(Source: "Literary News" 2025-11-28)
On November 22, the "'Constructing China's Independent Knowledge System' Series of Activities: World Vision and Historicization of New Century Literature Academic Seminar" was held in Beijing.This conference is jointly sponsored by the w88 casino of Literature and International Communication at the w88 casino, the International Communication Research Center for Chinese Literature at the w88 casino, the Chinese Contemporary Literature Research Association, and the Editorial Department of "Contemporary Writers Review", aims to gather the wisdom of academic circles, explore the emerging cutting-edge propositions of literary research in the new century, and contribute wisdom to the construction of China's independent knowledge system. More than 70 experts and scholars from universities and research institutions across the country, including Peking University, Fudan University, Beijing Normal University, Nankai University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Southwest University, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Museum of Modern Literature of China, attended the meeting.
Zhao Zhongxiu, President of the w88 casino, Bai Ye, Honorary President of the Chinese Contemporary Literature Research Association, and Li Guiling, deputy editor-in-chief of "Contemporary Writers Review" attended the event and delivered speeches. The opening ceremony was hosted by Deng Rubing, Dean of the w88 casino of Literature and International Communication at the w88 casino.
Zhao Zhongxiu said that holding this conference is an important measure to serve the national strategy and strengthen the construction of disciplines. He looks forward to in-depth exchanges among participating scholars and contributing wisdom and strength to the construction of China's independent knowledge system and the promotion of the prosperity of literature in the new century. Bai Ye said that the wave of information technology is reshaping the literary landscape in the new century. In the face of the changes, he called for the construction of a "big literary concept" to form an independent discourse system that is compatible with the new form of civilization, Chinese modernization. Li Guiling mentioned that "Contemporary Writers Review" has never been absent from China's contemporary literary scene more than 40 years ago, and hopes to continue to provide a platform for the construction of China's independent knowledge system.
There are 7 keynote reports in this seminar. He Shaojun, supervisor of the Chinese Contemporary Literature Research Association and distinguished professor of the Institute of Chinese Culture and Literature of Shenyang Normal University, Chen Xiaoming, vice president of the Chinese Contemporary Literature Research Association and professor of the Chinese Department of Peking University, special appointee of the Institute of Chinese Culture and Literature of Shenyang Normal University Seven experts and scholars, including Professor Ji Hongzhen, Professor Zhang Yiwu from the Chinese Department of Peking University, Vice President of the Chinese Contemporary Literature Research Association and Honorary Professor at the Institute of Humanities and Arts of Shandong University, Zhang Zhizhong, Professor Li Yuchun from the w88 casino of Liberal Arts at Wuhan University, and Professor Liu Yan from the w88 casino of Literature and International Communication at the w88 casino, focused on the frontiers, built consensus, and collided ideas. Zhang Qinghua, president of the Chinese Contemporary Literature Research Association and professor of the w88 casino of Liberal Arts of Beijing Normal University, serves as the academic host. He elaborated on the background of the conference and said that historical summary and discussion of new century literature is not only an intrinsic requirement for the development of literary research, but also an important measure to respond to the deep expectations of previous scholars and promote the generation of new knowledge genealogy.
He Shaojun said that literature in the new century has entered a new stage of "literary generalization" and "post-human era". Facing the challenges brought by AI, he optimistically expressed that human literature will continue to develop in symbiosis with AI with its unique personality derived from life experience. In his report, Chen Xiaoming sorted out two paths of "historicization" research, and called on the academic community to pay attention to theoretical construction to promote the thinking and practice of "rehistoricization" of research methods. From the perspective of stylistic form, Ji Hongzhen analyzed four classic works and pointed out that "new stylistic consciousness" is taking place in novels in the new century, consolidating the cultural subjectivity of literature. Zhang Yiwu said in his speech that after more than 20 years of development, new century literature has undergone changes in literary structure, production and communication, and its relationship with world literature, and it urgently needs to be re-evaluated and interpreted from a new historical perspective. Zhang Zhizhong analyzed the creative paths of writers of different generations from the "post-50s" to the "post-80s" from an intergenerational perspective, believing that they all actively responded to the changes of the times as "tellers" and jointly painted a magnificent picture of China's modernization transformation. Li Yuchun believes that the historical study of new century literature needs to return to the starting point of the May Fourth New Literature, examine the three major structural contradictions of "old and new, refined and popular, and left and right" that run through Chinese literature in the 20th century, and strive to resolve the contradictions within the framework of "Chinese modernity" to construct an overall historical view and independent knowledge system of new century literature. Liu Yan analyzed the limitations of the current research on "New Northeast Literature" and revealed another possibility of writing in the Northeast by interpreting Wang Anyi's works. He pointed out that the Northeast is not only an old industrial base, but also the ideological frontier of early reforms, providing a new path for research.
The theme discussion session was hosted by Professor Yang Dandan of Henan Normal University. Scholars participating in the roundtable discussion held a dialogue on the two core topics of "historicization of literature in the new century" and "the construction of China's independent knowledge system." Liu Daxian, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the construction of knowledge systems needs to respond to the "questions of the times" and balance the historical and transhistorical nature of literature. Yang Zao, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the definition of literature should be expanded and generalized literariness should be included in the research horizon. Yang Qingxiang, a professor at Renmin University of China, believes that the key to research is to "claim" the under-expressed history with a new value scale rather than simply "historicizing" it. Xu Gang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, revealed the transformation of new century literature in the fields of family narratives and revolutionary narratives through specific text analysis. Cong Zhichen, associate professor at Peking University, believes that building China’s independent knowledge system should adhere to a broad vision and a firm cultural stance. Cao Xia, a professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, pointed out the importance of intergenerational research to historicization through an analysis of the historical writing of writers born in the 1970s. Li Weichao, director of the Academic Research Center of the Museum of Modern Literature in China, explained the continuity between literary research in the new century and the academic work of previous scholars from the perspective of academic history. Zhao Kun, a professor at Shandong University, believes that before a consensus is formed, an open attitude should be maintained to improve literary history.
In this thematic seminar, scholars focused on the two core topics of "historicization of literature in the new century" and "the construction of China's independent knowledge system" and conducted in-depth discussions from multiple perspectives such as value scale, research scope, historical perspective and intergenerational experience. They showed constructiveness and inspiration in both theoretical methods and research practice.
In addition, this seminar also set up three parallel sub-forums, where experts and scholars gathered together to conduct multi-angle and multi-level discussions around the historicization process of literature in the new century. The sub-forum topics are broad and cutting-edge, demonstrating the breadth and vigor of current academic research. The scholars' reports not only covered re-examination of traditional genres such as local narratives, new century poetry, and prose aesthetics, but also focused on emerging creation and communication phenomena such as AI writing, science fiction, online literature, and drama mediaization. It is worth mentioning that this special young scholars forum provides a platform for young scholars to express their opinions. They discussed issues such as reform and opening up narratives and non-fiction writing from a novel perspective, showing solid academic knowledge and innovation potential, and injecting fresh vitality into the forum.
This academic seminar brought together the wisdom of the academic community. Through in-depth dialogue from multiple perspectives, it not only provided a cutting-edge review of the historicization process of literature in the new century, but also formed a constructive consensus on key issues such as AI challenges, stylistic consciousness, and intergenerational experience. It shows that research in this field is moving towards a new stage that is more subjective, innovative, and with an international perspective.
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