The Uses of Literature

by Link, Perry

• ISBN13: 9780691001982
• ISBN10: 0691001987
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-02-14
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

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 Literaturelooks 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 ofEvening 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 Literaturewill reward anyone interested in the literature of modern China or how creativity is affected by a "socialist literary system."

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
A Note on Documentation	ix
Introduction	3	(10)
Historical Setting	13	(43)
Warming, 1976-1979	15	(7)
Cooling, 1980-1983	22	(14)
Perspectives	36	(20)
The Mechanics of Literary Control	56	(48)
A Spectrum of Viewpoints	56	(3)
What Was Controlled?	59	(4)
The Literary Control System	63	(5)
The Mechanics of Relaxation	68	(13)
The Mechanics of Tightening	81	(16)
Soviet Comparisons	97	(7)
Writers	104	(63)
Tradition of Responsibility	104	(2)
The Modern Crisis and the Idea of a ``Path''	106	(2)
Establishing National Guidelines	108	(2)
Effects of the Anti-Rightist Campaign	110	(3)
Maoist Utopianism in Command	113	(3)
Kinds and Groups of Writers	116	(2)
The Writers' Association	118	(4)
Generational Differences	122	(7)
Livelihood	129	(9)
Dissent	138	(4)
Purposes	142	(25)
Media and Market	167	(43)
Distribution: Official and Public	167	(16)
Distribution: Restricted, Semiofficial, and Unofficial	183	(15)
Related Media: Stage, Film, Radio, and Television	198	(12)
Readers: The Popular Level	210	(39)
Readership (Audience) Groups	212	(8)
Popular Entertainment	220	(29)
Readers: Socially Engaged Level	249	(35)
Intrusive Politics	254	(4)
Special Privilege and Abuse of Power	258	(2)
Pervasive Corruption	260	(3)
Styles of Bureaucratism	263	(7)
The Need for Rule of Law	270	(2)
The Problem of Truth	272	(6)
The Place of Romance	278	(6)
The Uses of Literature	284	(49)
The Party and Its ``Engineering''	286	(3)
Problems with Engineering	289	(5)
Retreat from Engineering	294	(2)
Secondary Uses of Engineering	296	(4)
The Variety of Other Uses	300	(19)
Transcending ``Uses''	319	(3)
Use and Quality	322	(11)
Select Glossary of Chinese Characters	333	(6)
Bibliography of Works Cited in the Notes	339	(30)
Index	369