The return of the collective narrative benchmark in contemporary literature

Abstract

A review of various types of classical Chinese literature reveals a common characteristic of collective narrative. The significance of collective narrative stems from the relationship between people, culture, and literature. Literature is the way people play with memory, while culture is the guideline for human life activities. People need culture to guide practice and need literature to interpret metaphysical questions that culture cannot demonstrate. The root of the current literary crisis lies in the rebellion of literature against the collective nature of culture, causing literature to detach from real culture and become a game of pure personal imagination. Only by focusing on human reality, repositioning with culture as the coordinate, and returning to collective narrative can literature escape the crisis encountered in the new era.