Back to 80: My Literary Life

"Just now, Editor Li and others have repeatedly mentioned the trend of writing avant-garde novels that is currently popular in the literary world. Let me digress on this issue. I have written several theoretical articles on avant-garde novels. Regarding this point, I think I You still have some say.”

No one objected.

In the past few years, Fang Minghua has successively published theoretical articles such as "The Past, Present and Domestic Development History of Stream of Consciousness Novels" and "The Advantages and Limitations of Western Modern Literature". He also published a special book "Contemporary Literary Thoughts and Future Prospects". Theoretical monographs. He has become a rising star in the field of domestic literary theory, especially in the study of avant-garde literature including stream of consciousness.

It's just that Fang Minghua is very low-key in the literary theory community. Others only know that he is the winner of the Mao Dun Literature Award and the editor-in-chief of a major domestic magazine, but ignore his identity.

But how could anyone here forget?

"Editor Fang, what you have to say, we are all ears." Li Tuo said with a smile.

Fang Minghua smiled slightly: "I have already talked about the advantages and disadvantages of avant-garde novels in great detail in my paper. You all already know it, so I won't go into details. What I want to say is: in today's literary world, apart from the writing of avant-garde novels, Is there no other way to create? Is traditional realism really obsolete?”

"We very much admire and admire the famous "One Hundred Years of Solitude" created by the great contemporary Colombian writer García Márquez using magical realism techniques, but please don't forget that his new work a few years ago used pure classical traditional realism The creative method of "Love in the Time of Cholera" is also very exciting! ”

"What does this mean? Fundamentally speaking, it is possible to write high-level works or low-level works using any technique. The question is not what method is used to create, but how the writer overcomes the mediocrity of thought and art! Now Take "The Ordinary World" written by Comrade Lu Yao as an example. Editor Wang just said that Lu Yao studied under Liu Qing. This novel is comparable to "History of Entrepreneurship", but I think it is compared with another foreign novel. .”

"Which one?"

"The Quiet Don" by Soviet writer Sholokhov.

"Quiet Don"? That is a work that won the Nobel Prize for Literature!

The meeting room suddenly became commotion, and everyone couldn't help but talk in low voices. Li Tuo couldn't help interrupting Fang Minghua with a hint of ridicule in his tone.

"Editor Fang, although Comrade Lu Yao and you are both writers from Qin Province, and I heard that we have a good relationship in private, we won't praise you so much, right?"

"Editor Li, can you let me finish?" Fang Minghua frowned slightly.

Li Tuo showed an apologetic expression. He also felt that he was a little too excited today.

When the conference room became quiet, Fang Minghua continued: "What I want to point out here is that "The Ordinary World" has not reached the level of "Quiet Don River". To be honest, this novel by Comrade Lu Yao is not There is still a certain gap compared to the latter.”

"But please note that one of the key points that Sholokhov worked hard to deal with in the writing of this epic is also the complexity of history, but it was the history of the Soviet Civil War. Based on this, Sholokhov's " "Quiet Don" is far superior to similar works in the Soviet period, with a high-level perspective and the vision of a writer and historian!"

"Similarly, Comrade Lu Yao's unique efforts in "In the Ordinary World", his writing's attention to the overall historical situation and the complexity of historical development, I think this is a very excellent novel. "

"Comrade Lu Yao's "The Ordinary World" does have some shortcomings, as comrades have said. I think a very important issue is that in the specific writing process, the signature and sentence making are indeed a bit verbose.

"For example, this paragraph:" Fang Minghua opened the magazine and read the above paragraph:

"He and she, through this doll, realize that they are completely integrated together. When they love the child together and look at each other, the inexhaustible and warm flow of emotion will flow through their hearts. Shaoan remembered that when he was very young, his mother, who was still young at that time, wore such a patchwork of clothes. A mother as simple and profound as the earth! Thinking of it makes people warm and makes people's nose sore. Who said Is this accountability system bad?”

"I can't say that such lyricism is unreal. If readers have had similar feelings, it may not be difficult to resonate with such words. But directly stating "what feelings" and adding a few adjectives are often not a good way. "

"Everyone, please listen to "Blessings" written by Mr. Lu Xun. The ending is as follows: I woke up to the loud sound of firecrackers because I was nearby, saw the light of yellow lights as big as beans, and then heard the sound of crackling firecrackers. The firecrackers were being "blessed" by my uncle's family; I knew it was almost five o'clock. In my haze, I vaguely heard the continuous sound of firecrackers in the distance, which seemed to form a thick cloud of sound throughout the day. The flying snowflakes embraced the whole town. I felt lazy and comfortable in this noisy embrace. All my doubts from day to night were swept away by the blessed air. I just felt that the saints in heaven and earth were enjoying the sacrifice. The wine and cigarettes are all staggering drunkenly in the air, preparing to bring infinite happiness to the people of Lu Town."

"The reader is not Mrs. Xianglin, nor the protagonist "I", but when reading it, one will feel a numbness all over the body. The drunken gods cannot see the suffering in the world, and the "infinite happiness" is formed by the cold reality. Great contrast. When such a contrast is written in a sentence, the article has great "tension". This tension tears the reader and makes people look away from the page and still think about it for a long time. This is Characteristics of excellent literary works!”

Fang Minghua was talking eloquently in the conference room. The participants listened carefully. There were two old men outside the window.

One is Tang Yin, the dean of Lu Academy, and the other is Zhou Airuo, the vice dean.

Of course they knew what meeting was being held in the classroom, and out of curiosity they quietly came outside to listen.

Both of them were in their early sixties. Tang Yin, wearing glasses, said to Zhou Airuo next to him: "Old Zhou, is he Fang Minghua?"

"Yes, that's him. He has just been hired as the editor-in-chief of Yanhe magazine. He can be said to be the youngest editor-in-chief in the country and has a bright future." Zhou Airuo replied in a low voice.

Tang Yin nodded, "Yes, I didn't expect that his articles were well written and his eloquence was also very good."

"I heard that he is often invited to give lectures to students in universities, including Lanzhou University, Xiamen University, Sichuan University, and the most popular one is Northwest University. Hey, Lao Tang, we also invite him to give lectures in the advanced training class of Luyuan University. Sample?"

"If you want to teach, I will teach him for one semester. One or two classes are boring, but this semester's classes are already fully booked. When the new training class starts next year, how about we contact him in advance?" Tang Yin said.

"That's what I mean too."

Fang Minghua naturally didn't know that the two old men outside the window were already eyeing him and arranging his work for next year. He spoke for more than half an hour before stopping, and there was silence in the conference room.