Literary Master 1983

Chapter 61: Latin American Realism published

On February 700, the first issue of "October" in the new year was published. Luo Yihe brought Yu Qie a sample copy and more than yuan in royalties.

Excerpts from the research on "Latin American Realism" and the novel "Big Saba" are being published there, the former at 2 yuan per thousand words and the latter at 9 yuan per thousand words.

Luo Yihe said: "The Wreath under the Mountain has 63,000 words, and your novel Big Scatter has more than 67,000 words. However, the manuscripts our novel group is receiving are getting longer and longer. Who knows, maybe in the future..."

"Tens of thousands of words are considered short stories, hundreds of thousands of words are considered novels, and millions of words are considered long novels... That's unlikely."

Yu Qie smiled and said, "It seems that the phenomenon of 'inflation' has also appeared in our novel world."

"Why is this happening?" Luo Yihe was puzzled. "Everyone is writing longer and longer."

"Luo Yihe, is it possible that writers are just trying to get paid for writing in order to get enough words?"

"What is water word count?"

"Padding the novel with meaningless plots and descriptions."

Luo Yihe shook his head, willing to believe in the writers' integrity, "No way, writers can't do such a thing."

He was originally in the fiction group, and interned at October for more than half a year before switching to the poetry group. Later, Yu Qie's direct contact editor became Zhang Shouren, the same editor who urged Li Cunbao to write "The Wreath under the Mountain".

"Of course, you can also contact our editor-in-chief Wang Shimin directly. 'New Realism' is the signature of October in the future." Luo Yihe pointed to the "highlight" of this issue of October. "Just like this novel 'Da Saba', it will definitely have a great response after it is published. Oh, and your research manuscript 'Latin American Realism'."

“After all, the influence of October is much greater than that of Foreign Literature Studies.”

As expected, these two novels caused a sensation in Yanda. Otherwise, why is it so good to study in Yanda?

The intellectuals’ stronghold is in colleges and universities, and the colleges and universities’ stronghold is Yanjing University.

All departments of Yenching University had the habit of subscribing to literary journals, so when Zhao Zhenjiang, the new director of the Spanish Department, saw this novel, he was so amazed that he asked all his students to read "Da Saba".

"Whether you want to study abroad or stay in China in the future, you should read this story and then decide based on your actual situation."

Zhao Zhenjiang was a senior in the Chinese Department of Yenching University. The Cuban Revolution broke out when he was halfway through his studies, so the organization asked him to rewrite in Spanish, so he dabbled in both domestic and Spanish literature.

He is currently translating the Argentine poem "Martin Fierro" at the request of the Argentine (Argentines speak Spanish) Embassy, ​​translating three to five lines a day.

Today, the poem he translated is: "I pray to God to help me sort out my thoughts, because at this moment, I want to recite the past. Please make my memory clear and make me clear-headed..."

Suddenly, he felt that there was something he hadn't done yet, so he stopped writing halfway through. Then he discovered that October had another masterpiece by Yu Qie, "Latin American Realism". After reading it in its entirety, he felt his blood boiling!
Because it says: [When we quote the term "magical realism" from the West, we unconsciously become one of the others who discriminate against and seek novelty in Latin American history, and once again push the restless souls of Latin America into endless loneliness.]

Why does Zhao Zhenjiang feel so empathetic?

Although Argentina is one of the few places in Latin America that is rich and magnificent, it also likes to use some mysterious things to create works. During the translation process, he found that these poems all have dark and cruel historical prototypes. Moreover, he also found many difficult things in the process, which made him realize how ridiculous the translation can be.

When the Spaniards translated the first edition of the famous Chinese novel "Dream of the Red Chamber" and asked him, a Chinese, to review the manuscript, he found as soon as he opened it that the Spaniards translated the name "Jia Yucun" into "house when it rains".

Then, let alone the errors in the entire translation.

So Zhao Zhenjiang found the Latin American literature expert in the department, Professor Zhao Deming - yes, the same Zhao Deming who also worked at October magazine.

"Do you know this Yu Qie? I knew he was a talented scholar at Yan University and had written novels before. I didn't expect he was also a researcher."

Zhao Deming said, "You've found me at the right time. We have a big thing to do. Several comrades from Shanghai International Studies University have translated Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. They are the translators who translated the sixth chapter of One Hundred Years of Solitude before. They are coming to Yenching to attend the second 'Latin American Literature Research Conference' and will announce this masterpiece after the conference."

"As expected, this is the first time we have seen "One Hundred Years of Solitude" in ancient China!" Zhao Deming was extremely excited.

Although there was no Chinese translation of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" in mainland China at that time, it was already very famous in the literary circle, and many people in the small circle who knew Spanish had read this book.

Zhao Zhenjiang was overjoyed: "Is magical realism about to meet the Eastern Continent for the first time? I want to praise those three comrades. They are like Prometheus, bringing the divine fire from heaven to our barren creative soil."

Zhao Deming said, "Director, since you have read that paper, don't call it 'magical' realism anymore. Please call it realism or Latin American realism. This is the result of Yu Qie's research. I am not well-educated and cannot point out his faults."

"Okay, let's call it Latin American realism. I believe in it, too."

On the other hand, the spread of "Da Saba" is still much wider. In just a few days, many literary experts in Yanda University have already expressed their appreciation for "Da Saba".

Liu Zhenyun expressed his own views in the New Reality Society: "In terms of image, Gu Yan in "Big Scatter" is much stronger than the character of Hua Di, but there is too much fatalism in the whole story. However, I just like this tone."

The May Fourth Literary Society was divided into two factions. One faction was religious and supported the "God's forgiveness theory". They believed that the character of "Gu Yan" borrowed the image of God (in fact, this is one of the reasons why Forrest Gump is so popular in the United States). As we all know, God sacrificed himself to forgive all mankind and was punished on behalf of all mankind. This redemption also made him God.

It doesn’t matter whether you commit a crime in the future or what crime you commit, God will forgive you all.

And you have been forgiven before you have committed any crime.

In short, Gu Yan stayed in the country and suffered for everyone, so he also gathered everyone's luck. The more he suffered, the happier he was. In the end, everyone else was unlucky, but Gu Yan inexplicably became the winner in life.

The other group is the atheists. They believe that Gu Yan is a character similar to Pavel Korchagin in "How the Steel Was Tempered". Pavel Korchagin is an "old Soviet", while Gu Yan is a firm and great old Chinese.

You can't help but like this kind of person. No matter how good or bad his life is, he will never go abroad. He just wants to stay with his hometown and bear everything silently.

Loyalty does not need reward, loyalty is the reward itself. That’s roughly what it means.

(End of this chapter)