1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 310 "Dai Fenglian, the Female Champion"

Jiang Xian could be said to have been well prepared for the question that Sha Ting suddenly raised today.

After all, in another time and space, the novel "Red Sorghum" has always been controversial since its publication.

When you are famous, you are prone to gossip. When your book becomes popular, many people want to take advantage of it.

The most famous incident was that Mao Xinghuo sued Mo Yan, saying that "Red Sorghum" "glorified" the Japanese army.

Many people have heard of Red Sorghum, but few have read this novel.

Mao Xinghuo took the text out of context, unraveled it, and pointed out a passage in the article.

"The Japanese on the horses sat upright, with their backs straight and their heads slightly tilted back. Their faces were all whitened by the sunlight, and it was hard to tell their noses or eyes apart."

He said that this description makes people feel that the Japanese army is solemn and majestic, like a shining angel.

This has misled many readers who have not read the novel.

In addition, the writer Mo Yan himself is surrounded by negative news, so many readers are more convinced of this judgment.

"Red Sorghum" glorifies the Japanese army!

Excluding the context itself, let's look at this description objectively.

In this description, the Japanese soldiers do not look like "angels" at all.

It just describes a group of Japanese soldiers riding on horses with their faces shining white in the light. It can be said that the scene is really fierce, but if it is said that these are angels shining with light, wouldn’t it be pure imagination?

Moreover, this is not a collection of anti-Japanese jokes, nor does it describe the scene of the Japanese army fleeing in panic.

Jiang Xian had the impression left by the Mao Xinghuo incident. Although he did not delete the controversial parts while writing the novel, he carefully considered all content that might cause controversy. Therefore, when Sha Ting raised the question, he was able to give a reasonable explanation at the first time.

Someone may ask.

Are you, Jiang Xian, a cheap person?
You already know it's controversial, so why not just delete it?

Then Jiang Xian also has something to say.

Should controversial content be deleted?

There are so many controversial novels.

Lin Daiyu and Jia Baoyu in "Dream of Red Mansions" fell in love prematurely, promoting pornography and corruption.

"Water Margin" vilifies women and glorifies the killing of innocent people.

"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" distorts history.

"Journey to the West" is even more frightening, as it directly insults both Buddhism and Taoism.

Abroad.

The protagonist of Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" is a murderer.

Tolstoy's century-old masterpiece "Anna Karenina" is even more controversial. The heroine Anna, a young woman, cheated on her husband, and after discovering the affair, she said bluntly:
"You can continue your affair, but you are not allowed to expose your true colors."

Therefore, if we follow the "three views review" standards of later generations, no matter whether it is the four great classics or the classics of world literature, all the literary works that are familiar to the public, none of them are qualified.

Even Zhu Ziqing's essay "Back Figure" has controversial parts.
——Suspected of violating traffic regulations!
Any literary work has its controversial parts, and this controversial and discussed part is the literary value of this novel.

Therefore, we cannot delete something just because it is controversial. That would be picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons, putting the cart before the horse, and the literary work would lose its brilliance.

After agreeing with Jiang Xian's point of view, Zhang Jie also said: "Dai Fenglian is a very good female character."

The theme of the novel "Red Sorghum" is the anti-Japanese war, but Dai Fenglian's horrific experience is the most popular
——Having sex with the enemy who murdered her husband in the sorghum field!

With just this simple mention, many people may criticize Dai Fenglian for being unfaithful to her husband.

But only after you really read the content will you understand what a legendary woman she is.

Since she was a child, Dai Fenglian has longed to find a man who can read and write, has a handsome face, and is considerate of her. She longs to lie in the arms of a tall and strong man to relieve her anxiety and eliminate her loneliness.

But fate did not give her such an opportunity. In exchange for a mule, her parents betrothed her to Shan Bianlang, a leper.

She did not give up on herself, she rebelled against her fate.

Although she is a country woman, Dai Fenglian possesses the feminine beauty of warmth, plumpness, boldness and courage.

She dares to love and hate, and pursues her love persistently.

So she resolutely married Yu Zhan'ao, who was nominally her husband's murderer but actually her savior.

The story of Dai Fenglian depicts the transformation of a female image into a masculine one.

She has the rationality, strength and rebelliousness of a man.

She was not like the pastoral feminists of later generations, who demanded this and that.

He is like a strong man. Faced with the injustice of fate and feudal ethics, she has to rely on herself to fight for herself.

Later, in order to support the anti-Japanese war, Dai Fenglian sent her only son to the battlefield. In the end, she herself was buried in the sorghum field.

In such a feudal and conservative era where female consciousness was suppressed, how could Dai Fenglian not be considered an extraordinary woman?

This is a true heroine, a man among women.

So I wrote a poem for her in the novel:

"The female leader, Dai Fenglian, has a beautiful face and is good at organizing things. She uses an iron rake to swing in a chain, blocking the enemy from advancing."

Of course, no one is perfect.

Dai Fenglian also has some human flaws, and some of the problems she exposed also need to be criticized.

After all, many characters in literary works are very complex and worthy of discussion. They cannot be fully summarized in one sentence. As the saying goes, there are a thousand Hamlets in the minds of a thousand readers.

As Jiang Xian expected, a guest soon thought that Dai Fenglian's affair should not be written about, as it was too bold.

“These three views are not correct!”

Jiang Xian was like Zhuge Liang, who debated with many scholars, and immediately came up with an explanation:
"Anna in Anna Karenina was arranged by her family to marry a senior official 16 years older than her at the age of 20. She lived a boring and sexless marriage and therefore cheated on her husband.

The core story of "Madame Bovary" is almost similar, both of which are about a lonely young woman who cheats on her husband and ends up in destruction.

These are world-renowned masterpieces. If they can write like this, why can't I?

I personally have an important point of view, which may not be correct.

The content of literary works may not be correct, and even the writer’s personality and private life may not be correct, but a writer’s attitude towards creation must be correct.

Just like when Tolstoy wrote Anna Karenina, was he mocking Anna?
When Dostoevsky wrote "Crime and Punishment", was he trying to understand the psychology of murderers?
When reading these works, I can truly feel the attitude behind the writers, which is one of great sincerity and compassion.

Including our banned book "Jin Ping Mei", which is the most culmination of works with perverted values.

But when I read it, I also realized that people are driven by various desires throughout their lives, just like animals, and it is very painful. "

After he finished speaking, the conference room fell silent, and everyone's face showed a look of thought and agreement.

Wang Meng smiled with a hint of amusement, and sarcastically said:
"He is a man of many eloquences." The seminar lasted an unusually long time, but when it ended, everyone felt that they had gained a lot and the trip was worthwhile. It also opened up more new perspectives for deconstructing the novel "Red Sorghum."

Jiang Xian thanked all the guests present one by one, saying that the opportunity to participate in the "Red Sorghum" seminar today was a sign of appreciation and honor for him.

"Master Tuo."

When it was Li Tuo's turn, Jiang Xian called him and said with a smile: "Come to my house tonight for a drink? Their alcohol tolerance is average, but your alcohol tolerance is comparable to mine."

"forget it."

Li Tuo waved his hand to reject his invitation, "My head is full of inspiration now, and I am anxious to go home and write a literary review for your article "Red Sorghum"."

"That's such a shame."

Li Tuo smiled and said, "Come back, I will definitely go there later.

Don't worry, I will definitely drink your wine. There are so many words in Red Sorghum, and People's Literature must have paid you a lot for it."

“Is it easy for me to make some money?”

"Hey, I have to kill you, kid.

I just asked Cui Daoyi, this time the article "Red Sorghum" will also be published in full for you. I guess even if you don't send a special issue, it will probably take up most of the book."

Jiang Xian smiled helplessly and said goodbye to Li Tuo.

It is indeed as Li Tuo said, this time "Red Sorghum" was still published in its full text in "People's Literature".

The novel "Red Sorghum" has 13.8 words and can barely be considered a novel.

Please note that there is another novel called "Red Sorghum Family", which is a series of novels written by Mo Yan later with "Red Sorghum" as the first one. It has more words and more content.

As for the one Jiang Xian composed this time, it was only "Red Sorghum".

"Jiang Xian, it seems that you are going to bring an even greater shock to the literary world this time." Wang Meng said with a smile.

"Teacher Wang, you're too kind." Jiang Xian said modestly.

“Plump, fresh, everlasting, upright and tough, wild and free.”

Wang Meng counted on her fingers and sighed: "This Dai Fenglian is charming. This woman has all the qualities and characteristics that Gao Liang has."

After saying that, he patted Jiang Xian on the shoulder.

"Your novel is really good. You have written it to a top level. I felt it very clearly when I read the novel. The feeling was so strong that it lasted throughout the whole novel."

Wang Meng spoke the truth in his praise. After further understanding the novel Red Sorghum at today's seminar, he can conclude that Jiang Xian's literary level has reached a new level and a new height.

He asked, "How long did it take you to write this novel?"

"About 14 days." Jiang Xian replied.

"14 days?!"

Wang Meng looked at Jiang Xian in disbelief.

Damn, you write so fast?!
Wang Meng didn’t know that Jiang Xian’s 14 days was already very slow. The original author Mo Yan only took one week to write Red Sorghum.

On average, more than 10,000 words a day, a speed that would make even online writers cry, and writers of literary novels would call this thing a monster.

But this is not Mo Yan's most terrifying record.

The most frightening thing is that he wrote the 50-word novel "Big Breasts and Wide Hips" in just 43 days.

What does this mean? White Deer Plain is also a 50-word novel, and it took the author Chen Zhongshi six years to write it.

Later, Yu Hua once said that when Mo Yan published Big Breasts and Wide Hips, he was criticized. They said, "You wrote 43 words in 50 days. What did you write? You must have written nonsense."

Mo Yan got scared when he heard this, and quickly made up an excuse, saying, "It took me 40 years to come up with the idea."

In fact, something that took 40 years to conceive only took 43 days.

"Jiang Xian, there is one more thing." Wang Meng pulled Jiang Xian to a secluded corner.

"Teacher Wang, what's the matter?"

Wang Meng said seriously, "Some time ago, Comrade Guang Weiran talked to me for several hours."

"Mr. Guang is looking for you?" Jiang Xian was alerted and vaguely guessed something, but he didn't say it out loud. He waited quietly for Wang Meng to speak himself.

"Mr. Guang believes that the quality of People's Literature is declining. He said that after reading the eleven short stories in the fourth issue of 82, he thought it was time for People's Literature to be revised. The vitality of this publication is not strong enough."

“The quality of People’s Literature has declined.”

Jiang Xian feels that this is a problem that has always existed in the magazine People's Literature.

Although it wears the crown of a royal publication, one must bear the weight of the crown. People's Literature is destined to be restricted and cannot select manuscripts as freely as magazines such as Harvest and October.

"Mr. Guang is also the Party Secretary of the China Writers Association, but he feels that his work is too busy, and he is old and in poor health, so serving as editor-in-chief is not a long-term solution."

Wang Meng took out a cigarette and handed it to Jiang Xian. “He told me that he wanted to invite me to host People’s Literature.”

"Oh, this is a big deal!" Jiang Xian became excited.

"Mr. Guang wants to transfer two people, one is me and the other is Comrade Jiang Zilong."

"Oh, with the two of you here, People's Literature will be even more powerful, and the quality of each issue will be better than the last." Jiang Xian was flattering her, but he knew in his heart that in the end only Wang Meng was transferred there, and Jiang Zilong's transfer was unsuccessful as Tianjin would not let him go.

The reason was also written in Guang Weiran's diary. It was because of Zhou Yang's matter that Tianjin wanted to give him a hard time.

"Oh, I haven't decided whether to go or not." Wang Meng smiled.

He was very clear that if he took charge of the magazine "People's Literature", it would be difficult for him to continue his creative career in the future.

"Go ahead." Jiang Xian said sincerely, "Teacher Wang Meng, I could see your editing talent when you were at Capital Literature. With you in charge of Capital Literature, the look of this publication is completely different from before."

“That’s everyone’s joint achievement.”

Wang Meng smiled and said modestly, then looked at Jiang Xian, "Mr. Guang not only proposed to transfer me to People's Literature as the editor-in-chief, he also proposed to reorganize the editorial board of People's Literature."

"Reorganizing the editorial board? This is a big deal."

"Well, Master Guang is very determined this time."

Wang Meng nodded and said: "Reorganizing the editorial board will make it easier for me to take over People's Literature.

After all, I don’t have any acquaintances in People’s Literature, so it would be difficult to carry out my work, or I would need to get familiar with the staff for a while before I can do my work smoothly.

But generally speaking, it is still important to have a few familiar comrades around you.”

As he spoke, he looked at Jiang Xian with burning eyes.

"Jiang Xian, are you willing to transfer to People's Literature with me?"

(End of this chapter)