Rethinking literature in a changing world

On Thursday, the Chinese Writers magazine held a symposium in Beijing on the theme "world literature and a community with a shared future for humanity", bringing together scholars, experts, writers, and media representatives.

The symposium explored whether "world literature" as envisioned by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Karl Marx is realistically possible in the age of digital globalization, whether the idea of "a community with a shared future for humanity" can offer a new literary framework that balances national cultural identity with shared human values; and how literature can preserve and renew its humanistic spirit and human-centered character amid the rapid development of artificial intelligence.

Renowned writer and professor at the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Tsinghua University, Ge Fei (pen name), looked back at the origins of the concept of "world literature", noting that 200 years have passed since it was first proposed. History, he said, has once again reached a major turning point. He said today China is fully synchronized with — and even ahead of — the rest of the world in terms of information, culture, and the issues shaping public discussion. This, he said, presents literature with unprecedented challenges, opportunities, and possibilities.

Under these new historical conditions, Chinese writers are not simply part of the world literary landscape; they are already writing world literature. "It is impossible to detach yourself from the world in your writing," Ge said. "The Chinese issues you write about are all world issues."

Writer and literary critic Li Tuo said the proposal of "a community with a shared future for humanity" offers a completely new theoretical perspective from which to approach world literature. Chinese writers and literary scholars, he argued, should move beyond the intellectual framework of Goethe's era and establish their own position in the global literary conversation.

He also called on Chinese writers to consider how literature can contribute to building "a community with a shared future for humanity" and to finding new ways to tell China's story. Citing the global standing of Russian literature, Li pointed to the contributions of major literary and intellectual figures whose influence extends far beyond literature into philosophy and the wider history of ideas.

Chinese writers, he said, should use literature of intellectual depth and philosophical ambition to establish a global coordinate for national culture, and earn the respect of readers around the world with works that can truly "capture" people.