Chinese Stories in a Global Context (Literature Focus)
The “China Network Literature Development Achievement Exhibition” held during the “2021 China International Network Literature Week”.
Photo by Zhang Xu
Online literature has entered a new stage of transformation, upgrading and development. How to promote the high-quality development of online literature? As a new highlight of Chinese culture going global, how can online literature strengthen international communication? From September 26th to 29th, the “2021 China International Network Literature Week” co-sponsored by the Chinese Writers Association and the People’s Government of Zhejiang Province was held in Wuzhen and Wenzhou, Zhejiang. More than 100 online writers, critics, and heads of online literature platforms from all over the country attended the event, focusing on the theme of “the world significance of online literature”, and discussing how to promote the innovation of online literature in the digital age and make a network of Chinese stories. In-depth discussions were conducted on the international expression of literature and the strengthening of the international dissemination of online literature in the post-epidemic era.
To improve the quality as the direction, look for a breakthrough in the subject matter
The latest data shows that the current number of Chinese online literature users has reached 460 million, accounting for 46.5% of the total netizens. Based on the data in recent years, it can be found that the growth rate of online literature users has slowed down.
After more than 20 years of rapid development, online literature has entered a period of stable development. Externally, it has encountered the impact of other online cultural products such as audio and video, and internally faced problems such as solidified types and low quality products. Online literature urgently needs to seek a high-quality development path. In this regard, Internet writer Tang Jiasan said: “No industry can always develop straight up. When it develops to a certain extent, there will be a period of flattening. This flat period is also a process of accumulating energy.” The trend, the survival of the fittest, after rounds of baptism, will usher in new changes.
Internet writer He Changzai regards writing Chinese stories with realistic themes as a breakthrough point in his creation. “Contemporary Chinese stories are an inexhaustible treasure of realistic themes. Whether it is high-speed rail, express delivery, logistics network, or Shenzhen, Pudong, Hainan, a person, a place, and a time node, there are countless stories in the tide of the times. The rush, like a dazzling wave, agitated and sparkled the hearts of the people.” He Changzai said.
“On the basis of giving full play to the advantages of traditional themes, we should optimize the theme structure, support and guide online writers to actively reflect the new era, strengthen the creation of realistic themes, and build a new development pattern with a reasonable structure, diverse themes and rich types of online literature. As the central link, we will introduce more excellent online works that tell Chinese stories, embody Chinese spirit, are both ideological and artistic.” Hu Bangsheng, secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Writers Association, put forward clear work on the high-quality development of online literature in his opening speech. Ideas.
Take integration as the starting point to open up the industrial chain
At present, there are tens of millions of online literature writers and tens of thousands of active authors. The daily creation volume exceeds 150 million words. Massive energetic online literature works meet the diverse reading needs of hundreds of millions of readers and become an important content source for the cultural industry. .
Xu Bin, Senior Vice President of Vertical and Horizontal Literature, said: “With the opening of each chain one by one, successful online literary works have now formed a clustered interaction of multiple adaptations of film and television, games, animation, and sound. With strong content advantages , A wide range of market audiences, and the adaptation of network literature to IP movies has gradually entered a stage of high-quality development.”
Lai Er, the deputy dean of the School of Internet Literature, Sanjiang University, Jiangsu Province, is an Internet writer who has completed the development of the entire industry chain. In addition to animation and film, her work IP has also been developed into an offline theme park. Long-term creative experience from virtual to real has given Ryle a more in-depth thinking about IP adaptation. “The IP adaptation of online literature is moving from visualization to immersion, from virtual to reality.” Ryle said, “Internet literature has moved from parent creation and expression, to the visual presentation of animation, film and television, to the construction of immersive real-world space, and IP adaptation. The forms will become more and more diverse and closer to the lives of the people.”
“Film and TV dramas, animations, movies…No matter what the form of adaptation, the most important thing is still the story, and the core competitiveness of network literature is the story. Network literature will inevitably become one of the important engines for the development of the cultural industry in the future, because there are The group of people who can tell the most stories.” The “Talking Elbow” writer of “post-90s” is full of confidence in the future development of online literature.
Taking the opportunity of going to sea to polish up the new business card of Chinese culture
At the opening ceremony, the Chinese Writers Association released the “Internet Literature International Promotion Film” and the “Chinese Internet Literature International Communication Report” (hereinafter referred to as the “Report”). The “Report” shows that in the context of Chinese culture going out, the international influence of Chinese online literature is expanding day by day. As of 2020, Chinese online literature has exported more than 10,000 works overseas. Among them, more than 4,000 physical books were authorized, and more than 3,000 online translation works. The website has more than 100 million subscribers and APP users, covering most countries and regions in the world, and international communication has achieved remarkable results.
The international dissemination of online literature has experienced four development stages: personal authorization publishing, platform external authorization, online translation communication, and local ecological establishment. There are 5 communication methods including physical book publishing, IP adaptation communication, online translation communication, overseas localized communication, and investment in overseas platforms. , The coverage area has expanded from Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, North America to Europe, Africa, and now all over the world. “Those with ambitions do not take the mountains and seas as far away.” Internet literature has closely linked literary lovers all over the world. Chinese Internet literature has become a new business card for Chinese culture to reach the world.
Tong Zhilei, chairman of Chinese Online, believes: “If you only output a single text or a single IP adaptation, its impact will only be temporary.” For this reason, Chinese Online is actively creating a literary platform with different contents, and launched the first overseas literary platform in 2017. This product CHAPTERS will become the world’s first in the field of interactive reading platforms in 2020. In addition, Chinese Online has also launched a reading platform for different content such as romance novels, animation products, and suspense novels. Yang Chen, the editor-in-chief of China Reading Group, believes that the multi-form communication space of online literature is being fully opened up, and the overseas international market for online literature is a huge blue ocean.
The overseas dissemination of online literature is still in its infancy, and there are still many problems such as failure to establish a systematic international dissemination mechanism, lagging content production, and lack of overall planning. Faced with these problems, the “Report on the International Communication of Chinese Online Literature” proposes to establish a coordination and coordination organization for the international communication of Chinese online literature, strengthen support for the international communication of online literature, promote the large-scale development of overseas platforms, and promote international online literature exchanges. On this basis, expand the international dissemination of online literature, consolidate the cultural foundation of a community with a shared future for mankind, and jointly shape a better future for human society.
Zhang Shanshan
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