1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 288: An article written in one stroke

Students majoring in Chinese should be familiar with the journal "Literary Theory Research".

This academic journal is extremely authoritative in the field of literary theory. It is a C journal under the supervision of the Ministry of Education, that is, a source journal of the Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index (CSSCI).

At present, this publication is mainly under the supervision of the Society of Literary and Art Theory, and Chen Huangmei, who attended the award ceremony, serves as the editor-in-chief of this publication.

Li Xiaolin introduced the basic situation of the publication to Jiang Xian with a smile. The editorial office of "Literary and Art Theory Research" is located in Shanghai, so she is relatively more familiar with it.

"Literary and Art Theory Society?" Jiang Xian looked at Li Xiaolin, with a look on his face showing that he was willing to hear more details.

"The Society of Literary and Art Theory is currently the most influential national academic group in China. It was just established in 79. Comrade Chen Huangmei served as the first president of the society, and Comrade Zhou Yang served as honorary president."

Just by hearing these prestigious names, Jiang Xian knew that the status of this society was definitely not that simple.

Xu Zhongyu spoke at this time and said to Jiang Xian:

"I am the vice president of the society and the deputy editor-in-chief of the editorial department of Literary Theory Research. Strictly speaking, Literary Theory Research is actually the journal of our society."

"I see." Jiang Xian nodded.

After understanding the general situation of "Literary Theory Research", he began to consider Xu Zhongyu's request for an article.

"You want me to talk about modern literature?"

"Not bad." Xu Zhongyu nodded.

"You should have heard of Mr. Xu Zhongyu."

Li Xiaolin and Jiang Xian confirmed that "Mr. Xu is a famous literary theorist who has written nearly 10 million words of teaching books, including "College Chinese".

I wonder if you have read the literary review he wrote for you about Grandma's Bridge. It is quite interesting. "

Jiang Xian nodded and looked at Xu Zhongyu with respect.

Xu Zhongyu is already in his sixties, but he is still energetic, tall and straight, wearing a white shirt and black leather shoes, holding a cane, and has a amiable face.

Anyone who has taken the course "College Chinese" should have heard of the name Xu Zhongyu.

It can be said that he is the father of this discipline.

Jiang Xian found it quite incredible when he thought about it. Now he not only stood with the characters in the textbooks, but he even talked to the people who compiled the textbooks.

“I have always felt that you are a very unique writer.”

Xu Zhongyu said with a smile, "When writing modernist literature, there are more or less traces of foreign writers in the articles, such as Kafka and Kawabata Yasunari. These two people have had such a profound influence on domestic writers that it is difficult for most writers to get rid of their traces in their works."

"You're too kind." Jiang Xian said modestly, but he agreed deeply in his heart.

Xu Zhongyu's words hit the nail on the head.

Someone concluded that at a certain period, behind every avant-garde writer in China, one can see one or more Western masters.

Yu Hua alone has mentioned more than once how Kafka and Kawabata Yasunari inspired his writing and how they hindered his writing.

At that time, Jiang Xian didn’t quite understand the meaning of “obstacle”, but now he has fully understood it.

Excellent writers will try hard to eliminate the shadows of other writers in their works. However, the influence of Kafka, Kawabata Yasunari, and even Balzac on writers is too profound, which has become a bottleneck for many writers on their writing journey.

Xu Zhongyu continued: “Relatively speaking, I rarely see other writers in your articles, except for this one, “Grandma Bridge”.

I don’t know if you have read my literary review, but I am just saying this. Don’t be angry if I am wrong. I always feel that your novel is full of the shadow of a foreign novel.”

"One Hundred Years of Solitude." Jiang Xian and Xu Zhongyu said in unison.

The two looked at each other, and then smiled knowingly.

This sentence translates into One Hundred Years of Solitude.

One Hundred Years of Solitude had not yet been translated and introduced to China, so he and Xu Zhongyu were both talking about the English translation of the novel.

"I bought a lot of books during my visit to Japan, and this novel was among them."

Jiang Xian took the initiative to explain: "After I finished reading this work of García Márquez, I was deeply shocked. This article "Grandma's Bridge" also pays tribute to García Márquez in the way that the 'ice cube' is 'hot'."

Xu Zhongyu nodded, as if he had expected this. "You have great literary attainments. I am looking forward to you talking about your understanding of modernist theory. You are also the most representative writer of stream-of-consciousness novels in China. If you can come up with some theories, it will definitely be very valuable and a blessing for the current literary world."

Hearing Xu Zhongyu's sincere tone, even Li Xiaolin was a little moved. Mr. Xu is so old, but he is still working hard to promote the advancement of literature.

She turned her gaze to Jiang Xian, this frighteningly young man who had only been writing for a few years but had already become one of the indispensable core figures in the literary world.

"Mr. Xu."

Jiang Xian was silent for a while, and finally spoke, "I have no problem with the manuscript."

Xu Zhongyu became excited, but soon heard an annoying "but" from Jiang Xian's mouth.

"I also have something I would like to ask Mr. Xu for help."

Xu Zhongyu's smile froze. "You need my help? Go ahead."

"I don't know if Mr. Xu has heard about the Lu Xun Institute of Literature. To be more precise, it is now called the Lu Xun Academy of Literature." Jiang Xian said.

What he was talking about, of course, was the dispute between Lu Xun Academy of Literature and the Ministry of Higher Education over academic qualifications.

According to the ideas of the leaders of Lu Xun Academy of Literature, after graduating from their academy, students should be directly awarded a graduate degree certificate that is widely recognized.

Li Qingquan had been fighting with the Ministry of Higher Education for this matter. Now he met Xu Zhongyu from the Ministry of Higher Education, and Jiang Xian came up with the idea of ​​fighting with him.

"You mean the academic qualifications of Lu Xun Academy of Literature?" Xu Zhongyu still smiled. "I support the establishment of Lu Xun Academy of Literature. It can cultivate our country's writers, but the academic qualifications are still under discussion. We can't be careless about this kind of thing. I hope you understand."

"Understand, understand."

Jiang Xian certainly knew that the issue of academic qualifications should be handled with caution.

If the right channels are not opened and loopholes are left for people to exploit, then in the future, it may not be just Dr. Zhai who doesn't know about Zhiwang. There is also Brother Pingao's daughter. I'm afraid it will be more than just a simple matter for her to join the China Writers Association.

"I will pay more attention to this issue." Xu Zhongyu made a promise to Jiang Xian.

"Your words are enough."

Jiang Xian smiled and said, "Then I will go back and think carefully about my understanding and thoughts on modernist literature."

After talking with Xu Zhongyu for a while, the award ceremony began and Jiang Xian sat down in his seat.

The "October Literature Award" maintains the fine tradition of "National Excellent Novel Selection"
——There is no award for novels. The categories include short stories, novellas, plays, reportage, poetry, essays, and literary criticism.

The first award to be presented is the Novella Award.

Jiang Xian glanced at the winners and saw many familiar faces. In addition to Jiang Zilon, there were Cong Weixi from Writers Publishing House, Wang Meng and Lu Yao from Beijing Literature, and Zhong Jieying.

Cong Weixi had previously published the novel "Glass Moon Shining on the Copper Coin" for Jiang Xian, and this time he won the award with his novel "The Tenth Bullet Hole".

There is no need to introduce Wang Meng and Lu Yao.

Zhong Jieying was a male comrade whom Jiang Xian had met once at the National Congress of Writers and Artists.

The delegates attending the meeting at that time all said that the China Writers Association contributed two weirdos to the National Congress of Writers and Artists, one was Feng Jicai, the tallest, and the other was Zhong Jieying, the shortest.

Zhong Jieying is a very short man. He is a top student majoring in automobiles who graduated from Qinghua University. Literary creation is only a part of his life. Strictly speaking, he is a genius who is proficient in both arts and sciences.

This can be seen from his two representative works:
One is "Test Methods of Automobiles and Their Mechanisms" and the other is the novel "On the Ruins of the Earthquake".

Among the many excellent award-winning works, the most eye-catching one is undoubtedly Jiang Xian's "Wreath under the Mountain".

Although the novel "The Garland under the Mountain" has been published for nearly half a year, it has exceeded the fermentation period of influence of most literary works.

But the novel "The Wreath" still maintains its popularity among readers.

It can even be claimed that in the past year of 1981, "The Wreath" was the most popular phenomenal novel in Chinese literary circles.

The sensational effect caused by this novel is extremely rare even in the golden age when good works emerge like mushrooms after rain. Its influence has broken the shackles of time.

In an article in the Literary Gazette, a critic regarded Lei Shuyan's poem "The Grass is Singing", Xu Zhongyu's "Anecdotes from the Western Front", and Jiang Xian's "Wreaths under the Mountains" as the "Ice-breaking Trilogy of Military Literature", and believed that these three works could be called the revolutionary works of contemporary Chinese war literature.

When Chen Huangmei handed the certificate to Jiang Xian, every writer in the audience imagined that they were the one holding the certificate.

After the awards ceremony for novellas ended, it was soon the turn for the awards for scripts.

The playwrights became envious and jealous to the point of doubting their lives.

If "The Garland under the Mountain" stands out among a group of novels, then "The World's No. 1 Restaurant" truly takes the lead.

The judges of October even announced directly in their award speech that "The No. 1 Restaurant in the World is one of the best domestic drama scripts after Teahouse."

Watching Chen Huangmei read out these words with a strange expression, Jiang Xian even wondered if the "one of" was added by Chen Huangmei.

After all, the people of October have always been bold and radical, otherwise they would not have dared to be the first in the world to publish the magazine October and the "October Series".

Jiang Xian believed that they were really capable of directly announcing that "The World's Number One Restaurant" was the best domestic drama script after "Tea House".

There were constant flashes of light at the award ceremony, and reporters and media invited from all over the country were recording the first award ceremony of the "October Literature Award".

After the award ceremony, there is a symposium organized by October, which is equivalent to organizing writers to sit together to talk about literature, chat about recent situations, and enhance the cohesion of the literary team.

On the other hand, many literary giants gathered at the venue. Chen Huangmei, Feng Mu and Ding Ling were also invited as award-winning writers. This was a good opportunity for young writers to ask them for advice.

Everyone was eating melon seeds and peeling peanuts, speaking freely. The atmosphere was so intense that many people did not notice that Jiang Xian, who had just won two major awards, was quite quiet at the symposium. He just sat in his seat holding a hard book and quietly wrote line by line.

"Since the emergence of 'scar literature' and 'reflective literature', the development of the literary world has fallen into a short-term silence. The number of works that can resonate with readers and society has obviously decreased, and the creative level of our writers has not achieved a significant breakthrough."

Jiang Xian's classmate from the Institute of Literature, Mu Guozheng, passionately expounded his views.

"In my opinion, our current creation is in a dilemma. Our literature lags behind the world. To get rid of this dilemma and catch up with the development of world literature, we must learn from the creation methods and forms of Western literature. This is the significance of encouraging the development of modernist literature."

Mu Guozheng's words were agreed by many writers, especially some avant-garde young writers, who hoped that literature could develop in line with social development and achieve literary modernization through comprehensive learning of Western cultural techniques.

Some older writers frowned and disagreed with this view.

For a moment, the scene was very similar to those described in history books, with one side advocating closing the country to the outside world, while the other side advocated complete Westernization.

The symposium came to an end amid increasingly heated debates. After the symposium, some writers gathered together to continue the discussion, still unsatisfied.

Xu Zhongyu was smiling and greeting some old friends he hadn't seen for many years. He turned around and caught a glimpse of Jiang Xian, who was standing behind him with a hardcover book in his hand.

"Mr. Xu, this is the manuscript I asked you to write."

"The manuscript you asked me to write?" Xu Zhongyu was puzzled. "What manuscript?"

Jiang Xian smiled and reminded, "Don't you want me to talk about modernism?"

Xu Zhongyu was stunned for a few seconds before he reacted. He immediately widened his eyes and exclaimed in surprise.

"So fast?!"

It’s not Xu Zhongyu’s fault for losing his composure.

He had just agreed with Jiang Xian to write such a theoretical article before the award ceremony, and Jiang Xian handed such an article to him just after the award ceremony.

At this speed, anyone would be shocked.

When was it written?
Xu Zhongyu thought about it carefully.

He had never told anyone before that he wanted to ask Jiang Xian to write an article for him. It couldn't be that Jiang Xian already had such a theoretical article and happened to have it with him, and he just happened to ask him to write it.

Xu Zhongyu took Jiang Xian's manuscript and glanced at it. It looked like there were about a few thousand words.

“Did you write this at the symposium just now?”

"Yes."

Jiang Xian admitted it generously.

Xu Zhongyu nodded, and now he felt that it made more sense.

But I still can't get rid of the shock in my heart.

Even if there was time to write at the symposium, it would not be easy to finish an article of several thousand words in such a short time and in such a complex environment.

It can only be said that Jiang Xian has reached the point where he is proficient in modernist literature. He can write something with ease, but the weight of his words remains to be seen.

Xu Zhongyu couldn't wait to see how the article was written.

He immediately found a secluded place, put on his reading glasses, and opened the article.

The topic is:
"Return to national traditions, return to realistic language!"

(End of this chapter)