Shuang Xuetao, and Yu Geng have been favored and praised by different audience groups. High-rating film and television dramas are more active in the figure of online literature, Liu Yizi's "Biography of Zhen Huan", Cat Ti's "Qing Yu Nian", Ma Boyong's "Twelve Hours of Chang'an", and Pray Jun's "Beginning", these works have accumulated a huge readership in the wide dissemination of the Network, providing content support for the film and television industry, and also playing an important role in the entire film and television production mechanism because of the huge market value. In recent years, the creation of realistic themes in online literature has increased significantly, and has attracted attention, and Anai's novel has been adapted into a TV series "Great Rivers and Great Rivers" and "All Is Good", the former depicting the exploration and breakthrough of the pioneers of reform and opening up in the wave of change, and the latter depicting the daily life of ordinary families, all of which have achieved good results. He Chang's online novels with realistic themes such as "Haodang", Helan Cairen's "Glorious Road", and Qi Orange's "Big Country Heavy Industry" have become a new orientation for film and television adaptation.

Various art categories are integrated and interconnected, various forms of expression are cross-integrated, and the Internet, big data, artificial intelligence, etc. have spawned literary and artistic form innovation and expanded the literary and artistic space. This is the opportunity and challenge facing literature in the new era, and it also puts forward new requirements for our work today. In order to expand the influence of outstanding literary works, actively promote the transformation of literary works into film and television, give full play to the "mother" role of literature in various art categories, and create more and better cultural products that the people like to hear. According to the spirit of the instructions of the Central Propaganda Department, at the end of 2019, the China Writers Association established a film and television promotion mechanism led by the Innovation and Research Department of the China Writers Association after consultation with the National Film Administration.

Since its launch in January 2020, the mechanism has recommended nearly 100 outstanding literary works suitable for film and television adaptation to the National Film Administration. The Innovation and Research Department invites literary critics and editors who are familiar with current literary works and understand the laws of film and television production to dynamically form a film and television literary works promotion advisory group of about 10 people. Among the experts in the advisory group are the editors of first-line literary journals such as "People's Literature", "Harvest", "October", and "Contemporary", as well as literary critics and scholars from universities and research institutions such as Peking University, Chinese Min University, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Experts synthesize the advantages of the dynamics of the literary world, the audience's interest, and the rational and regular research on the topic of literary film and television, recommend literary works, write recommended opinions, and form a preliminary list of works. Based on the recommendations of experts, the Innovation and Research Department considers the content orientation, creative quality and adaptation potential, screens, forms a recommendation list, and submits it to the National Film Administration for evaluation.

The works submitted to the National Film Administration cover urban, rural, historical, science fiction and other subject areas. Recently submitted works include Liang Xiaosheng's "My Life and Me", Ah Lai's "Record of the Clouds", Chi Zijian's "Fireworks And Fireworks", Ye Zhou's "Dunhuang Benji", Haifei's "Jiangnan Campaign", Teng Xiaolan's "Heart Residence" and so on. In 2021, focusing on the work of the national center of "decisively fighting poverty alleviation and winning the all-round well-off", we selected 12 works with film and television adaptation value from the "Poverty Alleviation Theme Reportage Creation Project" of the China Writers Association, recommended them to the National Film Administration, and responded to film and television hotspots with major themes. After two years of work in 2020 and 2021, literary works with realistic themes that write people's daily lives have attracted more and more attention from film and television artists. We look forward to further promoting the integration of literature in the new era into the modern communication pattern through the continuous innovation of the mechanism.

Writers and artists are faithful recorders of socio-cultural and spiritual life. The profound cultural heritage of literature and the new modes of expression of film and television complement each other perfectly, and their purpose is to meet the growing spiritual and cultural needs of the people. In the work report of the Tenth National Congress of the China Writers Association, Zhang Hongsen, secretary of the party group of the China Writers Association, proposed the high-quality development of literature in the new era, and the meaning of the title also includes the mutual learning of literature in the new era and new art styles, breaking down barriers, in the modern communication pattern, two-wheel drive, two-way empowerment, constantly exploring new mechanisms, and jointly promoting the development and prosperity of socialist cultural undertakings.

(The author is the director of the Creative Research Department of the Chinese Writers Association)