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The death of literary journals that transform into trash to survive
By Wan Lixin |
October 28, 2009, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THIS weekend on the metro, amid crowds of young and elderly people fresh from Happy Valley, I saw a young man holding a copy of the magazine Shiyue, or October.
Twenty years ago, this literary magazine, together with an array of other literary periodicals, appealed to a large reading public regardless of their occupations.
For me at least, one fresh or back copy of such a journal could hold me entranced for several days.
Most people today viewed that period as a time of material privations, but they are ignorant of the fact that it was also a time of simple aspirations, when most people could still enjoy the charmed life of the mind.
For the editors of the journals at that time, there were no worries about circulation figures, and advertisement was unheard of.
These journals are vanishing from the market, despite their sincere efforts to vulgarize - that's why that young man caught my attention.
Yesterday I gave a quick survey of a nearby newspaper stand on Weihai Road.
From a distance the stand looks like a stall selling flashy trinkets - these are magazines on fashion, entertainment, sports, and video games, mostly with covers featuring skimpily clad beauties.
There are over 10 magazines on autos, but none on literature.
Literature periodicals are dying because they do not serve any practical purpose.
At the beginning most magazines had undergone metamorphoses to respond better to the dictates of market.
A couple of years ago a once-prestigious literary journal Fangcao (Fragrant Grass) launched an online edition and an edition targeting the teenagers.
Hunan Literature has morphed from a literary magazine, to Muyu (Mother Tongue), a fashion magazine.
Huaxi (Flowery Creek) has turned from a literary journal for aspiring youth to a fashion journal featuring women's love and romance.
Mengya (Budding) launched a "New Concept" essay-writing competition, and was quickly followed by Renmin Wenxue (People's Literature), Dangdai (Contemporary Era), and Shanghai Literature.
But these initiatives did little in averting their fate.
Fangcao's editor Liu Xinglong said recently that the magazine's attempt at reinventing itself has been unsuccessful.
"Literature cannot be assessed in terms of sales and money, but should have a voice of its own, in its effort to afford an alternative vision of life," said Liu.
But sales is probably just one of the many factors facilitating the decay.
Literary magazines are dying because modern people no longer have time, or need, to muse on their existence - they have plenty of instant gratification.
If poet Li Bai and Du Fu lived today, could they still spare time for a few poems after the daily grind? Or would they be more concerned about their "standard of living"?
Could they still be inspired by a flower or moonlight amid racing cars, rushing crowds and dazzling neon lights?
If they do have money to visit an idyllic retreat, would they compose verses instead of take out a digital camera and snap a few shots?
A century ago H.W. Fowler and F.G. Fowler criticized Rudyard Kipling whose style "exhibits a sort of remorseless and scientific efficiency ... that suggests the application of colored photography to description; the camera is superseding the human hand."
Superseding the human hand, and mind, are also motion pictures, TV, Videos, Google, and printers.
A modern adult's attention span is more and more like that of a new-born infant, who has little time for anything that is not immediately exciting.
Similarly, "literature" that does survive is quickly becoming a mass-produced product designed for mass consumption.
There are still success stories. Writer Yu Qiuyu's stock holdings are now valued at nearly 70 million yuan (US$10 million).
Some books still sell like hot cakes.
Favored topics include romantic encounters, lust, sadism, ghosts, grave robbing, and travel back to the past.
If you know how to target an audience that is assimilative but incapable of genuine thought, there is still hope for success.
A demure matron throwing best sellers into a shopping cart will be a helpful image - and a reality check - for an aspiring writer contemplating his next work.
Twenty years ago, this literary magazine, together with an array of other literary periodicals, appealed to a large reading public regardless of their occupations.
For me at least, one fresh or back copy of such a journal could hold me entranced for several days.
Most people today viewed that period as a time of material privations, but they are ignorant of the fact that it was also a time of simple aspirations, when most people could still enjoy the charmed life of the mind.
For the editors of the journals at that time, there were no worries about circulation figures, and advertisement was unheard of.
These journals are vanishing from the market, despite their sincere efforts to vulgarize - that's why that young man caught my attention.
Yesterday I gave a quick survey of a nearby newspaper stand on Weihai Road.
From a distance the stand looks like a stall selling flashy trinkets - these are magazines on fashion, entertainment, sports, and video games, mostly with covers featuring skimpily clad beauties.
There are over 10 magazines on autos, but none on literature.
Literature periodicals are dying because they do not serve any practical purpose.
At the beginning most magazines had undergone metamorphoses to respond better to the dictates of market.
A couple of years ago a once-prestigious literary journal Fangcao (Fragrant Grass) launched an online edition and an edition targeting the teenagers.
Hunan Literature has morphed from a literary magazine, to Muyu (Mother Tongue), a fashion magazine.
Huaxi (Flowery Creek) has turned from a literary journal for aspiring youth to a fashion journal featuring women's love and romance.
Mengya (Budding) launched a "New Concept" essay-writing competition, and was quickly followed by Renmin Wenxue (People's Literature), Dangdai (Contemporary Era), and Shanghai Literature.
But these initiatives did little in averting their fate.
Fangcao's editor Liu Xinglong said recently that the magazine's attempt at reinventing itself has been unsuccessful.
"Literature cannot be assessed in terms of sales and money, but should have a voice of its own, in its effort to afford an alternative vision of life," said Liu.
But sales is probably just one of the many factors facilitating the decay.
Literary magazines are dying because modern people no longer have time, or need, to muse on their existence - they have plenty of instant gratification.
If poet Li Bai and Du Fu lived today, could they still spare time for a few poems after the daily grind? Or would they be more concerned about their "standard of living"?
Could they still be inspired by a flower or moonlight amid racing cars, rushing crowds and dazzling neon lights?
If they do have money to visit an idyllic retreat, would they compose verses instead of take out a digital camera and snap a few shots?
A century ago H.W. Fowler and F.G. Fowler criticized Rudyard Kipling whose style "exhibits a sort of remorseless and scientific efficiency ... that suggests the application of colored photography to description; the camera is superseding the human hand."
Superseding the human hand, and mind, are also motion pictures, TV, Videos, Google, and printers.
A modern adult's attention span is more and more like that of a new-born infant, who has little time for anything that is not immediately exciting.
Similarly, "literature" that does survive is quickly becoming a mass-produced product designed for mass consumption.
There are still success stories. Writer Yu Qiuyu's stock holdings are now valued at nearly 70 million yuan (US$10 million).
Some books still sell like hot cakes.
Favored topics include romantic encounters, lust, sadism, ghosts, grave robbing, and travel back to the past.
If you know how to target an audience that is assimilative but incapable of genuine thought, there is still hope for success.
A demure matron throwing best sellers into a shopping cart will be a helpful image - and a reality check - for an aspiring writer contemplating his next work.
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