The literary era since 1979

"You've been making a splash in the film industry lately."

Feng Mu spoke in dialect and sat on the bench in the pavilion.

"Where."

Fang Yan shook his head and laughed, "My bold opinions were almost drowned in saliva, so how could they shine?"

"Is not it?"

Ding Ling said that ever since the emergence of Farewell My Concubine and ever since Fangyan advocated for root-seeking literature at the Hangzhou conference, root-seeking literature is now thriving in the literary world, and the current situation in the film industry is exactly like the situation in the literary world at that time.

"Having said that, the literary theory community has yet to give Farewell My Concubine a qualitative assessment."

Fangyan was helpless, "There are still many gays who simply regard it as a homosexual novel that touches on taboos."

"Don't worry about that."

Feng Mu said with a smile that Zhang Guangnian, Wang Zengqi, Wang Meng and others had discussed with him and were preparing to hold a symposium in the name of the "Huaxia Writers" journal. One of the topics would be to study and discuss "Farewell My Concubine" and come to a final conclusion from a literary perspective.

Fangyan was shocked to hear such good news and thanked him repeatedly.

"If you want to thank someone, thank Lao Feng. This was his idea."

Ding Ling waved her hand and said, "Xiao Fang, you may not know that he is not only a senior opera fan, but also a disciple of Comrade Cheng Yanqiu."

"He is not a formal disciple, but a registered disciple. Teacher Cheng is very careful about his reputation, and he only accepted 9 disciples in his lifetime."

Feng Mu joked, "Xiao Fang, I heard that Comrade Mei Jiubao wants to take you as his disciple. Is that true?"

"It is true, but it was not me who was taken away, but my wife."

Fang Yan simply explained the whole story. Perhaps because of the relationship between him and Gong Xing, Mei Jiubao did not refuse to accept Gong Xing as his apprentice.

“I didn’t expect there was such a connection.”

Feng Mu did not find it strange. Anyone who is fascinated by Peking Opera or even traditional Chinese opera would basically be interested in "Farewell My Concubine".

After chatting about Peking Opera and "Farewell My Concubine" for a while, Fangyan suddenly asked about the magazine "Chinese Writers".

In my impression, there seems to be no literary magazine called "Huaxia Writers" in any of the literary journals, big or small, across the country.

“It’s normal that you don’t know, because this is a bimonthly magazine that was only founded this year.”

Ding Ling explained with a smile that it was under the Writers Association, the deputy editor-in-chief was Zhang Fengzhu, and the editor-in-chief was Feng Mu.

“It was in April of this year.”

Feng Mu added that the publishing policy of "China Writers" is "let a hundred flowers bloom, quality first, foundation first, and innovation is the key."

Then he said with regret that before the launch of the magazine, he had planned to find a novel written in dialect to get off to a good start, but it happened to coincide with the Hollywood awards ceremony, which caused a conflict in time. In the end, he had to give up the original manuscript collection plan and recorded an additional article "Thank You Life" by Feng Jicai.

"This is really unfortunate."

Fangyan said politely that he would definitely find time to read the journal.

Ding Ling joked, "Instead of reading it, you might as well write an article for Chinese Writers. I think Old Feng will be happier."

Seeing that his thoughts were shattered, Feng Mu smiled helplessly:

"Although Huaxia Writers is under the banner of the Writers Association, it is a new publication and not well-known, so the number of manuscripts is not very ideal. Comrade Fengzhu and I have to risk our reputation and ask all the old friends to lend us a helping hand."

"Since Mr. Feng has spoken, how can I refuse?"

Fangyan thought for a moment and agreed.

"This is really difficult for you. I don't know how to start this conversation." Feng Mu said kindly.

"Please don't say that. Without your support and guidance, I wouldn't be who I am today."

Fangyan solemnly promised that he would definitely write articles for "Huaxia Writers".

"it is good!"

Feng Mu patted his shoulder and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Xiao Fang."

Fangyan changed the topic to the requirements of Huaxia Writers, short stories, novellas, or novels, and what kind of subject matter and genre...

“That’s another headache for us.”

Feng Mu sighed quietly, "Our original intention in founding this magazine was to revive the declining novel and to provide a platform for more realistic novels to be displayed. However, the most popular genres in the literary world right now are root-seeking literature, avant-garde literature, and modernist novels."

"Yes, traditional realistic literature has declined, and few young writers can handle the novel nowadays."

Ding Ling said: "Not to mention realistic novels. Maybe you can only read one or two a year."

Seeing the two big guys looking worried, Fangyan suggested whether to expand the selection range of "Huaxia Writers" and readjust the publication direction.

"Yes, Xiao Fang, give Lao Feng some advice."

Ding Ling's eyes lit up instantly.

Fang Yan was stunned. “Me?”

Ding Ling said firmly, "Yes, it's you! You are now the deputy editor-in-chief of People's Literature. Previously, you were the editor of October and Yanjing Literature. The achievements of these magazines today are definitely due to your contribution."

Although Fangyan was very humble in words, he deeply agreed in his heart.

Not to mention "Yenching Literature", which is regarded as a base of "reflective literature", let's just talk about the four famous names in the literary world, "Huacheng", "Harvest", "October" and "Contemporary". Except for "Harvest", the other three have been more or less influenced by the beacon of dialect.

"Huacheng" has successively raised the banners of "Cantonese-style novels" and "Lingnan literature", and is also an important channel for the exchange of popular literature between Hong Kong and the mainland. As for "Contemporary", in addition to reform literature, the most worthwhile trump card is the military literature and root-seeking literature given by the dialect.

As for October, the benefits it has received are countless, including love literature, new rural literature...

In addition, the "migrant worker literature" of "Foshan Literature and Art", the "military literature" of "Zhongshan", and so on, any literary magazine that can get dialect guidance can at least have one trick up its sleeve and be successful, not to mention the "People's Literature" where he is currently working.

Compared with his predecessor Zhang Guangnian, although "People's Literature" is also a benchmark and flagship of national literary magazines, he is more enterprising, always keeping an eye on the forefront of literature, discovering new literary talents, and always keeping the magazine at the forefront of the literary wave. Its dominant position is unshakable.

It was also because of this that Feng Mu put aside his elder's airs and humbly asked for advice.

"Mr. Feng, what do you think of nonfiction?"

Fangyan pondered for a while and gave an answer.

"Non-fiction literature!?"

Feng Mu and Ding Ling looked at each other in surprise.

Although documentary literature is called "reportage novel", it is different from reportage and is considered a branch of realistic novels. It reflects objective facts in real life, but is more realistic and based mainly on real people and real events. It allows a certain amount of fictional elements, but there are strict restrictions on fiction.

Therefore, it is called "a reportage-like novel, and also a novelized reportage."

Since "Chinese Writers" intends to be a platform for realistic novels, how can it be without non-fiction literature?
Hearing Fangyan's explanation, Feng Mu was surprised and delighted and said, "This is indeed a good direction for literature."

"Yes, there is no shortage of channels for publishing reportage in China, but it is different for nonfiction."

Ding Ling was amazed. "Xiao Fang, how did you come up with this idea? Are you planning to write a non-fiction novel for Chinese Writers?" (End of this chapter)