2002 Essays

Author: Chen Sihe
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-04-01
Features: In recent years, I have been paying close attention to the theoretical innovation of modern literary history. Spanning the literary history of the 20th century in China's century-long journey, at the transition between the end of one century and the arrival of another, we become aware of its penetration into our spiritual lives today, while we can also temporarily confirm a period concept through the passage of time. Many historical enigmas may be grasped and elucidated from a complete perspective, and they may also inspire today's creative works. We need a new academic category to re-examine and interpret the literary phenomena within it, making it a discipline closely related to contemporary life and full of inspirational significance.
Regarding the exploration of how the art of the essay can break through, I have had similar interests in recent years. I believe that the concept of the "essay" is somewhat similar to that of poetry—it is both a very difficult genre to define and a very difficult genre to standardize in rhetorical terms. For example, when we read some novels, poems, or even dramatic works that are not formally standardized, we often call them "essayistic," such as "essayistic novels" or "essayistic poems." This shows that the essay has a very broad scope—it can permeate various genres and play a role in subverting rigid artistic forms. As a result, strict formal norms may give rise to new artistic vitality when they are diluted, dissolved, and subverted.
So, is there a type of essay that can be called "essayistic"?