The first colletion of poems in China, the Book of Poetry, demonstrated distinct geographical characteristics. The map shows the 15 places in the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE)according to which poems are classified into different volumes.

Literary geography is an emerging discipline with a focus on the relationship between literature and geography. In China, the concept “literary geography” was first introduced by celebrated scholar Liang Qichao (c.1873-1929), but Chinese studies on literary geography can be traced back to the first collection of songs in pre-Qin history. Deeply rooted in history, the new discipline has profound material for research.

Chinese origin

Be it in China or in the West, there are ample materials discussing the relationship between literature and geography. Zeng Daxing, president of the Literary Geography Society of China, said in the West, though there is research on literary geography, related studies have not formed a discipline. As an independent discipline, literary geography originated in China.

Research on literary geography in the West mainly focuses on “text-based geographic criticism.” Apart from textual criticism, literary geography investigates other aspects, such as the relationship between literature and geography, the geographical distribution of literature, literary reception and diffusion, and literary landscapes and fields, Zeng said. In other words, the complete academic system of literary geography includes the writer, the text, the reader, the literary landscape and literary field, while the “geographical criticism” remains at the textual level. Zeng thinks that research on literary geography in the West is only a complementary study to literary history studies.

Xia Hanning, dean of the Institute of Linguistics and Literature at Jiangxi Academy of Social Sciences, said Chinese literature was born with distinct geographical characteristics. Thousands of years of development of Chinese literature gave soil to the growth of literary geography. For example, In the Book of Poetry, works in the collection Book of Songs are classified according to the different regions where they originated, revealing the geographical features of the classic collection.

Geographical reflections on literary works became an important vision in ancient Chinese literature criticism. Xia said that Chinese literary geography has developed a set of theories and methods with features of Chinese ancient literary criticism after thousands of years of cultivation.

Foreign experience

Zeng pointed out that the basic theories and concepts of literary geography absorbed Western experience, but were mainly borne out of a Chinese vision. Take “literary landscapes” for example: British scholar Mike Crang first used “cultural geography landscape” in his book Cultural Geography, but he did not define the connotations and denotations of the concept. American scholar Harm de Blij raised the concept of an “intangible cultural landscape” in his book Human Geography: Culture, Society and Space when he talked about “cultural landscapes.”

Zeng argued that Chinese scholars of literary geography proposed “literary landscapes,” a concept with typical Chinese characteristics, based on partly absorbing research outcomes of foreign countries. The literary landscape generally refers to the natural or human landscape with a literary nature. It is embodied in historical architecture or natural scenery, but it also contains literary connotations and values for appreciation. Literary landscapes are a product of the interaction between the geographical environment and literature. They are landscapes while also geographic presentations of literature.

Li Zhongfan, a professor of literature from Shaanxi University of Technology, said Chinese scholars of literary geography focus on local issues while not limiting their vision. Their works have a comprehensive reflection on literary geography phenomena, but are also able to fully reference research outcomes abroad.

Chinese school

Literary geography originates in China, though it avoided the lengthy localization process required by disciplines introduced from the West, and it still faces the challenge of gaining worldwide reception.

To remedy this, Zeng suggested strengthening theoretical research based on empirical studies. Chinese literary geography research originated in empirical studies, with the intent of making conclusions based on massive quantities of literary geography facts, and generating ideas, theories and concepts from numerous conclusions. In addition, the discipline aims to further communicate with international academia and extensively welcome suggestions.

Currently, some scholars are investigating the theoretical framework of literary geography on the macro-level, creating works like Literary Geography Research and Introduction to Literary Geography. Others studying at the micro-level seek the detailed historical facts of literary geography, leaving us works such as Geographical Distribution of Chinese Litterateurs throughout History and Jiangxi Litterateurs in the Song Dynasty. Xia said these efforts promoted the establishment of the Chinese school of literary geography.

Li Yongjie is a reporter at the Chinese Social Sciences Today.