[4] Though scar literature focuses on trauma and oppression, and has been described as largely negative, love and faith remained its major themes; its practitioners were typically not opposed to Communism, but on the converse retained faith in the ability of the Party to rectify past tragedies, and "embraced love as a key to solving social problems".
[6] Unlike the mass revolutionary art of the Cultural Revolution, scar literature adopted a more individualist and market-driven literary style.
[7] The first exemplar of the genre is generally agreed to be Chen Ruoxi's 1974 short story "The Execution of Mayor Yin" (尹縣長).
[9] Liu Xinwu's 1977 short story "The Class Monitor" (班主任) has also been described as the pioneer of scar literature, though this assessment is disputed.
Zhang Chengzhi in particular is notable for his idealism regarding his experiences during the Cultural Revolution; his works such as Black Steed and Rivers of the North have been described as rebuttals to the "negativism of scar literature".