In the name of stability: Literary censorship and self-censorship in contemporary China

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F61989592%3A15210%2F21%3A73608251" target="_blank" >RIV/61989592:15210/21:73608251 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://obd.upol.cz/id_publ/333188137" target="_blank" >https://obd.upol.cz/id_publ/333188137</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

In the name of stability: Literary censorship and self-censorship in contemporary China

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

Scrutinizing Chinese literary field from the perspective of new censorship theories (Burt, 1994; Holquist, 1994; Post, 1998; Butler, 1998), this chapter describes mechanisms and provides deeper insights into ideological objectives of contemporary Chinese censorship, which can be summed up by notions of maintaining stability (维稳) and social harmony (社会和谐). M. Hockx’s (1999) adaptation of P. Bordieu’s (1992) concept of literary field for modern Chinese literature is characterized by addition of “political capital” to Bordieu’s original two-dimensional figure. Within this frame, the present study highlights nodal points of continuity in the official standpoints and requirements concerning the basic function of literature and arts despite turbulent changes in both politics and society in the PRC during the last 70 years. M. Hockx linked the “political capital” to [writers’]“ability to deal with the concept of people”, which is still plausible, not only on the official level – as the slogan of “serving the people” was repeatedly stressed by president Xi Jinping – but also in the everyday reality of each segment of the literary field, from writers through editors to publishers and sellers. Prominent writer Yan Lianke (2016) has pointed out that the Chinese literary system has since the 1980s shifted from “hard censorship” to a “soft” one, and writers, as well as other parts of the literary field, have resorted to “self-monitoring” motivated by “the seduction of power, fame and influence rather than being a product of fear and desperation.” The present situation marks a notable transformation of the original notion of literature as one of the main tools of propaganda whose aim is officially limited to disseminating key ideological concepts among the broad masses of people as it was formulated by Mao Zedong in Yan’an in 1942. The centralized, state-controlled literary establishment was gradually abolished during the post-Mao era, nevertheless, the basic principles in the official Party discourse remain and literature should still to some extent serve to extraliterary objectives. The literary field in the PRC has always been characterized by certain tension between writers’ (critical) commitment to “reality” and the officially formulated aims of literary creation, however, writers, as well as other players in the field, are with increasing intensity tempted to succumb to the seduction of the seemingly free market, which is in fact inseparably connected to and effectively controlled by the official literary system. The tension, propelled by collision between the symbolic and the political capitals, is thus diluted by growing potential of the economic capital and massive influence of popular culture that has (again) become a targeted tool for promoting the official ideology and its master narrative.

Název v anglickém jazyce

In the name of stability: Literary censorship and self-censorship in contemporary China

Popis výsledku anglicky

Scrutinizing Chinese literary field from the perspective of new censorship theories (Burt, 1994; Holquist, 1994; Post, 1998; Butler, 1998), this chapter describes mechanisms and provides deeper insights into ideological objectives of contemporary Chinese censorship, which can be summed up by notions of maintaining stability (维稳) and social harmony (社会和谐). M. Hockx’s (1999) adaptation of P. Bordieu’s (1992) concept of literary field for modern Chinese literature is characterized by addition of “political capital” to Bordieu’s original two-dimensional figure. Within this frame, the present study highlights nodal points of continuity in the official standpoints and requirements concerning the basic function of literature and arts despite turbulent changes in both politics and society in the PRC during the last 70 years. M. Hockx linked the “political capital” to [writers’]“ability to deal with the concept of people”, which is still plausible, not only on the official level – as the slogan of “serving the people” was repeatedly stressed by president Xi Jinping – but also in the everyday reality of each segment of the literary field, from writers through editors to publishers and sellers. Prominent writer Yan Lianke (2016) has pointed out that the Chinese literary system has since the 1980s shifted from “hard censorship” to a “soft” one, and writers, as well as other parts of the literary field, have resorted to “self-monitoring” motivated by “the seduction of power, fame and influence rather than being a product of fear and desperation.” The present situation marks a notable transformation of the original notion of literature as one of the main tools of propaganda whose aim is officially limited to disseminating key ideological concepts among the broad masses of people as it was formulated by Mao Zedong in Yan’an in 1942. The centralized, state-controlled literary establishment was gradually abolished during the post-Mao era, nevertheless, the basic principles in the official Party discourse remain and literature should still to some extent serve to extraliterary objectives. The literary field in the PRC has always been characterized by certain tension between writers’ (critical) commitment to “reality” and the officially formulated aims of literary creation, however, writers, as well as other players in the field, are with increasing intensity tempted to succumb to the seduction of the seemingly free market, which is in fact inseparably connected to and effectively controlled by the official literary system. The tension, propelled by collision between the symbolic and the political capitals, is thus diluted by growing potential of the economic capital and massive influence of popular culture that has (again) become a targeted tool for promoting the official ideology and its master narrative.

Druh

C - Kapitola v odborné knize

CEP obor

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OECD FORD obor

60204 - General literature studies

Projekt

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Návaznosti

O - Projekt operacniho programu

Rok uplatnění

2021

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název knihy nebo sborníku

Routledge Handbook of Chinese Studies

ISBN

978-0-367-18139-0

Počet stran výsledku

13

Strana od-do

505-517

Počet stran knihy

682

Název nakladatele

Routledge

Místo vydání

London

Kód UT WoS kapitoly

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