Community and industry: The development of online literature in the PRC

Abstract

This article provides a brief overview of the history of online literature in the PRC. The focus is on the development of online literature into a successful commercial industry, serving a large and highly interactive community. The discussion looks at how this community and its practices pose challenges to conventional practices of preservation and canonization of literary texts, as well as how PRC cultural authorities are attempting to steer this community toward adherence of ideological guidelines for literary production.