The cartoon above stresses that it is important for researchers of literature and art to be both skilled artistically and virtuous.

 
 

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China recently released a document that outlines plans to promote Chinese literature and art.

A guideline for advancing socialist literature and art as well as cultural and ideological progress, the Document on the Development of Socialist Literature and Art contains specific targets and feasibility assessments that are detailed in 25 items from six aspects.

Scholars agree that the document is of great strategic and practical significance in the new historical context.

Similar to the Two Hundred Policies, the document is another pillar of socialist literature and the art, said Lu Jiande, director of the Institute of Literature at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

“Literature and art constitute the torch of the national spirit and the horn of the era. This is easier said than done, and what is important is to truly comprehend and absorb the essential role of literature and art and put it into full play in practice,” Lu said.

Lu expressed his agreement with the document’s emphasis on literary and artistic theory and criticism: “Currently, the voice of literary criticism is still weak. Literary researchers need to be encouraged to have critical opinions and offer criticism to help create a sound social atmosphere for literary criticism.”
 

The lack of basic ethical elements in some of today’s literary works results in a nihilistic portrayal of human life and society, which would surely be abandoned and criticized in any country because of the negative effects that they exert on readers and society at large, Lu said.

Researchers in this field need to carry distinctive values with them because the utmost aim of literature is to elevate and refine the conscience of humanity. It is their responsibility to introduce positive works permeated with love and warmth to public readers, Lu said.
 

“As subjects of cultural creation and communication, researchers of literature and art need to reach and serve the people. Life, reality and people are the three major factors for literary and artistic creation,” said Jiang Shuzhuo, secretary of the Party committee of Jinan University, Guangdong Province.
 

He further pointed out that the uniqueness and originality of works is of paramount importance. Moreover, the relationship between elegance and vulgarity needs to be handled well so that the ethos of culture is preserved and not made subject to the whims of the market, he said.

Xi Mu, a professor from Shanghai University, said cultural development in China lags behind economic growth. He said three key problems remain in the cultural sector of China: There is sufficient passion for innovation, but there is a failure to preserve and carry on traditions. There is a willingness to open up to the world, but the capacity to truly go global is deficient. Traditional cultural resources are abundant, but protection for them is inadequate.
 

Folk culture, a bulwark of national spirit, is considered a constant source of vitality for public literature and art. Those involved in preserving cultural heritage need to maintain the focus on protection, said Luo Yang, vice-president of the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association.
To advance folk culture, Luo said it is essential to “make the past serve the present” and “weed through the old to bring forth the new.” In many respects, folk culture has the attributes of a public good. Therefore, folk literature should be non-profit and serve the public interest, Luo said.
 

Luo added that to avoid damage to folk cultural heritage brought by large-scale demolition and reconstruction, workers in the field of folk culture need to constantly improve their cultural awareness to liven up the relics and antiques in museums and bring to life the words printed in the ancient books, which is also a way to enhance China’s cultural power.
 

Li Linrong, a professor from Beijing International Studies University, said the timing of the Central Committee’s missive is perfect in light of the unwholesome climate that is pervasive in the field of literature and art, such as the worship of money, degeneration of ideology and moral decadence. From the perspectives of social identity, cultural role and historical significance, the document refreshes the minds of contemporary artists and revitalizes their spirits, Li said.

Another highlight of the document is its emphasis on the importance of online literature and art. More online literary classics need to be created, said Deputy Editor-in-Chief of China Writers Net Ma Ji, who specializes in online literary study.
 

“On one hand, aesthetic taste and public affinity should be infused into online literary works. Tailoring works for a mass audience does not mean that online writers should reject the elements of outstanding traditional literary works,” Ma said. “On the other, it is indisputable that online literature has huge potential, with the rise of a diversity of writing forms and the increasing universality of the Internet.”
 

Though online literature is thriving, online literary criticism is still far from satisfactory, said Ouyang Youquan, a professor from the College of Literature and Journalism at Central South University. Online literature has not yet established its own appraisal system, which means online criticism lacks guidance. Furthermore, scholarly criticism is prone to be estranged from online literature, so contemporary online literary criticism remains superficial, Ouyang said.
 

Information can be transmitted and updated at a much faster speed online while online literature and art can reach a wider audience and are more capable of closely reflecting daily life. At the same time, this emerging model of content delivery features a juxtaposition of both superb and inferior works as well as a mixture of different concepts. To realize the holistic prosperity of socialist literature and art, such defects need to be remedied, allowing the voice of the people and spirit of the era to be truly heard online, said Duan Jifang, a professor from the School of Literature at South China Normal University.

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Scholarly Insights

Expressions like “governments at all levels need to integrate the cause of literature and art into their overall planning for economic and social development” and “Party committees at all levels also need to put the work of literature and art on important agendas” really delight me because this is the first time that I have seen them explicitly stated in an important official document of China.
—Dang Shengyuan, secretary of the Party Committee of the Institute of Foreign Literature at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

 

This is an era of globalization. This is also an era of literature and art, aesthetics and sensibility. To make researchers keep sober minds and avoid being lost in sensuous pleasures, the Document on the Development of Socialist Literature and Art clearly indicates a direction for them.
—Chen Xiaoming, a professor from Peking University and vice-president of the China Literary Criticism Association

 

Having been committed in the frontier of the television industry for a long time, we feel really excited about and proud of President Xi Jinping’s speech on literature and art. The TV drama The Ordinary World, which has been immensely popular among the public and stirred a revival of interest in grassroots literature in recent years, proves the validity of the people-oriented guideline for literary creation stressed in the speech.
—Mao Weining, director of the TV drama The Ordinary World

 

The advocacy of social mainstreams must be sincere. This sincerity comes from the author’s unswerving adherence to his faith and aspiration, devoid of which, he would fail to depict figures with brilliant minds and powerful emotions. To speak highly of heroes in dramas requires us to communicate with them heart to heart instead of always face to face. Become an “invisible man,” cling to them and hear their voices.
—Meng Bing, vice president of China Theatre Association

 

Nostalgia for the homeland, one of the vital roots of Chinese national identity, is being diluted in the context of globalization, so the coordination among international influence, national tradition and national spirit is one of the challenges faced by the field of literature and art.
—Chen Zhongyi, director of the Institute of Foreign Literature at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

 

At present, vivacious characters and moving stories are what we particularly need for literary and artistic works in which socialist core values could be conveyed.
—Zhang Qinghua, a professor from Beijing Normal University