Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 367: The Great Social Death of Contemporary Chinese Literature

“This is… contemporary Chinese literature in Japan?”

Members of the "Chinese Young Writers Delegation to Japan" stood on the second floor of the Shinjuku main store of Kinokuniya, Japan's largest chain bookstore, and looked at the long line downstairs.

This team is mainly composed of young people between 20 and 30 years old, with slightly more women than men, some of whom look like students; in addition, there are about to percent who look more mature in society, including many office workers in suits.

Many of them were talking to each other excitedly, holding books or rolled-up posters in their hands.

There were also many young girls waving homemade cheering flags in their hands, with the most eye-catching words on them being: "Zhang Chao".

"It's really popular..." Li Shasha sighed.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were suddenly focused on him, Li Shasha quickly said, "Isn't what I said the truth? Isn't it the same at the symposium..."

This made everyone lose their temper.

We had a discussion with young Japanese writers just two days ago. Strangely, Zhang Chao did not appear at the event, but the topic still revolved around Zhang Chao.

Nanae Aoyama, who just won the "Akutagawa Prize" this year, accidentally revealed the truth: "In fact, everyone admires Zhang Chao-sang very much. They think that not only his works have a unique charm, but he also has a strong temperament that is rare among Japanese writers.

But if it’s in a formal setting, the pressure is just too great.”

The youngest winner of the Akutagawa Prize, the sweet-looking Lisa Wataya, also added: "It is said that Zhang Chao-san is a very considerate and humorous man in private, but as a conversation partner, he is simply a tiger."

Kanehara Hitomi, who only had long golden-red hair, looked indifferent: "It doesn't matter who comes, right?"

The fact that three Japanese female writers mentioned Zhang Chao in succession changed the atmosphere at the scene, especially the female writers from China, who almost all developed a subtle sense of pride and vigilance.

Especially since they all dress cutely and delicately and are just over 20 years old, Chinese female writers are inevitably outshined in terms of dressing style.

Regardless of China or Japan, male writers were a little "jealous". After all, the fact that several ladies seemed to be more interested in Zhang Chao who was not present aroused the men's inner sense of competition.

Those who are familiar with literary history know that large-scale symposiums and field trips also have a high hormone index.

In the early 80s, during a literary seminar, several male writers got into a fight at a train station because of jealousy. In the end, they were all knocked to the ground by the experienced Zhang Xianliang. They could only watch him and the white moonlight in everyone's heart board the train...

The "absenceism" proposed by Zhang Chao to Kenzaburo Oe in a TV interview also became the focus of discussion. Nakamura Fuminori, who has won the Shinchosha Newcomer Award and the Mishima Yukio Award, asked: "Are all young Chinese writers as ambitious as Zhang Chao-san?
It takes a lot of courage to come up with your own theory!"

This made the other young writers at the scene feel extremely embarrassed. Although Zhang Chao was "not present", there seemed to be a pair of invisible eyes at the scene, smiling at the topics that revolved around him.

In this situation, the only two people who could remain calm at the scene were probably Ma Boyong and Shuang Xuetao. After all, they had enough contact with Zhang Chao and were not dazzled by his halo.

Shuang Xuetao said directly: "'Absenceism' is Zhang Chao's personal literary insight. Personally, I still like to immerse myself in the blueprint and experience enough strong emotions to form a strong enough urge to write.

Writing a novel is essentially about creating something that does not exist in the world. As long as the core of this fiction is strong enough, then whether it is "present" or "absent", it is enough to make the text have powerful insight.

"Absenceism" is ultimately a personal opinion and is not a criterion for creation!"

After Shuang Xuetao finished speaking, the Japanese writers looked at him in surprise, wondering whose general he was and how could he be so brave!

Even Chinese writers were quite surprised, thinking that Shuang Xuetao was so bold? Zhang Chao was his boss!

Only Shuang Xuetao looked at his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose. After he finished speaking, he sat back in his seat, thinking back to the phone call Zhang Chao made to him last night:

"Laoshuang, criticize me as hard as you can tomorrow. The more intense the better... Yes, don't be polite... If you don't know how to do it... I'll teach you..."

However, after Shuang Xuetao's "fuss", the topic of the scene finally shifted away from Zhang Chao, and everyone began to talk enthusiastically about their own literary ideas.

Shuang Xuetao also successfully attracted the attention of reporters who were following the event on site. After the seminar, he was specially kept for a small interview.

The next day, a report titled "Shuang Xuetao: Gazer from the Black Water and White Mountains" appeared in the cultural section of the Asahi Shimbun.

Ma Boyong, who came with him, also attracted much attention because this year Kadokawa Shoten introduced and published his "The Wind Rises in Longxi", so they specially contacted another major newspaper, "Maichi Shimbun", to do an exclusive interview with Ma Boyong: "Ma Boyong: A Genius Who Deconstructs the Three Kingdoms".

Just when other Chinese writers were secretly jealous of their good fortune, Zhang Chao suddenly gave everyone a surprise:
He and Kadokawa Books will hold a large-scale on-site signing and reader lecture at the Kinokuniya Shinjuku main store, giving everyone a chance to make an appearance.

This will turn the exchange activities from paper talk into the physical sense of "Contemporary Chinese Literature in Japan"!

Zhang Chao is using his "traffic" to create momentum for everyone. Although people should stay away from him because of their noble character as "literati", many people are still very tempted when they think that they can use this to bring their works into the Japanese market.

After all, the price of books in Japan is much higher than that in China, and if there is an international market, it can also boost domestic sales and negotiate higher royalties with publishers.

This is all hard-earned money. After all, being noble and noble cannot make a living.

As for why Zhang Chao suddenly became so "generous", no one thought about it carefully.

At this time, Zou Guangming came over and reminded: "Zhang Chao's book signing is about to end. There will be a reader lecture next. Everyone go upstairs and get ready."

The Shinjuku main store of "Kini Kuniya Bookstore" is 9 stories high, with a total area of ​​over 5000 square meters. There is a relatively large activity center on the 7th floor, where regular exhibitions, lectures and other activities are held.

Everyone went up to the 7th floor and entered the activity center. They found that it was quite large, nearly 300 square meters, and was already full of enthusiastic readers. However, it was not noisy, and most people just sat there quietly.

The arrival of the delegation caused a small commotion. Almost all Japanese readers who were close to the delegation stood up and saluted, which made many people flattered.

Some people also applauded their arrival softly.

Sun Rui, who wrote "In the Grass", was a little puzzled. He whispered to Wang Zhenxu who was walking in front of him, "Didn't Zhang Chao 'piss off' their mayor? Why is he so polite to us?"

Wang Zhenxu explained helplessly: "Many people don't like Ishihara, especially young people. Zhang Chao is now the symbol of 'cool' in the hearts of young Japanese people..."

Sun Rui nodded with sudden realization.

There was an empty area in front of the venue, with three rows of chairs facing the readers, for them to sit on. After everyone was seated, Wang Zhenxu, as the host, walked to the microphone and said to the readers who participated in the event: "Thank you for waiting, Zhang Chaosang will be here soon.

The young writers sitting here are representatives from China. Zhang Chaosang is a unique literary talent in China, East Asia, and even the world, but there are still many other geniuses in the vast Chinese mainland.

Zhang Chaosang wants to take this opportunity to let them get to know everyone."

There was a burst of applause from the audience. It wasn’t enthusiastic, but it was definitely not polite applause either. Zhang Chao’s appearance successfully aroused the interest of Japanese readers in Chinese writers.

Wang Zhenxu took out a piece of paper from his pocket and saw the content on it. Although it was not the first time, his face still turned red for some reason.

But now that things have come to this, I have no choice but to go ahead with it.

And the young writers sitting there didn't know what was going to happen next -

“The first to appear next is - "Apocalypse of Steel and Ice and Snow", Shuang Xuetao! He has a steel will transformed by the fierce wind and snow in the Northeast, and the magical realism in his works is as cold and profound as the apocalypse..."

Shuang Xuetao, who was watching the show below, was stunned after hearing the translation. What kind of nickname can only be given by a level 10 Chuunibyou? It's "Apocalypse". Why don't you just say I'm "Revelation"?

After hearing this, the other writers tried their best to control their smiles. It was only after Ma Boyong patted him on the shoulder that Shuang Xuetao stood up as if awakened from a dream. He showed a smile uglier than crying and bowed to the readers in the audience.

But I didn't expect that Japanese readers would be so fond of him. When they saw his thin figure and scruffy beard, they burst into exclamations and applause. From the sound of the voices, most of the readers were female.

After Shuang Xuetao sat down, before anyone could tease him, Wang Zhenxu announced the next name:
"Next is the "time-space twisting mechanic", Ma Boyong! The historical suspense novels he created are like precision machinery, good at twisting the logic of time and space, and the ingenious structure is like a masterpiece of a skilled craftsman!"

The smile on Ma Boyong's face froze, while Shuang Xuetao's mouth corners widened.

This is the law of conservation of smile - a smile will never disappear, it will only transfer from one person's face to another.

It was Shuang Xuetao's turn. He poked Ma Boyong hard and whispered, "Magician, it's your turn!"

Ma Boyong had no choice but to stand up stiffly and bow to the readers in the audience. The smile on his face was uglier than crying.

After sitting down, the two looked at each other: "So Zhang Chao is waiting for us here!"

The other young Chinese writers had already sensed that something was wrong, but it was too late to leave now, so they could only let Wang Zhenxu call them up one by one to "execute" them.

"The Iron Mask of the Lost City", Sun Rui. His works always focus on the confusion of urban youth. His style is like wearing a mask to hide the true self, wandering and disillusioned in the steel jungle. "

"The Unicorn of Wanjuanlou", Zhang Jiawei. He is a man of many talents and knowledge, like the incarnation of a library. He is proficient in both literature and sports. He is a rare all-rounder!"

"Li Juan, the singer of the mountain soul. Her prose is as pure as the Altai forest, endowed with images of natural spiritual praise. Just reading it once, you can be in the snowy land, forests and grasslands of the Tianshan Mountains."

"The tear gland blaster, Zhang Jiajia. He is good at writing touching and sad stories, and can use words to penetrate the readers' tear glands. He is a destroyer of the heart's defenses. Be sure to prepare tissues when reading this."

“Lu Min, the prospector of the abyss of the soul. This female writer is best at digging for the deep veins of human psychology, and her writing also has the calm and sharp insight of a prospector.”

"'Rhapsody of Hometown', Li Shasha. His works not only have the collision of hometown flavor and youthful restlessness, but are also as simple and fiery as crazy poems, and you can touch the pulse of the land."

“The Songstress in the Dreamy Mirror Box”, by Zhang Yueran. Her brushstrokes are like a mirror reflecting the subtle light and shadow of a girl’s mood. The box contains fragments of youth and dreams, which are both beautiful and alienated. ”

"'A Hundred Demons of Shushan Night Walker', Yan Ge. She reconstructs the countryside with magical narratives in Sichuan dialect. The city life in her writing is like a foreign world where hundreds of demons roam, giving the demons and monsters human warmth. "

"The Broken Chapter Knight of the Deserted City", Yi Zhou. He dissects the spiritual wasteland of modern people with a cold brushstroke, like a lone knight holding a pen as a sword, picking up the broken poems of the soul in the ruins of steel. "

……

The Japanese readers in the audience became more and more curious as they listened. The young Chinese writers who came here today all had a rather cool nickname that summarized the characteristics of their works, making people want to read them immediately.

There is only one thing that is not good: the smile is too forced. But maybe it is because of shyness?
"So kawaii~~~" A JK who looked only seventeen or eighteen years old sitting in the first row made such an exclamation.

The young writers on the stage were already feeling very uncomfortable. Although many of them were born in the 80s and grew up watching Japanese anime, movies and TV series, and knew about the Japanese second-year habit of giving nicknames, they never thought that they would become the protagonist one day.

What a large-scale social death scene this is!
"Qilin Child", "Iron Mask", "Broken Chapter Knight", "Explosive Demon"... If these were to be spread back to China, I would probably be laughed to death by my friends.

No, after the event is over, we must form an offensive and defensive alliance and never let it get out!

Not everyone was dissatisfied. Team leader Zou Guangming and Kadokawa Shoten's chief editor of translation literature Mineo Noguchi, who was observing readers' reactions at the sidelines, were all very happy.

The former has not been "polluted" by Japanese pop culture. They just think that although these nicknames are a bit exaggerated, they have left a deep impression on Japanese readers and are very helpful for Chinese literature to "go global".

Miteo Noguchi took detailed notes on the enthusiasm of readers' responses when different writers emerged, and planned to select a few of them and translate their works into Chinese, hoping to make a fortune while Zhang Chao's popularity was still high.

Wang Zhenxu's back was soaked as he stood in front of the microphone.

If gazes could become reality, he would have been riddled with holes by the "hidden arrows" behind him.

At this moment, the door of the activity center was pushed open. Everyone turned around to look at the door, only to see a tall male figure standing with his back to the light. For a moment, they couldn't see his face clearly.

I only heard him say in Chinese: "There are still two people missing——

"The rebellious swordsman who controls the wind", Han Han!

"The Puppet Master of Phantom City", Xiao Si!"

Only then did everyone see clearly who was coming, it was the protagonist of today——

"The Writer of the Empire", Zhang Chao!

(End of this chapter)