I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 95: Lecture at Dongda University: One killer move after another, I just want to ask you if you are afraid (two in one)

Although she has never been very serious since she was a child, and was always used as a negative example by her teachers during her school years, and she still maintained her usual hippie style after entering university, Jabami Rei still managed to be admitted to the Faculty of Literature of the University of Tokyo with her extraordinary IQ and talent.

She had doubted her appearance, her figure, and even her sexual preferences, but the only thing she had never doubted was her IQ.

Standing in front of the microphone, facing thousands of celebrities from outside and seniors and juniors from various departments of the University of Tokyo, she suddenly began to doubt her own IQ!

Why does this happen?

For the first time, I have a pure literature writer that I really like.

There was an opportunity to perform his works on stage.

You can even see his true face up close and call him "Teacher Beichuan".

Several happy things coincided with each other.

And these joys should have brought me more joy.

What you get should be a happy time like a dream.
But why, it turned out like this!
"I am honored. I am honored to be the student representative of the Faculty of Literature of the University of Tokyo and express our respect to Mr. Kitagawa! I am also a die-hard fan of Mr. Kitagawa."

Jabami Rei spoke haltingly into the microphone, and she went from being the cold and beautiful iceberg in the eyes of her classmates to a little stutterer. She didn't even know how she read out the thank-you speech she had prepared for a long time word for word in public.

I just feel that time is passing so slowly and it seems so long as never before.

I really want to die.

She didn't dare to look directly into Kitagawa Hide's eyes. Whenever she glanced at his face, her mind would involuntarily emerge with the embarrassing scene of herself rolling around on the bed sheets and grinning foolishly every night while holding the signed version of "Hear the Wind Sing"!
Now when she thinks of Kitagawa Hide, she will also recall the countless times when she was a fangirl praising Kitagawa teacher in front of her classmates, teachers, and even passers-by!
She just couldn't connect the "embroidered pillow and a bag of grass" who was parasitic in Mengzijiang's house and gave up on himself and committed suicide after being dumped by his ex-girlfriend, with the idol in her mind who wrote the "Youth Trilogy", possessed delicate emotions, and wrote the classic work "No Longer Human" which hits the depths of the soul and exposes the ugly face of the cult!
God, please kill me.

The world is not worth it.

When I read "No Longer Human" before, I didn't feel the same intense impact as others, nor could I deeply understand the meaning of the word "clown".

Now she understands.

So this is what it means to be human, I'm so sorry!

The members of the welcoming team standing at the back were a little confused.

Their captain has always been aloof and difficult to approach, and is recognized as the number one Kitagawa fan at the University of Tokyo.

This is just a thank you letter, why am I stuttering so much?

Is it because he was so excited to see his idol in person that he couldn't control himself?
Tomoyo Kobayashi is one of the few people who knows how much Jabami Rei respects Kitagawa Hide.

Seeing that this thank-you speech was about to become a big mess, some guests in the audience began to frown.

"Is this female student a relative? Why can she speak so unclearly and still represent the student group to give a thank-you speech?"

"Is this the strength of the students from the Faculty of Literature at the University of Tokyo? This is a bit disappointing."

"The thank you speech is well written, but the student who read it is too amateurish. Has he never experienced such a big occasion?"

This can't go on.

Tomoyo Kobayashi exchanged glances with several team members, then secretly took half a step forward.

It's just like the plot in the passionate school Japanese drama.

Jabami Rei, who was still stumbling over her words of thanks and was about to collapse, suddenly had a bad premonition. But before she could turn around, she heard a loud shout coming from behind.

"Come on! Jabami-san!"

"Jabami must have been too excited to see her idol, so she lost her composure. Let's all cheer for her!"

"Please continue reading, Jabami-san! Mr. Kitagawa will surely be able to sense your respect and love for him!"

"Don't give up, Jabami-san!"

The cheers from the welcoming team members were passionate and youthful, and soon infected other Dongda students.

Over the past few months, everyone basically knew about Jabami Rei's fanatical admiration for Kitagawa Hide, and they were deeply touched. No one wanted her to embarrass herself in front of her idol, and the voices of encouragement instantly spread from the stage to the audience.

The puzzled guests gradually became relieved.

It turns out that this girl is the most enthusiastic fan of Kitagawa Hideshu at the University of Tokyo.

No wonder.

Those fans who love chasing stars are often so excited that they are speechless when they see their idols for the first time.

Especially in Japan, a country where people like to express their emotions excessively and exaggeratedly, many things can be understood once you accept them.

"It seems that Mr. Kitagawa is very popular among the young people." Murayama Tomiichi smiled and glanced at Jabami Rei who was almost done with the sea view villa with her toes on the stage, and also led the applause and said with a smile, "Keep it up!"

"Haha, I didn't expect this myself."

Kitagawa Hide really didn't expect the scene to turn out like this.

Countless reporters' flash lights and cameras recorded this "beautiful" scene.

Students, guests, people on and off the stage, everyone clapped rhythmically, shouted “Ganba Daddy”, and encouraged Jabami Rei to continue with her speech of thanks.

In a corner of the audience, Yumeko Agatsuma was almost laughing to tears.

She clasped her hands together, chuckled, and silently said in her heart: Please forgive me, Li-chan, I'm really sorry, I really can't help it!
In this way, Jabami Rei spent the most socially depressing and darkest five minutes of her life amid applause.

After reading the thank-you speech, she really hoped that she could faint instantly. Unfortunately, her strong willpower made her become exceptionally awake. If possible, she really wanted to fly to Mars, to a place where there was no one and no cheering of "Ganbaddie", and curl up like an ostrich!

After the thank-you speech, the drama show “No Longer Human” performed by the welcoming team members dampened the cheerful atmosphere a little.

This is a tragic life of a lower-class person. There are no funny moments, only sad moments.

In the last scene, as a book writer, "I" came to the tavern that Oba Ezo used to love to go to and sat down to talk with the proprietress. At this time, Tsuneko (played by Jabami Rei), who had transformed from a coquettish Ginza bar waitress into a charming and attractive wife, stroked the hair behind her ear.

This scene was also captured by reporters, which not only shocked Kitagawa Hide, but also shocked countless people.

This girl, after experiencing that kind of nervousness just now, was still able to show such amazing acting skills on the stage play.

Jabami Rei seemed to be quickly immersed in the story.

She seemed to have transformed into Changzi.

In fact, when she was watching "No Longer Human", she felt that the character of Changzi had a bit of her own shadow, but of course she never dared to tell anyone else.

I don't even know Mr. Beichuan, so isn't it just flattering yourself by saying this?
But now, she felt as if she was Changzi, and Changzi was Jabami Rei.

on the stage.

"I wonder if this person is still alive?" "I" asked.

"Oh, that's hard to say. About ten years ago, a package was sent to my store in Kyobashi, and it contained these notebooks and photos. The sender must be Yezo, but there was no address or name written on the package.

When moving, these things were mixed with other things, but they were intact. It's incredible. I just finished reading it all a while ago." "Chang Zi" pursed her lips and said.

"You cried?"

"No, it's not that crying is hopeless. Once a person becomes like that, there is no hope for him or her."

"Ten years have passed since then. So, maybe he is no longer in this world. I think he sent these things to you to express his gratitude. Although some of them are exaggerated, it seems that he did cause you a lot of harm. If everything written in the diary is true, or if I were his friend, I might take him to a mental hospital."

"It's all his father's fault."

"Changzi" said calmly as if nothing had happened.

"The Yezo I know is straightforward and well-behaved. If he didn't drink so much, no, even if he drinks, he is still a good boy like God."

As Jabari Rei finished her words, a tear rolled down the corner of her eye.

The play "No Longer Human" has come to an end.

"Clap clap-"

Thunderous applause echoed in the Yasuda Lecture Hall.

"What a great story!" Murayama Tomiichi's palms almost turned red from clapping, showing that he was completely immersed in the plot. He couldn't help but turn around and ask Kitagawa Hide, "Teacher Kitagawa, if Oba Yezo hadn't been sent to a mental hospital, would he have survived?"

"I don't think so."

Beichuan Xiu pondered for a moment and shook his head.

"Just like his prototype, Mr. Yan Jing Takuya, who was harmed by the evil cult and the 'world' and lost everything, surviving may be the beginning of torture for him."

"Is that so?" Murayama Tomiichi thought for a moment and stopped talking.

Several people nearby listened to the conversation between the two, and their impression of Kitagawa Hide improved a little.

I also suddenly realized that this young writer, who almost became famous with one book, is not without temper and edges.

His words were plain, but they were filled with hatred for the cult.

After being badly cheated by the Akutagawa Prize, would such a person really swallow his anger like most new writers, or turn around and beg for mercy from the judging committee?

Just as they were wondering, all the foreplay of the open class finally came to an end.

Kitagawa Hide left his seat and walked to the podium under the watchful eyes of the crowd. Countless people's eyes were immediately focused on him.

The flashing lights kept coming.

Low cries of surprise were heard one after another.

"Teacher Kitagawa is so handsome!"

"So young, so boyish!"

"I feel like he's not much worse than Kimura Takuya!"

"If No Longer Human is made into a movie, I think only Mr. Kitagawa himself can handle the looks of Yozo Ohba!"

Kitagawa Hide glanced down and saw a densely packed crowd of people, with countless pairs of eyes staring at him. Even though he had lived two lives as a human being and had similar speech experience in his previous life, he still felt a lot of pressure.

There is no need to say much about these foreign guests, they are bigwigs from all walks of life. The front row are the political and business friends invited by Tomiichi Murayama. Each of their names is enough to be engraved in the history of Japan.

The group of students who are looking forward to it behind us will become the backbone of society in the future. They are all elites and talents.

"Good morning, Mina-san." Kitagawa Hide first bowed 90 degrees to the audience, and then said, "I am Kitagawa Hide, and I am honored to receive the invitation from the University of Tokyo to come here to have a literary exchange with you. As for me, I actually graduated from high school and didn't even get into college."

The audience was in an uproar again.

In fact, many people have already learned about this through various channels, but most people are still kept in the dark.

Now after hearing what Kitagawa Hide said, they found it a little hard to accept for a moment.

In Japan, academic qualifications are your business card and the first division of social classes. If you can be admitted to the "Seven Imperial Universities" (University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Tohoku University, Osaka University, Nagoya University, Kyushu University, and Hokkaido University) after graduating from high school, it means that as long as you graduate smoothly, you can become a superior person.

If all else fails, Keio University, Waseda University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, etc. are also good choices.

Only those who have poor academic ability and are considered to be nothing more than cogs in society in high school will go to a highly professional junior college (similar to the technical college next door).

And those who can't even get into junior college.
Scum, hooligans, biker gangs, yakuza, juvenile delinquents, all kinds of words have come one after another to cover this group, and have long become the stereotype of this type of people for countless Japanese.

"Not only did he fail the exam, he took the exam for three consecutive years and still failed to get into the university of his choice." Kitagawa Hide added.

The people below were even more surprised.

This was the experience of his original body. To be honest, it had nothing to do with Xu Xiu. In his previous life, he didn't dare to say that he had strong academic ability, but his deviation value had reached the threshold of Japanese universities, which was no problem.

However, in this kind of occasion and in this kind of speech, given his current status and age, he must be more down-to-earth and humble, so that he can easily win the favor of most people.

“So I feel very honored to be invited by Professor Takeuchi Osamu today. Although I say it is a lecture, I feel that I am just sharing some of my literary research experience with you. If you find it agreeable and interesting, I will be very happy. If you think that what I said is bad and boring, please be gentle, please!”

"Teacher Kitagawa is so humble. Although he said he has not attended college, his conversation is much better than many people." The students below whispered, unable to tell that Kitagawa Hide only had a high school diploma.

After the pleasantries, Kitagawa Hide pulled over the whiteboard and quickly wrote down his former graduate student topic on it - "A Brief Discussion on Research Methods of Modern Japanese Literature". The Faculty of Literature at the University of Tokyo has four majors: Ideological and Cultural Disciplines, Language and Cultural Disciplines, Historical and Cultural Disciplines, and Action and Cultural Disciplines. Kitagawa Hide studied Historical and Cultural Disciplines in his previous life. No matter which major you choose, you can't avoid modern and contemporary literature classes, and you have to take them all the time from your freshman to your senior year.

The reason for this situation is closely related to the development of the Faculty of Letters of the University of Tokyo and Japanese literature.

Japan's modern and contemporary literature is actually a history of "plagiarism".

The landmark event of modern times was the Meiji Restoration. Before that, Japan's ancient literature was mainly based on learning from its neighbors, and then gradually developed its own schools and characteristics.

The essence of the Meiji Restoration was to "de-ancientize Japan" and "Westernize" the entire country.

Literature, which symbolizes the spiritual soul of a country, must naturally be "Westernized".

Therefore, after the Meiji period, Japanese literature suddenly abandoned most of the essence of ancient literature and turned to study Western history, literature, and art. This assimilation process continued until before World War II.

During World War II, Japan experienced unprecedented expansion, and the so-called "war literature" was born. But soon, with Japan's surrender, the war literature that had been glorious for a while was nailed to the pillar of shame in history, and even the Japanese themselves dared not touch it.

In the modern post-war period, they began to reflect again, and felt that the reason for their failure was that they had not been thoroughly westernized, so they began to learn Western culture again.

In this history of "plagiarism", countless schools of thought emerged and the literary class gradually solidified. If you do not study modern and contemporary Japanese literature, you will not be able to write anything in this cage.

Professors and students of the Faculty of Literature, as well as writers, could not escape the disaster.

The Japanese literary world lacks a large number of excellent works of Japanese literature, and the research on modern and contemporary Japanese literature is not advanced enough.

The topic selected by Kitagawa Hideki perfectly met the needs of the professionals below, and also met the audience's desire to just watch the fun. It was also a topic he himself had studied carefully.

The people in the audience sat up straight, because the research on modern and contemporary literature was not yet well developed. Although professors had been committed to it, there had not been many breakthroughs.

This part of content is to literature what basic mathematics is to mathematics.

"After the Meiji era, a large number of Western documents were translated, and Western thought and literature also poured in, which had an important impact on modern Japanese literature. Therefore, knowledge of Western thought and literature is quite helpful for understanding modern Japanese literature.

Before discussing my research methods, I would like to make a digression.

In fact, if you want to learn modern and contemporary literature well, you can consider reading a lot of overseas literature first and try to translate it. This is interconnected with some of our literary works.

Before writing Hear the Wind Sing, I had been translating foreign novels. Those of you who have read the trilogy should have seen some of my understanding of American literature in it. "

Kitagawa Hide smiled and said, "It's unknown how many people the fictional American writer in "Hear the Wind Sing" has successfully deceived."

When he first traveled through time, he translated foreign novels purely to earn a meager income from royalties. This experience will definitely be dug up by others in the future, so it would be great to patch it up now.

"I see. No wonder Kitagawa is so well-versed in foreign literature. I thought he had traveled abroad." Saito Rena in the audience nodded continuously. She was one of the people who was "cheated" by the fictional American writer.

Even editors at big publishing houses can't see the trick, let alone most ordinary readers.

To this day, there are still countless analytical drafts of "Hear the Wind Sing", and the interpretation of this novel has never stopped.

"There are two main research methods for modern and contemporary literature currently used: the theory of works proposed in the postwar period and the theory of writers proposed by Professor Takeuchi Osamu."

Beichuan Xiu quickly wrote two rows of big characters.

Throughout August, in order not to embarrass himself when coming to Tokyo University, he practiced his handwriting hard, and finally his handwriting was not so "dog-like".

It's embarrassing to say, in his previous life, he was admitted to university and entered the Faculty of Literature of the University of Tokyo as a graduate student, but his ugly handwriting was always his weakness.

Since elementary school, his Chinese teacher repeatedly emphasized that handwriting would affect the test score, but his grades had always been good, so he completely ignored it. In the end, he reaped the consequences when he grew up.

It is difficult to change the handwriting once it is formed.

And the older I get, the less I can sit down and practice calligraphy.

After traveling through time, Kitagawa Hide was free from all the invisible pressures of his previous life. His life became easier and practicing calligraphy became much more comfortable. He was finally about to slowly overcome this shortcoming.

His handwriting is actually still a bit shabby, but fortunately the issue of academic qualifications was laid out earlier, so now no one is making fun of him for this.

Back to the theory of works and the theory of writers, in short, the former believes that the work should be regarded as an independent entity, and the theme of the work and the intention of the writer should be accurately grasped by analyzing its internal structure;

The latter, on the contrary, believes that the work is closely related to the writer himself. They believe that to analyze a work, one must also analyze the writer himself and to analyze the writer's thoughts based on the results of biographical research.

There is no good or bad in these two research methods. To put it bluntly, they are two different methods, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

However, in the Japanese literary world, the two major research schools are not convinced by each other, and literary research classes will also arrange professors belonging to the two schools to teach separately.

You can choose the course according to the school of thought that you identify with more.

For example, Rena Saito always worries that Hide Kitagawa's works will reflect his own situation because she belongs to the writer theory faction.

The same goes for Jabami Rei and Agatsuma Yumeko.

Because they are all students of Takeuchi Osamu, who is the founder of the writer theory.

"I think both methods are good, but they both have their own shortcomings. So I thought of a new way of literary research that can be used to supplement this aspect."

Kitagawa Hide wrote the three words "text theory" on the whiteboard.

This is a new research method that was gradually perfected in later generations. It is called "text theory" in Japanese. Its characteristic is that it does not stick to interpreting the author's creative intentions, but focuses on the text itself.

At this moment, Takeuchi Osamu, who was originally smiling bitterly in the audience, suddenly became serious.

He invited Kitagawa Hide to give a lecture, but he didn't expect that he would be made a target first, but it doesn't matter.

Osamu Takeuchi has always agreed that the new generation pushes the old generation forward.

But now, Kitagawa Hide actually publicly said that he has a completely new research method for the study of modern and contemporary Japanese literature!

This is not a trivial matter such as optimizing or judging the original research method. If you are right, you can be admitted to the University of Tokyo as a professor in the Faculty of Literature based on this point. If you are wrong, you will become a clown that everyone will hate!

Kitagawa Hide ignored the surprised voices from the audience, since he had chosen to give this lecture, and had confirmed some situations in the Japanese literary world, and had just been targeted by the bigwigs in the literary world.

It’s time for him to come up with some academic results to slap those old guys in the face!
"Different from the work theory, my text theory believes that once a work is completed, it is completely separated from the author. What the author wants to express is no longer important. The work allows readers to interpret it from a variety of perspectives, and many of the interpretations are not even realized by the author himself."

Kitagawa Hide continued.

His words actually touched the hearts of many people in the audience.

They had this feeling when they watched "No Longer Human".

After Mr. Kitagawa finished writing, in fact, how to interpret Oba Ezo, how to view Yan Jing Takuya and the cult, has nothing to do with him.

Every reader has his or her own life experiences and insights, and has different views and feelings about this book.

It is no longer necessary to have a research attitude towards any pure literature as before - either to come to a unified understanding of the work, as accurate as the answer to a test paper, or to analyze the author thoroughly and understand the work with the author's writing intention as the core.

This kind of research method is bound to have great limitations and imperfections.

This peculiar research angle was the first time the professors in the Faculty of Literature had heard of. It sounded simple and childish, but if one thought about it carefully, it seemed to have really solved the issue of "work theory" or "author theory" that they had been arguing about for a long time!

Kitagawa Hide smiled and did not give them time to think, but threw out killer ideas one after another: "This view originated from the 'death of the author' proposed by French literary critic Roland Barthes in the 20s. He emphasized that the existence of readers should be valued, and the meaningful subject is not the author, but the reader.

I am just copying what others have said, and my ideas are not completely original.

But I think textual theory does broaden the possibilities of literary study.”

This was what Kitagawa Hide was preparing for his graduate thesis, and it took him more than a year of hard work and time. If it weren't for the effort to perfect it, he probably wouldn't have been so tired as to travel through time.

He spoke faster and faster, and in greater and greater depth. Gradually, many laymen became confused, but the students and professors of the Faculty of Literature seemed to have their meridians opened up in an instant.

The whole literary world seemed to have been renewed.

After he briefly explained the text theory, the teachers and students in the audience were already stunned.

"Pah, pah, pah, pah—"

"What a wonderful lecture." Murayama Tomiichi didn't know much about literary research, but he could see the shocked expressions on Yoshikawa Hiroyuki's faces and others. After Kitagawa Hide finished the main topic, he, the prime minister, gave a compliment, which was tantamount to giving the final verdict on the lecture.

Jabami Rei, who did not faint, had her brain freeze again. Looking at Kitagawa Hide, who was in high spirits, extremely confident and talking eloquently on the stage, the two figures that had originally absolutely no chance of overlapping finally slowly merged together.

"Is this a true genius? Is this a gift from the Land of Hades?"

Jabari Rei muttered to herself.

In Japanese mythology, the Land of the Dead is the underworld. According to legend, when people who should not die are mistakenly sent to the Land of the Dead, they will be sent back to the world by the woman who takes away clothes when passing through Yomi Hirasaka (the Bridge of Naihe in Japanese mythology) and given gifts from the gods as an apology.

Datsueba, also known as Meng Po in Japanese mythology.

According to legend, after a person dies and arrives at the Yellow Springs Hirasaka, his clothes will be taken off by the Clothes-Taking Lady and hung on the Collar Tree by the Hanging Clothes Man. If the branch is bent by the weight of the clothes, it means that the person committed extremely heinous crimes in his life.

Those who return with gifts from the gods often become different and enlightened.

Otherwise, Jabami Rei would have no way of explaining why Kitagawa Hide seemed like a different person before and after being rescued by Yumeko-chan.

"I have finished the main topic. I wonder if you are satisfied with what I have said. Before coming here, I heard from Professor Takeuchi Osamu that you have all read my book No Longer Human and liked it very much."

Kitagawa Hide paused, took the tea handed to him by a female student, drank it all, and continued,
"I am honored, but also terrified. In the past month, many people have asked me about my original intention in writing No Longer Human. Some people think I am complaining without reason, some think I wrote it for the money, and some think I wrote it for the Akutagawa Prize.

In fact, I wrote this book just to say something to my deceased friend. "

"As a human being, you don't need to apologize. The ones who should apologize are those Aum Shinrikyo guys who killed you."

When Kitagawa Hide said this, his expression suddenly became serious. He looked directly at the reporters' cameras. All the flashes lit up and he accepted it calmly.

I wonder if Yan Jingsang’s family, who have already arrived in the underworld, can see it?
It was just a simple sentence, but it made the atmosphere at the scene extremely stagnant.

Kitagawa Hide was openly declaring war on the cult.

He spoke frankly and believed that Takuya Yan'ai and his family did not deserve to die tragically.

Their deaths were caused by Aum Shinrikyo.

This was also the first time he publicly mentioned "Aum Shinrikyo" after writing "No Longer Human", and the implication was extremely clear!
Tomiichi Murayama was sitting in the audience. The other politicians looked unhappy, but he was smiling happily. This lecture was worth it!

"We have finished discussing the topic. Now it is time for free questions. If you have any questions, please feel free to raise them. We can discuss together and help each other."

Kitagawa Hide bowed 90 degrees to the audience again.

After rounds of warm applause, representatives from all parties and students asked questions one after another.

This link is actually supported by someone.

After all, it’s such a big event. If any unexpected situation occurs, it will be the Tokyo University that will be embarrassed.

Therefore, Kitagawa Hide had anticipated these questions in advance and answered them easily.

As the meeting was about to end, a boy who claimed to be a senior student in the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo suddenly stood up.

His standing up was unexpected. When Kitagawa Hide saw the reactions of Yoshikawa Hiroyuki and others, he knew that this was not a trick.

It looks like there's an emergency!

"Teacher Kitagawa, I have a question that I hope you can answer. It's okay if you don't want to answer it."

The boy came up with the microphone and blocked the conversation.

Beichuan Xiu smiled and said, "Excuse me."

"What do you think about the fact that you did not receive the Akutagawa Prize on September 9?"

There was an uproar.

This kid really keeps bringing up things that are not related to the topic!

Everyone actually wants to know what Kitagawa Hide thinks about this, but who dares to ask?
A bunch of Tokyo University professors like Hiroyuki Yoshikawa and Osamu Takeuchi turned green in the face.

They asked around, wanting to know who this student was a disciple of and why he was so stupid. Could they ask such questions face to face?
"Akutagawa Prize." Kitagawa Hide raised his eyebrows and his eyes turned cold.

No matter whether the other party is causing trouble on purpose or not, since the problem has come, he will just take it!

(End of this chapter)