A Study Of Shuo Fang In The Period Of Transition(1985-2000)

In the 1980s and 1990s,Chinese literature was going through a transition period,facing a confrontational crisis between aesthetics pursuit and the market demand.As the main platform of literary production activities,literary journals need to consider multiple factors such as literature,politics,and the market.Shuo Fang,a Ningxia journal,actively promoted literary transformation and development during this period by reforming its operation mechanism and fostering local writers.Shuo Fang is an important and indispensable historical material for the study of Ningxia literature.However,present literary historical studies focus on literary criticism of Ningxia writings,rather than historical materials of the literature,which,to some extent,underestimates the uniqueness of Ningxia literature in the contemporary Chinese literary field.This paper,therefore,intends to reinterpret the production and operation of Ningxia literature during the transition period with a lively vision and a historical approach in the study and analysis of Shuo Fang(1985—2000),to restore the developing history of the journal,and to enrich the history of both Ningxia literature and contemporary literature.The thesis begins by introducing the history of Shuo Fang.It examines the development of the journal from its founding to the new period,and shows the paradigm and features of Ningxia literature.The thesis establishes historical connections of literary resources between the transition period and the past thirty years.The thesis also shows how Shuo Fang selected and adjusted the past "Ningxia literature and art".Chapter 2 focuses on literary operation mechanism of Shuo Fang from 1985 to 2000.It shows how the journal has been able to produce works and operate under the influence of literature,politics,and the market factors.This chapter also introduces how Shuo Fang went through reforms of writing competitions,literature naming and cooperation with enterprises and has been firmly committed to the construction of a pure literary spiritual home,actively guided Ningxia literature’s characteristics and mainstream values,and painted Ningxia literature’s unique microcosm against the backdrop of contemporary literature.Chapter 3 shows literary images shaped by Shuo Fang under its perseverance of pure literature.It presents to readers and literary history a spiritual outlook with regional characteristics and an operating style that fosters and cultivates young literary talents.Shuo Fang has attached great importance to selecting works of regional writers and Hui writers,and has created a group of young writers represented by the "Three Trees" of Ningxia(Shi,Chen and Jin)due to its endeavors.Chapter 4 starts from distribution and operation of reportage and popular literature in Shuo Fang and analyzes difficulties and hesitations Shuo Fang was confronted with during the transition period.Whether to create a spiritual home or entertain the mass market,Shuo Fang’s struggle and compromise are particularly evident in its promotion of reportage and popular literature.Hence,these two literary genres exhibit limits and dilemmas of Ningxia literature during the transition period.In the concluding chapter,the thesis argues that when the work of establishing a historical sense of literary and historical material research is done,it is necessary to further explore the details in the study of Ningxia literature.