The Pioneering of Popular Literature on the Shelf Testimonials
"The Pioneer Nature of Popular Literature"
==
1. What is popular literature in the Western context?
--
The history of the development of literature varies from nation to nation, and the summary of the laws of literary development in literary history naturally also varies from nation to nation.
Take the British Isles as an example. Before the middle of the 20th century, the study of literary history in the United Kingdom was mainly guided by a model of semi-royal sponsorship and semi-church sponsorship, and was not dominated by universities as the fundamental authoritative research institutions. Therefore, British literature
In the eyes of modern Chinese people, history has been classified and summarized into a national narrative history that interprets the Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Norman and British peoples, and a history that interprets Druidism, Celtic Christianity, Catholicism and the national church.
The history of religious narratives.
This is a typical Western European literary history view, which regards "national exchange" and "religious iteration" as the main driving forces to promote the development of literature. A major feature of this historical view is that their summary of literary development has obvious
And there is a strong lag. From the standpoint of other literary circles such as East Asian literature, American literature, and Eastern European literature, this is obviously the development of literature by research institutions sponsored by the royal family and the church in order to "feed back" to their patrons.
The results are far-fetched and attached to nationality and religion.
So, what is the essence of literary development?
The answer is the market. The further back in ancient times, the lower the literacy rate, which will naturally lead to a smaller consumer group for literature, the more feudal and politicized it is. The more contemporary we are, the higher the literacy rate, which will naturally lead to literature
The larger the consumer group, the more open and market-oriented it is.
However, everything always comes first. Although today's literature has been highly marketized, the authoritative organization responsible for researching and summarizing literature is not.
Taking the UK as an example, its most authoritative literary research institution, the Royal Society of Literature, was established as early as the early 19th century, and its cooperation model of "the royal family provides funds, the church provides publicity, and scholars provide manuscripts" is much earlier than this era.
It has been formed before.
Combined with the lag in Western European literary history we mentioned above, a ridiculous scene emerges - in the Victorian era, which the British were proud of, when the United States and Russia, the international upstarts and bourgeoisie in the eyes of the British Empire,
While the old haters have opened up the gap between folk literature and academic literature, and taken over the vanguard banner of literary development with an advanced and open literary outlook, the noble and long-standing British literary world is still using the arrogant mentality of 'popular and vulgar'
, a new literature that denies the market and consumers' choices - the United States and Russia had a large number of grassroots writers who received "honorary praises issued by the state" in the 19th century.
In the UK, only a handful of talented authors such as Charles Dickens and Conan Doyle, who have "big hits in market sales and popular popularity at the same time!", were lucky enough to obtain the "Grand Slam Award" from the authoritative British literary research institution during their lifetime.
"Honorary Recognition". For example, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mary Shelley, Arthur Machen, etc., who we now think of as literary pioneers in science fiction, thriller, and supernatural themes, are actually all in the
In the middle of the 20th century, they were gradually re-examined, absorbed, and praised by authoritative British literary research institutions (or, to put it another way: "mainstream academic circles"). Before this point in time, although the works of these pioneers could make money in the British market,
It made money, but in the eyes of the British literary world, it was just a vulgar trick of a 'popular writer'.
At this point, the definition of popular literature used to deny new literature, which is also the definition of popular literature in the Western context that we are most familiar with, has finally come to the forefront of history.
==
2. Where does popular avant-gardeness come from?
--
Very different from the British literary circles of the same period, in addition to the natural stance of "defending the interests of big landowners and capitalists" regarding new literature for small landowners, small business owners, white-collar workers, workers and even farmers, the American and Russian literary circles of the Victorian era
The mainstream voices generally still adopt an "attitude of recognition" towards these new literatures.
Let’s talk about examples in detail, such as Pushkin, Krylov, Edgar Allan Poe, Emerson, etc. These writers who directly face the mass market are different from those association writers-they do not judge their qualifications based on the honor of the association, and do not judge their qualifications based on the association ceremony.
When doing publicity, do not use the association's connections as a backer. Whether they can bring works worth reading, worth buying, and worth trusting to the broad readership of the "sinking market" is the question of this group of pioneer writers (from the perspective of the time)
) the cornerstone of survival.
Therefore, they jumped out of the pedantic pronunciation, structure and so-called sacred values, and instead delved into narrative, rhetoric and direct readers' reading experience. And historical facts prove that it is they who laid the framework of today's literary technology; solving the obscurity of consumer reading
, reading is not fun, the reading threshold is high, and other problems; it is they who have successfully commercialized literature and allowed [grassroots authors] to support their families.
In the final analysis, only when the author can cultivate and hone in the market for his own profit in a fair environment, practical new technologies can be born. Therefore, these literary creations are considered popular and useless by associations, officials, and academic circles.
, are the pioneers who truly face consumers directly in order to survive, evolve, and lead the times.
==
3. The pioneering nature of contemporary ** online popular literature
--
It must first be pointed out that the "Water Margin", "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Journey to the West" that we are familiar with are not "a final draft by one author", but are actually countless "secondary works" by ancient Chinese people.
"Creators", based on the needs of booksellers and individuals, are constantly iterating, evolving and binding from the "mother book", and are popular literary consumer products based on the "folk perspective" rather than the "official perspective".
Therefore, when we study, praise, and love these literary masterpieces inherited from ancient Chinese history, we must not forget that they were popular literature first and then became masterpieces.
It can also be said conversely, if the broadest masses of the people cannot take the initiative to form a collective memory, actively renovate, and take the initiative to re-create a story/a paradigm/a type of subject matter, then it itself lacks market prospects.
It is unlikely to become a future masterpiece.
If we focus on the category of contemporary popular online literature, and abandon the official perspective of "positive energy!" - it is obvious that some avant-garde online literature has been born and has been adopted by the market.
The 'mother book' that is widely accepted and popular among the people.
For example, in the sign-in lottery of "Ding! Congratulations to the host for winning xxxx!", God-given success, you can win by lying down, which is the paradigm of "getting rich overnight".
For example, "Thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi, don't deceive young people into poverty!" The desire to be strong should be suppressed first, and perseverance, and revenge must be taken, which is the paradigm of "Thoughts are clear".
For example, the absurd exaggeration, social metaphor, and psychological stimulation of "Rebellion! The son-in-law dares to devour the master!" is the paradigm of [emotional counseling].
For example, "Fair! Fair! Fair enough!" to eliminate violence, rebel in various ways, and criticize injustice, which is the paradigm of "changing the world."
Within the scope of Internet literature, there are far more "parents" of vibrant stories than these four. Precisely because these stories/paradigms/themes all originate from the [emotions, sorrows and joys] of the people, they are the [primitive desires] of the "majority"
, is the simplest [projection of ideological trend] in the entire private consumer market, so they are iterating, evolving, and binding all the time.
Compared with the "new literature" that was widely born in Russia and the United States in the 19th century in Russia and the United States "for small landowners, small owners, white-collar workers, workers, and farmers" as discussed in Chapter 2 of the previous article, contemporary online popular literature not only has similar
It has a large readership and consumer market, and is backed by the powerful information communication technology in the electronic age. Therefore, theoretically speaking, contemporary online literature also naturally contains the pioneers of popular literature that originate from the "folk perspective"
Its nature implies the possibility of producing (iteration, evolution, and binding) a "popular literary masterpiece with contemporary ** characteristics".
If we agree with this theory and admit this possibility, then there is one last question left:
"When will it be born?"
During the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, nearly a thousand years of precipitation gave birth to classical and popular masterpieces such as "Water Margin", "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and "Journey to the West".
Since the 19th century, Europe and the United States have experienced rapid progress, ideological conflicts, and global turmoil. The bloody storms of more than two hundred years have given rise to "The Count of Monte Cristo", "A Tale of Two Cities", "Around the World in Eighty Days" and so on.
A modern popular masterpiece with characteristics of the times, characteristics of ideological trends, and humanistic depth.
In contrast, contemporary popular online literature is only more than 20 years old (counted since the turn of the millennium), is the youngest in terms of time, and faces many difficulties (such as ***), so in
In the eyes of some people, Internet articles are naturally "popular and vulgar" folk tricks, and it is impossible to produce "literary masterpieces with contemporary ** characteristics" from them.
This may be a reasonable upper-level perspective, or it may just be arrogance caused by class solidification.
At the end, please allow us to end with a unique "reference" from Internet articles——
——Give time life, rather than life time.
(This is the original work)
——Give time to civilization, not time to civilization.
(This is a second creation)
——Give Internet articles the trend of thought, rather than giving Internet articles the trend of thought.
(This is based on the magic modification)
==
First author: AD Grand Duke
Corresponding author: Seeking common ground while reserving exceptions
Published on May 4th to commemorate the liberation and progress brought about by the [New Culture Movement] and the [May 4th Movement].
--
"The Asher" will be on the shelves on May 6th. Readers and friends - whether you are planning to keep a book, or you are a prostitute in the pen x pavilion - please support at least the first order of this work.
No update on May 5th, dddd. (Actually, this is to increase the number of words in Chapter 64, don’t get me wrong