Keywords

The study of the Chinese form of Marxist literary criticism is a challenging task. As the contemporary construction of the Chinese form, this book focuses on and aims at theoretical elaboration rather than interpretation and analysis of cases. In view of the ossification and habituation of previous theoretical frameworks of literary criticism, this book does not intend to make systematical construction, but adopts a new approach to explore the theoretical characteristics of the Chinese form by starting with concrete concepts and issues.

I

Concepts, which show the features of the theories and help identify them, are the cornerstone of theories. When a school or a theorist is mentioned, some representative concepts would come naturally to mind. For instance, Lukács comes to mind when “totality” is referred to, and Jameson is always associated with the “political unconscious.” In the case of the Chinese form, the core concepts of people, nation, politics, and practice refined and promoted in this book naturally become the core and representatives of the Chinese form. Although these concepts are not unique to the Chinese form, they have become its inseparable and integral part because they have been used extensively for such a long time in Chinese modern literary criticism and thus have been profoundly imbued with the Chinese spirit.

For a long time, in the field of Marxist literary criticism, concepts such as people, nation, and politics have often been perceived as merely commonsensical terms and been rarely discussed or questioned. However, these important propositions are rich in connotations, and there are many issues that need to be examined and resolved. In the theoretical construction of the Chinese form, this book adopted an abstract-to-concrete approach by first refining the theoretical connotations of these concepts and describing and explaining them clearly, and then using them as important dimensions of critical practice to view literary works so as to update and enrich the Marxist approaches to literary criticism. Through a vertical as well as horizontal study of these basic concepts and their relationship with literary activities, the basic framework of the Chinese form is established and consolidated. Therefore, one of the features of this book is the preliminary and systematic discussion of the core concepts of the Chinese form.

Facing the reality, identifying the issues and problems, and proposing solutions to deal with them is a major and vital task of the Chinese form. Unprecedented changes have taken place today. While the literary phenomena studied by classical Marxist literary criticism were mainly works of literary realism that emerged in the era of industrialization, what we are facing today is a full range of literary activities influenced by capital and high technology. The vitality of Marxist literary criticism lies exactly in keeping up with the times. If ignoring today’s ongoing literary activities, Marxist literary criticism would lose its interpretative and guiding capabilities. Due to the long-standing influence of Kant’s “Purposiveness Without a Purpose,” issues about capital have rarely been seriously examined in previous literary theory textbooks, and the relationship between technology and literature has also been outside the scope of traditional literary studies. These issues constitute opportunities for theoretical creation. This book selects contemporary issues that urgently need solutions in theory and practice, such as literature and technology, literature and capital, and literature and values, and provides timely and persuasive explanations and guidance on these contemporary issues from the perspective of the contemporary Chinese reality. We endeavor to participate in the construction of contemporary literature and culture, instead of pursuing the unworldly “ivory tower” approach of academics off the ground. Thus, another contribution of this book is to show the theoretical presence and visibility of the Chinese form in today’s literary activities.

Regarding the structure of this book, the first four chapters put forward and expound on several core concepts of the Chinese form, whereas the last three chapters examine new issues that have arisen in contemporary literary activities. When completing the manuscript, I have connected the theoretical and practical issues throughout the book and discovered that they all point to one purpose—all-around human emancipation. That is to say, the Chinese form has always been constructed for achieving the ultimate goal of all-around human emancipation, which is the universality of the Chinese form among its many differences.

II

The research position and attitude of this book is clear and consistent. The study of differences is the research position and strategy proposed by the book in dealing with the relationship between Chinese and Western literature to cope with the impact of globalization. Under the different times and contexts, the Chinese form necessarily differs from the classical form of Marxist literary criticism and the subsequent Russian Soviet and Western forms of Marxist literary criticism, and it is exactly these differences that open up the possibility and feasibility of constructing different forms. However, the emphasis on the differences of the Chinese form varies from the absolute “differences” proposed by Western poststructuralism and postmodernism. Differences in the Chinese form do not imply confrontation or conflicts; instead, it provides the basis for dialogue by highlighting differences. Certain common trends and problems in social development occur in the context of globalization; however, Marxist literary criticism under the influence of different cultural traditions and national conditions will make different choices. The core of the study of “difference” is to discover and generate theoretical discourses with distinct local features, and what the Chinese form most need. However, it must be noted that the study of differences does not exclude universality at all. The goal of differentiation is to produce a theory of Chinese Marxist literary criticism that accommodates deep emotions regarding the nation and has universal, global significance as well.

Western Marxists are primarily holding a purely critical stance in terms of contemporary social issues, while the coexistence of being critical and being constructive can be found in the Chinese form. The construction of the Chinese form possesses distinctly problem-awareness, as it can identify timely problems in contemporary Chinese literary activities. Additionally, instead of stopping at recognizing or pointing out the problems, the Chinese form explores ways and strategies to resolve them while emphasizing the pioneering or leading and constructive nature of the theory. For instance, regarding the relationship between literature and science and technology, Western Marxism tends to provide a cautionary note and pure critique of high technology, but the Chinese form emphasizes its revolutionary impact on literature and the ideological construction of science and technology, and thus performs a forward-looking analysis of future society.

Notably, the construction of the Chinese form is inclusive and accommodating, and adheres to the concept of “Scholarship should not be classified into eastern ones and western ones” when incorporating different systems of discourse, demonstrating the cultural confidence of the Chinese form. Such confidence is not only reflected in its theoretical construction, but also, and more importantly, in its theoretical reflection. The Chinese form adjusts and develops the concepts or notions of classical Marxism based on the specific conditions of China. Furthermore, it reflects on Western Marxism from the Chinese standpoint. It investigates and criticizes Western Marxism on its reconstruction and overshadow of classical Marxism, thus attains certain transcendence over Western Marxism, and then becomes an interlocutor and promoter of global Marxist literary criticism.

III

The study of the Chinese form is just in the beginning stage, leaving many questions to be answered. The study of classical Marxism itself is a process of continuous discovery. The Marxist classics are so vast and profound that they seem to be a book that has just been opened. Many wonderful things that have been overlooked or missed in past readings; even when some parts have been read many times, new experiences and feelings emerge when they are reread. Marx and Engels’ diagnosis of the pathologies of modern capitalism and their prediction of the realistic path and the inspiring prospect for human liberation have become an ideological and philosophical weapon for us to reflect on history and reality as well as a theoretical guide for us to think about the future of human society.

The Chinese form also involves a process of continuous discovery and construction. Although the “Chinese Form” is named as a whole, it has various internal complexities and thus is an existence full of tension. Each concept or issue, including people, nation, politics, practice, technology, capital, and values, is ambiguous and has gaps to some extent even after the detailed discussions of this book. Or I would rather humbly admit, these concepts or issues proposed might provoke even more reflection than has been elaborated by this book. China is now facing new challenges and problems every day, many of which have global relevance, that is, Western problems are affecting China and Chinese problems also have a global impact. These problems and challenges form a huge theoretical field, and there is considerable room for theoretical exploration of how the Chinese form of Marxist literary criticism tackles these problems in the future.

As Althusser once stated, theory has two meanings for practice: one is directly related to practice, and the other is directed to areas that have not yet been put into practice, namely that theory can be future-oriented. The Chinese form thus has two responsibilities, one rooted in the present and the other pointing to the future. I might as well conclude this book with this quote from Althusser: “like any other scientific discipline, Marxism did not stop at Marx any more than physics stopped at Galileo who founded it. Like any other scientific discipline, Marxism developed even in Marx's own lifetime. New discoveries were made possible by Marx's basic discovery. It would be very rash to believe that everything has been said” (Althusser 2005, p. 63).Footnote 1 Marx was not the terminator of the seeking of truth but paved the way for it. After Marx, a long-term, arduous, and persistent exploration is required regarding how the Chinese form carries the torch of Marxist literary criticism and how to generate theories that have an impact on the world or the contemporary times to answer the questions of China, questions of the world, and questions of our times.