Urgent! ! Literary criticism of recent literary phenomena after the 1990s

Generally speaking, literary criticism in the 1990s has the following six characteristics:

First, it is not keen on the study of new disciplines that are purely theoretical, but faces reality and follows

Current creative phenomena and make your own responses in a timely manner. Comments on the works of Jia Pingwa and Wang Shuo, artistic analyzes of "September Fables" and "Zeng Guofan", and comments on writers such as Liu Zhenyun and Han Shaogong all illustrate the relationship between criticism and creation. The relationship has improved and become closer. In the study of style, prose has always been a weak link. However, in recent years, the research on new phenomena of prose creation and the discussion of the gains and losses of Yu Qiuyu

's cultural prose have also shown that prose criticism is no longer as content as in the past.

But critics like to go to extremes. When they are not keen on the construction of new purely theoretical disciplines

, some people imitate thinkers and do macro-cultural criticism. This kind of criticism, if written well, can indeed give people the feeling of being in a lofty position, but it is very common that it appears to be large and empty. A major feature of this criticism is its tendency to use big words, such as "global" humanity. This misuse of "global" dwarfs the New Criticism of close reading of texts that was popular in the 1980s. This results in the alienation of criticism

from creation. It is no wonder that when a new creative phenomenon appears, few people conduct solid research, and many critics lack enthusiasm or even dismiss it. The analysis of "New Realism" novels is an exception. By 1996, another critic raised the issue of "realism shock wave". This formulation shows the critic's concern for creative tendencies. However, whether this "shock wave" "flag" can be theoretically tenable remains to be considered.

On the one hand, it talks about the improvement of the relationship between criticism and creation, and on the other hand, it talks about "alienation". At first glance,

it seems inconsistent. In fact, this reflects the characteristics of criticism in the 1990s: Critics cannot fully grasp the complex literary phenomena under the impact of the economic tide. Sometimes they follow closely and sometimes they stay away. The reason for alienation,

in addition to some critics changing their writing lines, is also because the creations in the 1990s are not as stimulating to the critics' imagination and creativity as they were in the 1980s

.

Second, there are new divisions and adjustments in the critic team. There are indeed some examples, such as going into business, switching to writing novels,

rewriting cultural criticism, etc., but these do not seem to be enough to prove what some people say

In the "Victory Day" escape". As for saying that academic critics are busy "decoding theoretical knowledge", resulting in a complete alienation from the works of contemporary writers, this is a typical emotional comment. , with subjective arbitrariness. As far as critics in Beijing are concerned, they still write a lot of immediate literary theory criticism, and academic research has not weakened their sensitivity and sensitivity to "texts". insight. What’s more, a new generation of critics emerged in the 1990s.

Third, the research on the history of contemporary Chinese literature has made breakthrough progress. Research on the history of contemporary Chinese literature began during the "Seventeen Years" period. But the research at that time was all a footnote to the literary movement at that time and rejected individualized aesthetic consciousness. More than 30 contemporary literary histories published since the new era have changed this situation. These literary histories have established the research objects and scope of contemporary literary history, discussed the nature and periodization, and also positioned the works of some influential writers, making contemporary Literature became independent from the history of modern literature and became an emerging discipline.

However, the shortcomings of these contemporary literary history works are also extremely obvious: there is insufficient research on the laws of contemporary literary development

The framework is mostly a superposition of the theory of the writer's work, and it ignores Literature of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao.

After entering the 1990s, this situation has changed.

The most outstanding sign is the first appearance of the history of private family governance (previous histories of contemporary literature were all compiled collectively). This is Hong Zicheng's work based on his study at the University of Tokyo from 1991 to 1993. Lecture notes "An Overview of Contemporary Chinese Literature" compiled during the visit (Hong Kong Youth Bookstore 1997 edition). This book has almost the same title as "A Survey of Contemporary Literature" (Peking University Press, 1980 edition) that he co-edited. However, the system, content and research perspective are quite different. The most important feature of this book is that when it deals with and "reconstructs" the literary materials and phenomena of the past 40 years, it is not bound by popular opinions and dares to challenge the dominant "literary norms"

provides a new explanation of its nature and evolution. Specifically, when discussing literature from the 1950s to the 1970s,

describes how the "worker, peasant, and soldier literature" established in the Yan'an period achieved absolute dominance,

and how this Basic characteristics of literary form. The second part reveals the process of the gradual weakening and even collapse of this literary norm in the 1980s, and enthusiastically affirms the "reconstruction" of the diversified pattern of Chinese writers. In terms of framework processing, the book does not adopt the popular method of grouping writers' works, but focuses on describing the emergence and change process of literary phenomena, but it is not like the "China" edited by Zhao Junxian.

but combines history with theory, making it unique among similar textbooks. It is no exaggeration to say that this book is one of the most original textbooks on contemporary literary history. At present, its influence is mainly overseas

but it is believed that it will soon be "exported and domestically sold", prompting changes in mainland China's contemporary literary history textbooks.

In terms of research on Taiwan and Hong Kong literature, Taiwan and Hong Kong literature researchers in the 1990s worked hard

to write a number of special histories of a certain quality, which served as a basis for the integration and diversion of literature. Contemporary Chinese literature provides a better foundation.

Fourth, discussions about humanistic spirit and urban culture - especially the former, were spontaneously initiated by young and middle-aged intellectuals in the academic community, with many writers actively participating. During the three-year discussion, we faced the crisis of the humanistic spirit at the end of the century and reflected on the contemporary issue of intellectuals repositioning themselves after the frustration of elite mythology. Wang Xiaoming, one of the initiators of the discussion, once summarized some of the opinions of the discussants as follows: 1. The cultural reality we live in today is far from being satisfactory, and even It can be said that it is in a profound crisis; 2. As an important aspect of this crisis, the mental state of contemporary intellectuals or cultural people is generally poor, and their personality has shrunk.

The poor taste, lack of imagination and "aphasia" in thought and academics are the striking manifestations

; 3. From the perspective of intellectuals or cultural people, they have lost their understanding of the individual. ,

The grasp of the meaning of existence of human beings and the world; 4. This common

spiritual incongruity of intellectuals or cultural people is caused by various changes in the historical process since modern times. It is caused by the combination of political, military, economic and

cultural factors; 5. To truly get rid of such a state of disempowerment requires the continuous efforts of several generations; 6. As this At the beginning of their efforts, the discussants are particularly willing to advocate a basic meaning of existence that pays attention to life and the world, constantly cultivate and develop inner values

needs, and strive to To practice this spirit of demand in all aspects of life, they use one word to summarize it, which is "humanistic spirit"; 7. Since it is such a spirit, its

Practice will naturally become a growing and increasingly enriching process, a process that embodies universality through human nature and

difference.

Generally speaking, this discussion was conducted in an atmosphere of academic democracy and freedom, which fully reflected the valuable sense of social responsibility of intellectuals.

However, during the discussion, due to different understandings of the connotation of the humanistic spirit

the argument was not rigorous enough, there were major and inappropriate flaws, and there was not enough exchange of ideas.

The discussion was therefore Falling into formalism, out of touch with people's living world, the gains are not obvious

.

Fifth, the trend of kitsch is serious, and the trend of labeling "new" and establishing "late" is strong. Some critics are keen to throw out banners such as new generation, new realism, new experience, new state, new city, new citizen and

private writing, as well as postmodernism. New terms such as , post-criticism, post-colonial, post-rise, and post-obscurity. These banners and terms are mostly used for the best-selling of a magazine or the launch of a group of writers. In an era when the commercial economy replaces the planned economy, literature is moving towards commodification.

It seems understandable that literary criticism should use some marketing methods appropriately, but there is always a certain degree of caution in mentioning slogans and terminology

The theoretical basis must be consistent with the actual development of literature and the actual creation of writers. However, except for a few of the above slogans and terms, most of them lack theoretical achievements and cannot withstand scrutiny.

Related to this tendency of literary packaging is the popularity and proliferation of seminars on writers' works

Holding a seminar on excellent or distinctive works and inviting qualified critics for consultation will undoubtedly help improve the creative level of writers. But when this form is used indefinitely, especially when "paid reviews" are made and critics become advertisers of works, this kind of writer and critic collusion (rather than cooperation) is not worthy of praise.

Sixth, "literary events" continue to appear. With the gradual establishment of the socialist market economic system, facing the surging tide of commodities, sacred literature can no longer be sacred. Writers

feel troubled, and critics Fell into confusion. In order to fight against this commodity tide and better

market their own spiritual products, critics and writers (or editors) continue to stage one literary "event" after another

. First, there was the "incident" of the ranking of literary masters planned by Wang Yichuan, Mao Dun was removed, and Jin Yong and others replaced him. In 1997, there was the so-called "Maqiao Controversy" incident. Writers and critics, and critics and critics, were at loggerheads with each other until they went to court. In fact, as a literary critic, it is not a smart choice to resort to the law to decide who is right and wrong. We advocate solving problems through normal literary criticism. You must be able to listen to different opinions,

you can counter-criticize after listening. On the other hand, you must also trust time and readers, and do not rush to resort to legal means.

In the 1990s, there were also debates or "incidents" over the two "Century Chinese Literary Classics" and "Century Chinese Literary Classics" edited by Xie Mian and others. In recent years, in order to meet the needs of the market

some selectors (editing and selection is also a kind of criticism) have used scissors and paste to compile various products with different titles

"Selection of works" and "Selection of fine works". These two "century-old literary classics" edited by professors from prestigious universities have pushed this "editing craze" to its peak. Since it is a close observation and the selection criteria are not uniform, what is more important is that the editor stamps a group of writers' works as "classics" in the name of literary history. Cause readers and even selected candidates to question.

Due to the interference of performance and event-based criticism, as well as the closure of critical journals, critical articles

had no choice but to appear in newspapers and periodicals. Therefore, generally speaking, literary criticism in the 1990s seemed Smart and light, not as thick and dignified as those in the 1980s. In addition to the invasion of commercial marketing techniques into the field of literary criticism as mentioned above, it is also harassed by meaningless debates that lack theoretical significance. This harassment

sometimes develops into hurtful criticism. (Excerpted from Guangming Daily)