Back to 80: My literary life.

Can Chapter 775 really represent the literature of our time? !

Supporters believe that this is an excellent work, in which the author uses recollections to tell a history of contemporary China that is full of personal memories and individual experiences.

The novel uses the nesting and integration of two narrative structures. The novel tells the story of Fugui's unfortunate experience and rough fate in an era of rapid change with an ordinary and plain storyline. It shows the meaning of life and the value of existence in a calm brushstroke, and reveals the helplessness of fate and the unpredictability of life.

Opponents have good reasons: the plot is too heavy and depressing - the protagonist Fugui's life is full of suffering and misfortune, and this constant negative emotion may make readers feel suffocated and difficult to resonate.

There are also controversies in the characterization. The character of Fugui is not fully developed, and his actions and decisions are often difficult to understand. For example, Fugui's rapid return to the right path after losing his fortune seems a bit abrupt and lacks sufficient foreshadowing and explanation.

“Not heavy enough”

“Lack of epic feeling”

Fang Minghua listened carefully and took notes from time to time.

Any work has its shortcomings, including "To Live".

What the opponents said made sense, and Fang Minghua had nothing to say in defense.

Just looking at this posture.
"Minghua, the situation is not good." Lei Da, who was sitting next to Fang Minghua, said quietly.

Fang Minghua nodded and said, "If the situation was very good, it would not have been eliminated during the initial evaluation."

"Then how do you convince the majority of the judges?" Radar asked again.

"I don't know either." Fang Minghua was very frank: "I just want to finish what I want to say."

"Next, please let Comrade Minghua speak," said the host.

According to the regulations, for works recommended by the judges, the recommender must speak after the majority of the judges have finished their comments.

The first is to make a final summary and conclusion of the works you recommend, and also to answer the questions raised by the judges regarding the book.

Fang Minghua stood up calmly, looked at everyone and said, "I and the comrades sitting here have already explained the advantages, problems and shortcomings of the book "To Live" very thoroughly. I will not repeat them here. I would like to take this opportunity to say a few words off topic: What was the original intention of establishing the Mao Dun Literature Prize?!"

When Fang Minghua suddenly said this, the conference room suddenly became a little uneasy. Some judges didn't understand what Fang Minghua meant by this.
Some of the judges even showed disdain on their faces.

You are the youngest among them, right? When Mr. Mao Dun established this award, you were still a young man!
Ask us?!

Fang Minghua continued his speech without pausing: I remember it very clearly. At that time, I was still working as a security guard at the Yanhe magazine. I saw in the newspaper that Mr. Mao Dun dictated to his son Wei Tao his will to the Secretariat of the Chinese Writers Association:
"Dear comrades, in order to promote the creation of novels, I will donate 250,000 yuan of my manuscript fee to the Writers Association as a fund to establish a novel literary scholarship to reward the best novels every year. To the most noble salute."

"This is the original intention of the Mao Dun Literature Prize! To reward the best novel!" Fang Minghua emphasized this.

"Comrade Minghua, from what you're saying, the novels that were selected in previous Mao Dun Awards and the ones we're currently selecting are not the best novels?"

Someone interrupted him, his tone full of ridicule. "I have never denied that all novels that have won the Mao Dun Literature Prize are not excellent, but have you noticed a problem: do the works that have won the Mao Dun Literature Prize represent the literary trend of the time?"

"Since the 1980s, my country's literary world has experienced scar literature, educated youth literature, root-seeking literature, and avant-garde literature. In the 1990s, new realism novels, new historical novels, and new realism novels emerged. With each wave of novels, a group of excellent literary works emerged. But are all these excellent works reflected in the Mao Dun Literature Prize? I don't think so."

As soon as Fang Minghua finished speaking, there was another round of discussion in the conference room.

Now everyone understood that this guy was questioning the selection of the Mao Dun Literature Prize!
"The works selected by the Mao Prize are mainly traditional realism and traditional historical novels. I don't know whether this is intentional as a standard or a kind of inertia or unspoken rule in the selection of judges. Frankly speaking, I think this idea is narrow-minded."

“Tolstoy’s War and Peace is a great work of realism, but can you deny that Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude is an excellent work of magical realism?”

"Tokugawa Ieyasu, written by Japanese writer Yamaoka Shohachi, is an epic traditional historical novel, but Ragtime, written by American writer Doctorow, has great literary value in the New Historicism!"

The meeting room was very quiet, with only Fang Minghua's voice being heard.

"Speaking of domestic works, let's not mention To Live. Some new historical novels in China have successfully used a series of modern narrative techniques to make the stories themselves contain rich metaphorical meanings, such as Ge Fei's Enemy, which is more spiritual and intelligent in terms of artistry."

"Avant-garde novels are no exception. Zhang Wei's September Fables, for example, has made extremely effective explorations into the possibilities of the development of novels, both in terms of aesthetic ideals and the operation of narrative discourse. Unfortunately, these novels were not included in the list of the top 20 novels for preliminary review, and some were not even qualified for recommendation!"

"Comrades, if we or our descendants look back at these award-winning works in ten, twenty, or thirty years, how many of them will we be able to remember? Can they truly represent the literature of our time? Please think carefully. I have finished my speech."

The meeting room remained silent.

During lunch, Lei Da smiled and said to Fang Minghua: "Minghua, this move of yours is really powerful. You retreat in order to advance."

"What do you mean by retreat in order to advance?"

"It is an open secret that the Mao Dun Prize favors traditional realistic and historical novels. The first three winners that have been announced have all fallen into this category."

Radar continued.

"You have come up with a trick. In a sense, the evaluation of the Mao Award works is also an evaluation of us judges. If we are still stubborn and miss so many excellent works, what will the younger generations say in a few years? Look, we are just a bunch of old stubborn people. What kind of things did we come up with?!"

Old stubborn?
Fang Minghua couldn't help but laugh.

But it is true.

Take the selection results of this year's Mao Dun Literature Prize for example. Apart from "White Deer Plain", who can remember the other works? !

Ten days into the meeting, all the judges voted, and the most critical moment arrived.

(End of this chapter)