2002 Non-fiction Literature: 2002 Non-fiction Literature

Author: Chen Sihe
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-04-01
Features: In recent years, I have been focusing on the theoretical innovation of modern literary history. Throughout the two-century literary history of a century-old China, at the transition between the end of one century and the arrival of another, we become aware of its penetration into our spiritual life today, and we can temporarily confirm the concept of a specific period through the passage of time. Many historically obscure phenomena may be grasped and elaborated on from a complete perspective, and they may also provide inspiration for today's creative works. We need a new academic category to re-recognize and interpret the literary phenomena within it, making it a discipline closely related to contemporary life and full of enlightening significance.
Regarding the exploration of how the art of the essay breaks through, I have had a similar interest 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 regulate in terms of rhetorical norms. For example, when we read some novels, poems, or even dramas that are not formally standardized in their artistic expression, we may 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 already solidified artistic forms. As a result, rigid formal norms may generate new artistic vitality when they are diluted, dissolved, and subverted.
So, is there a kind of essay that can be called "essayistic"?