Spy novel in China in the XX–XXI centuries

Abstract

In European literature, the genre of the spy novel appeared at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, in Chinese it happened a little later — around the 1930s. By the 1940s, the genre was flourishing. Since 1937, during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the confrontation between the Kuomintang and the Communists, espionage activities have acquired a special, topical significance, which could not but be reflected in literature. The next peak of interest in the genre came at the time of the formation of New China, Soviet translated novels became a source of inspiration for the authors. During the years of the Cultural Revolution, literary activity froze, but individual elements of the spy novel can be found even in “model operas”. In the 1970s and 1980s a new rise in translated literature began, as a result of which China became acquainted with the classics of European and American spy literature, in addition, Soviet spy novels of the 1950s and Chinese novels of the same period were reprinted. Another peak of interest in spy literature arose at the beginning of the 21st century; it is associated with the popularity of the works of the contemporary writer Mai Jia. With the spread of the Internet, a large number of authors of online literature who write in this genre have appeared. Each of these stages had its own distinctive features, for example, differences in the images of the antagonists. Plots related to spies and espionage/intelligence activities are consistently popular among readers. The 21st century, together with Western translated literature, epoch-making events, and a change in systems and paradigms, has brought new themes and sources for plots to literature in general and to the genre of the spy novel in particular.

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