"Generation Z" becomes the main force of "foreign writers" (Huayin Huanyang)

"Reading online texts" and "writing online texts" have become important cultural and entertainment lifestyles for many overseas youth. A few days ago, the latest data released by Reading Group on overseas online literature writers shows that in the past year, the number of online literary writers at the starting point of its overseas platform has increased by more than 3 times, and among the overseas writers on the platform, "post-00s" and "post-95s" account for more than 80%. What are the new characteristics and development trends of the overseas online literature writers? Recently, reporters interviewed industry insiders and experts to analyze and interpret this.

Overseas writers are enthusiastic about creating

The data shows that in the past year, the team of overseas online literary writers has continued to grow, and the professional background and profession of writers have also shown a more obvious diversification trend. According to incomplete statistics, Starting Point International has launched 1,700 Chinese online translation works, cultivated nearly 190,000 overseas creators, and launched more than 280,000 overseas original works, with a cumulative user of nearly 100 million.

In terms of writer characteristics, in addition to the common liberal arts majors such as literature, history, and fine arts, there are more and more overseas writers with scientific backgrounds such as computer science, physics, applied mathematics, and economics; in terms of professional backgrounds, many non-writing-related professionals such as teachers, computer engineers, full-time mothers, and bank clerks have also begun to become the core force of online literary creation. In terms of geographical distribution, southeast Asian online literature writers account for 36.2% of the total, ranking first, North America also ranks second with more than 30% of the proportion, Southeast Asia and North America have become an important region that "rich" online literature writers.

The enthusiasm of overseas online literary writers is high, and the age structure of writers has also shown more distinctive characteristics - "Generation Z" is becoming the main force of creation. According to Hou Xiaonan, president of Yuwen Group and vice president of Tencent Online Video, at present, the "post-00s" have become the largest group of overseas online literary writers under Reading, accounting for 56%; "post-95s" are close behind, accounting for 25%. Not only that, the proportion of "post-00s" and "post-95s" among the head writers has also reached 80%, becoming the core of the creation of high-quality content in the industry.

According to expert analysis, these overseas original works have diverse themes and rich content, and the world view structure of most of the works is deeply influenced by the early translation of Chinese online literature, which contains the common themes of struggle, respect for teachers, brotherhood and brotherhood in Chinese online literature. The most common are imitations of Chinese xianxia and martial arts works, the use of Chinese elements such as pandas, high-speed rails, and Huawei mobile phones in novels, and the use of "system flow" and "infinite stream" and other writing methods commonly found in Chinese online literature.

Writing brings spiritual material "double harvest"

In the past year, during the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the number of overseas online literary writers has increased by more than 3 times. The 24-year-old online literature writer "Snoring Panda" from Nepal has been reading oriental fantasy novels for 7 years and still loves this kind of subject. He decided to write his own novel because he felt that writing a book was the perfect solution to fight boredom during the pandemic.

"During the pandemic, people are so bored that they want to do something to distract themselves. Writing is a great pastime, but it's hard to finish a book and publish it in the traditional way, so novice writers start looking for other ways to publish. They found the form of online publishing and quickly became an online writer. "Snoring pandas," said.

Creating online literature has brought real income to writers. In order to support the development of overseas original online literature, Starting Point International launched the global annual prize essay as early as 2019, and more than 80,000 overseas writers have participated. Many literature lovers have realized their writing dreams with the help of the starting point international, and some people have changed their lives and even their lives by earning income through writing.

After reading a large number of novels at the starting point internationally two years ago, Adui from the United States began his writing career. Since then, writing has become one of the most important things in his life. "Since the first novel, I've always enjoyed the sense of accomplishment that comes with writing, not only to pass the time, but also to help me realize a lot of dreams, after all, I have never been financially free before, let alone starting a family and even investing in other projects," Adu said. ”

Help more people realize their creative dreams

Cong Zhichen, associate professor of the Department of Chinese of Peking University and a specially invited researcher of the Museum of Modern Chinese Literature, believes that recently, chinese online literature has frequently appeared in bright spots, and a large number of overseas online writers have emerged, which has truly made overseas audiences accept and actively participated.

"Although online literature is known for its imagination and deforms many cultural elements, its background color is still 'Chinese'. Many Western online literature writers and ordinary readers have mentioned that during the epidemic, online literature has comforted them, which is one of the most fundamental functions of literature. In this regard, the significance of online literature going to sea should even be considered at the level of the value of literature to human beings. Cong Zhichen said.

Hou Xiaonan said that he hopes to continuously explore and cultivate overseas potential authors through various awards and essay brand activities, and provide a variety of incubation carriers for overseas excellent original online literature IP through financial and traffic support. He said: "We want to create a talent community for online literary writing, establish an author ecology, collect more high-quality works, provide professional online literature creation guidance for authors, provide a wider range of readers and a longer-term life chain for works, and help more writers realize their creative dreams." ”

In the view of Xiong Bingzhen, Secretary-General of UNESCO's International Council for Philosophy and Humanities, with the development of the Internet, online literature has become a well-known phenomenon worldwide. "I am pleased to see that China's online literature platform is constantly exploring new spaces and benefiting readers and writers around the world through initiatives such as holding essay contests and cultivating young talents." It is believed that online literature will create more possibilities in the future. ”

(Image from the Internet)