The Study On Today (1978-1980)

The study object of this paper is the unofficial-publication Today which came out late 1970s. Through the review on Cultural Revolution literature and new age literature, the paper redraws a literature picture for the first years after Cultural Revolution. By clarifying the sequence of events about the interpersonal relationship on Today, the then history and literature environment, it further explains the reason for the emergence of new era literature and discusses the beginning of it. Based on prehistory and history of Today and misty poetry controversy resulted from Today, the paper reinterprets the complicity of the beginning of the new era literature. Through the description of the historical scene, the paper makes a hypothesis and a judgment on the complicated beginning, which offers the historical facts and mental enlightenment for the study of the new era literature.Focusing on the background and history of Today, the paper makes a detailed analysis on the publication itself and its relative interpersonal relationship. Meanwhile, it also attaches the importance to the relationship between Today and misty poetry.The first chapter gives an explanation of the prehistory of Today through its background and origin. Many factors mingled complicatedly together to expedite the emergence of unofficial publication, including the influence of literature salon on Today, the impact of intra books during Culture Revolution, the literature group mostly composed of educated youths from Beijing and the rise of Beijing Xidan Wall. Those factors further explain Today's inheritance of May Fourth new literature and thus define Today's position at the beginning of new era literature.The second chapter mainly discusses the specific history of Today from its start publication to stop publication. With the order brought out of chaos after Culture Revolution, editors and authors of Today pushed forwards Today in front of public step by step through a long and hard way. And with different pursuit of literature or politics, organizers, poets and artists of Today had different experiences which became important historical materials for studying Today.The third chapter makes an analysis of the authors and works in Today and the course for poets to join Today which is different from the record in literature history. The chapter tries to straighten out the facts and recapture the poets'real believes. The fourth chapter mainly discusses how did Today get involved in misty poetry controversy, how did it be absorbed into mainstream literature and later be stripped from the misty poetry controversy. The chapter gives reasons to those above and helps to redefine Today's historic significance.The reinterpretation of Today exposes much more historical materials which benefit from many precious materials came out in recent past. Many literature researchers have started to make a proper position for Today. With close concerns to this topic among a lot of rewriting literature histories, the study in this paper is a kind of support and complement.