Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 365 Witnessing the Historical Process of the Development of Chinese Literature

Li Tuo loves making friends and always seems to be at ease in such occasions. After listening to his suggestions and persuasion, everyone expressed their agreement.

"This is a good suggestion! The concept of 'the root of literature' is so good and so broad. We need to explain it in detail and thoroughly!" Zhang Wei said excitedly.

Li Hangyu also said: "It is worth the trip to hear such insightful opinions!"

A group of young writers were still excited about Lin Chaoyang’s unfinished speech at the meeting, and were looking forward to the meeting in the evening.

Since the 1980s, influenced by the ideological liberation in the cultural circle, various trends in the literary world have continued to emerge one after another, but overall they are inseparable from the influence of Western modernism.

Some people advocate rewriting literary history, some people emphasize methodology, and some people want to modernize literature...

Various schools of literary creation have emerged, as have various theoretical methodologies.

Everyone is eagerly absorbing foreign knowledge, all kinds of knowledge, but everyone will inevitably fall into confusion. How much of the knowledge is worth learning and promoting in this mess?

The writers attending the symposium today are all those who have emerged in the literary world in recent years. They include not only the mainstays of the contemporary literary world, but also the stars of tomorrow.

Although Lin Chaoyang's speech was not very long, everyone still felt the power from it, a power that can lead contemporary literary creation.

Compared with the enthusiastic response of young writers, some of the senior writers present today seemed much calmer.

The main reason is that there are not many senior writers coming this time, and they all have official identities. They came here just to support the symposium.

Lin Chaoyang's point of view was contrary to the Tiangang view, but it was certainly irrelevant to the theme of the meeting. The most important thing was that his interference caused the attention of the writers present at the meeting to suddenly shift to him, and no one cared about the main topic anymore.

While the young writers were chatting enthusiastically, Zhang Guangnian, Wang Meng, Tang Yin and other old comrades gathered together and felt very unhappy.

"I'm not saying anything bad about you, but why did you call him here?" Tang Yin complained to Zhang Guangnian.

"This is a national literary conference. So many young writers are here. How could it be possible for him not to come?" Zhang Guangnian retorted.

He said angrily, "This kid usually looks honest, but who knew what would happen to him today? Oh, I was careless!"

Wang Meng said: "It seems that you still don't understand him, Old Zhang. Chaoyang is a very left-wing person in some aspects!"

"No, why do I feel it's right?" Tang Yin retorted.

Zhang Guangnian was troubled by their diametrically opposed arguments. "I think he is neither left nor right, but nationalism comes first."

Tang Yin said worriedly, "If Chaoyang's remarks today were to get out, there would probably be a big discussion!"

Wang Meng chuckled and said, "This may not be a bad thing. At least these remarks were made during the symposium, which can be regarded as adding some topicality to this symposium."

Zhang Guangnian sighed. He would rather not have such a topic. When he thought about how the Literary Association had arranged such a large banquet and in the end it was all taken up by Lin Chaoyang alone, he felt indescribable discomfort in his heart.

"I won't bring this kid to meetings anymore! He's always stealing the spotlight!"

"I support!"

"Seconded!"

The National Symposium on the Creation of Rural-Themed Novels is a national literary conference with a large number of guests and a long meeting period, lasting three days.

The symposium went on as usual that afternoon, but there was an undercurrent hidden in the calm atmosphere.

Zhang Guangnian and his group knew that those people were looking forward to the unofficial meeting in the evening.

During the meeting, he couldn't help but be distracted and turned his gaze to Lin Chaoyang.

This kid is still in a trance-like state, and there is no trace of the courage and ambition that stirred up the storm with his speech this morning.

Zhang Guangnian couldn't help but feel curious. He wondered what this kid would talk about that night.
After the afternoon meeting, Li Tuo asked Lin Chaoyang during dinner, "Chaoyang, are you ready for your talk tonight?"

"What are you ready for?"

Li Tuo was choked by Lin Chaoyang's question and didn't know how to respond. He gave Lin Chaoyang a thumbs up and said, "Good! Keep up the momentum. You're even more stylish than Old Zhang!"

"go with!"

Lin Chaoyang is certainly not arrogant, but he does not need to prepare the content of his speech for the meeting because it is already in his mind.

After dinner, many writers returned to the venue spontaneously without anyone calling them together.

People walked into the venue intermittently, and in less than ten minutes, most of the writers attending today's meeting appeared in the venue.

Li Tuo silently counted the number of people in his mind. He never expected that Lin Chaoyang's remarks would have such weight in the hearts of these writers. He couldn't help but feel a warm feeling of joy and excitement in his heart.

Not only him, but the writers present were also very excited.

Lin Chaoyang's speech in the morning lasted less than twenty minutes in total. If he had just spoken some polite words or a routine, it would have seemed lengthy, but what he put forward was a proposition that was refreshing to everyone present.

“The Roots of Literature”, what a big proposition!

After this afternoon of communication, many writers present have summarized the theme of Lin Chaoyang's speech in the morning.

At tonight's meeting, Lin Chaoyang will continue to elaborate on this grand proposition in detail along this theme. It is hard not to be excited when we think of this.

Because it was an informal meeting and there was no host, Li Tuo volunteered to play a temporary guest role.

He made a few brief statements and then handed the floor to Lin Chaoyang.

"I really didn't expect that my speech this morning would spark so much interest among you all. Thank you all for coming to listen to me talk about my personal views so late at night."

Lin Chaoyang spoke in a relaxed tone and with a humble attitude, which was his usual style and made people feel very comfortable.

“My speech this morning was rather crude, but the general idea was conveyed. Now if you ask me to repeat it, I can’t say anything new.

As for the concept of "the roots of literature", everyone understands it once I mention it, but due to political reasons, few people in the cultural circle mentioned it in the past."

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, many people present nodded slightly in approval.

"We are discussing national culture. Our national culture is undoubtedly at its weakest in the long history of this country and nation. The last time it was so weak was around the May Fourth Movement.

The May Fourth Movement had undeniable progressive significance in social change, but it also brought a drawback, which was a relatively comprehensive nihilistic attitude towards our national culture. In addition, Chinese society had been turbulent during those years, which delayed the rupture of national culture for decades.

The tide of humanity has completely condemned our national culture to class culture, almost like combing our hair with a comb..."

Lin Chaoyang's speech was not fast and his voice was not loud, but his views were incisive and to the point, making many people present involuntarily follow his rhythm and immerse themselves in it.

In the huge conference hall, only his voice echoed.

Gao Hongbo is an editor and reporter of the Literary Gazette. This time he came to Zhuo County with the large group. His most important job was to collect information during the meeting.

This collection includes the compilation of writers' speeches, conference photos and so on, so he must attend the meeting in its entirety. He was present when Lin Chaoyang spoke at the meeting in the morning.

He is an editor and reporter, but also a literary creator and enthusiast. Lin Chaoyang's speech made him excited. Everyone was going to have a small meeting in the evening, and he definitely could not miss such an occasion.

This has nothing to do with his job, but Gao Hongbo doesn't want to miss it.

Not only did he attend the conference, he also brought the Seagull DF that the editorial department had provided him with.

He took a few photos from the angles as soon as he entered the door. When Lin Chaoyang sat down and started to speak, he wanted to listen for a while and then take some more photos, but he was so engrossed in listening that someone tapped him on the shoulder.

Gao Hongbo turned around, looking stunned, "Secretary?"

Surprised, Gao Hongbo quickly made way for Zhang Guangnian. He wanted to talk to Zhang Guangnian, but Zhang Guangnian pointed in the direction of Lin Chaoyang, signaling him to listen carefully, so Gao Hongbo turned his head away.

After listening to a few sentences, he remembered that he hadn't taken his picture yet, so he stood up to take one.

Everyone present was listening attentively to Lin Chaoyang's speech. No one paid attention to Gao Hongbo's actions, and few people noticed Zhang Guangnian's arrival.

……

"I've said so much, but it's all nonsense. A true message is worth a thousand books.

For a nation, culture is a huge proposition. If our literature cannot take seriously this proposition that is higher than itself, it will have no future.

The Chinese nation is a nation that has suffered many disasters, and so is our culture.

I hope you can earnestly study our national culture and create works that reflect and represent our national culture."

Having said this, Lin Chaoyang expressed his final hope in sincere words, and his speech officially ended.

"Thank you all for listening!" Lin Chaoyang stood up to express his gratitude.

Dozens of writers present spontaneously applauded warmly, and everyone's eyes were filled with eager light.

Compared with his somewhat hasty speech in the morning, Lin Chaoyang could be said to have fully expressed his views in this evening speech.

His views can be roughly summarized as follows:

In modern times, China's national culture has suffered serious ruptures due to the multiple influences of war, revolution, and movements, leading to the decline of national culture and low national self-confidence.

The contemporary literary world is in a state of ignorance and lack of confidence when it comes to expressing our national culture, and is constantly looking outward and transferring forms of expression from other cultures, which is like a tree without roots.

Contemporary Chinese literature should look for our own "roots", and these "roots" must be rooted in the soil of national culture.

After this speech, many writers present understood Lin Chaoyang's ideas and agreed with his views even more. After he finished his speech, someone immediately asked him a question.

"Comrade Chaoyang, your speeches have always emphasized the 'roots of literature' and the 'roots of culture'.

Have you ever considered that over-emphasizing our own national things is actually a form of isolationism, which makes us lose the opportunity to communicate with other nations in the world? "

This question was a bit sharp, but Lin Chaoyang was very calm.

“You asked a very good question. The so-called isolation is actually a relative concept.

Our world culture is actually also closed on the planet Earth, and Chinese culture is a part of the overall culture of this planet.

If our own culture is not good enough and we do not pass it on, and we just wait to be assimilated by others, I think this may be more tragic than closing the country to the outside world.

On the contrary, if we can prosper our culture and communicate with the world on an equal footing on this basis, wouldn't this be contributing to the cultural prosperity of the world?"

Lin Chaoyang's answer was brilliant and drew applause from everyone.

Then several writers asked him questions, and Lin Chaoyang answered everyone's questions clearly and logically.

After a few questions, Li Tuo asked a question.

"Chaoyang, I've thought about your speech today carefully. Could it be that your latest work, "Crossing Guandong," is the product of your theory?"

Li Tuo always likes to think divergently. When he mentioned "Crossing the Guandong", Lin Chaoyang was stunned at first.

At the beginning, his speech today was just a temporary draft by Zhang Guangnian, and he just casually sorted out some of his thoughts on the current development of literature.

He didn't have the ideas he has now when he was writing the novel, but if you think about it carefully, there are indeed many portrayals of national history and culture in "Crossing the Guandong", which is consistent with what he said today.

Therefore, Lin Chaoyang nodded gently and said, "I guess so."

Li Tuo's face lit up when he heard this. "I've given your theory a name. How about calling it 'Root-Seeking Literature'?"

Lin Chaoyang didn't react much to Li Tuo's words, but the writers around him became excited.

Since the reform and opening up, various literary trends have continued to emerge, but most of them are just plagiarizing and applying second-hand concepts of Western literature.

Li Tuo summarized Lin Chaoyang's point of view and put forward the term "root-seeking literature", which immediately reminded everyone of the "scar literature" that was popular in the past few years.

Although the trend of "scar literature" has passed, it is, after all, an important literary trend that once influenced this country and nation, and has left a significant mark in the historical development of Chinese literature.

When everyone thought of this, they all had a premonition in their hearts.

Tonight, they witnessed the historical process of the development of Chinese literature.

(End of this chapter)