1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 341 Which mountain is Jiang Xian from?

Feng Jicai knew too well how high Jiang Xian's royalties were.

Not to mention anything else, how many works has Jiang Xian published?

Every time the publishing house reprints these works, it has to pay Jiang Xian an additional amount of royalties based on the number of print runs, which is a lot of hard cash.

Unlike these writers, most of the time they write articles as a one-time deal, and after the article is published, it is basically difficult for them to create any value.

After receiving the award certificates, medals and 3,000 yuan prize money, the six winning writers spoke in turn and shared their feelings about winning the award.

Yao Xueying's eyes were moist as she spoke. Sometimes, the effort a writer puts into a novel is no less than that put into raising a child.

Speaking of it, Mr. Yao Xueying's life was quite legendary.

When he was a child, he was captured by bandits as a hostage.

Xuan was adopted by a small bandit leader and lived among the bandits for more than 100 days.

Soon it was Jiang Xian's turn to speak.

This year, one of his reportages, "Long Live Understanding," was very popular in many places in China, so the Writers Association specially arranged for him to speak as a representative of writers.

In addition, this arrangement was mixed with some tentativeness.

There are serious divisions in the literary and art circles today.

Generally speaking, writers can be divided into two factions: the "Cherishing Spring Faction" and the "Left-leaning Faction".

This tug-of-war between the "Cherish Spring Faction" and the "Left-leaning Faction" lasted almost throughout the 80s.

Moreover, the higher one's position in the Writers Association, the higher his literary status and the more steadfast his faction.

People like Mao, Ba, Guang, Feng and Chen are regarded as representatives of the "Xichun School".

Liu, Ding, He, Wang, and Lin are representatives of the "left wing".

Even most of the award-winning writers on the stage now have their own literary stance.

Only the writer Jiang Xian is special.

His representative works include rebellious stream-of-consciousness literature, root-seeking literature, as well as scars and reflections.

Therefore, the Xichun faction has always regarded him as one of their own and a capable general of the Xichun faction.

However, in his subsequent works, Jiang Xian gradually gave up the writing style of "scars" and "reflection" and no longer devoted himself to exploring that period of history.

As his novel ideas became more obscure, Jiang Xian's position became increasingly vague.

It is said that he cherishes spring, but some of his behaviors are a bit left-leaning. It is said that he is left-leaning, but he cherishes spring more than anyone else.

Anyway, from his articles, it is impossible to clearly attribute him to any faction.

Jiang Xian was able to win the Mao Dun Literature Prize at such a young age. He will surely have a firm place in the future literary world.

Therefore, when Jiang Xian was arranged to speak this time, neither the Xichun faction nor the left-leaning faction objected and were all happy to facilitate it.

Both factions wanted to hear Jiang Xian’s literary attitude and stance from this speech.

Which faction do you, Jiang Xian, belong to? Which mountain?
When Jiang Xian stood in the center of the podium, everyone looked at the young writer, expecting his next speech.

In such situations, a writer's expression of his or her literary attitude will certainly reveal their literary stance.

I heard that the speech written by Jiang Xian was titled "Accepting the People's Encouragement with Deep Feelings."

The left-wing writers smiled at each other, while the writers of the Xichun School frowned slightly.

In the past few years, relying on "scar literature" and "reflective literature", the "Cherish Spring School" has gained the right to debate in the public opinion field. In the debate between the two sides, the "Cherish Spring School" has occupied a great advantage.

But this year, with the support of the spirit from above, the offense and defense changed, and the left-leaning faction launched a counterattack against the Xichun faction.

Under such circumstances, Jiang Xian's speech topic will inevitably make people feel that a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, and he wants to move closer to the left-leaning faction that has the upper hand.

".I know that my literary mission in this life is to establish ideals about people, to establish the coordinates of human nature regarding life and death, honor and disgrace, love and hate, beauty and ugliness."

“A person’s history is part of the country’s history, a person’s spirit is part of the spirit of the times, and a person’s sentiments are part of the national sentiments.”

“For this reason, I like precise realism, idealism that is full of emotion, and modernism that directly faces the crisis of the human spirit.”

“The spiritual dimension of a writer determines the quality of his or her work. Therefore, the love of climbing high and looking far is always accompanied by our vigilance against falling and landslides. Another name for a writer is the eternal climber.”

"."

When Jiang Xian was talking about the previous part, the "left-leaning" people nodded frequently. Even He Jingzhi, who had some old grudges against Jiang Xian, relaxed his tense expression a little.

However, as the story progressed, the eyes of the writers of the "Cherishing Spring School" gradually brightened.

Jiang Xian's speech ended quickly.

The writers in the auditorium, whether they were left-leaning or Xichun-loving, all applauded his speech.

Because in their opinion, Jiang Xian's speech contained some very beautiful quotes.

But after applauding, they couldn't help but ask themselves.

What kind of faction does this kid belong to?

After talking for so long and saying it so well, in the end, didn’t you still not make it clear?
After the award ceremony, more than 600 literary and art workers from all over the country took a group photo together in the conference hall.

It took some twists and turns to get it done.

We had lunch in the lake at noon and held a symposium in the afternoon.

The six award-winning writers remained the focus of the crowd, especially the youngest, Jiang Xian, whose works were mentioned many times by the judges and guests present.

Halfway through the symposium, Wei Wei, who created "East", suddenly asked Jiang Xian a question:
“Do you think that future literature should truly expose and reflect the scars and realities of contemporary Chinese society, or should it restore the mainstream literature of the ‘Seventeen Years’?”

This has forced Jiang Xian into a corner.

Everyone listened to his speech for a long time but couldn't get a clear attitude.

But now Wei Wei's question is exactly the core of the debate between the Xichun faction and the left-leaning faction.

After he asked this question, the originally lively atmosphere of the discussion suddenly became quiet, and everyone's eyes turned to Jiang Xian.

Jiang Xian sighed.

Seeing everyone's attention, he took a sip of the tea in front of him calmly.

"Comrade Wei Wei, I can't answer this question."

He stretched out his words for a few seconds and made everyone who had been expecting this feel disappointed. It was the same as if he hadn't said anything.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Jiang Xian chuckled and explained:
"I can't answer this question because I have a conflicting opinion."

"I am a young writer. Many of the writers present here are my seniors. I have read their works before, such as Comrade Wang Meng's "A Young Man Came to the Organization Department", Comrade Liu Baiyu's "The Fire Ahead", Comrade Ding Ling's "The Sun Shines on the Sanggan River", and Comrade Ba Jin's "Family"."

Jiang Xian mentioned many people's names in succession, including both the "Xichun faction" and the "left-leaning faction".

Everyone was a little confused, but one thing was certain, Jiang Xian would definitely make his point clear next.

“Some of the works I mentioned were read by me when I was a child, and some were read after I embarked on the path of literature.

As a young person, I read some hidden meanings in these works.

That is the ‘metaphysical’ thought content and the deepest ‘sense of mission’ in thought.”

Everyone listened attentively and began to think along with Jiang Xian's words.

Everyone was stunned when they heard what he said about the "hidden content".

Isn't it just as he said?
Whether it is a writer of the Xichun School or a writer leaning to the left, there is certainly a sense of "mission" in their novels.

Jiang Xian then said: "But as a young writer, after writing for so long, after reading Balzac and Kawabata Yasunari, I gradually found a writing path that I long for, or a writing style that is more suitable for me."

“That is a writing style that is more eager to respect individuality and respect the individual.”

"Just like Dostoevsky who escaped death, Kafka who was drowned in the system, and Nabokov who did his own thing." "In my opinion, literary creation must never go against one's heart, never cater to readers, and never serve as a tool."

“Literature should remain sober and independent in the meat-grinder-like reality.”

At the end, Jiang Xian paused.

A statement that was treasonous to the extreme rang in everyone's ears.

"The carriage of literature has been loaded with too many things. Now is the time to unload those things that do not belong to literature from the carriage."

Hiss.

Quiet.

Everybody was so quiet.

After listening to Jiang Xian's speech at the award ceremony, some people may inevitably think that Jiang Xian is afraid of offending others, and is playing Tai Chi by being indecisive and making some fence-sitter remarks.

Now let me hear Jiang Xian’s opinion again.

Are you afraid of offending people?

Bullshit, he is going to overturn the table!

Whether they are the Xichun faction or the left-leaning faction, they all have one thing in common, which is that they tie some of their own visions to literature.

But what is Jiang Xian saying now?
We must remove those things that do not belong to literature from the carriage!
This is equivalent to something.

Ask you A or B?

Then you have three choices: A, B, and or.

I chose to hand in a blank paper.

I choose none of them.

This was exactly Jiang Xian’s response to the probing of the Xichun faction and the left-leaning faction.

I want to take a newer literary path.

As a writer, literary theorist and literary critic who has attracted much attention in the literary world today.

Jiang Xian has the confidence to say such things.

In the past, he was nothing and could only obey orders, study the words and opinions of the big guys, and be forced to write.

but now.

It's your turn to listen to me.

Of course, Jiang Xian has never been a rookie.

As a reborn person, he knew very well that bringing in some viewpoints that were not in line with this era would only make people think that he was talking nonsense and was a fantasy, and would eventually cause him to die from the unfamiliar environment.

Just like Wang Mang practiced XXism in the Han Dynasty.

Will this work?

Of course that doesn't work.

Because these views did not conform to the social development process at that time.

However, the metaphor of the literary carriage mentioned by Jiang Xian is actually a famous metaphor in the 80s.

In another time and space, the literary world in the 80s, based on this metaphor, erupted into a thinking:
“Should literature return to itself?”

“Should we abandon popular aesthetics, society and politics, and those profound philosophies, and let words return to their essence?”

So this view is in line with the current era.

And Jiang Xian just let this metaphor come out of his mouth.

In front of the Xichun School and the left-leaning faction, he expounded a new literary proposition:
"Back to myself!"

This proposition was quickly recognized by many writers present.

Not every writer likes to carve out a niche for himself.

Most of the ideological disputes are simply divided into two factions by some outside public opinion in order to better understand the debate.

Maybe people don't classify themselves in this way.

Just like Yao Xueying.

In the eyes of outsiders, Yao Xueying has always been considered to be "left-leaning".

Including watching "Li Zicheng", you can also experience some left-leaning feelings from it.

But in his later years, Yao Xueying once told people that he was neither of them.

To borrow Ding Ling's words, he is an "independent brigade."

So when Yao Xueying heard Jiang Xian propose to take the path of an "independent brigade", he immediately agreed with his point of view.

Yes, literature should return to its original state!
There is also Jiang Xian’s “old lover” teacher Liu Xinwu.

As a representative writer of "scar literature", Liu Xinwu is naturally also regarded as a representative writer of the Xichun School.

But in fact, Liu Xinwu does not agree with the statement that he is a member of the Xichun School.

At this moment, after listening to Jiang Xian's point of view, he couldn't help but nod frequently.

Except for the two of them.

The writers present at this moment either nodded in thought, or whispered to each other, or smiled knowingly, or tensed their cheeks.

He Jingzhi, the left-wing leader, was obviously unhappy at this moment.

Guang Weiran just had a fun attitude and was quite happy.

In this year's Mao Dun Literature Prize selection, the competition between the two factions is inevitable.

But judging from the results, the "left-leaning" faction that has the upper hand has firmly grasped the right to speak in this Mao Dun Literature Prize selection.

This can be seen from the novels that won the awards this time.

Compared with the "Xichun School", these award-winning novels tend to be more "left-leaning".

Among them, although Jiang Xian's "Furong Town" has the color of cherishing spring, it is generally mixed with traces of "leftism".

If we interpret it in depth, the fact that the Mao Dun Literature Prize was awarded to "Furong Town" instead of "Xu Sanguan Selling Blood" and other novels can be seen as an attempt by the left-leaning faction to win over and crack down on Jiang Xian.

However, no one could have expected Jiang Xian to overturn the card table.

He flexed his muscles in front of writers from all over the country.

How many writers would support his new literary proposition?
The Xichun faction was already in a tight situation, so naturally it didn't matter.

But the left-leaning faction that had the upper hand suffered a loss at the hands of Jiang Xian this time.

"What a great way to return to the essence of literature, haha."

Seeing He Jingzhi being humiliated, Guang Weiran, who had been feeling a little depressed these days, suddenly felt that today was a very sunny day and was very happy.

On this day, the Mao Dun Literature Prize awarding ceremony, as a grand event in the literary world, will be reported by well-known domestic media such as Literary Gazette, Wenhui Daily, Guangming X Newspaper, and China Youth Daily.

Jiang Xian's metaphor will also spread across the country along with these reports and become a new concept and new voice in the literary world.

In the near future, a new generation of literary forces will emerge.

Feng Tang, Lu Nei, Cao Kou, Miao Wei, A Ding, A Yi.
These middle-generation writers will be deeply inspired by his "return to himself".

Decades later, it has grown into the mainstream and backbone of Chinese literary circles.

(End of this chapter)