Text/Huang Shuai
Some media recently published an article "The Chinese Department Doesn't Cultivate Writers?" "The article pointed out "Why can't Chinese students submit a personal work but must submit a formal graduation thesis?"
This topic has once again attracted attention and doubts from the outside world. "The Chinese Department does not cultivate writers." I am afraid that most students in the Chinese Department will hear this "teaching" from their teachers when they first enter school. Although not all students studying in the Chinese Department come here with pure literary ideals, there are definitely a few who love literature and are willing to try literary creation (the more prestigious the Chinese major in a school, the more obvious this phenomenon is). Today, I published an article on "Lizhi Commentary" to briefly discuss this issue. It has puzzled people for a long time, but the debate has always failed to produce a result.
Does this statement make sense? Objectively speaking, it is inevitable and reasonable.
Historically, Yang Hui, the former director of the Chinese Department of Peking University, made it clear in the 1950s that "the Chinese Department of Peking University does not cultivate writers, and those who want to be writers should not come here." This view has been widely circulated. Since then, Chinese departments in major universities across the country have followed suit. To this day, most Chinese departments in universities (majoring in Chinese language and literature, including literature and linguistics) still follow this educational idea.
From the perspective of the history of the discipline, the proportion of literary creation in the Chinese education of the Republic of China University is very small, and most of them are academic research. After entering the contemporary era, the subject setting of Chinese departments in colleges and universities focuses on the direction of literature. The focus of literary history, literary criticism, not to mention linguistics, is completely different from the misunderstanding of "the Chinese Department is about writing novels and poetry." From the perspective of continuing historical inertia, "the Chinese department does not cultivate writers" is indeed logically consistent.
In reality, this concept is supported by more people. Why? As we all know, the Chinese Department is known as the "Taiwan Balm Major", which means that you can choose any job after graduation. But on the other hand, if you can do anything, in fact, you may not be able to do anything, or you may not do it well or be unprofessional. At a time when professional settings are becoming increasingly sophisticated and social division of labor is becoming more refined, the inability to monetize a major, or the unclear method of monetizing it, will discourage many people from studying this major.
The problem with majors in literature, history and philosophy is precisely that they cannot win the recognition of certain "secular positions", especially in Chinese majors. Needless to say, even though teachers have repeatedly ordered students to read widely and focus on acquiring professional skills, there are still many students in the Chinese Department who have spent four years reading some third-rate novels and are unable to master professional expression and related skills when they graduate. This is true under strict educational planning. If education in literary creation is promoted, wouldn't it be more difficult to quantitatively manage it? Except for a few literary geniuses, most students will be delayed because of this. When you discover your skills after graduation, will you regret the wasted youth of "literary creation"?
The difficulty of literary creation education and the "secular standards" of external evaluation are the internal reasons why "Chinese departments do not cultivate writers." However, it is not advisable to beat someone to death in a bundle. Under the trend of diversified talent training models, many traditional disciplines are transforming towards application and interdisciplinary orientation. Chinese, an "old discipline", should not be left behind. .
Strictly speaking, the expression should be changed, not "the Chinese Department does not cultivate writers", but "the Chinese Department does not oppose the cultivation of writers." On the one hand, we should continue to continue the past educational ideas for literature majors. After all, literary geniuses are rare and difficult to cultivate. More students need to learn professional knowledge and skills in the Chinese Department to engage in education, media, publishing or other clerical fields in the future. Work.
For students who are eager to further their studies, they will naturally choose a field that suits them during the postgraduate study period. Whether it is ancient literature, classical literature, modern and contemporary literature or comparative literature, they naturally have their own academic paradigms and majors. train. If you still have the intention to engage in literary creation, it is a completely independent choice that can neither be forced nor oppressed.
On the other hand, necessary guidance in literary creation is very necessary. At present, many university Chinese departments have writing courses and full-time writing teachers. Some famous writers have even become writers-in-residence and professors at universities, such as Ge Fei at Tsinghua University, Su Tong at Beijing Normal University, and Yan Lianke at Renmin University of China. etc. Furthermore, writing centers can also be established. For example, Beijing Normal University has opened an international writing center where many well-known writers can communicate closely with current students. However, there are still very few Chinese departments that offer literary creation as a major. Fudan University and Peking University have opened creative writing majors at the master's level, but more universities are still in the "wait and see" stage, and their training methods and education The effect remains to be tested over time.
Of course, it should also be noted that the difficulty in offering creative creative education in many Chinese departments of universities is also due to the lack of suitable and reasonable teachers and even students. If you teach students to write, mature writers are the best choice, but the number of famous writers is far less than the number of qualified literary researchers, which also makes many colleges and universities hesitate when making choices.
From a student's perspective, if you apply for a major in literary creation, unless you are particularly passionate about and good at writing, you will also be confused about your major and future employment.
The Chinese departments of prestigious universities can rely on the school's brand to attract candidates to major in creative writing. Of course, the Chinese departments of ordinary universities do not have this attraction. Whether they can attract good students and cultivate high-quality students is unpredictable. thing.
Moreover, there is a deeper problem behind this, which is that in recent decades, the value of so-called "pure literature" has been increasingly valued by the mainstream literary circles. Withdrew from the square and became the "darling" in study rooms and literary forums. The loss of fairness and criticality has become a shortcut for writers to maintain their "worth". Over a long period of time, people have subconsciously acquiesced in the rationality of the status quo. Although some writers have preserved the quality of their secular lives, they have The public sector has lost its right to speak. This has caused many young people who originally had ideals and interests in literary careers to abandon their original "fantasies."
At the same time, the relationship between writers (or intellectuals more broadly) and the media has become increasingly ambiguous, which, while increasing some people's visibility, also undermines their uniqueness. Since the 1990s, the professionalism of academic research has become increasingly prominent in China’s intellectual circles, while the impartiality and political nature have been continuously reduced. This is related to both the internal logic of the evolution of academic research and the larger social environment. Until the new century, with the strong rise of online media, the discourse field changed from a political space to an online cultural space, in which media dissemination of information and intellectual narratives tended to obey the logic of capital rather than the political logic of the past.
In fact, for students who are truly suitable for literary creation, without suppressing them and providing appropriate scientific training, they can be allowed to "grow barbarically." "The Chinese Department is not opposed to cultivating writers." It can not only protect some literary geniuses, but also protect the majority of Chinese Department students from learning the skills to establish themselves. Scientific guidance instead of "blindly misleading based on literary enthusiasm" is the right approach. The most appropriate and responsible education idea for all students.
My new book is on the market. It is available in major Xinhua bookstores, as well as JD.com, Dangdang, Amazon and Xinbao. O(∩_∩)O`
Introduction
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A collection of comments by authors born in the 1990s, describing daily life and making comments. It is not only a collection of personal essays, but more importantly, it describes how a group of young people born in the 1990s think about life and view the world, not only personal growth. In summary, it is also a reflection of the growth of the post-90s generation.
About the author
Huang Shuai, also known as Huang Simon, was born in 1990 and is the author of reviews. Master of Arts, native of Jinan, Shandong. He is currently the editor and commentator of the Comment Department of China Youth Daily. He has published more than 500,000 words in publications such as China Youth Daily, Guangming Daily, Beijing Daily, Beijing Evening News, and Shandong Literature.
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