The concept of "avant-garde novel" has broad sense and narrow sense. In a broad sense, "avant-garde novel" refers to novel creation with avant-garde spirit, that is, novel creation in "avant-garde literature". The so-called "pioneer spirit" is to explore the possibility of existence and related art with a pioneer attitude, and to form a strong impact on the old state of literature with an attitude of not avoiding extremes. In China's contemporary literature, the source of pioneering spirit can be traced back to the young generation's exploration in the field of poetry and novels during the Cultural Revolution, namely, the poems of "Baiyangdian Poetry School" and Zhao Zhenkai's novel The Wave. Since then, there have been obscure poem represented by Beidaozhu and Shu Ting, stream-of-consciousness novels represented by Wang Meng, absurd novels represented by Zong Pu and Liu Suola, and modernist dramas represented by Gao Xingjian.
In a narrow sense, "avant-garde novel" refers to the trend of novel creation characterized by formal exploration that appeared in the mid-1980s. Its main writers are Ma Yuan, Mo Yan, Can Xue, Su Tong and Hong Feng, and later younger writers such as Ge Fei, Sun Ganlu, Yu Hua, Ye Zhao Yan, Tashi Dawa, Kitamura, Xin Lv, and even Qiu Huadong, Zhu Wen, Han Dong, Dongxi, Diao Dou and He Dun. However, the relationship between "late generation" and "avant-garde novel" is somewhat similar to that between "new generation" and "misty poetry", and their rebellious avant-garde spirit leads to the deviation of many of their creative characteristics from "avant-garde novel". Whether they should belong to "avant-garde novels" remains to be seen in the specific creative development.