Why do people in socialist China read and write literary works?
Earlier studies in Western Sinology have approached Chinese texts
from the socialist era as portraits of society, as keys to the
tug-of-war of dissent, or, more recently, as pursuit of "pure art."
"The Uses of Literature" looks broadly and empirically at these and
many other "uses" of literature from the points of view of authors,
editors, political authorities, and several kinds of readers. Perry
Link, author of "Evening Chats in Beijing," considers texts ranging
from elite "misty" poetry to underground hand-copied volumes
(shouchauben) and shows in concrete detail how people who were
involved with literature sought to teach, learn, enjoy, explore,
debate, lead, control, and resist.
Using the late 1970s and early 1980s as an entree to the
workings of China's "socialist literary system," the author shows
how that system held sway from 1950 until around 1990, when an
encroaching market economy gradually but fundamentally changed it.
In addition to providing a definitive overview of how the socialist
Chinese literary system worked, Link offers comparisons to the
similar system in the Soviet Union. In the final chapter, the book
seeks to explain how the word "good" was used and understood when
applied to literary works in such systems.
Combining aspects of cultural and literary studies, "The Uses of
Literature" will reward anyone interested in the literature of
modern China or how creativity is affected by a "socialist literary
system."
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