Global web, made in China.

Author | Gu Han

Editor | Li Chunhui

　

The Sacrifice, whose box office has finally broken through the 1 billion mark, faces two dimensions of scrutiny, which is also the common discrimination between China and the West faced by many domestic literary works. From the production point of view, it really reflects the gratifying progress of China’s film industrialization level. However, from the content point of view, as a tribute film in the spotlight, it has become an extreme display of the problem that the thinking of American drama can’t be integrated with the national conditions of China, and the controversy arises from this.

　

As we all know, the entertainment industry in China started late, and most of the film, television, music and even animation industries have to go through a process of learning first and then catching up, and constantly keep up with the so-called international standards. And if there is any kind of contemporary popular content form that is completely based on China and the rules are completely formulated by China, there is no doubt that it is China’s online literature, which is also called "four major cultural phenomena" with Japanese Manchuria, Korean dramas and Hollywood blockbusters.

　

On November 16th, under the guidance of Shanghai Press and Publication Bureau, sponsored by Shanghai Publishing Association and Reading Group, and supported by the Propaganda Department of Pudong New Area Party Committee, the "2020 First Shanghai International Network Literature Week" was officially opened in Pudong, Shanghai with the theme of "Wonderful Times of Open Literature Power Networking". The White Paper on the Development of Online Literature in 2020 (hereinafter referred to as the White Paper) released at the meeting systematically disclosed the achievements of online literature in the past few years, taking the starting point international under the Reading Group as the research sample.

　

The data shows that since the official opening of the overseas creative platform in April 2018, Starting Point International has attracted over 100,000 overseas creators and created over 160,000 online literary works.

　

In the past ten years, countless young people in China have changed their lives from scratch by writing novels. Now, similar stories are being staged all over the world.China’s net articles not only output China’s works and China’s values, but also a set of China models.

　

Works accelerate to sea, original global flowering.

　

The earliest time that the net text went to sea can be traced back to 2001. In 2005, the launch of foreign language publishing authorization opened the prelude to the era of online literature going to sea 1.0.

　

By 2017, Yuewen Group has launched an overseas portal, Webnovel, which leads the translation and output of classic online texts and the synchronous update of popular works, and the online texts have officially entered the 2.0 era.

　

The data shows that,By 2019, China had exported more than 10,000 online literary works overseas, covering more than 40 countries and regions along the Belt and Road Initiative.The output modes mainly include translation to sea, direct sea, adaptation to sea and so on. Among them, the proportion of translators going to sea is as high as 72%. Manual translation and AI translation are in parallel. At present, more than 1,700 English versions of China’s online literature have been launched on the starting international platform, and nearly 100 works have received over 10 million hits.

　

High-quality works fully activate the activity of overseas users. The Lord of Secrets, with the theme of western fantasy, has been updated synchronously in Chinese and English since the beginning of serialization, and a lot of discussions have gathered in overseas comment areas. During the serial period, the book created a global online literature subscription record, with a total reading volume of 25 million times. Many readers believe that this book not only contains oriental humanistic thoughts, but also has world customs, so it is a truly international novel.

The Lord of Secrets and May You shine brightly won the most popular translation award.

　

In addition to the expansion of translation scale, the White Paper also pointed out thatThere are two other new trends of net writing going out to sea: overseas originality blossoming in many places around the world, and cooperation from original writing to IP adaptation going out to sea.

　

The experience of the Filipino writer the Blips is the best illustration. She first came into contact with the animation "Full-time Master". Out of curiosity about the original novel, she opened the international starting point and was quickly captured by the charm of China’s online text. At present, she is a full-time writer and has become the economic pillar of the whole family.

　

The data shows that Starting Point International has attracted more than 100,000 overseas creators and created more than 160,000 online literary works since it opened its overseas creative platform in April 2018.From the perspective of global regional distribution, Southeast Asia and North America have the largest proportion of authors. In terms of gender distribution, there are slightly more women than men.

　

Similar to the domestic situation, young people under the age of 25 are the main creative force. From the perspective of creative motivation, interest and initial desire for story creation are the main reasons that drive creation. Besides interest, becoming a full-time writer, film adaptation of works and paper publishing are also the main driving forces for the author to continue his creation.

　

The story of British writer JKSManga is quite dramatic. He used to write cartoons, but his career was repeatedly frustrated and he finally became a music teacher. At the beginning of 2020, as a prospective son-in-law of China, he went back to his hometown with his girlfriend and was unfortunately trapped in the northeast by the epidemic. During the period of isolation, he wrote a series of popular novels combining western cultural elements with China’s online writing skills, which was getting closer and closer to his original dream.

JKSManga’s work My Vampire System won the most popular overseas original work award.

　

Of course, for JKSManga, whose life is comfortable, this may just be the icing on the cake. But for Flow07, a Bangladeshi woman writer, online writing has really changed her life track.

　

In Bangladesh, women at the bottom often get married and have children under the arrangement of their parents very early and depend on their husbands for survival. Flow07 was born in such a family.

　

At first, the net text was the comfort of her depressed life. When she saw the author recruitment plan on the platform, she began to create with the mentality of giving it a try. After the great success of the work, Flow07 achieved economic independence and finally had the capital to resist parental control and pursue a free life. When her story spread to China, it also resonated with many netizens.

From the dissemination of works to the feedback of patterns.

　

"Literary stories, bearing the common feelings of human beings, are the main force of cross-regional cultural communication through the ages. A culture, no matter what values you carry, the best way to really make people feel emotionally identified with it is to tell stories. " Cheng Wu, CEO of Reading Group, Vice President of Tencent Group and CEO of Tencent Pictures, said.

　

In addition to the above-mentioned Master of Secrets, Witches and Gods, which originated from oriental myths and legends, Gourmet Providers, which promoted the diversity of Chinese cuisine, Tiandao Library, which embodied China’s traditional culture, and Great Doctor Lingran, which showed the development of modern China medicine, were warmly sought after by overseas readers.

　

It can be said that while Marvel Comics’s heroes drive the global audience crazy, online literature is also resonating with global users through the shaping of China stories and the spread of different forms of entertainment.

Yang Chen, vice president and editor-in-chief of Yuewen Group, revealed that in the early stage of overseas communication, they thought that western fantasy themes were more popular with overseas readers, and it was difficult to open the market for works with strong local color, such as fantasy Xianxia, but the actual situation was just the opposite.

　

Xia Lie, vice president of the Network Literature Research Institute of the Chinese Writers Association and dean of the Cultural and Creative Industry Research Institute of Hangzhou Normal University, believes that the charm of China’s online articles for overseas readers lies in "familiarity and strangeness".

　

The online text comes from a generation immersed in the global popular culture, and the common ideas of "system" and "cultivation" in its creation come from the game experience to a great extent, which constitutes the basis of empathy between Chinese and Western readers. China’s traditional China culture, such as mysterious Taoist terms, has brought freshness to overseas readers.

　

As a result, barriers become cravings. Network literature not only shows the development speed and social features of China, but also attracts more overseas young people to become interested in China traditional culture. And when their role is changed from reader to author, "apply what they have learned",Their works inevitably bear a deep imprint of China: modern social elements such as Shanghai’s bustling city, intercity high-speed rail, Huawei’s mobile phone, and China’s traditional values such as respecting teachers and respecting morality, brotherly friendship and respect.

　

Senior readers such as JKSManga mentioned above spontaneously imitate their favorite types of works. At the same time, in response to the enthusiasm of overseas readers to join the online writing industry, reading articles is bringing China’s writer training mechanism, including writers’ college, writers’ encouragement and writers’ operation, to the world.

　

Undoubtedly, this will further establish China’s position and influence in the world as a brand-new content form.

　

Both belong to the source of IP content, animation was born in the era of paper media, radio and television, and online literature was born in the era of Internet. The difference between them is not only the development time. The timeliness of content, the co-creation of breaking the threshold and the efficient communication are all the characteristics that the new media gives to online literature. In terms of IP operation and development, after continuous learning and trial and error, China net enterprises, represented by Wenwen, have finally explored a model that is truly based on China’s national conditions and reflects China’s speed, which in turn will lead the cultural innovation of other countries.

　

At the opening ceremony, Shin Dong Woon, CEO of Munpia, Korea’s leading original online literature platform, shared that in Korea, the online comic book market started two years earlier than online literature, but now the growth rate of the online literature market has surpassed that of online comics. In 2019, the market scale reached about RMB 2.65 billion, and it is expected to continue to grow in the future. He said that in the future, Munpia will learn from China’s experience, promote IP industrial operation, and inject new impetus into the development of online literature market.

Shin Dong Woon, CEO of Munpia, spoke on the spot.

　

The industrial ecology matched with high-quality works and creative modes is the focus of going to sea in the next stage of reading and the object of learning from other countries.

　

Go to sea in all directions

Building an "Imaginary Community" in the World

　

At present, China’s online literature is going through the continuous upgrading from content to mode, from regional to global, and from output to linkage. Empowering cultural IP globally and promoting development through opening up is the consensus reached by the participating experts on the development prospect of online literature. Building a cultural production mode around the world with IP as the core is also the cultural and industrial practice that Tencent, Reading and New Cultural Innovation have long adhered to.

　

"While making positive progress, it must be admitted that China IP is still in the climbing period of global influence construction. China’s local original IP still has a long way to go in terms of regional radiation scope and global influence depth. To this end, Reading Federation and Tencent will continue to deepen the layout from the industrial chain of content production, content dissemination and content development, and create more China cultural symbols with broad influence. " Cheng Wu said.

　

Nowadays, video is the most mainstream way of communication, and film and television are the most powerful carrier of story communication and IP value amplifier. Therefore, internally, reading will continue to promote the coupling of online literature, online animation and film and television industry.

　

In the past October, Tencent Pictures, Xinli Media and Yuewen Film and Television made their debut as an overall film and television production system, demonstrating their determination to accelerate internal integration and increase investment in film and television.

　

Externally, Reading will join hands with global partners to lock in the potential of IP global development from the creative source. At the first global original forum,Reading Group officially released the "Global Content Ecological Open Platform" plan.Invite all parties in the industry at home and abroad to open cooperation, jointly tap the content energy of online literature, and make the cooperation between copyright parties, translators, authors and upstream and downstream of the industrial chain at home and abroad closer.

Xia Lie, a scholar, also believes that the core of the development of online writing is industrial development. Open cooperation with all parties in the global industry is the ongoing practice of online writing enterprises in China, and it is also the trend of online writing going to sea in the future.

　

In addition, in view of the ecology of China’s online writing, he also put forward the suggestion of "one depth, one reduction and one optimization", that is, the academic and cultural research should be deepened, the public’s closeness should be strengthened, and the quality of works and translation should be optimized. "Less strategy, more good stories, more good translation and more good adaptation."

The guests at the meeting discussed the theme of "how network literature promotes global cultural connection"

　

As the "Internet fever in China" continues to heat up around the world. Topics such as the role and function of online literature in global cultural exchanges have also attracted more and more attention from the industry and the public.

　

Chen Dingjia, director and researcher of the Theoretical Research Office of the Institute of Literature of China Academy of Social Sciences, believes that there is always a difference between "self-report" and "other narration" in the construction of China’s international image, and online literature whose works are going overseas one after another and constantly bringing global users into production is likely to create a "common narration" intersection. Yan Feng, a professor and doctoral student in the Chinese Department of Fudan University, also believes that people have created a common imagination space through online literature, which may become the embryonic form of a new cultural form of mankind in the future.

　

In the "imaginary community" and in the same content system, it is easier for people who speak different languages to understand each other and reach trust. The era has given the network literature a special mission, and an expedition to reunite consensus is beginning.