New Edition of the History of Contemporary Chinese Literature

Author: Dong Jian, Ding Fan, Wang Binbin, Editors
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: We divide the contemporary literature of the past 50 years into five stages: 1949—1962 as the first stage; 1962—1971 as the second stage; 1971—1978 as the third stage; 1978—1989 as the fourth stage; and the 1990s and beyond as the fifth stage. This differs from several conventional periodizations. We set 1962 as the end of the first stage and the start of the second stage because the 10th Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the CCP, held that year, introduced the slogan "Never forget class struggle" and emphasized that class struggle should be "talked about every year, every month, and every day." This signified the end of the preceding "adjustment period," the rise of ultra-leftist trends in literature, and the gradual slide toward the "Cultural Revolution." We set 1971 as the end of the second stage and the start of the third stage because the "Lin Biao Incident" of that year effectively split the "Cultural Revolution" in two. After the incident, many people began to awaken to varying degrees, and literature also underwent certain changes. We set 1978 as the end of the third stage and the start of the fourth stage because the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the CCP that year held far greater significance for ideological liberation and the revival of literature than the collapse of the "Gang of Four" in 1976. We set 1989 as the end of the fourth stage and the start of the fifth stage because after entering the 1990s, the landscape of literature indeed underwent noticeable changes.