A few days ago, The Philosophy and Social Science Planning Office announces the list of 2012 National Social Science Fund(NSSF) major projects. The project “An investigation of ‘literature life’ in current society” submitted by professor Wen Rumin, the chief expert of Literature and Journalism School (LJS), is approved and subsidized with 800,000 yuan successfully.

“An investigation of ‘literature life’ in current society” proposes the concept "literature life" for the first time by method of sociology, communication and reception aesthetics, implemented through questionnaire survey, field interview, data statistics and analysis and so on. The paper tries to explore production, communication and consumption, acceptance and influence of literature publication, media, reading and comprehension, effect etc. in social life from the sociological view. The project advocates more attention on “literature consumption” from ordinary people, including production, communication of the works, especially readers’ response, and strives to break “internal recycle” pattern in the current research that focuses only on writer works and critics. It is an innovation of traditional literary research way and angle, aiming to produce new academic research field and inject fresh vitality to the discipline construction.

The project is undertaken by Wen Rumin who is first grade professor of Humanities and Social Sciences in Shandong university as the chief expert. He Zhongming, Zheng Chun, Zhang Xuejun, Liu Fangzheng in our college and Zhang Yiwu in department of Literature in Beijing University are the directors of sub-topics. Our faculty of Chinese Modern and Contemporary Literature Institute and part of News and Journalism teachers participate in various research groups. In recent years, our academy has repeated success in all levels of subject application. It is a major harvest in terms of subjects reporting for us that the project undertaken mainly by Professor Wen Rumin is approved by The National Social Science Fund (NSSF) successfully. It symbolizes that Chinese Modern and Contemporary Literature of our college has taken a solid step in academic research and discipline construction, etc.