独特的历史和地貌培育出了具有鲜明特点的西部作家。西部作家的创作多根植于底层生活,地域特点格外鲜明,透露出浓厚的大地气息。典型的西部符号,如戈壁、荒漠、雪山、草原等等,构成了西部文学的主要意象。但是,当代的西部早已并非昔日光景,传统西部文学作品中的典型事物已不具有使用功能,逐渐演化成为承载西部意义的符号。The region’s distinctive history and landforms have nurtured a cohort of western Chinese writers with striking literary identities. Rooted predominantly in the lives of grassroots communities, their works are steeped in strong regional characteristics and exude a profound earthy charm. Iconic western symbols—such as the Gobi Desert, barren wastelands, snow-capped mountains, and grasslands—constitute the core imagery of western Chinese literature. Yet contemporary western China is no longer what it used to be. The archetypal elements depicted in traditional western literary works have lost their practical functions, gradually evolving into symbolic carriers of the essence of the west.