Gao Xingjian: Aesthetics and Creation By Gao Xingjian

laws of consumption. In contrast, serious literature does not toady to the masses, nor is it produced to satisfy market demand—so transmission is problematic. In the first place, such writings are not profitable for the publisher, so publication is difficult. It is not a secret that bestsellers must resort to commercial hype. Popular cultural consumption of course includes literary works, and as in any period there is a difference between popular culture and serious literature. Present society is much the same, except that commercial hype is carried out on such a massive and global scale that nowadays releasing a bestseller is just like releasing a film, and not only local audiences and readers are targeted. Usually national borders are crossed, and the book is released in many languages. The literature of this enormous cultural production enterprise cannot be condemned because readers have different tastes, and their different needs generate corresponding writings. Anger and blame will not save literature.

In the first half of the twentieth century, writers could still form associations, raise their own capital, pay for their own publications, be responsible for their own profits or losses, and in this way make a living from writing. However, doing this today would virtually be a tale from the Arabian Nights. If writers do not understand market movements or follow the fashions, and if they disregard popular tastes, they will find it impossible to make a living, so to devote oneself to writing this sort of serious literature must be considered an indulgence. Yet the value of this sort of literature lies in its remoteness from all lies, in its not conjuring up fantasies, and in its manifestations and revelations about the true predicament of human beings and the problems confronting them. Of course, it will make people feel uneasy, but it will induce them to think.

Some intellectuals are clamouring again for the reconstruction of utopias and even summon forth the ghost of Marx. They do not see that to be without an ideal or a utopia is in fact a good thing and that this allows people to think more clearly. Confronted by present society and the absurdity of humankind’s predicament, if individuals suddenly realise that they want to win the dignity and independence of being human,