The literary era since 1979

"Buzz."

Fang Yan drove Ni Guangnan and the other person back to Zhongguancun, and agreed on a fixed time to visit them on the way.

Then he went straight to his house in Shichahai and placed the IBM computer with the Han card installed in the study.

I'm still short of a printer. When I deliver the manuscript of "Hunting" tomorrow, I'll make another trip to Zhongguancun.

The next day, the Citroën was parked steadily in the open-air parking lot of the Writers Association.

Before coming to the editorial office of "China Writers", Fang Yan called Feng Mu in advance.

At this moment, the secretary who had been waiting at the door for a long time led the way and took him to the editor-in-chief's office.

In a room that was neither too big nor too small, Zhang Guangnian and Feng Mu were actually sitting face to face with each other, having a very pleasant conversation.

"Senior brother!?"

Fangyan was very surprised.

"Iwako, here we come!"

Zhang Guangnian laughed and waved.

Feng Mu explained that the two of them happened to meet in the Writers Association building, and when Zhang Guangnian heard that his junior brother had a new work, he wanted to take a look at it.

"Hey, if you want to see it, just say so."

Fangyan handed over the manuscript.

Feng Mu raised his hand, motioning Zhang Guangnian to look first, then he picked up the kettle and took the initiative to pour a cup of tea for Fang Yan:

"Xiao Fang, I have to thank you very much on behalf of Chinese Writers!"

"I don't deserve it, I really don't deserve it." Fang Yan waved his hand.

"Well deserved! Absolutely well deserved!"

Feng Mu should be thanked not only for the commission, but also for coming up with such a good idea of ​​documentary literature for "China Writers".

The latest issue of "May 5 Long Shot" caused quite a stir in the literary world because it was the first novel in the country to truly record the events before and after the May 19 Incident. It also sparked discussions among readers, and sales soared from three digits to five digits.

"I have also read this novel. It is completely different from traditional reportage and is unique in its own way."

Zhang Guangnian commented: "There are no real characters in the novel. Instead, a fictional young man named Hua Zhiming is used to play the role of the thread in the serious and influential May 19th Incident. Without him, the novel would appear serious but boring."

"Yes, I wrote directly in the editor's note, 'What a long shot that reveals the subtleties! What a long shot that seeks novelty and innovation!'"

Feng Mu smiled and said, "Speaking of which, this is all thanks to Xiao Fang. He was the one who strongly recommended Liu Xinwu to write this story."

"Huaxia Writers" has made a name for itself with this, and the next issue will naturally build on its success, and Fangyan's new work is the secret weapon.

Therefore, Feng Mu attached more importance to "The Hunting" than Zhang Guangnian. With 200% expectation, he read it carefully from beginning to end.

"Yanzi, what you wrote sounds like a magical realist novel?"

Zhang Guangnian frowned.

Fang Yan said: "Brother, to be precise, this is not called magical realism, but illusionary realism, but the foundation is still realism." "Illusionary realism?"

Zhang Guangnian and Feng Mu looked at each other, then looked at him doubtfully.

Fangyan said that hallucinatory realism has been widely used by Western critics since the 70s. It is indeed related to magical realism, but the emphasis of hallucinatory realism is on "dreams". Dreams and reality are interdependent, real and unreal, like a dream or an illusion.

“No wonder the protagonist in the novel, after being slandered, bullied, humiliated and excluded, dreams of himself as an elk in the woods.”

Zhang Guangnian suddenly understood.

"And every time I was bullied, the dream became more vivid, more persistent, and more terrifying. It was like other people were my hell."

Feng Mu sighed, "It feels a bit like Kafka's Metamorphosis."

"Not only The Metamorphosis, but also A Country Doctor. In fact, many of Kafka's novels are actually huge dreams." Fang Yan said, "He is not only a magical realist, but also pioneered a kind of dream-like novel. What he wrote has a sense of dream."

“Indeed, whether it is really dreamed or not, when it is put into pen and paper, it is full of dream-like feelings.”

Zhang Guangnian showed an admiring look.

Feng Mu nodded in agreement, "Otherwise, why would the characters in Kafka's works be so much like beetles?"

"Yes, and his The Castle." Fang Yan clapped his hands. "In our dreams, we often dream of entering a city or climbing a slope, but we just can't get up, right? In dreams, we are often chased by someone, and during the chase, our legs become so heavy that we can hardly run fast. The more anxious we are, the slower we can run. This is actually written in the novel as a very mysterious state."

"But people generally believe that Kafka is a magical realist. As for this hallucinatory realism..."

There was a hint of hesitation in Feng Mu's tone.

"My 'illusionary realism' not only draws on the techniques of magic realism, but also draws on the way of writing dreams in Chinese classical literature, such as the 'Illusionary Realm' in A Dream of Red Mansions," Fang Yan said. "Another example is Peach Blossom Spring, which is a magical dream. Many ancient strange stories and folk tales are a combination of dreams and reality. I just combine the ancient Chinese narrative art with modern realism, and use realistic techniques to highlight the dreams and fantasies in The Hunt..."

"Hearing what you said, this kind of illusion realism seems to be more suitable for our Chinese literature than magical realism."

Zhang Guangnian raised his eyebrows.

"This is natural, because dreams have a profound influence on traditional Chinese culture."

Fang Yan said: "There are even six types of dreams, such as the Zhou Gong Interpretation of Dreams and the Zhouyi Interpretation of Dreams, which use the changes of the sun, moon and stars to predict good and bad fortune. There are also literary allusions with dreams as the theme, such as Zhuang Zhou's Dream of the Butterfly, The Yellow Millet Dream, Dream Writing, Jiang Lang's Talent is Over, etc., not to mention classic works such as Dream of the Red Chamber and Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. In fact, our interpretation of dreams is thousands of years earlier than Freud."

"Your point of view is quite novel."

Feng Mu thought about it carefully.

Zhang Guangnian said: "The word magic realism easily reminds people of Marquez or Faulkner. Many avant-garde writers in the literary world are keen to imitate them, but few have really thought about localizing and writing with Chinese culture, narratives, and myths."

Feng Mu readily agreed, "In fact, imitation is not the most important thing. What is really important is to make the Chinese story magical and reasonable. In my opinion, Xiao Fang's "Hunting" can make Chinese writers understand that we can write in this way using our own traditional art."

“Show them a new possibility!”

Zhang Guangnian said categorically: "'Hallucinatory realism' is the result of the collision between traditional dream culture and magical realism."

"Xiao Fang, you have given us a great gift for Chinese Writers!"

Feng Mu was very excited and couldn't wait to see what kind of waves "Hunting" would stir up in the literary world after it was published. (End of this chapter)