Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 275 "Isn't this just stupid? Chuunibyou!"

Wang Zhenxu saw that everyone's eyes were focused on him, so he raised his chin slightly and explained: "The Japanese 'post-80s' grew up in the 90s after the 'bubble burst'. Those 10 years were called the 'lost decade', so this generation is naturally the 'lost generation'.

In my opinion, what they have lost is not only the affluent life of their parents, but also the trust in the stable social structure, the reliance on traditional family values ​​and the pursuit of personal heroism. "

At this time, Yang Chenpei questioned: "This economic and social crisis has impacted an entire generation of Japanese people. Why has it led to a boom in female creations, but not male creations?"

Wang Zhenxu looked at Yang Chenpei with a hint of contempt and said, "The fact that you ask this question shows that you Chinese people live in a different society from the Japanese."

This sentence made everyone present speechless, and discussions began quietly. As students from a top university, everyone was very keen to catch the special expression of identity in his words - "you Chinese" and "them Japanese"? Then which group do you, Wang Zhenxu, belong to?
However, Wang Zhenxu ignored this discussion and continued, "Compared to China, Japan is a more traditional and thorough patriarchal and male-dominated society, presenting a typical 'vertical' social structure.

In Japanese culture, relationships between men and male group dynamics have a disproportionate dominance in social and political roles, so once economic development is frustrated and society "collapses", it is these men who are the first to be crushed.

Middle-aged and elderly Japanese men who hold the social discourse power will more strictly restrict, suppress, and belittle the free personality of the next generation of men in order to maintain their own status and authority. This is what I mean when I say that Japanese male writers are "castrated" by the times.

Therefore, a whole generation of Japanese men have the common psychological characteristics of being weak, introverted, closed, and refusing to take responsibility. Last year, a writer named Maki Fukasawa created a popular term called "herbivore man" to describe this generation of Japanese men.

"Herbivore man?" Everyone is unfamiliar with this term. After all, although there is the Internet these days, the speed of its spread is not as fast as it would be more than ten years later when a popular meme could "infect" the whole world in a week.

Liang Siqiao arrived too late and was squeezed to stand at the door of the classroom. She stretched her long neck to barely see what was going on inside. When she heard the word "herbivore man", she couldn't help but quietly asked her best friend beside her: "What does this mean? A man who eats vegetarian food?"

At this time, a voice sounded from behind: "Men who are gentle, shy, passive, not good at interacting with the opposite sex, and do not like competition."

Liang Siqiao looked back and saw a strange boy standing in the dim light of the corridor. It seemed that he was also late. She said "thank you" first, and then heard Wang Zhenxu in the classroom give a similar explanation: "Maki Fukasawa described this kind of man in his column - 'not very close to the opposite sex, and not obsessed with male chauvinism.

Later, the connotation of this word was constantly enriched, and gradually began to refer to those men who were passive but harmless in life, work and love. But we know that most writers have one characteristic: an extremely strong desire to express themselves.

So when "herbivore man" became a label for a generation of young Japanese men, the decline of Japanese male writers of the same age group was foreseeable. "

At this point, Wang Zhenxu paused before continuing, "On the contrary, in Japan, women do not have to bear so many social expectations and do not participate in competition with men, so women have more freedom to grow and a broader creative space.

As writers, people use different standards and criteria to judge male and female writers. Male writers must be held to the same standards as tigers, leopards, and jackals, and must appear ambitious in every aspect, otherwise they will be considered failures.

Female writers are deer, sheep, or cats. As long as they show the secrecy, restraint, delicacy, and subtlety that they are good at, the public will praise them. This sentiment is more out of admiration and protection for the uniqueness of "female creations" rather than the level of "female creations."

As soon as these words were spoken, many people in the classroom, especially the girls, protested.

“You are discriminating against women!”

"You mean female writers are successful because the public is more relaxed about their work!" "It's harder for female writers, they are obviously held to stricter standards!"

"You are just looking down on women's creations!"

……

The classroom was in chaos for a while, but Wang Zhenxu was not affected at all, and he calmly accepted the storm. He enjoyed this controversial moment - what's the point of following the opinions of predecessors in literature? If you want to say something, you have to say something that others dare not say!
At this time, Professor Lin Danya, who came to observe and provide guidance, spoke up. She first calmed the emotional girls and said, "Everyone, please be calm. The literary salon is for everyone to express their own opinions. You can disagree with the opinions, but you still have to let people finish their words."

The professor's words were effective. The classroom gradually quieted down. Lin Danya then said to Wang Zhenxu, "Since you think that the gender ratio of Japanese writers born in the 80s is more female than male, which is a result of social pathology, then does the gender ratio of Chinese writers born in the 80s meet your expectations?"

After saying that, she stared at Wang Zhenxu closely to see how he would answer. Lin Danya herself is a member of the domestic "female writing" trend. Although she is currently teaching at a university, many of her research topics are related to feminist critical theory and female literature.

Wang Zhenxu's words naturally made her quite dissatisfied, but as a scholar, she would not fly into a rage over such weird ideas. However, she did set a small trap for Wang Zhenxu to see how he would deal with it.

But Wang Zhenxu was still cunning and did not give a direct answer, but cleverly avoided the question: "Different social structures and development processes will give birth to different writer structures and creative characteristics. This has nothing to do with my personal expectations. I just summarized it."

A classmate sitting in the back row couldn't help but shout, "Aren't you also a Japanese 'post-80s' generation? Aren't you also a writer? How come you haven't been 'castrated'? Are you no longer a 'herbivore man'?"

This question expressed the thoughts of many students. Most of them were from the Chinese Department and knew Wang Zhenxu a little bit. They knew that in addition to being a graduate student of Professor Iizuka, he was also a writer and had published two novels in Japan.

Although he is not particularly famous, he has definitely entered the ranks of "writers" and his nationality is Japanese, so of course he has to accept this kind of questioning.

At this time, Wang Zhenxu's face suddenly became serious, even a little sacred. He stood up from his seat, walked around the table, stood in the center of the venue, looked around at the people present, and began to speak in a deep voice:
"Of course I am different from them! My goal has always been to conquer readers across Asia with my works! And if I want to conquer Asia, I must first conquer Japan!"

"Hiss~~~" There was a sound of people sucking in air in the classroom. The students were all speechless by this declaration!
Yang Chenpei turned his head and muttered something with disdain on his face;
Lan Ting couldn't help but roll her eyes and turned away, not wanting to look anymore;

Although Professor Lin Danya had taught Wang Zhenxu before, this was the first time he had seen her like this, and he was so shocked that his eyes widened.

But Wang Zhenxu didn't think his behavior was wrong at all. He continued, "Although most of China's 'post-80s' writers are men, they are still at the 'copycat' stage and are even behind Japanese literature. No one has the ambition I have!"

Liang Siqiao, who was standing at the door, had no contact with Wang Zhenxu before, and it was difficult for her to describe her feelings at the moment. She felt it was a little funny, but also a little bit passionate.

At this time, the boy's voice came from behind her again: "Isn't this just stupid? Chuunibyou!"

(End of this chapter)