Back to 80: My Literary Life

"Why did avant-garde literature become so popular?"

"Yes, Symbolism, Futurism, Dadaism, Imagism. The pursuit of personal subjectivity and the establishment of historical consciousness have become less and less. The emphasis is on "stylistic consciousness, that is, the "fictitiousness" of novels, and "narration" "Your point of view on the novel method shocked me to the core, and it completely subverted my previous writing concepts! "

Fang Minghua listened quietly without speaking.

"In addition to this year's popular novels, as you said, "You Have No Choice", "The Temptation of Gangdise", and "Transparent Carrot" written by the young writer Mo Yan, although it is also He is a rural child, but his writing technique is simply very weird. It is the magical realism you once said. But I really don’t appreciate it, but it is very popular with readers! I feel scared.”

Fang Minghua was not surprised by Lu Yao's mood.

The birth of his book "The Ordinary World" caused huge controversy.

Not among the general readership, but within academia.

Two words:

Obsolete.

The story content is outdated.

The creative techniques are outdated.

Writing skills are outdated.

"I've been very irritable in Tongchuan these days and couldn't write at all, so I rushed back. Minghua, what do you think I should do?" Lu Yao finally asked.

Seeing Lu Yao's hopeful eyes, Fang Minghua pondered for a moment before saying, "Indeed, the future will be a period when avant-garde novels will prevail. Traditional realism techniques may no longer be popular, but what you write is different."

"Why am I different? Minghua, we are brothers, you have to tell the truth and not just to comfort me." Lu Yao looked serious.

"I'm really not comforting." Fang Minghua was also very serious: "Although avant-garde novels are popular, they have a fatal weakness:

"Pioneering novels are limited by form, such as narrative method, structure, plot, etc., and it is difficult to achieve the formal effects of traditional literary works. Moreover, their uniqueness and experimental nature in language expression require readers to have certain language and cultural literacy to understand and appreciate it."

"In other words, this type of novel is not for ordinary readers. Otherwise, my article "The Sun Also Rises" would not have been criticized by so many people. Someone almost gave me a big label."

Hearing Fang Minghua's words, Lu Yao couldn't help but shake his head.

This guy is brave enough to write these rebellious things in the same atmosphere as the previous two years.

Nowadays, these things are leftover from other people’s play.

"Brother Lu, let me ask you, do you want to write something that shows off your skills and plays word games, or do you really want to write something that ordinary readers will like to read? For example, like "Life"?" Fang Minghua asked.

Lu Yao was silent for a moment and said.

"I still want to write the latter."

"In that case, what are you struggling with? Just write it according to your own ideas."

"Okay, I'll listen to you!" Lu Yao let go of his worries and became cheerful: "Let me tell you, the first part of my long novel is expected to be completed in the second half of this year."

"Then I can congratulate you in advance. I will be treating you in the future." Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"That's for sure, we'll have a good drink then!"

"Brother Lu, stop drinking and be careful about your health!" Fang Minghua quickly advised.

"Look at you, when it comes to eating, you tell me to drink less. Eating without drinking is a shame. Let's go!" After saying that, he grabbed his briefcase from the table and left the office.

Fang Minghua couldn't help but shake his head when he saw this scene.

After Lu Yao left, Fang Minghua continued his writing, but not long after, there was another knock on the door. When he opened the door, he saw Jia Pingwa walking in slowly with a cigarette under her arm.

"Hey, what's going on today? Lu Yao just left, and you're here again?" Fang Minghua was surprised.

"I met him on the way." Jia Pingwa sat down on the sofa and said, "I chatted with him for a few words, and he said he would go back to Tongchuan to continue writing. He said that after chatting with you for a while, he could unravel the worries in his heart. Some lumps.”

"Although he didn't say anything, I can guess that he must have been disturbed by the content of your last lecture!"

"Isn't he adjusted well?" Fang Minghua poured him tea, replied, and joked: "Brother Jia, aren't your minds also disturbed?"

"Me? No, I will actually benefit from it. Hey, Minghua, your tea is really good."

"Of course, the Longjing near Hupao Spring, which was picked just after the Qingming Festival, tastes good?" Fang Minghua was a little proud.

"Really? I'll take the envelope and decorate it later and go back to try it."

I@#￥%￥.

never mind.

We can't be stingy.

Jia Pingwa sipped her tea for a while, and then said: "I have been revising my book "Imbulant" recently, and I plan to learn from some of the advantages of avant-garde novels."

Fang Minghua was not surprised that Jia Pingwa had this idea.

Among the troikas in Qin Province's literary circles, Jia Pingwa has a variety of styles. "Impotent" and the controversial "The Wasted Capital" all use the stream of consciousness and structuralist writing methods.

But in essence, his artistic technique is still Chinese classical, inheriting the tradition of "Dream of Red Mansions".

"Impotent" takes the emotional experience between rural youth Jin Gou and Xiao Shui as the main line, describing the problems exposed in the initial stage of reform and opening up: the loosening of the system, the shaking of the old order, the hope ignited in people's hearts, the unyielding struggle and struggle... …how people trapped in poverty long to escape poverty and become rich.

It is the first novel in Jia Pingwa's "Shangzhou Series". It won the Mobil Pegasus Literary Award in the United States and was selected as the most influential novel in the 40 years of reform and opening up.

Jia Pingwa chatted for a few words, sat for a while and then left.

Originally, Fang Minghua wanted to tell him about the content of his next class, but this guy didn't even ask.

Fang Minghua directly suspected that he was just here to drink tea.

Lu Yao and Jia Pingwa are both here, will Chen Zhongshi be here too?

Fang Minghua thought to himself.

Chen Zhongshi did not come.

During this period, he wrote a very important novel "Mr. Blue Robe" in his hometown in Jiangxi Village.

He conceived it based on "some vivid memories" of the rural society where he once lived - the life experienced by that generation of intellectuals. This is a teacher from a rural private school after the founding of New China. He sympathizes with the teacher's tragic life through his memories.

On the desk with peeling paint, in addition to the manuscript, there is also his own notebook. The latest chapter is a record of Fang Minghua’s lectures at Western University.

He watched carefully.

He knew that he could not write so-called avant-garde works. His roots were in this yellow land, and he truly reflected the people and things that happened in this land, including personal feelings. It is not, as avant-garde literature puts it, “It is the author’s self-expression, using artistic imagination to create objectivity, and reproducing the objectivity to express the subject.”

But he is not averse to some of these writing techniques.

For example: flexible change from single to multiple perspectives

The narrative structure has experienced a transformation from plot structure novels to character structure novels

He is also very interested in these writing techniques. Can he apply them to this novel he wrote?

Chen Zhongshi was smoking the old dry cigarette he made by himself and thinking seriously.

Fang Minghua's "Contemporary Avant-Garde Literary Thoughts and Future Prospects" was published and became a landmark work on contemporary literary theory.