The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences released the 2021 Online Literature Report: The Rise of Realism and Science Fiction Themes

What are the new changes in online literature in 2021? With the further rise of realistic themes, online literature has become an important carrier for ordinary people to record Chinese stories; science fiction themes have entered one of the five major categories of online literature and become an important path for the localization of science fiction; online literature has advanced in depth and overseas influence, becoming an important carrier for writing and disseminating Chinese stories...

On April 7, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences released the "2021 Research Report on the Development of Chinese Online Literature" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), which analyzes the development context and trend characteristics of online literature from five levels: content theme, content consumption, creation ecology, online text IP and online text going abroad, based on industry data including reading group and other platforms.

The report was written by six members of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and after the completion of the report, an expert seminar was held in Beijing on April 2.

Realistic themes and science fiction themes are rising rapidly

2021 is a special year, more and more industry front-line practitioners poured into the creative team, using online texts to record the development of the industry and the style of the times, and to write about China's contemporary economic take-off and scientific and technological development, making online literature an important carrier for ordinary people to record Chinese stories.

The report said that mass creation has promoted the turn of online literary themes, the rapid rise of realistic themes and science fiction themes, traditional themes such as historical immortals have also shown the transformation of the spiritual core, and the diversified content pattern has taken shape. According to the data of Reading Group, the compound growth rate of reality themes in the five years from 2016 to 2021 exceeded 30%, ranking second in the whole category and the top five categories in 2021.

At the seminar, the topics related to the turn of the realistic theme of online literature, online literature and reading for all have also become the focus of discussion among experts and scholars, and many experts believe that the turn of realistic themes has become an inseparable "development cross-section" of online literature.

Last year, influenced by realistic themes, a clear feature is that in terms of creative techniques, online literature combines the protagonist's career development with the changes of the times and national rejuvenation, such as the online writer Mei Shiniang's work "The Running Age - South to north", which takes the establishment of the Hainan Special Economic Zone as the background to record the history of the father's efforts in the Hainan Special Economic Zone, focusing on the growth and struggle of the youth group after the reform and opening up.

"Over the years, we have seen that while maintaining the vitality of narrative, online literature has gradually moved closer to mainstream culture, mainstream ideology, and mainstream aesthetics, and the trend of realism has begun to set off, poverty alleviation, anti-epidemic, industrial production, service industry, etc., and all aspects of our lives are entering online literature." Zhang Jian, director of the Literature Department of China Social Science Daily, believes that the fundamental reason for these changes is that online literature is a mass culture, but also a consumer culture and entertainment culture, and it is precisely because of this that it is colorful, full of vitality and rich possibilities. ”

At the same time, science fiction has become one of the five major categories of online literature and an important path for the localization of science fiction. In the past five years, the number of authors who have created science fiction novels under the Reading Group alone has increased by 189% to 515,000 times, more than 22% of the top writers have created science fiction works, and many works of science fiction or science fiction related themes have reached the top ten of the starting monthly ticket list.

Promote the development of reading for all, and Gen Z will lead the new atmosphere

"Reading online texts" has become an important cultural and entertainment lifestyle for many people. As an important part of contemporary Chinese literature, online literature is also an important content supply for all people to read. According to the 49th Statistical Report on the Development of the Internet in China, by the end of 2021, the total number of online literature users in the mainland reached 502 million, an increase of 41.45 million over the same period last year, accounting for 48.6% of the total number of Netizens, and the number of readers reached the highest level in history. Among them, Beijing is the city with the largest number of online literature users, and Shandong is a major province for online literature reading.

The report proposes that with its unique charm, online literature continues to promote the development of reading for all, and continues to attract the influx of readers of Z generation "post-95" writers, injecting vitality and new strength into reading for all.

According to the data of Reading Group, the number of new writers "post-95s" in 2021 accounted for more than 80%, and the number of new users who started Chinese network in 2021 accounted for more than 60%. In terms of readers, science fiction readers account for 60% of the "post-95s", and realistic themes account for more than 40%.

Compared with 2020, the growth rate of the number of paying people in science fiction themes ranks first in the whole site. With the refinement, mainstreaming and the trend of thematic shift of online literature, reading online literature is no longer just a pastime after tea and dinner, but gradually becomes the entrance to the knowledge learning of Generation Z, and it is common to discuss "hardcore" science in the comment area. In the book review area of Morningstar LL's work "Xueba's Black Technology System", there are "wild class representatives" around the "weekly guess", "twin prime conjecture", "corner valley conjecture" and other knowledge to sort out the main points, answer questions, and form a "popular science atmosphere group".

According to the statistics of the starting point reading APP, in 2021 alone, the keyword "knowledge" appeared 130,000 times in the book review area, "physics" appeared 70,000 times, "chemistry" appeared 16,000 times, and even "high number" appeared more than 5,000 times. In addition, because Gen Z grew up in a fast-growing China, national pride is even stronger. In 2021, the word "China" appeared more than 300,000 times in reader comments, and nearly one million times in the past three years.

Ouyang Youquan, a professor at the School of Literature of Central South University, believes that online literature provides the richest reading resources for the whole people to read, and also allows the public to gradually develop the habit of loving reading, especially in the current era of information fragmentation, promoting online reading for the whole people, and online literature is indispensable. He also pointed out that online literature should also provide suitable excellent reading products for teenagers, and should have healthy content, wonderful stories, and unity of ideology, artistry and readability, so that such works can be more conducive to the healthy growth of adolescents.

Online articles have gone to sea, and the influence of Chinese stories has continued to rise

The report believes that in 2021, China's online literature will achieve a phased step forward: the global situation of all-round dissemination, large-scale in-depth promotion, and diversified development is taking shape, and the overseas mode has been upgraded from the content output of the work authorization to the output of the industrial model, and the general trend of "ecological going to sea" has emerged.

In recent years, Chinese online literature has disseminated more than 10,000 works overseas. Among them, more than 4,000 physical books have been authorized, more than 3,000 translated works have been online, and the number of website subscription and reading APP users is more than 100 million. By the end of 2021, about 2,100 translations of Chinese online literature have been launched online at the starting point, and about 370,000 original works have been cultivated overseas. During the epidemic, the number of overseas online writers increased by more than 3 times, of which the post-00s accounted for nearly 60%. Excellent works that are popular in China, such as "Lord of Mystery", "Heavenly Dao Library", "Wish You a Good Radiance", "Doctor Lingran", "Full-time Master", etc., have also had a great impact overseas.

In 2021, China's nettext IP going overseas has obviously shown an innovative trend. Comic works have come to sea. IP comics such as "Just Like Cold Light Meets The Sun" and "Let Go of that Witch" have entered the top of the popularity list in the Japanese and Korean markets. This year's IP dramas such as "Son-in-law", "Douluo Continent", "Jinxin Jade", "Snow Knife Line" and other IP dramas have landed on Mainstream video websites in Europe and the United States such as YouTube and Viki, and have an impact in hundreds of countries and regions around the world. The overseas adaptation of net text IP has also made a breakthrough. "Let You Shine Well" created by 囧囧有妖 was adapted into the drama "Provoking the Fire wife" in Vietnam, setting off a local drama boom. In 2021, the film and television remake rights of the TV series "Son-in-law" were sold to the Korean streaming media platform, and the IP film and television works not only stayed overseas for broadcasting, but also became the source of content for overseas dramas, which shows that the overseas influence of online literature has gradually risen.

"On the one hand, online literature's concern for reality has reached an unprecedented height. On the other hand, the diversified pattern of online literary content themes has also been formed, under the impetus of the era environment and social development, the historical mission and cultural responsibility of Chinese online literature have changed, it can be said that until today, online literature with its current realistic themes, showing the future science fiction themes, combining traditional cultural elements and modern spirit of the historical fairy theme and the increasing overseas influence has become an important carrier for the public to create Chinese stories and an important part of reading for the whole people. Liu Yuhong, secretary of the party committee of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.