Critics speak out in the Liberation Daily's "Chaohua Living Room": "Literary criticism is a reflection of the ideological scene"

There has never been an era like today, with such convenient and numerous channels for literary and artistic criticism and so many critics in different art fields such as literature, drama, film and television, fine arts, and music. How should we carry out literary and artistic criticism in the context of a broad cultural perspective today? Around this topic, at the third session of the "Chaohua Living Room" event of the Liberation Daily held by the 1927 Lu Xun and Neishan Memorial Bookstore yesterday, experts and scholars in related fields expressed their opinions on the theme of "Literary and Art Criticism is a Reflection on the Scene of Thought" and exchanged and collided with ideas.

"Chaohua Living Room" is an offline literary review and discussion platform of "Chaohua", a 68-year-old literary supplement of the Liberation Daily. It will be held every six months starting from the first half of 2023, focusing on literary creation, cultural ecology and literary criticism, and inviting experts and scholars in Shanghai to express their insights.

Experts attending this issue of "Chaohua Living Room" believe that in recent years, Shanghai's literary and artistic works have shown magnificent ideological connotations, and a number of outstanding works have emerged, such as the movies "The Climbers", "1921", "I am a Doctor", and "The Eternal Wave", the TV series "Flowers" and "City in the City", literary works "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" and "Battle of Shanghai", and stage works "The Eternal Wave" and "Secret No. 1". Against this background, Shanghai's contemporary literary and artistic criticism is timely and flourishing. Literary and artistic criticism should be a reflection of the ideological scene, and the ideological scene should also be a support for literary and artistic criticism. Literary and artistic criticism in the new era will work with the new era literature and art to clarify its mission, consciously take on its responsibilities, and go hand in hand in the vision of the "community".

"Although the current art market is active, the demand for art is strong, and there are abundant art works, there are not many art criticisms that can put forward certain ideas and aesthetic principles." Liu Chun, an associate researcher at the Institute of Literature of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the way out of the impasse in art criticism may be to think deeply about the ideological background of art criticism, transcend the fragmented pattern, and rebuild a holistic vision. Art criticism that helps to construct "community imagination" is urgently needed, and the "imagined community" constructed by literary works expresses the deep cultural connotation of the Chinese nation to the outside world and strengthens cultural cohesion and self-confidence internally. All of this requires a powerful elaboration of art criticism. Therefore, the ideological connotation of how art criticism can "tell Chinese stories well" has important theoretical value and practical significance.

Shen Jiayi, a professor at the School of Communication of East China Normal University, proposed that literary and artistic criticism, as an important foundation of literary and artistic work, is not only a carrier of cultural and ideological inheritance, but also a presentation of cultural and ideological mirrors. Good literary and artistic criticism is like a bridge, connecting works and ideas on one end, and creators and audiences on the other. Through this bridge, the audience can not only feel the beauty of works of art, but also draw spiritual strength from them. Especially in recent years, there have been many online dramas worthy of attention, and their audience groups are mostly "new humans." "Literary and artistic criticism of these works is very necessary, and critics have the responsibility to help young audiences appreciate the professionalism and skill of the art in the works, as well as the emotions and thoughts conveyed by the creators behind the works."

Ye Zhudi, the editor-in-chief and editor of "Exploration and Debate", has a very sharp point of view. He believes that literary and artistic reviews in the general sense are not the same as literary and artistic criticism. Some literary and artistic reviews focus on literary and artistic appreciation, and to some extent discuss issues in the dimension of technology and skills. However, true literary and artistic criticism must stand at the height of criticism and make a true "judgment" on the object of criticism in order to get close to the ideological scene. Excellent literary and artistic criticism should be a "roaring arrow in the forest" and also requires an independent creative spirit. The creation of literary and artistic critics and the creators of literary and artistic works should reflect each other and shine on each other. Literary and artistic criticism needs to be discussed in the context of history.

Tang Weijie, associate professor of the Chinese Department of the School of Humanities at Tongji University and vice president of the Shanghai Film Critics Society, traced the origin of literary criticism. He searched the frequency of appearance of words such as "literary criticism" and "art criticism" in Shenbao from 1872 to 1949, and found that literary criticism articles appeared in large numbers after 1920, and began to appear in large numbers in the past 100 years. "In my opinion, after about 1910, Shanghai gathered the most advanced cultural elements and technologies in the country, as well as the corresponding talent resources, and was far ahead of other regions in the fields of news publishing, printing, etc., becoming China's cultural center city. The prosperity of literary criticism is also a foregone conclusion. Modern media and literary works have the support of media platforms. Not only have various modern literary styles gradually become professionalized, but literary criticism has also entered the process of professionalization. Although the history of Chinese literary and artistic criticism can be traced back to the pre-Qin period, it was in a sense a spontaneous and individual phenomenon. Only in modern times, especially in modern Shanghai, did truly professional literary critics and their practice space appear."

Xu Jianrong, an art historian, art educator, and calligraphy and painting appraiser, pointed out that the "bottom line" of literary and artistic works is to abide by social laws, public order and good customs, and common sense. Literary and artistic reviews that focus on specific works should of course be encouraging and affirmative, while critical ones can focus on phenomena. Literary and artistic critics should have their own opinions, but they should not use their own opinions to deny other people's opinions. "As the saying goes, 'there are thousands of fallacies, but only one truth', my view is that there are thousands of truths, but only one fallacy, that is, 'only affirming yourself and easily denying others'."