Chao News client writer Xue Wenchun.
"The Sword in the Snow", "The Legend of Miyue", "The King of Ten Thousand Phases", "Bad Boy", how many have you seen?
At the 2023 China Internet Literature Forum held recently, the 4 above-mentioned ** were selected as the "International Communication Project of Online Literature". Since the launch of the overseas platform in October this year, the number of these translated works has exceeded 10 million, and the number of subscriptions from overseas users continues to grow, further promoting Chinese culture to the world.
This is just a microcosm of the rapid development of China's online literature.
According to the "2023 Report on the Trend of China's Online Literature Going Overseas", the total revenue of China's online literature industry will reach 317 in 2022800 million yuan, overseas revenue scale of 406.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3987%；There are more than 20 languages translated into online literature, and online literature is becoming a new carrier for the overseas dissemination of Chinese culture.
Why is online literature so popular overseas?Who's watching?Who's writing?Can Chinese culture carry this Sokuai boat to sea smoothly?
China's Internet is booming abroad
On Webnovel, the official platform for the overseas dissemination of Chinese online literature, translated works such as "Super God Gene", "The Master of Mystery", "The Circle of Fate" and "Wishing You a Thousand Bright Lights" are placed on the most eye-catching first screen, which are popular among overseas readers.
Screenshot of the WebNovel app interface.
Among them, "Lord of the Mysteries" has now exceeded 42.5 million views. In the review interactive area, comments such as character analysis, plot reviews, and plot direction guesses abound. Some netizens also said, "This is the best ** I've ever read, Chinese online articles are too enjoyable." ”
An American netizen once @youtube shared his reading experience: Chinese online articles give people a "refreshing feeling" that they can't stop. Its suspense always touches you, and they always touch you.
As of October this year, Qidian International has launched more than 3,600 Chinese online translation works, an increase of 110% compared with three years ago, attracting more than 2200 million visitors, covering more than 200 countries and regions around the world. According to incomplete statistics, the platform has as many as 150,000 daily netizen comments.
With the rapid development of the Internet, the exchange of global literary works is frequent, and netizens have a lot of choices
According to Xia Lie, vice president of the Institute of Internet Literature of the China Writers Association and professor of the School of Literature and Communication of Hangzhou Normal University, Chinese online writers are good at combining global stories with oriental civilization, which not only allows foreign netizens to see what they are familiar with, but also does not lack novel and unfamiliar elements, which is a content basis for online literature to go global.
It is necessary to find a point of convergence between foreign and Chinese cultures. He said that now the main force of online literature creation has transitioned to the "post-95" to "post-05" generation Z, who have been exposed to a very diverse culture from childhood to adulthood, such as Hollywood blockbusters, Japanese and Korean animation, foreign literature, video games, etc.
A book review of "The Master of Mystery" written by foreign netizens. Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
Starting from "Panlong", one of the earliest online articles that exploded overseas, the framework of the story is Western fantasy, but it incorporates elements of Chinese Taoist culture, which feasts the eyes of overseas netizens. Such a combination of Chinese and Western online articles is still the mainstream of online articles going overseas.
On the other hand, the iterative progress of communication media has also driven online articles to go overseas.
In the smartphone market, you can choose from a variety of listening and reading apps, and you can take out your mobile phone anytime and anywhere to contact**. Xia Lie believes that traditional literature uses paper and books as the carrier, and online literature uses the Internet and digital media as the carrier, and the new things that have emerged along with the development of the Internet will inevitably go to the world in the process of Internet globalization.
Zhu Chun, a member of the Internet Literature Committee of the Chinese Writers Association, believes that the online literature business model is also a reason that cannot be ignored: China has created a set of literary production mechanisms and payment models rooted in the attributes of Internet media: millions of words, follow-up, interaction, subscription, reward, etc., which are not available in other countries.
In 2023, the monthly consumption amount of a single user at the starting point can reach up to 7,230 US dollars, which is about 5 yuan20,000 yuan, with an average reading time of 90 minutes per day. To a certain extent, this business model also strengthens the motivation of Chinese online writers to produce high-quality content, and further promotes the high-quality development of the entire online culture industry.
From a reader to an author
Who the hell is watching the network?
According to the 2023 China Online Literature Overseas Trend Report, the number of users visiting Qidian International exceeded 2200 million, three times that of the same period three years ago. These users come from more than 200 countries and regions around the world, and it can be said that "everywhere you go to the Internet, there are online readers".
More than 80% of them are "Generation Z" young people, with the largest number of users in the United States and the fastest growth rate in France.
On the starting point international app, click on a popular translation**, and you will find that everyone likes to "say a few words" while reading. Some people explain professional terms, some analyze the plot, and some people complain about the author, and the user activity is very high. For example, "I'm sorry I'm taking the heroine's script" has more than 1.58 million comments, ranking first on the platform's comment list for a long time.
Under the heated discussion and influence, more and more overseas young people have "planted grass" and changed from readers to authors.
Chinese online articles have inspired me, and I also want to write some online articles to inspire and encourage others. At the 2nd Shanghai International Online Literature Week Chinese and Foreign Writers Roundtable, 28 writers from 15 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and India, were initially readers. "Post-00s" Canadian writer Jalen is one of them.
Jalen's ** work "The Strongest Assassin Reincarnated in Another World".
At the age of 19 this year, he wrote "The Strongest Assassin Reincarnated in Another World" after only 6 months in the industry, and won the 2023 WSA Silver Award of Starting Point International, directly "becoming a god in one book".
Why did you become associated with Chinese online literature?Jia Lun recalled that during the epidemic, he had nothing to do and liked **, and he accidentally came into contact with several Chinese online translations, among which "Super God Gene" (Super Gene) left a deep impression on him. "The 'Rebirth' theme opens up my world. He said that this ** also motivated him to do what he loved.
When the work "The Strongest Assassin Reincarnated in Another World" debuted, Jalen was paid 1,000 yuan, and he excitedly opened up to his family about what he was doing, "so they know I'm playing for real." Because he is still studying, Jia Lun is not a full-time online writer, but he hopes to continue to devote himself to creation and write more and better online articles in the future**.
According to statistics, as of October 2023, Qidian International has trained about 400,000 overseas online writers, covering more than 100 countries and regions around the world, an increase of 300% compared with three years ago. Among them, the number of online writers in the United States ranks first. Among the contracted writers, the "post-00s" accounted for 423%, growing into the backbone of creation.
The growth in the number of online writers has also led to the rise of original online articles.
As of October this year, 610,000 overseas original works have been launched by Qidian International, an increase of 280% compared with three years ago, forming more than 100 sub-categories in 15 categories, with urban, Western fantasy, oriental fantasy, game competition, and science fiction becoming the top five genres.
Chinese culture borrowed boats to go to sea
From 2004, when Chinese exported online copyright overseas, to now has fans in more than 200 countries and regions around the world, Chinese online literature has gradually moved towards the mainstream from the initial "non-flow", and the momentum of development is very rapid.
Industry insiders are also generally optimistic about this trend, believing that China's online literature is a bridge between our country and global netizens. Through this invisible bridge, the world can understand Chinese culture and fall in love with it.
Now the pace of mainstreaming online literature and art has accelerated, and it has begun to take the initiative to disseminate, promote and even create the mainstream values advocated by society. Yao Xiaolei, a professor at the School of Humanities of Zhejiang Normal University, said that the most obvious change is that the Xianxia "Shuangwen" is equipped with history and culture, and a number of realistic works reflecting the feelings of the family and country have emerged.
For the first time, Chinese online literature was collected in the British Library.
At the starting point of the world, the top five foreign netizens talking about China are: "Dao", "Food", "Martial Arts", "Tea Art" and "Panda". "Chinese culture is so romantic. Some netizens sighed that "Haiyan River Qing Four Hours" conveys the traditional farming wisdom of Chinese ancestors;"Sleeping on the Water" shows the charm of Chinese national painting;"The Family of Mingmen" has made the fragrance of Chinese tea ...... the worldAlthough the cultural background is different, everyone enjoys the "qin, chess, calligraphy, painting, sword, poetry, book, tea and hops" created by the Chinese.
In addition, since the vast majority of overseas writers have read online articles translated from Chinese to English**, they have developed a strong interest and good impression of Chinese elements, and then they began to try to write on their own. Therefore, they will add many Chinese elements to ** when creating, such as "martial arts" and "Taoism". In fact, this also shows that Chinese culture has been deeply embedded in their thinking.
In recent years, it is also a good phenomenon that a large number of realistic themes have appeared in online literature.
Last year, 16 online literary works, including "Great Power Heavy Industry", "Great Doctor Ling Ran" and "The Road to Rejuvenation", were included in the Chinese collection of the British Library, one of the world's largest academic libraries, for the first time. These excellent works connect individual development with the nation and the nation, and explore major issues such as world development and the future of mankind, which is thought-provoking.
Network** "Great Power Heavy Industry" book cover.
Qi Cheng, the author of "Great Power Heavy Industry", said excitedly in an interview that he felt it was a very honorable thing for the work to enter the British Library, or into the library of any country on the five continents, which means that more foreign readers can understand China.
This also brings us an important enlightenment: in the Internet era, Chinese culture should not still stay in the stage of print literature, but also need new carriers to realize it. We should pay more attention than ever to the communication power of the Internet and make full use of Internet popular culture to spread Chinese culture.
It is undeniable that there are still few masterpieces of Chinese online literature, and there are still many problems such as cultural differences, translation and copyright, but we believe that with the passage of time, Chinese online literature will feed itself in the collision of different cultures, show cultural confidence while spreading national characteristics, and let the world see Chinese literature and hear Chinese voices.
*Please indicate the source".