Paradigm Evolution Of Chinese Contemporary Literature (1949-1985)

National Literature and Art Workers’ Representative Conference of China(hereinafter referred to as “NLAWRCC”), among which are, in particular, the First NLAWRCC to the Fourth NLAWRCC determining literary policies and unifying ideologies of writers and artists of China, constructing and adjusting the ceremony of literary system of Chinese Communist Party, regulating its theoretical approach of literary production and criticism,formulating the framework of literati’s performance and blueprinting the trend of literary production, had exerted a profound impact on the birth, growth, transformation of contemporary literature from 1949 to 1985.The theory of paradigm, proposed by Thomas Samuel Kuhn(1922-1996), American philosopher of science, has been widely employed in such fields as the natural science,social sciences and humanities. This doctoral dissertation attempts to apply this theory that advocates the notion that literary paradigm is the integration of literary concepts, literary systems and its models in certain times and domain for literati abiding by unanimously the literary concepts, theoretical principles and institutional norm and discourse types and exemplary samples, when they are engaging in literary production and research, into specific analysis textually to shed light on the paradigm evolution of Chinese Contemporary literature.On the close analysis of the paradigm evolution of Chinese Contemporary literature, it is safe for me to hold the view that four NLAWRCCs ushered in the construction of literary paradigms of contemporary literature, a landmark event in the history of contemporary literature in the early period of the foundation of the People’s Republic of China. And the four conferences mentioned above constructed three types of literary paradigm.The first and the second National Representative Conference had built the first type of literary paradigm, showing the Literary Paradigm of socialist transitional period(1949-1956). From the time New China was founded in 1949 to the year of 1956, Chinahad completed the transformation of the private ownership of the production means and started the National Socialist literary imagination, following suit the Soviet model and experience acquired in literary movement of liberated areas. According to Mao Zedong’s Talks at the YeanForum on Literature and Art, contemporary literature Community has integrated, consensus mirroring the Literary Concept reached, which takes socialist realism and literary criticism as the highest principles. China has initially established a highly centralized and organized literary system, exerting educational and mobilization function of literature. Literary works on workers and farmerswere thus in full swing.The third National Representative Conference had constructed the second type of literary paradigm, the Literary Paradigm of initial socialist construction(1956-1976). In1956, PRC completed the socialist transformation of private ownership of the production means and established officiallythe socialist system, which marked the end of the period of transitionfrom capitalism to socialism. Through the struggle and swing of the literary frontier, the Third National Representative Conference was held as late as in 1960 when the literary paradigm revolution was completed, which turned from the period of transitional paradigm to that of the early literature of socialist construction. Because of the political and economic vicissitude in domestic as well as the interior strife of CPC. Literary paradigm of socialist construction didn’t reach the conventional literary stage until the“Cultural Revolution”, when the Concept of literature as aninstrument had become a faith.The Revolutionary realism and revolutionary romanticism had replaced the social Marxist realism and Model Literature has become an example of the General Literature.The third type of literary paradigm built at the Fourth National Representative Conference showed the new era of socialist Literary Paradigm(1976-1985). With the end of the period of authoritarian literature, the relationship between politics and literature was reexamined and literary aesthetic concept has been established, with literature and criticism gaining relative independence and the limit on literary themes, literary methods and character types being broken. The promotion of revolutionary realism literature and Western literary trends and literary creation methods had gone hand in hand. With the diversity of literature paradigm, literature gradually return to the track of its development.The three paradigms of Chinese contemporary literature remains a firm disparity in literary concept, system and model, but they demonstrate a continuity in literary resources,thinking logic and framework. With the disintegration of dominating and unifyingparadigm due to the literary system reform after the year of 1985, a new literary paradigm is emerging on the horizon because of literati’s knowledge, concepts and aesthetic orientation ushering in a new literary community.