I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 42 Is this a masterpiece that pioneered a new genre or a sensational novel that seeks to gain profit? (Two in one)

In the end, Akira Yasuhara was reluctant to spend the 5000 million yen.

Not to mention that the amount of money was already huge enough to break his bones, and even if he spent it, he was not sure that "Ichiro"'s commentary would definitely cause harm to Kitagawa Hide.

Now he can only hope that after the next issue of "Gunzou" is released, under his "money-burning" operation, Oshima Hikaru's "Tokyo Past in 1973" can boost sales again.

Don’t dream of exceeding the sales of the supplement, but at least don’t lose too badly!
Just as Akira Yasuhara was scratching his head trying to figure out how to clean up Oshima Hikaru's mess, the University of Tokyo, which was about to end its May school festival, was in chaos.

Building 1, Faculty of Letters, University of Tokyo, main building, faculty office.

"Professor Takeuchi, even if what you said is exaggerated, I still stick to my point of view. I don't deny that both "Hear the Wind Sing" and the currently serialized "Pinball in 1973" are worthy of the reputation of excellent works.

But you insist on elevating it to the level of creating a new genre. Sorry, I absolutely do not agree with this view!"

The person who spoke was a little old man with a bald head, wearing old-fashioned black round-frame glasses, and looked like a "traitor".

He was hunched over. He was only about 1.5 meters tall. With his back bent sharply, he looked even shorter, like a dwarf.

The old man's name is Ichiko Sadaji, and he is the dean of the Faculty of Letters at Kyoto University. He is now one of the leading figures in the Japanese literary world.

Behind him are several professors from the Faculty of Literature of top universities such as Osaka University, Nagoya University, and Waseda University.

However, these professors are now standing quietly behind Ichiko Sadaji, listening carefully to his opinions on Kitagawa Hide.

The reason why Ichiko Sadatsugu could have such a high status was that he also had a very special identity - academician of the Japan Academy.

The Japan Academy is the highest academic institution in Japan, equivalent to the Chinese Academy of Sciences next door.

Its predecessor was the Tokyo Academy of Sciences and the Imperial Academy. It separated from the Japan Academy in 1956 and was directly under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

In Japan, how difficult is it to become a member of the Japan Academy?

The number of members of the Japan Academy is limited to 137 people, covering 16 disciplines in the two major departments of humanities and natural sciences.

To become a member of the Academy, you must first have a top degree from a top ten university in Japan, and then if you want to work, you must have a title of Special Researcher or above in a top research company or institute recognized by the Ministry of Education.

If you want to pursue an academic career, you must be an associate professor or above in a department of a university ranked in the top ten, or a full professor or above in a department of a university ranked between eleventh and thirtieth.

This is the most basic requirement for identity and status.

After meeting the above requirements, you also need to have breakthrough achievements in the field you are good at, or have won world-class awards in related fields.

Then you are eligible to be selected.

There are hundreds of eligible candidates every year, but perhaps not one of them is selected!

To date, there are only 102 members of the Japan Academy, and no new members have been elected for five consecutive years!
The current Japan Academy's Humanities Department's 1st Division consists of six disciplines: literature, history, philosophy, anthropology, linguistics, and religion, with a quota of 30 academicians.

Among them, the literature quota is 15 people, but now there are only 9 people, and there are 6 vacancies.

Ichiko Sadajiro is one of them. Do you think he is awesome?
This year's Tokyo University May School Festival was attended not only by many conglomerate leaders and executives of large companies, but also by many celebrities from the literary and scientific circles.

The Faculty of Letters of the University of Tokyo has always been a cradle of cultural celebrities. Ichiko Sadatsugu also graduated from here. He is very grateful for the cultivation of his alma mater, so he often comes back to visit, hoping to discover some potential talents from the younger generation.

When he returned to the University of Tokyo this time, he happened to meet Takeuchi Osamu and a group of literary giants discussing the new works of Kitagawa Hide and Oshima Hikaru. He and a group of professors from other universities joined the discussion.

Since the release of the supplement to "Group Portrait", discussions about these two novels have never stopped.

At first, everyone was discussing their pros and cons in a friendly manner, until the anxious Takeuchi Osamu could no longer hold back and ran to Kodansha to ask the top management for the sequel manuscript of "Pinball in 1973".

After staying up late to watch the film, Takeuchi Osamu had dark circles under his eyes. He was obviously very tired, but he didn't even care about sleeping. He directly called them to start a new discussion meeting.

Ichiko Sadajiro, who came at the invitation, was very excited. He could see the excitement on Takeuchi Osamu's face. He did not comment on Takeuchi Osamu's character, but he fully recognized Takeuchi Osamu's academic ability.

Therefore, he was very eager to hear what surprising discoveries Takeuchi Osamu had made this time.

Then, Takeuchi Osamu said: "I think Kitagawa Hide has undoubtedly created a new genre, a new style that is different from all the current literary genres!"

"There is no doubt that Pinball 1973 is the pioneer of this genre."

He even named this school directly "Kitagawa Hide" school!
Takeuchi Osamu's words were shocking, and as soon as they came out, everyone present was frightened.

Crowding in this staff room at this time were not only professors from the Faculty of Literature of the University of Tokyo, but also professors from other universities and a group of leading figures in the literary world.

Everyone agrees that Kitagawa Hide's novels are masterpieces, but to say that they created a new genre seems a bit of an exaggeration.

Several older professors, wearing felt hats with a strong literary and artistic atmosphere, immediately began to echo Ichiko Sadaji: "We agree with Academician Ichiko's point of view, but is the statement of creating a school too arbitrary?"

"Why is it so arbitrary? Everyone has read Kitagawa Hide's novels. The style of "Hear the Wind Sing" is unique and novel. Both the literary style and the storyline are new things that we don't see in the current pure literary world."

Professor Takeuchi Osamu's cheeks were red, and it seemed as if all the blood in his body had rushed to his head because of the excessive force. When he spoke, saliva flew everywhere, and he danced with his hands and feet, looking very excited.
"It can be seen that when he wrote this novel, he had no creative consciousness yet. He just wrote whatever came to his mind, and the overall style was quite fragmentary and loose. But this does not prevent us from feeling an unprecedented depiction of loneliness, right?
Otherwise, the public wouldn’t be so enthusiastic about this novel. I heard from Kodansha that the hardcover paperback edition has sold at least 11 copies! ”

Perhaps he felt that his previous words were not convincing enough, so Takeuchi Osamu added,
"The last book that sold so well seems to have been in the 50s after the war."

"Takeuchi, the quality of literary works should not be measured by superficial sales. If a book that sells a lot is a good book, then wouldn't "I Love Eating **" be the most outstanding novel in Japanese literary world?" a professor couldn't help but say.

"I Love to Eat **" is a "sensual" novel that was popular throughout Japan in the 60s. The so-called "sensual" novel is erotic literature that mainly describes immoral and pornographic things, also known as "yellow books".

In the 60s, the Japanese were in a period of post-war confusion. In order to completely liberate the people from the suffering of war, the Japanese literary world lifted restrictions on "sensual" novels. Not only did it secretly encourage writers to write them, it also openly displayed them in large bookstores for sale.

The impact of this behavior is also significant.

The repressive society has indeed been fully liberated. "I Love to Eat **" is said to have sold a total of 800 million copies, not including pirated and handwritten copies.

But at the same time, after the repressive nature of the Japanese was released, sexual crimes in society increased. At that time, one out of every ten prisoners in Japanese prisons was a rapist.

Starting from the 80s, Japan's economy began to recover, and the government gradually stopped creating works on this theme.

Therefore, "I Love to Eat **" became a swan song, and was once jokingly called the best-selling book in Japanese literary circles, without a doubt.

When the professor mentioned the book, everyone present immediately laughed, except for Takeuchi Osamu who had a very ugly expression.

"When did the quality assessment of literary works begin to be separated from the public and sales? You are all writers who have won various literary awards. Isn't the original intention of your writing to gain widespread recognition from the public?!"

Takeuchi Osamu spoke sternly, and before the professor could refute him, he continued to speak like a machine gun.
“Also, could you please let me finish my speech before you comment?

I just mentioned that although the conception of "Hear the Wind Sing" is not perfect, it has been recognized by the general readers. Admittedly, it is just a novel, I certainly won't say that he has created a genre or something, after all, there are countless writers who are short-lived. But!

Didn't you guys notice?

In "Hear the Wind Sing", Kitagawa Hide allowed his emotions, ideas, and thoughts to spread out naturally and commercially, but in "Ball" he gradually gathered them together and concentrated them on the pinball machine!
In other words, his creations began to shift from being unconscious to being conscious, and from having no theme to having a real theme!"

"Gentlemen! I don't know if you have ever been to a bookstore or a university library and heard what readers have to say about them. If you have, you will definitely find one thing."

"What's the matter?" asked Ichiko Sadaji with a frown.

"When discussing "Hear the Wind Sing", most readers were discussing the theme of 'what did the wind say'. Some people saw the confusion and loneliness he portrayed, while many people were simply immersed in the interesting love story."

Takeuchi Osamu was talking until his mouth was dry. At this moment, a white little hand reached out to him. He picked up the teacup in his hand and drank it all in one gulp. He felt very refreshed, then looked at Jabami Rei in some surprise.

Jabami Rei immediately hid in the corner, avoiding Professor Takeuchi's murderous gaze.

She also didn't want to listen to the arguments among these literary giants!

She had come here to hand in her and Mengzi's long review of the new novel "Ball" -

Since being forced into forced labor by Professor Takeuchi several times, they now have to become "forced critics" of Kitagawa Hide's works, because Professor Takeuchi wants to collect young people's opinions on Kitagawa Hide.

However, after she came in, she couldn't find a chance to talk to Professor Takeuchi. Then she was pulled aside by the very amiable grandmother Keiko Kimura to chat about family matters. Then, Professor Takeuchi and Academician Ichiko started arguing.

Well, she admitted that she was curious and eavesdropped. After all, it involved her new idol, Mr. Hide Kitagawa, and she really couldn't help it.

Takeuchi Osamu had no time to "teach" this disobedient proud student, so he turned his attention back to Ichiko Sadaji and continued to roar, "But when the novel "Ball" began to be serialized, we could hear that readers had an accurate perception of it.

The theme of 'searching' is clearly used and readers can feel it! In other words, Kitagawa Hide used a very simple theme to convey the thoughts he wanted to express to readers. As he said in the preface to the supplement. "

"Why did I write this novel? Because we ordinary people have become the biggest victims of capitalist society, like wandering ghosts, looking for our way home in this world." Takeuchi Osamu almost memorized Kitagawa Hide's preface to the supplement.

He stood in front of a group of professors, looking at the ceiling like a mad fanatic, repeating this sentence in a low voice, and then tears welled up in his eyes.

"Yes, he wrote a youth romance novel, and it was extremely vulgar. In Ball, the protagonist openly lived with a pair of twin sisters and led a shameless life. He also had a nominal girlfriend. The novel was also full of witticisms and black humor that were contrary to the themes we admired, such as 'classic', cumbersome, and 'critical'. It was simply a shoddy third-rate story."

"But it is this third-rate story that anyone can read and anyone can write that makes the confused, helpless, and lost masses who can't find their way in life feel the same way."

“Isn’t this called creating a new school?”

Takeuchi Osamu felt dry mouth again, and then his favorite student brought him another glass of water.

This time he did not glare at Jagami Rei, but stared at the cup in his hand with a sense of loss. After saying this, he felt a little weak and lost for a moment.

Because he knew very well that the outcome of this discussion was doomed when Ichiko Sadajiro spoke out against it.

The academician of the Department of Literature of the Japan Academy gave the final verdict on Kitagawa Hide's series of novels as soon as he opened his mouth. Even though he spoke eloquently, he could not change the decision of these old guys.

There was no way that Ichiko Sadaji would slap himself in the face in front of so many people to overturn his own conclusion and agree with his point of view.

It's all in vain.

But whenever he thought about these things, Takeuchi Osamu couldn't help but recall the time when he criticized the Akutagawa Prize.

Similar scenario, similar discussion, same result.

Several years passed.

The negative consequences of criticizing the Akutagawa Prize are still continuing.

He also thought about giving in.

But when the time came, he found that he really couldn't control his mouth.

"Professor Takeuchi's insights are truly thought-provoking. Your research on novels far exceeds mine. I am ashamed of myself." Ichiko Sadaji nodded and clapped his hands softly after listening to it. Then he changed the subject.
"But. You just said it. Kitagawa Hide is planning to write a trilogy, one of which has not yet been published. He is a genius who is writing a novel for the first time, but over the years, the Academy has witnessed too many geniuses fall. We have raised his debut work to such a high level, what if the third novel fails..."

"Yeah, this is not a good thing for him." Others also whispered in agreement, "Creating a new school means that he should stand in our place. Is this really a good thing for newcomers?"

The professors became active again, nodding and whispering similar things to each other.

Jabami Rei stood beside Kimura Keiko and suddenly felt very upset.

What is this?
They all said that Mr. Beichuan wrote very well, and no one disagreed with his novels.

But why do we have to deny that he founded a school of thought?

And you still look like I'm doing this for his own good?

After entering the Faculty of Literature at the University of Tokyo, she learned from many seniors about the cruelty of the Japanese literary world and the rigidity of "upper-class writers."

But that's just what I've heard.

But when she saw it with her own eyes, a huge feeling of powerlessness suddenly surged over her, making it hard for her to breathe.

She really wanted to rush over and shout, "Teacher Kitagawa's book clearly created a new genre and is a masterpiece in my mind."

But what's the use of that?

Even Professor Takeuchi's views were easily denied.

What does hers count for?

Thanks

100 Ways to Detect Men Lying Book Friends' Qidian Coins Reward

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Because I went out to eat during the Dragon Boat Festival, this is the only chapter for today. I will continue with 2 chapters tomorrow with a minimum of 6000 words. Please continue to read. Thank you!
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(End of this chapter)