The literary era since 1979

June graduation season, Yenching University.

As soon as Fang Yan arrived at the school gate, he saw Bai Ruoxue, Su Ya, Suzuki Yoko and others had been waiting for a long time.

"Teacher Fang! Teacher Fang!"

"Are you waiting for me?"

"We originally planned to wait for you by the Weiming Lake, but Yoko, Yui and the others couldn't sit still."

Bai Ruoxue started to "snitch", "I've been whetted by your forensic mystery novels for a long time, and I haven't been able to eat or drink these days."

"Ruoxue-chan!"

Yoko Suzuki and Yui Hashimoto shouted guiltily.

Fangyan took out the manuscript paper from his briefcase and saw them taking it solemnly with both hands and thanking him profusely.

"There's no need to rush. Let's wait until we get to Weiming Lake."

"Hi!"

Suzuki Yoko bent down slightly, feeling a warm feeling in her heart.

On the way to the shore of Weiming Lake, Su Ya called out in a low voice: "Yanzi! Yanzi!"

Fangyan turned his head away and pretended to be confused.

Su Ya was anxious. A few days ago, Bai Ruoxue and Tang Shengnan had just received the lyrics of "The Wind Rises" from Fang Yan. Now she saw Suzuki Yoko and Hashimoto Yui got the manuscript of "Song Ci, the Chief Justice of the Song Dynasty" as they wished, which was their graduation gift for her!

Then he coughed, gouged his eyes and said, "Yanzi, you said it yourself, you can't go back on your word."

"Don't worry, I will do what I say."

Fangyan said meaningfully: "Have you read the novel "Air Hostess"?"

Su Ya was surprised and doubtful, and nodded.

Fang Yan said, "The author of the novel, Wang Shuo, has agreed to hand the manuscript over to your Yanjing TV Drama Studio for adaptation."

Su Ya was stunned, "Really?!"

"To be more precise, it is handed over to you, Section Chief Su. How about this graduation gift? Are you satisfied with it?"

Fangyan smiled and said, it was like Ding Wei gave Li Yunlong a cavalry battalion.

Su Ya was very excited. She had just taken office and already she got the role of "Stewardess". She had never thought it would be such a wonderful start!

Thinking that the future work would be carried out more smoothly, he said with complicated eyes: "Thank you, Yanzi."

"You're welcome."

Fangyan reminded him that he must hold the notebook tightly in his hands.

Don't be like Li Yunlong, who was the mantis stalking the cicada while the oriole was behind, and was "blackmailed" by the brigade commander who was good at telecommunications fraud, leaving only his cavalry company.

"I'll keep an eye out."

Su Ya changed the subject: "Senior Brother Zheng asked me to ask you, if you are free one day, would you like to come to the studio and sit for a while?"

Fang Yan said, "Are Zheng Xiaolong and the others trying to attack me again?"

Su Ya shook her head. "No, Senior Brother Zheng and Director Lu want you to watch the internal pilot of "The Shepherd" and give some advice."

Fangyan neither refused nor agreed. Just as he was thinking, he suddenly heard a burst of exclamations beside his ears.

"Teacher Fang!"

"Teacher Fang is here!"

Upon seeing this, the Yan University students gathered by the Weiming Lake either flocked to the scene or ran around to tell others.

Soon, Fangyan was surrounded by students, three layers outside and three layers inside, and those in the front were basically members of the May Fourth Literary Society.

Xichuan, Luo Yihe, Zang Di, etc. The only pity is that Haizi was transferred from Yenching University to China University of Political Science and Law.

Fang Yan smiled and said, "Congratulations, Yihe. I heard that you were assigned to be an editor at October Publishing House?"

Luo Yihe was excited but also had a look of regret on his face. He thought he would go to the editorial department of October and follow Teacher Fang well.

Unexpectedly, it was still too late. Teacher Fang was seconded to the editorial department of "People's Literature" and it is estimated that he will not be able to come back.

"Do a good job at October."

Fangyan patted his shoulder.

Luo Yihe made a solemn promise, and then asked the question that everyone present wanted to ask: Why did Teacher Fang come to attend the graduation ceremony?

Fang Yan laughed, "How dare I not come when Master Ji invites me?"

When they heard that the invitation was from Ji Xianlin, everyone was shocked. It was unexpected, but also reasonable.

But there are also students at Yanda, like Zang Di, who don't care about these at all. What they care about most is still literature.

"Teacher Fang, since you introduced magical realism to China, why do you still advocate the 'roots-seeking movement'?"

"Why do you ask that?"

“I think it’s meaningless for contemporary literature to search for its roots.”

Students from the Chinese Department spoke up and said, "The best way out is to learn and draw on Western literary genres."

Seeing that many people agreed and many people opposed, Fangyan suddenly realized that a dispute over literary direction had also emerged on the campus of Yanda University.

Just like the editorial department of People's Literature, some are pro-Westernization factions, while others are local conservative factions, each holding their own opinions and arguing with each other.

"Since the May Fourth Movement, our literature has been constantly transforming Western literary resources into local literature."

Zang Di said: "If today's literature wants to achieve unprecedented development, it would be best to learn from Western literature and apply it to creation."

Fangyan did not directly refute it, but asked in return: "Where is the foundation of contemporary Chinese literature?"

Zang Di blurted out, "The traditional culture of the Chinese nation."

Fang Yan smiled and asked, "Do you really feel this way from the bottom of your heart?"

Westerners like Zang Di were stumped by the question, as they had never thought about it before.

Fangyan didn't ask any more questions, but changed the question, "So, what do you think should be the basis for writing novels?"

“I use what I see, hear and feel, and then use my imagination, learn from other people’s writing styles, and combine my own characteristics to create.”

Bai Ruoxue was the first to step forward and answer.

Su Ya said: "I am similar to Ruoxue. I create based on reality and express my own thoughts."

Zang Di told the truth: "I was influenced by foreign works, and I particularly like existentialism and magical realism."

"You are only talking about literary form. The foundation I am asking about is the cultural core, which comes from the education we each received."

Fangyan said seriously: "What is education? Education is what remains after you forget what you have learned. It has been integrated into your soul and naturally manifests itself, flowing between the lines of your writing, and you may not even be aware of it."

Yui Hashimoto asked in a low voice: "Yoko, what is Teacher Fang saying? I don't understand a word he says."

"It's okay if you don't understand. Don't think too much about it." Yoko Suzuki's eyes were full of respect.

"Education is what remains after you forget what you have learned..." Bai Ruoxue pondered this sentence over and over again. She felt that it made a lot of sense, as if she had grasped the essence of it, but it was difficult to express it in words.

Luo Yihe suddenly spoke up: "The 'remaining things' that Teacher Fang mentioned should refer to a person's spirit, including conduct, beliefs, thoughts, attitude, style, etc."

"You can understand it this way." Fang Yan said, "Education is not just about imparting ideas and knowledge, its essence is actually about shaping people. Different educations will shape people's mental outlooks. This education does not only refer to schools and books, but also includes family education since childhood and the influence of the entire society on people."

Such a lively scene naturally did not escape the eyes of Ji Xianlin and others.

Le Daiyun couldn't help but sigh, "I didn't expect that Fangyan not only understands literature, but also education. He really speaks out the essence of education."

Ji Xianlin smiled and said, "Yes, just like in the Republic of China, the old-school scholars who were influenced by traditional feudal education often had old-fashioned and conservative ideas, while the students who received new-style education had broad horizons and were more receptive to new things and new ideas."

Including Le Daiyun, everyone agreed and cast their eyes on Fangyan in the crowd.

"But Teacher Fang..."

Zang Di vaguely felt that he had gone off topic. What did this have to do with the current hottest topic in the literary world, the dispute over literary lines?
Fangyan explained: "What is literature? Literature is the art of using language and writing as tools to vividly reflect reality and express the writer's spiritual world. The writer's spiritual world must be cultivated through education. Our generation, whether you admit it or not, has been influenced by many traditional Chinese cultures. You can never get rid of it, and it will inevitably show up in your works."

“We can work hard to get rid of the old and bring in the new!”

Zang Di believes that the speed of progress of contemporary literature is synchronized with the degree of acceptance of Western culture and learning from Western literary schools.

“Why get rid of it?”

Fang Yan said: "The foundation of Chinese writers' novels is Chinese characters. Each Chinese character embodies the thoughts and wisdom of the Chinese nation. We can learn from the West in terms of literary form, but why can't the cultural core maintain national characteristics? China has too many creative themes. It is a huge treasure house. You can innovate by just flipping through it."

While everyone was still thinking, Bai Ruoxue suddenly shouted happily: "I understand, I understand!"

"What do you understand?" Zang Di was surprised.

"Literature has national and regional characteristics. It should be progressive in thought, but the form of expression can follow the old ways. We can use the traditional culture we have been exposed to since childhood, including folk tales and myths. This is not only conducive to expression, but also easy for readers to accept."

Bai Ruoxue's tone was filled with excitement.

A student from southern Hunan replied: "That's right, I know which way I should go. I grew up in southern Hunan, which is my spiritual home. Why should I imitate others? I can write stories that I am familiar with! Just like Mr. Cong Wen's "Border Town", Teacher Fang's "The Mountain, the Man, the Dog", and Teacher Gu's "Furong Town", these are all unique to western Hunan!"

Although Zang Di and others were not convinced by the theory of dialects, they felt it made a lot of sense and could not find any point to refute it.

"In my opinion, it is necessary to learn from the West, but we should learn from its form rather than its meaning."

Fang Yan said: "We can explore and reform in the aspects of narrative, language and structure, but at the core, Eastern and Western literature are two systems because they are rooted in very different cultural soils. Oranges grown in the south of the Huai River are oranges, while those grown in the north of the Huai River are tangerines."

“The same is true for contemporary literature!”

Next, we will prepare to compare Western and Chinese literature from multiple dimensions such as region, philosophy, emotion, morality, and religion.

Seeing him talking nonstop, Ji Xianlin said with a kind look, "Xiao Fang's high-sounding remarks seem more like comparative literature."

"I didn't expect that Teacher Fang is also a fellow traveler."

As the founder of the first comparative literature research institute in China, Le Daiyun strongly supports this idea.

Ji Xianlin turned to look at his secretary and ordered, "Go and invite him over here."

…………

No matter how reluctant the students were to let Teacher Fang leave, they still obediently made way for him in the crowd.

After all, it was Ji Xianlin who specifically asked to meet Fangyan.

"Mr. Ji."

Fangyan greeted respectfully, and saw a row of people standing on both sides.

Some are old acquaintances, such as Xie Mian, and some are strangers, like Le Daiyun.

Ji Xianlin introduced them one by one. When it was Le Daiyun's turn, he emphasized that she was the director of the Chinese Department of Pengcheng University, the secretary-general of the Comparative Literature Research Association of Yenching University, and one of the first members of the Chinese Culture Academy, which was mainly composed of Yenching University professors.

Fang Yan said: "Nice to meet you, nice to meet you."

“It is my honor to meet Professor Fang at such an important moment of Yanda’s graduation ceremony.”

Le Daiyun mentioned "migrant worker literature" seemingly casually.

"Migrant worker literature?" Ji Xianlin and other leaders and professors of Yanda University found it extremely fresh and new.

"I was on a business trip to eastern Guangdong and luckily discovered a variation of labor literature in Foshan."

The dialect explained it briefly.

Le Daiyun added at the right moment that a trend of migrant worker literature has emerged in Pengcheng and even in the whole of eastern Guangdong.

Ji Xianlin smiled and said, "'Migrant Worker Literature' is a very interesting name."

you do not say!

Before there was root-seeking literature, and now there is migrant worker literature!

Le Daiyun couldn't help but sigh. She had thought that General Fang was invincible among his peers in literary creation, but she had not expected that he also had such profound insights in literary criticism and comparative literature. He was truly a rare genius in the world.

Ji Xianlin smiled and said, "I just heard what you said to the students..."

As the saying goes, "It's just one person's opinion, so just take it as it is."

"Stop being humble."

Ji Xianlin asked him how much he knew about comparative literature.

"Have heard a little bit."

Dialects are very surprising. There is not much research on comparative literature in China, but it has been studied for decades abroad.

The term comparative literature first appeared in the "Course in Comparative Literature" co-edited by French scholars Noel and Laplace.

However, there is no systematic theoretical system. What made this term popular was the French literary critic, Verman, who used a comparative method to study the literature between nations and countries, or literature and other art forms in his lecture "The Influence of French Writers on Foreign Literature and European Thought in the 18th Century".

So far, it is divided into two factions: France and the United States.

France attaches importance to studying the influence of one country's culture on another country's literature, while the United States attaches importance to studying the comparison of different national cultures under the same historical conditions, finding out the similarities and differences and reasons, and thus finding common rules.

Although China started late, it has achieved fruitful results.

Works like Qian Zhongshu's "Guan Zhui Bian", "Tan Yi Lu" and "Qi Zhui Ji" are about comparative research on Chinese and Western poetics.

"Would you like to join our Comparative Literature Research Society at Yanda?"

Ji Xianlin amiably extended an olive branch.

Fangyan was very surprised, and what was even more surprising was that the Comparative Literature Research Society of Yenching University was the first comparative literature society in China. Not only was it established as early as 81, but what was even more amazing was that Ji Xianlin was the president and Qian Zhongshu was the consultant.

I was sitting at the same table with two masters of Chinese studies. The three of us are so awesome!

However, I still wondered why I was invited to join.
"Your suggestion for root-seeking literature is very good, and it fills a gap in domestic comparative literature."

Ji Xianlin said with a smile.

Fangyan was stunned. "Shortcomings?"

Le Daiyun said that the theory of comparative literature in China is Western in its entire knowledge quality and genealogy, and it has lost its own cultural "roots". Faced with the boundlessness and rootlessness of comparative literature, root-seeking literature is an unexpected surprise.

This is exactly what domestic comparative literature wants! (End of this chapter)