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Aquilino, Serafina (2017) Walking into the literary field? : The interaction between China’s official and online literary scene. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/24944 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this PhD Thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This PhD Thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this PhD Thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the PhD Thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full PhD Thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD PhD Thesis, pagination. Walking into the literary field? The interaction between China’s official and online literary scene Serafina Aquilino Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD 2016 Department China and Inner Asia SOAS, University of London 1 Declaration for SOAS PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: Date: 16/09/2016 2 Abstract This thesis aims to examine the various factors that have influenced the development of China’s online literary scene, leading to its gradual assimilation within the conventional literary system. In nearly two decades of its development, Chinese Internet fiction witnessed important changes, in its publication context as well as in its modes of consumption. While the commercialisation of the literary websites sets the first milestone, radically changing the way in which Internet fiction is produced and consumed, a recently found interaction with the literary establishment – represented by the China Writers Association – has led to a gradual assimilation of the online literary scene within the conventional literary field, with the Association opening its threshold to Internet writers. The first part of this thesis engages with a detailed discussion of the factors that influenced the development of the online literature scene. Throughout an analysis of these developments, the genealogy of Internet literature will be divided into three stages – each of which presents substantial differences with the others – seeking to identify the peculiarities of each stage, the evolving context of online publishing and the most successful genres associated with each period. With most of the scholarship on Chinese Internet literature analysing the innovation brought about by the Internet as a new medium for literature publishing in comparison with conventionally published literature, this dissertation focuses on how the subsequent developments change the way Internet fiction is produced and consumed after its initial stage, once online literature has already lost its ‘innocence’. The second part focuses more closely on those works and authors that gained some sort of recognition by the literary establishment. The aim of this second part is to explore, on the one hand, what role is Internet literature is playing in the Chinese cultural and literary scene in a broader sense and, on the other hand, how these works integrate within the conventional system, for instance through the establishment of a dedicated Online Writers Association. Using the conventional notion of literature, as formulated in the regulation of important literary awards sponsored by the China Writers Association, the thesis discusses how online published fiction reflects the idea of literature as advocated by the literary establishment and accomplishes the social ‘duties’ traditionally associated with literature in China. After identifying the most influential genres in this sense, an in-depth analysis of a number of Internet fiction works will focus on how perceptions of contemporary China’s urban reality are transmitted by urban fiction published online. In doing so, I hope to show how the official and online literary scenes are actively interacting with each other, contributing to new developments on both sides: the former integrating in its system a new form of literature that has already proved influential among the online public, and the latter eventually gaining an official stamp of approval within the official literary system. 3 Walking into the Literary field? The interaction between China's Official and Online Literary Scene Table of Contents: Title page 1 Declaration 2 Abstract 3 Table of contents 4 Acknowledgements 8 Preface 9 Chapter 1: Introduction 14 1.1 Internet literature and Internet fiction: a definition 15 1.2 Research motivations and main research questions 18 1.3 Circumscribing the research scope: Why fiction? 20 1.4 Literature review 23 1.4.1 Internet literature in China 23 1.4.2 The use of Chinese language in Internet literature works 25 1.4.3 Internet literature outside China 30 4 1.5 Methodological and Theoretical frameworks 32 1.5.1 Theoretical Frameworks 32 1.5.2 Structure and Methodology 33 1.5.2.1 Retracing the evolution of Internet literature throughout its history 34 1.5.2.2 Establishing a criterion for the selection of the case studies: the question of “literariness” 35 1.6 Conclusions 39 Chapter 2: China's online cultural and literary scene 42 2.1 Internet literature as a revival of popular literature? 43 2.2 The development of Internet literature in China: a brief history 47 2.2.1 Internet literature websites and online communities 49 2.2.2 Starting point 52 2.3 The influence of the market: Literary websites business model 57 2.4 The role of the audiences: online and offline readers 61 Chapter 3: The interaction between the official and the online literary scene 66 3.1 Internet literature in interaction with the establishment 70 3.2 Internet literature and literary prizes 72 3.2.1 Wen Yu's Caught in the web 76 3.2.2 The Media and the novel 81 3.2.3 Approaching the conventional literary market 84 3.3 Internet literature and the China Writers Association 86 3.3.1 Toward an Association for Internet Writers 89 5 3.3.2 The Zhejiang Internet Writers Association: structure and regulations 92 3.3.3 The Chinese Internet Writers Association and other provincial branches 95 3.3.4 Recognition or ideological control? 96 3.4 Internet novels in a printed culture context 101 3.5 Internet fiction and literary critics 105 Chapter 4: The changing nature of online literary production 115 4.1 The changing nature of the online literary production 116 4.2 The influence of the Media 120 4.3 Genres and style: Internet fiction through its evolution 127 4.3.1 The first period: the pioneers of Internet fiction 128 4.3.2 The second period: the marketization of online literary products 134 4.3.3 The third period: getting closer to 'real' literature 144 4.4 The future of Internet fiction: toward the merging of the literary fields? 149 Chapter 5 – Online 'Realism' 152 5.1 Internet fiction: between established and innovative genres 154 5.2 'Real life' genres: Urban fiction and its sub-genres 157 5.2.1 Urban life, job and career: AVRIL's Office Spy Game 163 5.2.2 Love and Marriage: Tang Xingtian's Naked Marriage 172 5.2.3 Metropolitan reality and beyond: Supernatural ability in Urban settings 182 5.3 The representation of contemporary China's urban life through online published fiction 191 5.4 Conclusions: Toward a new system of values of mere consumerism? 200 6 Chapter 6 – Conclusions: Walking into the literary field? 204 6.1 Online and offline fiction 205 6.2 Contribution to existing scholarship on Internet literature 208 6.3 On line Realism and Urban fiction 209 6.4 Contribution to Urban fiction 211 6.5 General conclusions: two fields merging together? 213 6.6 Suggestions for further research 216 Bibliography 219 Appendix 229 7 Acknowledgements This thesis owes its existence to my supervisor, Professor Michel Hockx, without whose academic support, guidance and patience this project would not have been completed. I would like to express my gratitude to SOAS for providing me with a small grant towards tuition fees. In addition, I am grateful to the other members of my supervisory committee, Dr. Xiaoning Lu and Dr. Jaeho Kang for their useful insights and encouragement. A special thanks goes to the Zhejiang Writers Association for providing the precious material and documents part of this research is based on. In particular, I would like to thank the Chairman of the Zhejiang Internet Writers Association, Cao Qiwen, for agreeing to answer my questions in a short interview during my fieldwork in Hangzhou. This thesis would not have been possible without the great support and understanding of my friends in the UK, Italy, China and elsewhere. I would like to express special gratitude to Roberto, Federica, Cecilia, and Katharina for their whole-hearted support during all the stages of my research. Finally, many thanks to my family for their continued love and support in this endeavour. A big thank you to my parents Angelo e Francesca and my sisters Mina and Emanuela. 8 Preface Exploring the online cultural scene in nowadays China, it emerges a widespread trend among the existing studies to locate the development of the Internet within a discourse of control and resistance, or rather to focus on those new forms of social interaction or entertainment that it makes possible.