Backtracking to the Age of Literature and Art

Chapter 118 Narratology

When Tan Kai received a call from Jimmy James asking for Guo Jianzhong's contact information, he asked in particular, "Can I ask, why are you looking for Mr. Guo?"

Jimmy replied with a smile on the phone: "To tell you the truth, I actually approached Mr. Yu Dong for his novels. Several publishing houses in the United States are very interested in Mr. Dong's novels and hope to publish them. Now I am talking to them on behalf of Mr. Yu. Editor Tan, think about it, if you want to publish in the United States, you must first find a translator."

Tan Kai was stunned for a moment, "Is there a publishing house in the United States that is interested in Dong's science fiction novels? Which novel did they take a fancy to? Is it published or unpublished? The length of The World has reached the standard that can be published."

"That's right, it's The Second World." Jimmy replied.

"This is not possible." Tan Kai narrowed his eyes immediately, and his hand holding the phone became even stronger, "The agreement we signed with Yu Dong before was agreed. The World cannot be published in any form anywhere else."

Jimmy smiled and said, "Don't worry about editor Tan. It's still in the preparation stage. We will wait until the serialization of "Science Fiction World" is finished before publishing it. And it won't do you any harm. When the time comes, "Second World" "The English version is very popular in the United States, and it will definitely promote the fame of the novel in China, and your magazine can just eat the ready-made ones."

Hearing what Jimmy said, Tan Kai couldn't say anything.The contract they signed with Yu Dong at the time only added a Chinese booklet publication priority, and now they want to publish the English version, which really has nothing to do with them.

Therefore, Tan Kai did not set up any obstacles for Jimmy, and directly gave Jimmy Guo Jianzhong's contact information.

After hanging up the phone, Tan Kai went directly to the president's office and briefly explained the matter to Yang Xiao.

After listening, Yang Xiao pondered for a while, and said: "I may not be able to believe what Jimmy James said. He said that there are several publishing houses in the United States that are interested in "Second World". It is still open to discussion. But it is certain Yes, it should be true that "Second World" was published in the United States, otherwise he wouldn't have gone to see Guo Jianzhong."

"Then should we prepare to talk to Yu Dong about the Chinese booklet of "Second World"? I'm afraid that after the English version comes out, it will be even more difficult for us to win the publishing rights of the Chinese booklet." Tan Kai said.

Yang Xiao shook his head, "No need for now, the Chinese booklet is not that troublesome, if you want to publish it soon, you can. There are clauses in the contract, Yu Dong can't bypass us and directly send the book to a domestic publishing house for publication. And you go now Talk, Yu Dong will definitely not let go easily. Pay attention to the English version, on the one hand to ensure that it will not be released before we finish the series, and on the other hand to see how it responds abroad."

Tan Kai sighed, "At that time, we should have held all the copyrights of "Second World" in our hands, so we wouldn't be so passive now."

Yang Xiao laughed, "It's not that we haven't worked hard on this matter. At that time, the price I gave Yu Dong was already very high, but he still didn't agree. Yu Dong was really serious about copyright at the time. Now it seems , he made the right decision. But don't get discouraged, although we may pay more money for a single book publication, but we have got a lot."

"Yeah, I became greedy unknowingly." Tan Kai sighed with a smile, "A year ago, the domestic science fiction circle couldn't even find a novel, now we have to fight for one." The publishing rights of long science fiction novels are worrying. The world is changing and unpredictable."

……

Two days after the Ching Ming Festival, Yu Dong received a reply letter from "Harvest", and there were two letters in the envelope, one was from Cheng Yongxing and the other was from Wang Yu.

The content of Wang Yu's letter is very simple. It is to tell Yu Dong that "Houyi" has passed the draft and will be published in the May issue of "Harvest".As for some praiseworthy words about the works, there are naturally some, this is Wang Yu's style, every time he writes, he will praise Yu Dong.

Cheng Yongxing discussed the novel "Hou Yi" with Yu Dong in the letter. He said that this novel does not stick to historical facts, but develops a lot of imagination on the basis of historical documents. The historical scenes are realistic and the artistic images are moving. A good piece of historical literature.

The above are superficial compliments, and the latter is what Cheng Yongxing really wants to say.

Cheng Yongxing, also from the Chinese Department, talked with Yu Dong about the development of narratology because of the narrative structure of the novel "Hou Yi".

He spoke from reader response theory to Foucault's discourse analysis, and then to cultural studies.

From feminism to gender theory to queer studies.

From race studies to multiculturalism, postcolonial criticism and critical race theory.

He said that the integration of race, gender, and class in theory has become a trend, which is bound to produce a series of regressions and turns, and New Historicism is just a manifestation of a return to history.

Cheng Yongxing not only believes that this kind of historical return of New Historicism has great potential, but also believes that there will definitely be many thematic returns and ethical turns in future narratology.

After reading Cheng Yongxing's reply, Yu Dong couldn't help but sigh with emotion. He was indeed a top student in the Chinese Department of Aurora University, and many of his bold predictions about narratology were correct.

In fact, from the 90s to the first ten years of the 21st century, everything that happened has proved that narratology has gradually shown a trend of returning to the theme and turning to ethics.Including the aesthetic turn and new philology that appeared later, they are all evidence.

Going back and turning is not going backwards, but a way of re-examining and continuing to develop.

At the end of the letter, Cheng Yongxing told Yu Dong that he could make some other creations on the basis of this "Hou Yi", and strive to make a series to recount some history from the perspective of historical regression.

In doing so, it also contributes to the promotion of culture from the perspective of literature.

After Yu Dong read the letter, he immediately replied to Cheng Yongxing, and also chatted with him about his views and predictions on narrative literature.

As for whether he will continue to create a series of works, Yu Dong did not mention it in the letter, because he himself does not know whether he will do this matter.

The novel "Hou Yi" was an idea that he occasionally had before, and he finally conceived and wrote it for a long time. Now if he is asked to write other things based on "Hou Yi", he may not have a good idea.

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(End of this chapter)