What is sub-literature?

Confronting "Asian Literature"

Wang Zhigeng and Wang Xufeng

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With the serious tilt of market distribution, literature is experiencing a An unprecedented mutant movement. The recent debate on the boundaries of literary theory is actually a reflection of the abnormal trends in literature itself. This variation is reflected in the fact that we find that the so-called literature that occupies the market is no longer literature in the traditional sense, but something specious. We are exposed to "literature" every day, even every moment, but we find that this literature is not that literature. For this reason, some commentators are calling for the popularization of aesthetics, while others are lamenting the decline of literature. Our point of view is that although what exists may not be reasonable, as a theoretical worker, it is unreasonable not to treat existence with a scientific attitude. Therefore, we should face literary reality head on. Obviously, since literary theory became a discipline, it has adopted a complete set of strategies for defining itself and eliminating impurities. Literary works and literary authors are named in the disciplinary violence of literary theory. In other words, only when they are certified by certain norms or value standards can the text be labeled as literature, the author can be covered with the aura of a writer, and the work can enter the category of literature. The temple is covered with what Benjamin calls the "aura" (aura) of art [1]; if it fails to pass the certification, the text will be equivalent to waste paper and will forever be excluded from the narrative of theoretical criticism. Therefore, it can be said that literature is caused by the historical conventions that give literary marks to specific texts. As Derrida said, literature "is the product of an intentional relationship to the text, which serves as a component or intention." It is a relatively implicit awareness of traditional or institutional—in short, social laws.” [2] However, today we must face more complex and difficult naming objects that occupy popular culture. In the era of dominance, the update of communication media and the operation of market mechanisms have forced the naming conventions we have been accustomed to for a long time to become out of order. In this case, we propose that we might as well temporarily use "sub-literature" to refer to these works that are between literature and non-literature, and judge them from an academic attitude.

The so-called "sub-literature", from the perspective of communication media, can be divided into three types: paper media, Internet media and mobile phone text message media.

In paper media, sub-literary works are very close to traditional literature, mainly referring to various popular novels that are neither recognized by critics as secular literature nor as elegant literature, such as Shi Kang "Dangling" and "A Mess", works named "beauty writing" and "lower body writing" by critics, such as "Shanghai Baby", "La La La", and the so-called "post-80s" youth Writing, such as works by Han Han, Guo Jingming, Li Shasha, Shui Ge and others. Although paper-based sub-literature is published and distributed in an officially recognized manner, it still receives a lot of criticism from critics.

Internet sub-literature is the main form of sub-literature. In fact, a lot of paper literature was first circulated on the Internet. Sub-literature that cannot enter print media and can only exist on the Internet mainly has the following forms: first, erotic novels with a large number of erotic descriptions, which cannot enter print media texts due to their nature and the constraints of the library management system; second, there are a large number of Forum posts are too fragmented and dispersed to enter print media; and there are a large number of heterogeneous jingles circulating on the Internet, which are piecemeal and some of the content is too sensitive, so they can only stay on the Internet.

The last category is mobile phone text message sub-literature, also known as text message literature or thumb literature. In recent years, text message literature has developed extremely rapidly with the capital operation of telecommunications companies. Various SMS literature awards activities continue, and many famous writers have also joined the ranks of judges. For example, "Tianya" magazine and Hainan Online "Tianya Community" have jointly organized many national text message literature competitions. The copyright of the 4,200-word mobile novel "Outside the City" written by Guangdong writer Qian Huchang was bought out by a telecom operator at a high price of 180,000 yuan and published by Chunfeng Literature and Art Publishing House.

For example, one text message from Yawen wrote, "Dear user: Your phone bill balance is less than 0.1 yuan. Please sell your son or daughter for rice, smash the pot and sell iron for some blood, sell your house, sell your land, sell your wife, and transfer your phone bill Turn it in. Thank you for your cooperation! China Telecom.” The author vented his dissatisfaction with China Telecom’s high charges by parodying China Telecom’s work terms; there is also the following online post: “Everyone knows that ‘Po’ is good, come on. As long as you can make a lot of money, everyone knows that the "back door" is good. No matter how difficult it is, everyone knows that the banquet is good. "Four dishes and one soup" are fattening. If you invite me, I'll treat you. Everyone knows that wrangling is easy and takes no effort for three or five years. All the problems will disappear. " The author directly borrowed and adapted the "Good Song" from "Red Dream" to express criticism and satire on the ugly phenomena of society, which has good intentions.

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Of course, the reason why we propose the term "sub-literature" without directly incorporating it into the scope of "standard literature" is because these textual phenomena are still It has characteristics that are different from traditional literature in many essential stipulations.

In terms of aesthetic form, sub-literature is the "de-halo" of traditional literature, and can be said to be literature in the "post-aesthetic era". Traditional literature, even popular literature and folk literature, will form some kind of worship value under the aura of art. Benjamin believes that art with a halo is an art that is inaccessible. “Inaccessibility actually forms a main characteristic of worshiping images” [5]. In Asian literary writing, this aspect of literature This inaccessibility is gone. On the one hand, sub-literature has become an exhibit in the age of mechanical reproduction - this phenomenon is most obvious in online sub-literature, especially in blog writing; on the other hand, sub-literature has become more popular through its universal participation and network interactivity. Make creation a common event that everyone can do - this phenomenon is most obvious in various forum posts. In terms of literary reception, sub-literature has not only completed what Benjamin called the transformation from "concentrated attention" to "entertainment", but also enabled the recipients to truly participate in the re-creation of literature. In sub-literature, literary acceptance has become DIY (Do It Yourself) in the true sense. At the aesthetic level, Benjamin once proposed that along with the transformation of art from "halo art" to art in the age of mechanical reproduction, there is the transformation of beautiful art (Asthetische Kunst) into post-aesthetic art (nach-Asthetische Kunst). The so-called beautiful art, in Benjamin’s view, “mainly refers to art that has aesthetic attributes and values ??in itself, and it has an independent appearance.” However, post-aesthetic art “does not have such direct aesthetic attributes itself.” Its aesthetic attributes It is indirect and additional. [6] In sub-literature, the independent aesthetic function of traditional literature has deteriorated sharply, and the spiritual aesthetics of literature has gradually been replaced by intense sensory stimulation and hilarious effects. The aesthetic attributes of literature are increasingly attached to the actual function of the work and become an add-on. In this sense, sub-literature truly drives literary aesthetics into what Benjamin calls the post-aesthetic era.

From the perspective of the social significance of creation, sub-literature is essentially a kind of destructive writing. Sub-literary writing does not pursue meaning, and even intentionally dissolves meaning. Take the large amount of text message sub-literature as an example. Many of them are simply displays of language skills. Although they reveal some images of survival, they do not aim to achieve the function of meaning intervention. Such as "I wrote your name in the sky, but it was taken away by the wind; I wrote your name on the beach, but it was taken away by the waves; so I wrote your name in every corner of the street... Damn it, I was taken away by the police!"; In addition, classic works have become the object of deconstruction of sub-literary language games, such as "There is a bright moonlight in front of the bed, two pairs of shoes on the floor..." and other Internet jingles, the seriousness in classical poetry The theme is playfully dismantled and transformed into a modern pulp joke. The dissolution of meaning will inevitably lead to the dilution of the educational function of literature. In fact, both Chinese and Western cultures have expectations for the function of literature as a means of education.

Plato said in "The Republic" that our education must "start with fictional literature" and "the works must be beneficial to us; they must only imitate the words of good people"; [7] Aristotle also believed that tragedy "Emotions are cultivated by arousing pity and fear"; [8] Even Horace, who emphasized the entertainment function of literature, did not forget to "educate and entertain, not only to advise readers but also to make them like them, in order to meet public expectations." [9] to summarize his understanding of the function of literary education. In China, the educational function of literature has been emphasized to an unprecedented degree. "Zuo Zhuan" says, "The most important thing is to establish virtue, and the second is to establish words." The text carries the Tao, which is as bright as the sun and the moon, and as clear as the stars. The highest ideal of Chinese literati has always been to "establish a mind for the heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the people, carry forward the unique knowledge of the saints, and create peace for the world" through articles. In the writing of Asian literature, the educational function of literature has been abandoned, and "edutaining through entertainment" has become "just enjoying but not teaching". There is no sense of responsibility here, such as "having an iron shoulder to bear moral responsibility and writing wonderful articles with a pen", nor is there a serious attitude that the writer is the conscience of society. What is left is only the carnival of music after the meaning has been flattened and the educational function has been eliminated. The large number of jokes, erotic stories, heterogeneous jingles, and meaningless language games that appear in sub-literature are the inevitable result of the departure of the educational function of literature and the entry of the entertainment function.

From the perspective of the relationship between creation and social ethics, an important feature of sub-literature is the dissolution of traditional moral norms, thereby completing the direct release of desires. An important function of traditional literature is to pass on core human values ??and moral principles. In excellent literary works at home and abroad, both ancient and modern, you can find praise and praise for love, friendship, honesty, courage, loyalty and other excellent qualities everywhere. It can be said that no other medium can better preserve and inherit these most basic ethical principles of mankind than literature. Sub-literatures generally do not believe that they have this responsibility. On the contrary, they try to establish some alternative ethics with their anti-traditional attitude. For example, when it comes to the issue of "sex", there are no sexual descriptions in traditional literature, from the ancient "Jin Ping Mei" and "Yu Jiao Li" to modern Zhang Xianliang's "Half of a Man Is a Woman", Chen Zhongshi's "White Deer Plain" and There are a lot of sexual descriptions in Jia Pingwa's "The Wasted Capital" and so on. However, the attitude of traditional writers in dealing with "sex" is completely different from that of Asian literary authors. The former is mostly about serious inquiries about human nature and meaning, while the latter is good at exposing and showing off, and basically writes for sexual excitement. Another example is the issue of “body writing” in Asian literature. In the context of Western theory, "body writing" is a description of specific literary expressions in Western feminist literary theory. The essence of it is to emphasize the female perspective and position in literary writing, as well as women's unique feelings about life. This expression implies a gesture of resistance against the male-heavy social and historical narrative, and believes that personal narratives are equally important as historic grand narratives. For Western feminists, "body writing" is an expression of women's position and a resistance to women's feelings being covered by male discourse in the literary field. It is not limited to women's physiological feelings, nor is it limited to women's specific bodies. Sensation of organs. [10] The "body writing" of some sub-literature has basically become "lower body writing", which focuses more on women's secret physical feelings and psychological experiences, and contains a large number of detailed descriptions of women's sexual experiences. From Wei Hui to Mian Mian, from Jiudan to Hongying, from Mu Zimei to Zhuying Qingtong, the so-called "beauty writers" in the contemporary literary world unscrupulously expose their body details and absolute privacy. Everyone is fighting for the card of female "body parts". If it is not vulgar, it is not enough to win buyers, and if it is not explicit, it is not enough to show pioneering. In the "beauty writing" and "lower body writers" of Asian literature, writing becomes a direct catharsis of desire, and writing becomes a physiological event rather than a mental event.

From the perspective of the relationship between text and readers, an important feature of sub-literature that is different from traditional literature is that sub-literature has a "sadistic" tendency towards readers. This is most obvious in sub-literary genres such as mobile phone text messages and online comments.

For example, this kind of mobile phone text message: "Not every flower can represent love, but roses can do it; not every tree can withstand thirst, but poplar can do it; not every pig can read text messages, but you can." You did it. Congratulations." Another example: "In the vast sea of ??people, when you receive this sincere blessing, please hit your head against the wall with all your strength - do you see the countless stars in front of you? "Love!" Such text messages are not actual malicious abuse, nor are they real personal attacks, but rather playful abuse with a strong folk carnival flavor. In the illusory abuse, both the author and the readers dissolve the dullness and depression caused by the boring and serious daily life in a carnival atmosphere. Another example is some online posts. Posters often use a high degree of writing skills to dissolve an originally serious topic into a carnival of banter and ridicule, leaving readers dumbfounded. [11] In addition, the behavior of "digging holes" in online forums itself carries a certain masochistic expectation. In the process of digging holes and asking people to pour water on them, what the poster gets is not only the sense of accomplishment that comes from attracting attention to the topic, but also the sense of accomplishment that comes from attracting attention to the topic. —— Because such topics often gain attention not because of some originality —— There is also the masochistic pleasure gained in the process of being "beaten". For example, the topic "Please name someone" that appears in many forums is a typical expectant masochistic topic. In this type of topic, participants give full play to their knowledge reserves and imagination, and engage in intelligent torture against the poster. For example, if you name twins with the surname "Jia", the comments will be "Jia Ren Jiayi, Jia Mo Jia Shi"; if you name the twins with the surname "Shu", they will include "Shu Jia, Shu Lei, Schumacher", etc. We do not rule out that among the initiators of such topics there are serious seekers, but its actual effect is to create a space for verbal abuse, and in the communication between sadism and masochism, it constitutes a readable sub-literary form.

When sub-literary writing has become a cultural phenomenon that cannot be ignored, literary theory should never turn a blind eye to it and adopt an evasive attitude. We believe that sub-literature is popular literature in the postmodern era and consumer era. Although sub-literature is popular and popular, it is different from popular literature and popular literature. First of all, from the perspective of moral bearing, the spiritual ideals of popular literature and popular literature are reflected in the support, confirmation and reproduction of traditional values, while sub-literature mostly holds a negative and deconstructive attitude towards traditional values. Secondly, sub-literature is more commercialized and consumerized than popular literature and popular literature. Zheng Zhenduo believes that "the first characteristic of popular literature is that of the masses. She was born among the people, writes for the people, and lives for the people." [12] Mao Dun also believes that "the word 'popular' should be the form It is "known to all women and children", and the content is the emotions and thoughts of the public." [13] They emphasize the easy-to-understand and widespread dissemination of popular literature, and its characteristics have not yet been reflected in commerciality and consumption. As Jameson pointed out, in the postmodern era, “culture has been completely popularized” and “commodities entering culture means that art is becoming a commodity” [14], which precisely points out that sub-literature is different from popular literature and is unique. It has commercial and consumer characteristics. In sub-literary writing, the self-regulation of traditional literature breaks down, and commercial capital directly intervenes in the evaluation of literature with its own logic. Literary and commercial forces joined hands to bring sub-literature into literary writing in the capital era. Sub-literary forms such as body writing, youth writing, and text message literature all wander like ghosts between literature and commercial capital operations, producing and consuming in the name of literature under the control of commercial logic. Qian Fu, a writer on text message literature, once said frankly that text message literature is "not only for literary innovation, but also for operating works as commodities." [15] In addition, sub-literature's use of new communication media provides insights into the consumption psychology of modern readers. and utilization, its impact on the dailyization and post-aestheticization of literary aesthetics, and its unique role in relieving the pressure of modern life, etc., will make sub-literature a new important field in literary theoretical research.

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[1] Benjamin, Walter Illuminations, New York: Schocken, 1969, pp219-220.

[2] Derrida "Calling Literature" "The Strange Institution", see "Literary Action", translated by Zhao Xingguo et al., China Social Sciences Press, 1998, p. 11.

[3] Xinhuanet/book/2004-09/13/content_1974999.htm, collected on 2005-8-6.

[4] Xinhuanet/mobile/2005-07/26/content_3269128.htm, collected on 2005-8-6.

[5] Benjamin, Walter Illuminations, New York: Schocken, 1969, pp243.

[6] Chen Xueming, "Benjamin", Taipei Shengzhi Publishing House, 1998, Pages 146-147.

[7] Plato's "Utopia", see "Plato's Literary Dialogues", People's Literature Publishing House, 1980, pp. 22, 56.

[8] Aristotle's "Poetics", see "Poetics? Poetic Art", People's Literature Publishing House, 1984, page 19.

[9] Horace "Poetic Art", see "Poetics? Poetic Art", People's Literature Publishing House, 1984, page 155.

[10] Yan Zhen, "Analysis of the Historical Context of Body Writing", "Literary Contest", Issue 5, 2004.

[11] Please refer to the following online post/book/2004-09/13/content_1974999.htm, collected on 2005-8-6.

(Author’s affiliation: School of Liberal Arts, Nankai University)