Theoretical Innovation and Contemporary Value of “Speech at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art”

Xiaona He 

Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450002

Abstract: Looking at the law of the forward development of human society, it can be found that culture is an important force for the survival and development of China, while literature and art are the most important manifestations of culture. Historical practice has proved that the cause of literature and art is an important cause for the party and the people, and the front of literature and art is an important front for the party and the people. During the revolutionary period, the cause of literature and art gave a tremendous impetus to revolutionary work and greatly promoted the revolutionary cause. The Chinese dream of great rejuvenation of China is not only the improvement of economic strength and comprehensive national strength, but also the enhancement of Chinese national quality and the enrichment of spirit. Lu Xun said that when high-rise buildings are built everywhere on our country’s land, the building of the Chinese national spirit also should stand upright1. Therefore, to realize the great rejuvenation of China, we must pay more attention to the work of literature and art. The “Speech at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art” in May 1942 creatively combined the basic principles of Marxism with the practice of Chinese revolutionary literature and art, and developed Marxist literary and art theory.

Keywords: marxist view of literature and art, sinicization, contemporary significance