The Rise of “Subaltern Literature” In the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

Host: Greetings and welcome! The decrease in attendance to this forum bespeaks the harsh reality that literature faces. What is more, today’s topic on subalterns (diceng), the increasingly marginalized groups of our society, may not help. But despite that, there are still people who pay attention. Literature in the early 1980s, represented by the “scar literature,” functioned as a powerful thought force socially and witnessed our country turning over a new leaf. But by the turn of this century, the importance of literature had declined; part of the reason has to do with its departure from people’s lives and needs.

* In order to keep the usage for the Chinese expression “diceng wenxue” uniform in this volume, the editors choose to translate it into “subaltern literature.” The translator for this chapter originally chose “grassroot literature” instead and created a note to explain her choice. We decided to keep her original note below, with the hope that it can generate further discussion on the meaning of “diceng wenxue” in the Chinese context.

“The translator chose ‘grassroot literature’ for ‘diceng wenxue’ for a number of reasons. The author in the chapter identifies ‘diceng’ as the ‘rock foundation’ of the Chinese society that encompasses the majority of the Chinese population. ‘Grassroots’ conveys the author’s connotation of ‘diceng’ much better than such expressions as ‘the bottom of society’ or ‘the lowest rung of social stratum.’ Since the representative writers of the phenomenon discussed here are mostly elite professional writers, it would be misleading to call their works ‘literature from/by the grassroots.’ The critical concept of ‘subaltern’ may help understand the theoretical implication of ‘grass root’ here: Like ‘subaltern,’ ‘grass root’ also references marginalized groups and oppressed lower classes, provides new understanding from their perspectives, and exercises subversive agency against hegemonic ideology and power.”

• Originally published in Tianya (Frontiers) 1 (2008): 184–191.