Why Is "Black and White" Evaluated as "World Literature"?

Renjingyuan
September 12, 2025, 04:18

Liu Jiming's novel "Black and White" is a realist masterpiece that has sparked widespread discussion in China's literary scene in recent years. Renowned scholar and Peking University Professor Kong Qingdong claims it will enter the ranks of "world literature." The following comprehensive analysis examines three dimensions: the work's core essence, social impact, and controversies:

📖 I. Core Characteristics of the Work

Historical Depth and Contemporary Critique

The novel spans decades of history from the War of Resistance Against Japan [note: WWII in China], through New China's construction to reform and opening up. Through the intertwined fates of fictional characters (such as revolutionary Wang Shengli, intellectual Wang Sheng, official Song Qiankun, etc.), it reveals ideals and fractures amid social transformation.

Wang Shengli's Tragedy: A revolutionary hero who upholds collectivism during state enterprise reform but is abandoned by the times. His description of crying "We lost our position" before Chairman Mao's portrait becomes a microcosm of lost socialist ideals.

Song Qiankun's Complexity: Evaluated as "a traitor more terrifying than Pu Zhigao" [note: villain from revolutionary literature], his opportunism and betrayal metaphorically represent systemic alienation within institutions, alerting readers to revolutionaries' degeneration.

People's Standpoint and Class Narrative

The author describes his creative motivation as "proletarian literature's return," focusing on grassroots laborers' struggles in capital's tide while critiquing film and television's rendering of "rich aesthetics."

Protagonist Wang Sheng is endowed with autobiographical elements, his "left-right-left" ideological trajectory echoing a generation of intellectuals' renewed pursuit of Marxism.

Literary Innovation

Employing multi-strand narrative and symbolic metaphor (such as the binary opposition of "black and white"), the structure is as grand as a Chinese version of "War and Peace," with over 250 characters covering urban and rural social ecology across all classes.

Realistic writing integrates historical documents (Wang Sheng's reading list reflects the author's private collection), enhancing textual authenticity.

🌍 II. Social Response and Dissemination Phenomena

Rise of Grassroots Reading Movement

Between 2023-2025, "Black and White Reading Groups" spontaneously formed nationwide, with dozens of exchange meetings held in Wuhan, Nanjing, Northeast China, and other regions. Participants were mostly non-literary professionals, including workers, students, retired cadres, etc., with discussions focusing on "socialist heritage and current predicaments."

Typical Scene: Northeast reader groups conduct deep reading sessions every two weeks; at Wuhan tea gatherings, readers admit "haven't read novels for years, this book rekindled literary faith."

Polarized Evaluation in Intellectual Circles

Supporters: Kong Qingdong praised it as "a demon-revealing mirror of a hundred years of history," noting its exploration of human nature surpasses Nobel Prize works. Renjing.com selected Liu Jiming as "Outstanding Person of the Year," alongside Dao Lang [note: popular musician], affirming his "people's literature and art" stance.

Points of Controversy: Some critics point to its "overly strong left-wing utopian coloring" or oversimplification of historical complexity (as Heng Heng called "leftist fragmentation and confusion").

International Dissemination and Censorship Turmoil

The English edition was published by Vinon Publishing in the United States. Translator Chen Gang called it "challenging Western stereotypes about Chinese literature," but predicted limited acceptance in capitalist countries.

After mainland publication, it faced removal from shelves; Hong Kong reprinted it three times but still couldn't meet demand. The author's Weibo accounts were repeatedly blocked, indirectly reflecting the text's opinion impact.

⚠️ III. Controversies and Contemporary Metaphors

Ideological Battleground

The novel's critical portrayal of reform and opening up (such as the "spitting theory" alluding to state enterprise reform chaos) is accused of touching historical narrative forbidden zones.

Liu Jiming's declaration to "completely break free from elite literary institutions" directly challenges the legitimacy crisis of the Writers' Association system.

Literature's Politicization Dilemma

Supporters praise it for "avenging the proletariat" (as the Cao Zhenglu Research Center compared it to Dao Lang), while opponents worry about literature becoming mere position statements.

In ordinary readers' heated discussions, the text is often simplified as a "taking sides symbol," weakening discussion of literature itself.

💎 Conclusion: A Thought Experiment Reconstructing People's Narrative

The value of "Black and White" lies not only in its literariness but in becoming a vessel for transitional China's social emotions—where longing for fairness, anger at alienation, and anxiety about historical voicelessness converge. The "reading and banning," "praise and destruction" divisions it provokes precisely mirror current cultural-ideological contradictions.

As the author stated: "Literature's vitality is rooted in the people." The fate of this book itself has become the most profound footnote to this proposition.