In the two weeks after the West Lake Conference, newspapers and periodicals such as "Literary Review", "Contemporary Writers Review", "Writer", "Shanghai Literature", and "Harvest" successively published articles on "root-seeking literature". theories, works of fiction, even meeting minutes.
It is equivalent to adding another fire or a barrel of oil to the already raging debate.
Soon, it was attacked by many writers, editors and critics from the opposition camp and refuted in newspapers. The criticism was almost useless.
Between the two sides, there are often large-scale and large-page reports, which arouse the attention and discussion of the majority of readers.
It is the founder and speaker of Dialect. In addition to publishing articles "Root-seeking Literature and Cultural Awakening" and "Chinese and American "Root-Searching" and Comparative Literature" in "Harvest" and "Wenhui Po", There seems to be no further action.
But in fact, he and Li Xiaolin invited Li Yaotang, a giant Buddha who can be called the "Three Pure Ones" in the literary world.
In the supplement of "Harvest" with the theme of root-seeking literature, I specially wrote a review "How to treat "root-seeking literature"". For a time, the root-seeking school gained momentum, just like when two armies faced off. , the defensive side finally waited for reinforcements and began to switch from defense to offense.
Han Shaogong, Jia Pingwa, Zheng Yi, Tiening, Wang Anyi and others went all out, and the scale of the debate expanded again.
As the venue for the West Lake Conference, East China is also one of the main battlefields for the debate on root-seeking literature.
Fang Yan did not stay indulged in Gong Chou's gentle hometown, and he hurriedly wrote an article for the literary section of "Xinmin Evening News".
"Boom, boom."
There was a faint sound from the joints of the fists.
Gong Yue lazily got up from the bed. There were still a few looming red marks on the skin of his arms that had not faded away.
"So, you are going back the day after tomorrow?"
"If you are reluctant to let me go, then I will stay in Shanghai for a few more days."
"Let's go! Let's go quickly! I've never seen such a bad person like you!"
Gong Jie glanced at the costumes on the cabinet, his cheeks were red and his face was hot.
During the days when Fang Yan was in Shanghai, he played the role of Thirteenth Aunt in the studio during the day and the Thirteenth Aunt in bed at night, just because he was greedy for his own body.
“I’m kidding you, even if I don’t want to go back, I’m afraid I won’t be able to.”
Fang Yan turned his head and said, “The company has already urged me to return to Beijing quickly.”
Gong Qian frowned, with a trace of uneasiness in his tone: "Is it because of the pursuit of literary roots?"
"Not only this, but in a while, the Fourth Literary Congress will be held. I have to go back and get ready."
Fang Yan walked to the bed and sat down, putting his arm around her shoulders.
Gong Qian tilted his head and leaned his head in his arms. The young couple leaned on each other and talked quietly for a while.
At this moment, it started to rain outside the window, and the raindrops gently patted the glass, making a "pattering" sound.
"Should we be more romantic?" Fang Yan smiled.
“Bah!” Gong Yan spat shyly, “He did it to the worst, but he still used an elegant word like ‘romantic’.”
Fang Yan shook his head: “That’s a bad statement. , the so-called romance means that I am responsible for being slow and you are responsible..."
Gong Xie paused, and his brain, which had been stained with the shape of Fang Yan, immediately understood. He rolled his eyes and said, "You just love, you just love to mess around!"
Fang Yan pinched her chin and said, "Trouble. , I admit it, it’s not me.”
The rain was getting stronger and stronger, the windows made a crackling sound, and the heavy rain seemed to break the glass.
Thunder came one after another, lightning flashed in the sky, it was really a strong wind sweeping away the fallen leaves, and the rain smashed the banana trees.
…………
Unlike Shanghai, Yanjing is filled with yellow sand, blocking out the sky and the sun, like a city of quicksand.
The Meridian Gate, Corner Tower and Beihai White Tower of the Forbidden City are looming in the sky full of yellow sand, as if covered with a layer of orange "filter".
From Dialect back to Yanjing, and then to work in the Humanities Club, it was like this every day. It was obviously daytime, but the sky was once as dark as night.
“Ahem.”
Fang Yan took off his mask, cleared his throat, and patted the dust on his clothes.
When I entered the editorial office, I thought it would be deserted as usual, with no one around, but I didn’t expect that the seats were packed and extremely busy.
"Teacher Fang, you are finally back!"
Zhu Wei was the first to notice it and shouted out with joy, immediately alarming the entire editorial department.
I was overjoyed to see Wang Fu, Chen Xiaoman and others. Fang Yan vaguely guessed that it might be related to root-seeking literature, but it turned out to be true.
Zhu Wei reported the situation truthfully. Now the entire Yanjing literary world, and even the entire literary world, has become a mess.
The avant-garde, the root-seeking faction, and the conservative faction are fighting in a melee. Each faction holds two guns in its hands, and the black muzzles are pointed at the other two factions.
In some criticisms that claim to be official, mainstream, and orthodox, "root-seeking literature" has gradually become a derogatory term, and has been labeled as "backward," "outdated," "retro" and other labels. Journals and newspapers that publish the novels and theories of "root-seeking literature" are also regarded as accomplices in the evil deeds. In the past few weeks, they have been criticized verbally and writtenly from all sides.
It was either a phone call or a letter. In short, the surging pressure of public opinion rushed towards the Humanities Society.
"Director Fang, you took shelter in the Shanghai market, but you exhausted us."
Yu Deli came over, with a hint of unhappiness in his sour tone.
Zhu Wei retorted: "You can't say that. Although Teacher Fang is in Shanghai, his pen is not idle. Didn't he write several articles in newspapers and periodicals to share the firepower for us?"
"Yes, besides, Yanzi also contributed a lot to the manuscript of Bagong's review of 'Root-seeking Literature' and the 'West Lake Conference.'"
Chen Xiaoman argued hard.
Look left and right in Dialect. The debate on co-authorship is not only outside the editorial department, but also controversial within "People's Literature".
Those who support avant-garde literature and admire Western literary schools, such as Lu Shuyou and Yu Deli, have complained about it since the beginning of the literary root-seeking movement, but they have always kept it hidden, even in "People's Literature" The West Lake Conference was held with overt and covert opposition and questioning.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the controversy in the literary world broke out, conflicts within the editorial department also exploded.
“Director Fang, I think there is nothing wrong with promoting root-seeking literature.”
Lu Shuyou said: "But isn't it inappropriate to push root-seeking literature to such a high level?"
"The height was given by others. We just held a meeting in West Lake. From the beginning, I never thought about promoting root-seeking literature.”
Fang Yan said: “It is a periodic summary of this year’s literary root-seeking trend to provide a new way of thinking for contemporary literature. "
Lu Shuyou said: "But will this be counterproductive? Will it mess up the current direction of literary creation?"
"How can you know whether it is chaotic or not if you don't try it? "Fang Yan said, "Since avant-garde literature can try the techniques of various Western literary schools, why not also give root-seeking literature an opportunity to explore the soil of Eastern culture? "
Lu Shuyou said: "I'm afraid that the materials used in root-seeking literature will tend to be remote, primitive, and wild."
Just when the atmosphere in the editorial department became more and more tense and dignified, Wang Meng appeared in time, clapped his hands, and tried to smooth things over:
“Okay, okay, whether it’s root-seeking literature or Avant-garde literature, or foreign literature, as long as it is beneficial to our Chinese literature, is worthy of support. This is also the purpose to be proposed at this session of the Literary Congress..." "Director Lu, let time and practice test the outcome of root-seeking literature. Is it good or bad?”
Fang Yan stopped talking and stretched out his hand.
"Then let's wait and see!" Lu Shuyou took the situation into consideration and shook hands with him.
“Bah bang.”
Wang Meng clapped his hands again, and then called Fang Yan to the office alone.
As soon as the door was closed, the two talked about the results of the West Lake Conference in quite a tacit understanding, especially the official birth of the genre of root-seeking literature.
"In short, whether it is right or wrong, let's see the truth."
Fang Yan said: "I have to go to Zhong E later and ask when the latest issue of "Contemporary" will be published."
Wang Meng blurted out, "Around November 9th."
< br>"Have you asked?" Fang Yan said in surprise.
"I just came here from Editor Qin."
Wang Meng said: "He also praised you in front of me, saying that you would rather 'offend' Comrade Xiaolin and "Harvest" , I also want to hand over such a good manuscript as "Farewell My Concubine" to " "Contemporary", I don't know how to thank you." He sipped his saliva and said: "No matter what, when you return to the company, I must thank you on his behalf, and also in the name of the editorial department of "Contemporary" , please go to Dongxing Building for dinner.”
"Farewell My Concubine is just another meal?" Fang Yan joked.
“You can eat as many meals as you want, as long as your stomach can hold it.”
Wang Meng said: “Of course, Editor Qin also revealed some good news to me.”
As soon as I asked Dialect, I found out that it turned out that the literature training center wanted to improve its quality, and it was directly upgraded from "Learning School" to "Lu Xun Literary Institute".
“The ministry has already approved it, and the liberal arts college will be included in the higher education system.”
Wang Mengdao: "Enrollment standards, examination methods, academic system, teaching plans and facilities must be standardized, not only for writers, but also for editors and literary organization workers. We must cooperate with universities to jointly open several training courses and graduates." You can also get a diploma."
Fang Yan's eyes lit up, "What do you mean..."
"When you get a chance, sign up for an editing training class."
Wang Meng said: "Anyway, He is also a famous Chinese writer who is famous both at home and abroad. Now he has founded a literary genre called "root-seeking literature". How inappropriate is it to have a high school diploma? It's not nice to say it out loud."
Dialect. I touched my nose. Although I am now a researcher at the Institute of Comparative Literature at Yenching University and a consultant to the Society of Comparative Literature, and will be a visiting professor at Yenching University, University of Iowa and other universities in the future, in the "educational qualifications" column, there is always It's "high school."
"Okay, Editor Qin and I will pay attention to this matter for you."
Wang Meng said: "Your energy should be focused on this big discussion of root-seeking literature."
Fang Yan is convinced that once "Farewell My Concubine" is published, the scale and scale of the entire debate will probably escalate.
…………
Unconsciously, the time has arrived on November 9, and the latest issue of "Contemporary" is released nationwide.
Jingle bells, jingle bells, the postmen rode their bicycles, delivering stacks of literary magazines to every subscriber household.
Chen Huai'ai put on his reading glasses and followed his old habit of reading the table of contents in the journal first.
If you come across a novel that you like, or a writer that is popular, pick the magazine that publishes that author and work.
At this time, I took a closer look and my eyes were immediately attracted by "Farewell My Concubine" in the "Contemporary" catalog.
Looking at the author again, it was clear that he spoke in dialect, and a greedy light immediately burst out from his cloudy eyes.
I don’t know how long it took, but Chen Huai’ai had forgotten the time when he heard Brother Chen Kai’s voice coming from outside the house:
“Dad! Dad? Are you in the house?”
“Yes. . ”
“Hey, here, I thought you were out.”
Brother Chen Kai strode in, “Why didn’t you reply when my mother called you just now?”
Chen Huai'ai lowered his head, his eyes never leaving "Farewell My Concubine", "Really? What's wrong with your mother?"
"It's not even dinner time, I'm calling you to dinner!"
Brother Chen Kai asked curiously: "What are you looking at? , so fascinated?"
Chen Huai'ai smiled, "Teacher Xiao Fang's novel."
Brother Chen Kai was stunned, "Teacher Fang? His "The Punisher Song Ci". But the latest one hasn’t been released yet.”
"It's not "Song Ci, the Punisher of the Song Dynasty", it's a great new work called "Farewell My Concubine"."
Chen Huai's eyebrows were beaming: "It tells the story of the children of the Liyuan Opera and the Peking Opera."
“No wonder you are so fascinated by it.”
Brother Chen Kai couldn’t help but sigh that although his father was a film director, the best was opera, especially Peking Opera.
As a result, a large number of movies made are related to opera. For example, the Peking Opera movie "The Female General of the Yang Family" won the 1st Hundred Flowers Award for Best Opera Film, and another example is "Iron Gong Yuan", and It won the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Drama Film that year.
In addition, there are also "Wild Boar Forest", "Mu Guiying's Battle of Hongzhou", "Zhuge Liang's Filial Piety" and so on.
Even in his previous life, he served as the art director of "Farewell My Concubine", so it is inevitable that there is a saying -
That is, "Farewell My Concubine" was actually shot by Chen Huai'ai. , Brother Chen Kai is just a nominal person.
After all, "Mei Lanfang", also produced by Chen Kaige, compared with "Farewell My Concubine", it simply doesn't look like it was shot by one person.
“I have never seen a novel based on opera written so well!”
Chen Huai'ai was full of praise, "If I have the opportunity to make this into a movie, my life will be worth it."
Brother Chen Kai opened his mouth and couldn't believe that his father gave such a high evaluation, even if it was " The Song Dynasty's "Executive Officer Song Ci" is not that high!
“Farewell My Concubine does not avoid history. Not only does it not avoid it, but it also truly reflects on history.”
Chen Huaai said: “The key is that it does not flaunt any doctrine. , and did not forcefully instill anything into others. , and didn’t want to educate anyone, Teacher Xiaofang embedded everything he wanted to express into the story, sneaking into the night with the wind, and the drizzle was silent.”
As he spoke, he handed over "Contemporary". Go over and say, "You should also take a good look and take a closer look!"
"Eh."
Brother Chen Kai has long been addicted to reading. He glanced down and saw the "Editor's Note" before the text:
"Water has its source. Trees have roots, and literature seeks its roots, which is to pursue and display the long culture of our Chinese nation and evaluate China’s excellent traditions. The value of culture in the development of Chinese society and history, then, what roots should be found, what should be inherited, and what should be discarded..."
"At least, traditional opera, including Peking Opera, must be preserved. Root! "(End of this chapter)