2006 (China Literature)

Author: Lin Xianzhi, edited by Zhang De'ning
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2007-01-01
Features: What is literature? This is primarily a practical question, not a theoretical one. No writer or ordinary reader can avoid this question, and in fact, through their respective writing and reading, they have already offered different answers through different choices. There is no absolutely correct or complete answer. In this book, writers are produced by works; context is revealed through the illusory mirror of art. Therefore, for readers, we might call ourselves textists. The publication dates of the selected works range from October of the previous year to October of the current year. Individual works not selected may be included in the following year's anthology. To lose a full seed is, in any case, a sin. The genres are primarily fiction, essays, and poetry, with varying lengths. Novels and multi-act plays are generally not included. The arrangement of order is not rigidly fixed, aiming to create a reading rhythm. In compiling a comprehensive reader, we firmly believe that no writer, genre, or style is inherently superior. The "reasons for selection" are not a comprehensive evaluation of the works, but merely a reading guide for the convenience of readers. The appendices at the end are intended to provide a reference and broaden readers' perspectives. The arguments in the appendices do not represent the editors, and this is stated here.
Literary language can be divided into two levels: the ontological and the textual. The ontological language directly reflects a writer's artistic temperament and cultural literacy, while the language in the text is on a secondary level, demonstrating its quality through specific structural relationships. Language is not the entirety of literature, but it is the entire outward appearance of literary form. Through the perceptibility of language, many literary counterfeits lacking physical vitality and individual characteristics can be excluded from the outset. Literary quality is the judgment of literary works. Additionally, ideological and cultural connotations, including what Jameson calls "ideological elements," as well as factors such as information, knowledge, and culture, are also important criteria for distinguishing between great and lesser writers and works. On the basis of a certain level of artistic creation, these comprehensive factors can even be considered decisive.
Works of literature also have a tendency. For example, political and ideological tendencies, moral tendencies, and so on. The many contents that dissolve in literature are not existences that are scattered and free, but often present a subjective value orientation through internal cohesion. This clearly involves the issue of subjectivity.