The literary era since 1979

The third China-US Writers Conference was held as scheduled in the conference hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The invitation lists of each year need to be carefully reviewed, and the American representatives must be friendly people with reliable positions, such as the rebellious figures and icons of the "Beat Generation" Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Gary Snyder, both of whom are leftists in the literary world.

Even so, Fangyan still didn't show much interest in the entire writers' conference.

When I arrived at the venue, I found that most of the attendees were poets, and the conference agenda was mostly poetry-oriented.

For example, how to transform and integrate the different sensibilities of writing poetry and translating poetry, and between Chinese and English...

"No wonder there are so many poets in this delegation."

Tie Ning looked around, then set his eyes on Fang Yan and Jiang Zilong, "Including Mr. Feng, there are only four of us who write novels."

"Three to be exact."

Jiang Zilong corrected him playfully, "Don't forget that Yan Zi is also a poet, and a great poet who practices both poetry and lyrics!"

"You're not insulting me."

Fangyan rolled his eyes. The Chinese poetry that is popular in the world literary circles these days is mainly Misty Poetry.

After all, it was written with the techniques of Western modernist poetry, and unlike ancient poetry, it is not difficult for foreigners to understand. Therefore, it is regarded as one of the representatives of "opening a gap to the world", and he himself has long been classified into the "new poetry school" camp by the domestic poetry school.

"Yanzi, if you could devote half of your energy in novels, dramas, and movies to poetry, your current achievements in poetry would not necessarily be worse than those of Bei Dao and Shu Ting," Jiang Zilong said, "and you might even win a few more international awards!"

"Yes, Zilong is right."

Tie Ning also joked, "It is said that the Nobel Prize in Literature has always favored poetry. Who knows, you might win the Nobel Prize for this!"

"you two!"

Before Fangyan could finish speaking, he noticed from the corner of his eye that Feng Mu, Ginsberg, Gary Snyder and others were walking towards them.

"I have wanted to meet you for a long time and have always hoped to have the opportunity to meet you. Unfortunately, I didn't meet you in the first two sessions. It's such a pity."

"This is also my regret, so in order to leave no regrets, I will definitely come to participate in this event."

Fangyan shook hands with Ginsberg, the "Father of the Beat Generation", who was a well-known figure in the American literary world. He liberated American poetry from restrictive poetic dogma, thus taking over the baton of American poetry from Whitman and Williams.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a little awkward and dull, Ginsberg asked Fang Yan, Jiang Zilong and others to try to solve a puzzle to get closer:

"If you put a 5-pound chicken into a bottle that can only hold 1 pound of water, how can you get it out?"

After these words were spoken, Jiang Zilong, Tie Ning and others looked at each other in confusion.

"There's an old Chinese saying, 'give and take', so I'll take out what you put in."

Fangyan smiled and said, "You obviously put the chicken into the bottle with language, so I will also use language to get the chicken out."

Everyone immediately understood his hidden meaning. In addition to the literal meaning of "I will take it out the same way you put it in", this sentence actually implies another meaning, "If you can't put it in at all, I don't need to take it out." Ginsburg couldn't help but praise: "You are the first person who guessed this strange riddle so quickly."

"In fact, in China, there is a similar logic puzzle." Fang Yan said, "How many steps are needed to put an elephant in a refrigerator?"

Now it was Gary Snyder, Toni Morrison and others' turn to be confused. How could an elephant be put in a refrigerator?
Ginsburg was stunned at first, then smiled knowingly:
"Is it a three-step process? The first step is to open the refrigerator door, the second step is to put the elephant in, and the third step is to close the door?"

"Congratulations, you got it!"

Fangyan raised the corner of his mouth, "This is the art of language."

Gary Snyder, Jiang Zilong and others smiled at each other, and the barriers and strangeness between them gradually disappeared.

"Haha, Fang, you are really so humorous and funny."

Ginsberg restrained his smile and said that he often heard people in the Chinese literary world say that the dialect was an all-rounder. Not only was he proficient in novels, dramas, films, essays and other literary fields, he was also quite accomplished in poetry, and he promoted the poetry movement of the Chinese New Poetry Wave.

"I just know a little bit about it."

Fangyan waved his hand and said, "These are just compliments from others. In fact, I have only done some work on colloquial poetry. Most of my energy is still invested in the creation of novels, dramas, movies, etc."

Ginsburg sighed: "That's really a shame."

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Fangyan said: "Just like what Frost wrote in "A Path in the Woods", 'Two roads ran through the woods, and you could only take one and miss the other'. I think since I have chosen this road, I can only continue to walk on it and cannot make any other choices."

This seemingly simple and casual quotation surprised Ginsberg, Gary Snyder and others. Can this be called a superficial understanding?
Fangyan then changed the subject and asked about his opinion of his novels, including the English version of "Farewell My Concubine" which was published not long ago.

But obviously, most of the American writers and poets present had only read or heard of his books such as "Saving Private Ryan", "Guns, Viruses, and Steel", and "Artificial Intelligence". Only Gary Snyder praised "Farewell My Concubine".

“I think Farewell My Concubine is the Chinese version of Gone with the Wind.”

"It's so touching. The love described here transcends gender. It's another classic BG work!"

"BG?"

Fangyan knew that "Gone with the Wind" was the novel adapted from "Gone with the Wind", but he was confused about the so-called "BG".

“‘BG’ means ‘Beyond Gender’.”

Ginsberg explained that in the field of literature and art, many artists and writers challenge gender and cultural boundaries through their creations. Their works often have cross-gender and cross-cultural characteristics, and such works are usually referred to as "BG works."

And Gary Snyder, the representative poet of the "Beat Generation", is undoubtedly the representative of "BG"!

Could it be that I will become a representative of BG because of "Farewell My Concubine"?
Fangyan raised his eyebrows and immediately sounded the alarm. Wait, this "BG" should have nothing to do with the future's eye-catching "LGBT+", right?

Before he could digest this news, Gary Snyder threw out another equally shocking rumor:

Because Farewell My Concubine is a magnificent modern history spanning nearly a hundred years, and is also an epic masterpiece that transcends gender and culture, its English translation was immediately shortlisted for this year's National Book Critics Circle Award as soon as it was published. (End of this chapter)