Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 320 Who said sponsorship requires money?

Tie Ning and the other three all regretted coming to talk to Zhang Chao about this. When it comes to business matters, Zhang Chao is such a jerk...

But he had to say it, after all, he was the "most promising" young writer to win the award, and his daily behavior was out of line. If we didn't communicate in advance, and he said "I won't participate in the selection" when the nominations were announced, wouldn't everyone be embarrassed?

"Why, is it not possible?" Zhang Chao saw that the three of them had complicated expressions, so he asked
Tie Ning and Wang Meng looked at each other, and it was still Chairman Tie Ning who said, "But the sponsor of the Mao Dun Newcomer Literature Award has already..."

Zhang Chao interrupted, "It's settled, isn't it?"

Tie Ning shook his head and said, "You misunderstood. For the fairness and rigor of the award selection, we decided not to accept commercial sponsorship. All expenses are supported by the "Chinese Literature Foundation", so..."

Zhang Chao was surprised and asked, "My sister also said she wanted to pay for the sponsorship?"

Three people: "..."

Wang Meng was the first one who couldn't stand it anymore. He said with a fierce face: "Why are you helping if you don't pay? And, you are from Fuhai, why are you talking nonsense? Seriously, get your cunning mind out!"

Zhang Chao then smiled and said, "We all want to make this 'Mao Dun Newcomer Literature Award' influential, right?"

The three of them nodded, and Liu Heng said, "But everything is difficult at the beginning. The influence of the Mao Dun Literature Prize itself is actually... We are all family members, so there is no need to hide it."

Everyone knows what Liu Heng didn't finish saying. It is an indisputable fact that the influence of the "Mao Dun Literature Prize" has plummeted compared to the 80s, and no matter how much people in the circle deny it, it cannot change that.

Zhang Chao said: "When I say 'sponsorship', I don't mean paying money, but I hope that Weibo, a social platform for reading and sharing, can become the main online publicity platform for the Mao Dun Newcomer Literature Award and be deeply involved in the entire award selection process - this is called 'technical sponsorship'!
For literary awards to have an impact, the key is for the general public, especially young readers, to participate. When the first Mao Dun Literature Award was selected, how many letters did the Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Writers Association receive from readers? Some even sent telegrams to participate. What about now?

People's lifestyles are changing. Now, let alone telegrams, no one writes letters. What is the most popular TV show in the past two years? Have you watched it? "

Tie Ning, Wang Meng, and Liu Heng looked at each other. Liu Heng hesitated and asked, "Spring Festival Gala?"

Zhang Chao said with a look of disdain: "Who still takes the Spring Festival Gala seriously now? Especially people in the south, the feeling is really hard to describe.

——The most popular TV show in the past two years is "Super Girl"! "

Tie Ning asked: "Super Girl? It's a group of girls jumping around, singing and dancing, and then the champion and runner-up are selected?"

Zhang Chao nodded and said, "Yes. The reason they were able to succeed was because they used SMS voting to give ordinary people a way to participate in the final results."

Wang Meng looked embarrassed and said, "The example you used is not very good. Super Girl is not allowed to be broadcast this year."

Zhang Chao: "Hmm!?"

Since its launch in 2004, the influence of "Super Girl" has continued to expand for three consecutive seasons, but controversy has also followed. In particular, in 2006, a very important cultural figure stood up to criticize "Super Girl", saying that it was "a stain on art", "hidden behind the poisoning of young people", and "a great destruction to education".

Later, the competent authorities simply issued a ban, prohibiting the production and broadcast of such talent shows.

Although Zhang Chao knew that "Super Girl" was very popular, he was not an audience of this program in his previous life. When the Super Girl voting was at its peak in this life, he himself was also caught up in various whirlpools and did not pay much attention to it, so he really did not know that this incident had occurred.

After Wang Meng's explanation, Zhang Chao sighed and said, "This program is as harmful as I was last year!"

Three people: "..." If this was our own child, we would have beaten him to death long ago!

Zhang Chao also knew that business was more important, and he quickly said, "The values ​​are not acceptable, but the operational ideas can be used as reference. Besides, how can there be no controversy in the selection? Without controversy, it will become a stagnant pool; too much controversy will easily muddy the water and cause disgust.

Therefore, for the long-term benefit of this award, it is better for me not to participate in the beginning! "

The three had to admit that what Zhang Chao said made sense - if Zhang Chao participated in the selection, it would be natural and uncontroversial for him to be selected, which would only make those who follow him bored; if he was not selected, the roof of the Writers Association would probably be blown off by his readers, and there would probably be no second session of the award.

Zhang Chao reasonably avoided suspicion in the name of "technical sponsorship", which not only reflected his "high moral character", but also demonstrated the "fairness and rigor" of the organizing committee. It also caused some controversy and attention at the beginning of the announcement of the "Mao Dun Literature Award". At the same time, this controversy is obviously controllable...

It really kills three birds with one stone. The more I think about it, the better it gets!

However, no matter how wonderful it was, the three seniors could no longer tolerate Zhang Chao's dog-like behavior. Tie Ning said, "This... let's study it further. When will you return to Yanjing?"

Zhang Chao knew that the "technical sponsorship" was basically a done deal, so he said, "Not necessarily, but it will definitely be back in June! I'll let Ma Boyong and the others contact you about the sponsorship.

Let’s go, three teachers, see you later!”

Tie Ning, Wang Meng and others had no choice but to watch Zhang Chao leave in style.

As the three of them walked back, they carefully thought of the plan Zhang Chao had just proposed, and suddenly thought of something - there are quite a few young writers in "Chaotide Culture", not to mention Ma Boyong and Shuang Xuetao. It is said that there are no less than 30 people who have signed "literary agency" contracts with them. It is impossible for them to all avoid suspicion, right?
How can Zhang Chao be called "upright and noble"? He has clearly passed the buck to the Writers Association, while sitting on the Diaoyutai like Jiang Taigong.

Wang Meng said viciously: "We can't let him get away with it like this. When he returns to Yanjing in June, we must get him to work for the organizing committee!"

Tie Ning and Liu Heng nodded repeatedly like chicks pecking at rice, showing that they agreed with it.

The other writers were still in the open space in front of the lecture hall. When they saw the three people coming back, Yu Hua was the first to step forward and ask, "What did Zhang Chao say?"

Liu Heng looked at Yu Hua with disdain. He had just wanted to drag Yu Hua along, but the little brother said in tacit understanding that he was craving for cigarettes and wanted to smoke a cigarette. It is true that the teacher knows the disciple best. Tie Ning had changed his expression at this time, and said with a smile: "Regarding the "Mao Dun Literature Newcomer Award", I now have a better idea..."

……

Just as the Chinese literary world was in turmoil due to the trend stirred up by Zhang Chao, the Japanese literary world was also shaken by the publication of an essay and a novel.

Shincho, Japan's most influential pure literature magazine, found that its readers found that the June issue was significantly different from the previous ones - the cover was no longer simple, abstract, with a combination of bright color blocks and densely packed articles and author lists.

Instead, the entire design uses a yellowed, antique kraft paper texture with subtle wrinkles and signs of wear on the surface, simulating the texture of a notebook that has been eroded by time; there are traces of dark brown tea stains printed on the lower right corner, and two burnt brown "smoke holes" are superimposed on the top, through which the silhouette of the Beijing hutong at the bottom can be vaguely seen.

In the middle is a blurry male figure and the four characters "刑の栄光" (criminal Eikoh) written in burnt wooden type, with the edges of each character carbonized and cracked. Other than that, there is only a row of small characters: "どの程隊長を信じる？" (Which captain do you believe?)
This was obviously carefully designed. Shincho would only design a cover specifically for an important work that was considered to be "the work of the year" when it was published.

As a veteran reader of Shincho and a retired professor of the Faculty of Literature at Nagoya University, 77-year-old Kikuchi Shoya was immediately attracted by the cover. After opening the magazine, he skipped other content and went straight to Keiichi no Eiko.

The first is a paper titled "The Labyrinth of Memory: The Dialectics of Fiction and Reality in "Crime's Glory"" ("The Labyrinth of Memory: The Dialectics of Fiction and Reality in "Crime's Glory").

There are two author signatures, one is "Tosoh Akiyoshi" and the other is "Iizuka Yoshio".

Kikuchi Shoya only glanced at the beginning, frowned, and muttered to himself: "Chinese novel? Zhang Chao? It's really rare." As a professor in the Faculty of Literature, Kikuchi Shoya specializes in Japanese classical literature, but he also has outstanding insights into modern and contemporary novels.

In his impression, China has not produced an outstanding novelist for a long time. The last Chinese novelist who attracted attention in Japan was Wei Hui, who advocated "body writing". The sales of her "Shanghai Baby" in Japan were quite good, far exceeding the mere two or three thousand copies of Yu Hua, Mo Yan and others.

This type of novel mainly satisfies the curiosity of Japanese readers. As for whether the story in the novel is consistent with the real China, almost no one cares. This is also in line with the stereotype of China held by most Japanese readers, who believe that Chinese society is decadent, rigid, and materialistic.

Although Kikuchi Shoya was not so shallow, he still had his doubts about the fact that Shincho, which was always known for its seriousness and rigor, was so vigorously promoting a novel written by a Chinese.

However, the name "Iizuka Yoshio" among the authors and his long-established professional qualities still made him read the paper carefully.

【Chinese writer Zhang Chao’s novel “Crime Police Glory” vividly depicts the fragmented nature of memory through a three-dimensional metafictional structure. Three different stories about the life of criminal police captain Cheng are intertwined through the material medium of work notes, which reminds people of the “narrative strata” pursued by Kenji Nakagami.】

【It is worth noting that the narrator "I" collects old notes rather than old books. This reminds me of the "private novel deconstruction" attempted by Maruyama Kenji in "Rainy River", but "Crime Police Glory" goes a step further and visualizes the process of weaving fiction from the "fragments of life" of the self-notes. The structure of the different fragments of the novel is like an archaeological stratum, which is piled up in a disorderly manner, and has achieved a polyphonic nature that surpasses Oe Kenzaburo's "Letter to the Years I Miss." 】

[The "poor ex-husband" told by the old lady next door, the "destroyed hero" told by the middle-aged woman, and the "story of rebirth" told by Captain Cheng himself - the innovation of "Crime Police Glory" lies in the mutual penetration of fictional levels. 】

[It is particularly noteworthy that the boundary between fiction and reality dissolves when the third "I" appears - when Captain Cheng tells the "true story", the reader suddenly has to question the credibility of the narrator. This epistemological shift is a reconstruction of the question of "Does God exist?" in the postmodern context.]

[The greatest achievement of this work is to summon the reader as the "fourth narrator", just like the chiaroscuro in Caravaggio's paintings, the truth emerges between the interweaving of light and shadow. There are a lot of descriptions about the specific value of money and the corresponding purchasing power in the novel, and readers are forced to interpret the individual ethics of the Chinese people under the wave of market economy from the folds of numbers. ]

[“Crime Police Glory” goes beyond a simple metafictional experiment and has the social allegory of questioning the politics of memory. The truth of rumors in the streets, the subjective truth of the ex-wife’s resentment, and the truth of the self-interpretation of the author - the intersection of these narratives breeds new possibilities for East Asian literature in the 21st century.]

Kikuchi Akira also finished reading it quickly, and his expression became even more confused - according to the article, this "Kei no Eiko" actually has great literary value? And it was written by a young author in his early 20s?
This is unbelievable!
Then he saw at the end of the article that the current editor-in-chief of Shincho, "Yano Yuu", wrote a long "editor's note" for this paper, severely pointing out that the foreign writer Zhang Chao's creative concept of focusing on reality formed a sharp contrast with the increasingly frivolous atmosphere in the Japanese literary world.

[The literary treatment of economic symbols such as "32 yuan and 5 cents" in the novel contrasts with the tendency of Japanese "loose generation" writers to prefer abstract metaphors. Zhang Chao proved that accurate material records can become the key to cracking the code of the times. This ability to transform payment bills into literary images is the breakthrough that Heisei writers failed to achieve in "convenience store literature."]

[Zhang Chao no longer insists on poeticizing the sense of urban alienation, but injects the "information archaeology" thinking unique to the Internet era into literary creation, melting real data (income and expenditure records in work notes), fragmented perceptions of the changing times, and cognitive anxiety in a post-truth society (multiple truth games) into one, providing the most incisive instructions for stagnant Japanese literature.]

This paper, in turn, is an excerpt from the beginning of the novel "Keiken no Eikoku".

Kikuchi Akiya was full of curiosity and doubts, and immediately started reading the novel...

In the office of Professor Yoshio Iizuka in the Faculty of Letters at Chuo University in Japan, teacher and student Yoshio Iizuka and student Wang Zhenxu both took the June issue of "Shincho" and carefully read again the paper they had jointly completed.

Professor Iizuka smiled and said to Wang Zhenxu: "This article is indeed well written! Mr. Yano also gave you great affirmation!"

Wang Zhenxu immediately stood up, bowed deeply to Iizuka Rong, and said loudly: "This is all thanks to your good teaching, Professor!"

Iizuka Yoshio nodded with satisfaction. After the experience at Xiamen University, this student had obviously matured a lot - it seemed that Zhang Chaojun's "beating" of him was very successful.

The stunning debut of "Crime Police Glory" in "Xinchao" was partly the result of careful planning, but more importantly it was due to the huge reputation Zhang Chao won during his trip to the United States in April and the unimaginable success of the "Weibo" platform.

Suddenly, Zhang Chao's pure literary works, which were not favored by the Japanese publishing market, received great attention from publishing houses.

The translation of "Crime Police Glory" is nearing completion. Iizuka Yoshio originally planned to apply for the use of national public funds for the publication of the two "Yearbooks" he edited, but after May, various publishing houses began to compete for Zhang Chao's manuscripts.

After learning that Zhang Chao had authorized the two novels "Glory of the Detective" and "Young Babylon" to Iizuka Jun for translation and publication, they all came to Iizuka Jun.

After much deliberation, Iizuka Yoshio finally chose Shinchosha, the publisher of Shincho, to publish the magazine, which resulted in this special issue of Shincho magazine.

Professor Iizuka said to Wang Zhenxu: "The next thing is very important. Do you have the confidence to complete it?"

Wang Zhenxu bowed deeply again and said firmly: "Hi Yi! I will definitely complete this task!"

(End of this chapter)