Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 9, 2022

Towards a Literary Culturology of Communities of Difference

(Abstract)

Jin Huimin

The market economy, globalization and, above all, the rapid development of new media technologies have given rise to a rich variety of cultural forms, with literature no longer being the central or dominant form of culture in contemporary society and cultural life largely replacing literary reading. The effect on the academic system is that literary studies are being dismantled and reorganized into cultural studies. How can literature gain vitality in the face of the advance of cultural studies? Neither sticking with literature nor giving up resistance and surrendering to culture is the right path. The best option is to find new links or associations between the two, and the “literary culturology” advocated in recent years by academia at home and abroad represents an attempt in this direction. Literature can lead the way to cultural progress, but the way it does this must involve a return to the everyday-ness of culture, in a cultural role rather than a purely aesthetic one. Literature and culture are fundamentally linked in terms of linguistic medium, aesthetic sensibility and universal aspirations, making it possible to develop a “literary culturology” that bridges literature and culture.