How to Write History: Problems in the Study of the “Seventeen-Year Literature” (1949–1966) in the Last Decade

Abstract

In order to discuss the issue of classifying and categorizing history, this article takes the "Seventeen-Year Literature" as its subject of study. The author states that previous studies conducted on the "Seventeen-Year Literature" (1949)(1950)(1951)(1952)(1953)(1954)(1955)(1956)(1957)(1958)(1959)(1960)(1961)(1962)(1963)(1964)(1965)(1966) should have been displayed on the following levels: the literary history of the Seventeen Years, the history of the Seventeen Years which was interpreted culturally in the 1980s, the literary history of the Seventeen Years produced in modern literature and the literary history of the Seventeen Years processed in Zai jiedu (A second interpretation). Therefore, the study of the "Seventeen-year Literature" has come forward in leaps and bounds and must not stagnate. Instead, it should take previous research findings and apply them retrospectively to the current structure of knowledge in the hopes of further development. Fixing the "Seventeen-Year Literature" not to a particular historical level, but to the dialogic context is an issue that scholars cannot avoid.