Literature: Conceptual Construction and the Vicissitudes of Entertainment Themes

Modern literature is not an inborn concept, but the product of the operation of modernity theory. There are at least four aspects of theoretical construction in the formation of the concept: the theoretical expansion brought about by the connection of different knowledge systems, the inheritance of the traditional thought of pragmatism, the re-understanding of literary language, the entry of narrative style into the center of literary field. Compared with the standard connotation of the concept of modern literature, entertainment is a repressed theme. Although it was resisted strongly by the two major literary concepts—enlightenment and revolution, the theme of entertainment persisted tenaciously in the public as a component of aesthetic pleasure. After the 1980s, the theme of entertainment returned under the name of “cultural industry”, and received strong support from the evaluation system of participation in economic benefits. As for the concept of modern literature, the reappearance of entertainment themes implies multiple theoretical challenges: the position of entertainment themes, the classics and “elegance/vulgarity”, the composition of the masses, business, markets, media systems and literature. These issues are interrelated and continue to ferment. The concept of modern literature should initiate multi-dimensional dialogues and debates, and respond actively to various historical situations created by modern society.