ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates the assertiveness of culture as represented by the phenomenon of cultural self-reflection took on a decidedly political significance. The Cultural Revolution completed the process of the destruction of creative culture in the name of revolution. The process of culture challenging politics began in the late 1970s as a narrowly ideological discourse focused on the Cultural Revolution. Beginning in 1985, an emergent group of young fiction writers chose to place their art in the realm of culture, totally separated from party politics. However, as the Chinese word for “crisis” implies, it is precisely at the critical juncture of danger that a new opportunity for change presents itself. In some ways creative writers and literary critics have always been in the forefront of cultural movements in modern China. The immense popularity of the journals and translations in China’s intellectual circles bespeaks a cultural climate that is increasingly open and international.
