Why has poetry recitation events quietly become popular? In this oldest form of literature lies a unique cultural code spirit | culture | literature

Culture is a product of human practice.

To create a new culture that belongs to our era, we must advocate for everyone to participate in the production of spiritual culture and encourage everyone to use their strengths to innovate spiritual and cultural products. One important aspect is to actively leverage the resource advantages of various aspects and actively build public cultural spaces. In recent years, public cultural activities such as poetry recitations have quietly become popular. At the just concluded 2023 Shanghai Book Fair, the Shanghai International Literature Week "Poetry Night" as a key public event attracted the attention of many people. These public cultural activities can meet the spiritual and cultural needs of different groups of people, improve their spiritual and cultural literacy, help strengthen cultural confidence in rich spiritual and cultural practices, better build modern Chinese civilization, and showcase the cultural image of a great country.

The unique value of poetry in the construction of public cultural spaces

Human life includes both material and spiritual life, and poetry is one of the earliest important literary forms to participate in human spiritual life. Poetry is regarded as the oldest, most important, and most fundamental form of literature, originating from and passed down to the people. China is a country of poetry, and the tradition of poetry education that originated in the pre Qin period has continued for over 2000 years. Chinese ancient poetry, as an important form of ancient literature, contains rich traditional philosophical ideas such as Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, reflecting the humanistic sentiment, aesthetic taste, and life philosophy of the Chinese nation, providing inspiration and sustenance.

In today's society, the fast-paced pace of life is intertwined with fragmented online information. While enjoying abundant material life, people also face various spiritual difficulties such as spiritual emptiness, emotional anxiety, and decreased psychological resilience. The cultural and spiritual values contained in poetry can improve personality, cultivate the soul, enhance cultivation, and meet the needs of contemporary people to absorb spiritual nourishment and enrich their spiritual life. At the same time, ancient Chinese poetry, as an important component of China's excellent traditional culture, has the power to enhance national identity and unite people's hearts. It can be said that poetry is an important way to settle the mind.

In contemporary society, public cultural spaces are important places for poetry display, sharing, and dissemination. Public cultural space refers to an open space in a city or community for the public to gather, exchange, participate, and experience cultural activities, such as public squares, parks, libraries, museums, art centers, theaters, concert halls, street art areas, and other forms of venues. It is based on physical space and endows it with cultural significance. As the core carrier of society, public cultural spaces play an important role in shaping and consolidating social identity, promoting cultural exchange and innovation. Due to the unique contemporary value of poetry, exploring the construction of public cultural spaces that promote spiritual growth, cultural dissemination, and cultural guidance through cultural activities such as poetry recitations may provide a solution to enrich people's spiritual and cultural life and solve the spiritual difficulties of contemporary people.

Exploring the construction of a public cultural space with poetry as the main content

So, how to build a public cultural space with poetry sharing, recitation, and dissemination as the main content?

Firstly, establish the concept of "innovation, modernity, humanities, openness, and sharing" in the construction of public cultural spaces, and focus on promoting cultural dissemination, cultural leadership, and spiritual development. Public cultural space is a space for spiritual growth, and high-quality growth requires high-quality spiritual nourishment. How can spiritual nourishment play a leading role in public cultural spaces and enhance the quality of public spiritual life? The academic community should play an active role in this regard. Academic experts can participate as organizers in the construction of public cultural spaces, sharing knowledge, guiding ideas, mobilizing the enthusiasm of other participants, allowing each participant to engage in collision of ideas in public cultural spaces, witness the power of ideas, and form emotional connections and reach spiritual consensus through interaction, establishing a mutually recognized spiritual community. In the process of constructing public cultural spaces, the public is able to cultivate and enhance cultural taste, aesthetic taste, and collective personality, completing their own spiritual growth.

Secondly, stimulate the enthusiasm of diverse subjects to participate in the construction of public cultural spaces. Public cultural space is a space of relationships and power. The denser and stronger the network of relationships, the stronger the effectiveness of constructing public cultural spaces. How to maximize the benefits for every participant in public cultural spaces? How to make the spiritual and cultural production of public cultural spaces more active? The key lies in the diversity of participants. The essence of diversity is difference, and the greater the difference between individuals, the easier it is to form tension; The more dimensions of differences, the easier it is to stimulate collisions of ideas. These differences are the driving force behind the construction of public cultural spaces. At the same time, the construction of public cultural spaces should not only rely on the organization of knowledgeable individuals, but also stimulate the enthusiasm of each member, encourage all parties to cultivate a sense of ownership, actively participate in the governance and decision-making process of public cultural spaces, promote resource sharing, knowledge exchange, and innovation, and jointly promote the improvement and upgrading of public cultural spaces and their activities.

Nowadays, poetry recitation activities have attracted a lot of people, including not only performers in the entertainment industry, but also university scholars, professional musicians, contemporary poets, teachers, students, and so on. In poetry recitation activities, people of different ages, professions, and knowledge backgrounds gather together to collide and generate new emotional experiences, open up new interpretation windows, share the creation of wisdom, and jointly build a spiritual life. In this space, every reciter is unique, and everyone can be the protagonist of elegant spiritual and cultural activities. People call out to each other, examine each other, and complete their spiritual growth through interaction with others, which is precisely the value of building a public cultural space.

Thirdly, strengthen the inheritance of public cultural space construction. In the construction of public cultural spaces, it is necessary to not only inherit the excellent traditional Chinese culture, but also create a new era of culture in the new cultural time and space environment, leaving valuable spiritual property for the next generation. To inherit and promote the cultural tradition of Chinese poetry, it is necessary to stimulate the enthusiasm of the public to participate, especially among young people. Teenagers are important successors in inheriting excellent traditional Chinese culture. By participating in cultural activities such as poetry recitations, teenagers can continuously enrich their cognition, cultivate traditional cultural heritage, establish cultural confidence, and consciously become inheritors of poetry culture. At the same time, it is necessary to do a good job in the brand inheritance of poetry recitation events. Every activity in a public cultural space is unique, as it embodies the emotions of each participant and carries both personal and collective memories. Promoting the branding and sustainability of cultural activities such as poetry recitations is conducive to continuously improving public poetry literacy through communication, enhancing people's sense of belonging and cohesion towards specific public cultural spaces.

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