My era, 1979!

Chapter 86 presents a stark contrast to the prevailing literary and artistic direction (210 views, please subscribe for the first time).
Why do many people miss the 1980s?
Was it because that era was full of passion, social stability, and hope?
no.

We feel nostalgic because back then we had nothing to possess and nothing to lose.

If you lived in that era, you would find that we all seemed to be the same, which led to the saying we now jokingly use: "We all have a bright future."

In the face of this magnificent and turbulent era, we are full of passion because there are countless opportunities to change our lives.

The original rules are no longer able to restrain people, but the new rules have not yet formed new interest groups.

Xu Chengjun was well aware of this.

I also have a deep understanding of some people's psychology.

Therefore, he can calmly watch the literary clowns dance.
If pushed too far, he could simply ask: What have you done for the people?
Laughed.

Besides, who says black and red isn't red?

My buddy is a young, handsome guy who came in 2024.

The first person to fire this shot at Xu Chengjun was Wu Zhengping, a university lecturer. He moved to the United States in the early 90s and returned to China in 00. He became well-known among netizens as a "public intellectual," and the saying "the air abroad is free" is attributed to him.

Wu Zhengping, who had just bought the magazine "Harvest," very smoothly ignored the first few established writers and went straight to Xu Chengjun's "The Fitting Mirror." He usually calls himself a literary critic, but established writers are often quite influential, and criticizing one will only lead to a whole bunch of others, making it difficult to criticize them!
What kind of spray is best to get the most benefit and show off one's skills?
A: A newbie! A newbie whose writing has a lot of punchlines.

Wu Zhengping glanced at the author and their personal information in the newspaper: an educated youth sent to the countryside in Anhui? Never even gone to university?

What the hell?
How dare you post this on your feed?

If I don't criticize you, who else should I criticize?

Newcomers need baptism!
What was his evaluation? —A review of "The Fitting Mirror": A cautious approach to literary works that avoid real-world conflicts.
The emergence of works like "The Fitting Mirror" reveals underlying ideological biases and artistic misguidance that warrant our high vigilance.

Set in a department store in 1979, the work seemingly depicts the daily lives of ordinary employees, but in reality, it subtly underscores the dismantling of the system and the glorification of individualistic desires, its values ​​clearly diverging from the spirit of the times.

"The novel 'The Fitting Mirror' focuses on the protagonist Chunlan's 'personal desires' and deliberately beautifies these desires."

Chunlan, as an "advanced worker" in the shopping mall, should have been a role model of discipline and service to the collective. However, the work repeatedly depicts her longing for "Hong Kong floral fabric" and "lace dresses": from secretly hiding scraps of floral fabric and feeling a burning desire for the fabric from the opportunistic merchant Xiao Ma, to ultimately "stealing a dress belonging to a cadre's family member" and "confronting the leader," the entire process is packaged as an "awakening" of "breaking free from constraints." This is essentially a denial of the principle of "individual subordination to the collective."

"The principle of realism requires works to truthfully reflect social reality and reveal the positive role of the working people in transforming the world. However, 'The Fitting Mirror' is obsessed with idealistic plots such as 'fitting mirror illusion' and 'lens fragments developing,' using illusory elements such as 'extra threads in the mirror,' 'a person in the mirror who can laugh,' and 'multiple selves in the fragments' to drive the story. In essence, it uses surreal imagination to avoid real-world contradictions."

In conclusion, behind the seemingly delicate depictions of daily life in "The Fitting Mirror" lies a dismantling of collectivist spirit, a questioning of the system, and a yearning for a bourgeois lifestyle. Ideologically, it advocates the supremacy of individual desires; artistically, it uses idealistic illusions to evade reality; and in terms of values, it blurs class boundaries and misleads young people's perceptions.

If such works are not carefully analyzed, they can easily have a subtle but negative influence on readers, creating a stark contrast with the artistic direction of our time that "praises labor, celebrates the collective, and promotes righteousness." Therefore, it is worthy of our clear-headed critical attitude.

After finishing writing, he nodded in satisfaction. "How well written! It criticizes current affairs and meets the requirements of current policies!"
Vote for him!

Please send me a copy of both "Literary Gazette" and "Literary Review"!
He even thought it was too slow, so he quickly submitted his work to his university's internal reference department.

In those days, university internal publications were an important medium for internal communication. Distribution was limited to within the institution, but the review process was simple and publication was fast!
It will be published in the newspaper in one day!
However, Wu Zhengping was a person of some social standing, and his comments quickly spread in Nanjing, Shanghai and other places.

To be fair, Wu Zhengping isn't good at doing serious work, but he's quite adept at finding fault.

They accurately grasped the most problematic aspect of "The Fitting Mirror" in this era.

Following the publication of Harvest, the People's Literature section published Liu Xinwu's reviews of "The Fitting Mirror" and "Where Wild Roses Bloom is My Hometown".

The title is: Review of "The Fitting Mirror": Beyond Realistic Details, a Firm Value Stance Is Needed

Hey, you've got so much free time!

Liu Xinwu's comment was much more skillful, subtle yet incisive.

"Upon first reading Comrade Xu Chengjun's 'The Fitting Mirror,' its delicate depiction of daily life in a department store in 1979 is indeed commendable. The author's keen observation captures the sweltering heat of late summer, demonstrating the young author's keen insight into life. However, upon closer examination of its core ideas and value orientation, beneath the realistic details, the work harbors some deviations that warrant attention. As someone with experience in the field of literary creation, I would like to share a few thoughts with the author and colleagues."

"Artistic creation cannot exist without the support of details, but if the elaboration of details is divorced from the correct ideological core, even the most exquisite depiction will become water without a source. In 'The Dressing Mirror,' the author..."
Yet, a sense of dissolution is subtly injected into the narrative. The four years of work experience are likened to "neatly inlaid in the wood grain of the counter," and the compliant color of the work jacket is alluded to as "a withered gray." This emotionally charged description blurs the line between "rules" and "oppression."

"The authenticity of artistic details is never a simple replication of the surface of life, but rather a way to convey the glory of labor through details."
This romanticized treatment of speculative behavior, contrasting with the implicit questioning of collective discipline, clearly deviates from the creative principle that "details serve the thought." Young authors need to understand that the brilliance of detail should be used to celebrate the perseverance of working people, rather than amplifying a sense of alienation from a life of compliance.

(End of this chapter)