Literature is a discipline that uses language and words as a medium to reflect social life and express psychological activities, while economics studies the laws of the production, circulation, distribution, and consumption of value. On the surface, these fields might seem unrelated, but a closer examination of human civilizational development and everyday practices reveals a close connection between them. In current academic research, the fine-tuning of disciplines and the interdisciplinary fusion of subjects have become mutually complementary trends. Both literature and economics have merged with other disciplines to produce interdisciplinary subjects such as literary anthropology, literary geography, literary sociology, behavioral economics, sports economics, and tourism economics. Given historical development and current trends, literature and economics could also be integrated into a new discipline: “literary economics.” The establishment of this field is well-supported by both theoretical and practical considerations.

Expanding perspectives

The research objects of literary economics include specific writers and works, the literary market as part of the national economy, and many other aspects that connect the two, such as literary policies and production systems. This field offers new perspectives for interpreting literary works, enhances the significance of these works, and can also provide documentary resources for economic research to a certain extent.

Literary works require certain economic conditions to be accepted by readers, and an improved level of economic development contributes to the flourishing of literary creation. By analyzing such literary phenomena from the perspective of literary economics, we can expand our perspectives for interpreting literary works.

Literature, as a part of social consciousness, can be regarded as a “concentration” and reflection of social reality. Although literature cannot mechanically serve as a “megaphone” and “phonograph” for society and the times, it undeniably has the function of expressing and reflecting the social atmosphere of specific historical periods. Some literary works, especially those of narrative nonfiction with strong documentary elements, can become valuable resources for exploring the economic conditions of particular historical periods.

Updating analytic methods

Literary economics has specific research pathways and analytical methods. When studying literary works, applying economic principles can often yield unique insights.

In examining the elements of both literary and economic activities, we can identify points of intersection that provide a basis for establishing the discipline of literary economics. For example, the process by which readers engage with literary works involves publishing, distribution, and dissemination, linking closely with the economic activities of production, exchange, and consumption. Thus, both works and readers become part of economic activities.

Conversely, elements such as production, exchange, and consumption in economic activities also influence literary activities, playing an indispensable role in literary creation and readers’ engagement. However, the circulation of literary works cannot be solely determined by economic factors, as this could negatively impact the diversity and richness of literary creation. Therefore, literary economics research offers a new approach to comprehensively examining the relationship between literature and economic activities.

Shifting research paradigms

With the advent of industrial society, the influence of economics on literature development was deepened. German scholar Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno introduced the concept of “cultural industry” in his work Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments. Although Adorno primarily used this concept to critique the commodification and standardization of mass culture in capitalist societies, it also reflects the trend of literary marketization from a different angle. In contemporary China, the ways in which literature engages with economic activities are primarily threefold: the publication and distribution of writers’ works, adaptations of these works into films and television dramas, and the development of tourism based on literary creation.

In recent years, the rise of online literature has led to an unprecedented boom in the sales of literary books.

The primary aim of establishing literary economics is to foster the prosperity of literature, especially as the link between literature and economics becomes tighter in the market era. The social and cultural context also compels writers to consider market demands in their literary creation. The establishment of literary economics not only positively impacts the development of literature, culture, and economics, but also drives a shift in research paradigms across related disciplines. Literary economics is not simply the sum of literature and economics as separate fields. Rather, its establishment signifies the integration of literary art with social contexts, linking literary texts with the external social environment, thus deepening the study of literary creation, circulation, reception and social influence.

We believe that while literature needs to maintain its uniqueness, the influence of external factors, particularly economic factors, need not be purely negative. By starting from theoretical discussions and literary practices, advancing research in literary economics can not only create a new academic growth point, but also provide a richer and more nuanced understanding of literary activities.

Wu Shiqi is from the School of Chinese Languages and Literatures at Lanzhou University. Yu Shengqi is from the School of Economics at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.