<p>Yes 文学家 is common. Just search the web and you'll see many results.</p>

<p>The difference between English and Chinese is probably due to in English, a 'literarist', if the term exists, would be someone who <strong>studies</strong> literature, while in Chinese the common understanding/expectation for 文学家 is someone who <strong>creates</strong> literature, which we call a <em>writer</em> in English. According to Baidu,</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>文学家是在电视编剧、小说、散文、诗歌、戏剧、随笔等方面发表、出版了有一定质和量的作品，且有一定影响力的人。也即是说，文学家就是专门从事文学研究活动的成功人群，以创作文学作品为自己的主要工作的知名人士和学者。</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-23T21:51:21.277Z
2014-11-23T21:51:21.277Z
NS.X.
<p>文学家 is often used in Chinese, which stands for very famous persons with great achievement in literature, such as William Shakespeare.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>作者    author, writer</p>
<p>作家    author, writer</p>
<p>文学家  famous star in literature with great literary achievement</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-28T17:37:39.660Z
2014-12-15T05:23:29.790Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Victor
<p>This is 文学家 is a "big" term. You call Shakespeare and Mark Twain 文学家, because not only did they create literary works or treatises, they also made deep influences in language and literature. You use 文学家 because you want to emphasize the latter part. This word is reserved to the well achieved. </p>

<p>By comparison, 作家 is a more common term. In fact, anyone with any literary work published could call himself a 作家. </p>

<p>This is why you get 2.5M hits for 文学家, versus 65M for 作家 in google.</p>

<p>Example of usage:</p>

<ul>
<li>Discussing our favorite authors: <strong>作家</strong>.</li>
<li>Talking about Shakespeare's literary achievements: <strong>文学家</strong>.</li>
<li>Talking about one of Shakespeare's work: <strong>作家</strong> or <strong>诗人</strong>.</li>
<li>Talking about George R. R. Martin: <strong>作家</strong>. Sorry George, you might want to wait until you're dead.</li>
</ul>

<p>So people do use 文学家 normally, but not in the sense that it is an ubiquitous term.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-24T02:30:21.607Z
2014-11-24T02:30:21.607Z
Wang Dingwei
<p>Do people use "文学家” normally？ It feels like it could be a correct  word, but no one would say "literarist" on the other hand in english.</p>

<vocabulary>
Do people say “文学家？”
# Do people say “文学家？”

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-11-23)

Do people use "文学家” normally？ It feels like it could be a correct word, but no one would say "literarist" on the other hand in english.

**Tags:** vocabulary


---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-11-24. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

This is 文学家 is a "big" term. You call Shakespeare and Mark Twain 文学家, because not only did they create literary works or treatises, they also made deep influences in language and literature. You use 文学家 because you want to emphasize the latter part. This word is reserved to the well achieved.

By comparison, 作家 is a more common term. In fact, anyone with any literary work published could call himself a 作家.

This is why you get 2.5M hits for 文学家, versus 65M for 作家 in google.

Example of usage:

* Discussing our favorite authors: **作家**.
* Talking about Shakespeare's literary achievements: **文学家**.
* Talking about one of Shakespeare's work: **作家** or **诗人**.
* Talking about George R. R. Martin: **作家**. Sorry George, you might want to wait until you're dead.

So people do use 文学家 normally, but not in the sense that it is an ubiquitous term.


---

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-11-23. Score: 4

Yes 文学家 is common. Just search the web and you'll see many results.

The difference between English and Chinese is probably due to in English, a 'literarist', if the term exists, would be someone who **studies** literature, while in Chinese the common understanding/expectation for 文学家 is someone who **creates** literature, which we call a *writer* in English. According to Baidu,

> 文学家是在电视编剧、小说、散文、诗歌、戏剧、随笔等方面发表、出版了有一定质和量的作品，且有一定影响力的人。也即是说，文学家就是专门从事文学研究活动的成功人群，以创作文学作品为自己的主要工作的知名人士和学者。


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-11-28. Score: 2

文学家 is often used in Chinese, which stands for very famous persons with great achievement in literature, such as William Shakespeare.

> 作者 author, writer
>
> 作家 author, writer
>
> 文学家 famous star in literature with great literary achievement


---

