Chinese Journal of Literary Criticism

No.3, 2020

Three Dimensions of Rural “New Characters” in Recent Years

(Abstract)

Chen Guohe

Since the beginning of the 21st century, particularly in the past decade, the modern transformation of Chinese society has accelerated. In the modernization of the Chinese countryside, the process of urbanization– from a “rural China” to an “urban China” – remains a major trend. In the writing of Chinese experience, a crucial part is the creation of characters that correspond to the expectations of our time. Some writers with artistic ambitions and a sense of historical responsibility have managed to create a large number of rural “new characters” from three dimensions: rural migrants, rural returnees and rural cadres (including poverty alleviation cadres). Such efforts are highly valuable in the writing of Chinese experience in the new era.