Literary Master 1983

Chapter 288 There is no middle ground here
Yu Qie was extremely troubled by this situation where "the moon is always rounder in foreign countries".

Gunfire can be heard in the streets of Bogotá, the economy has been declining in recent years, and the army of drug traffickers can bring down the government.

You actually think it's not bad!

This visit, in addition to maintaining literary diplomatic relations with Colombia and its leaders, also served as a crucial "ice-breaking trip."

The matter is quite simple: a group of people meet in the United States, express their kinship, exchange literary insights, and then return to China to become icebreaker heroes.

During this time, it would be even better if someone could also boost their reputation in the United States, the world's strongest nation. Because beneath this literary exchange, there's actually a hidden quest to complete: "Whose literature is better?"

Right now, everyone thinks they're amazing, and no one is better than the other. If someone manages to achieve a better result, they'll naturally be rewarded even more.

Yu Guangzhong is certainly a patriotic poet, but he is not a flawless person in the eyes of mainlanders. Even in Taiwan, many people do not respect him and consider him a complete political opportunist.

For example, Li Ao, who was part of the visiting delegation, had written many articles criticizing Yu Guangzhong for being too obsequious to politics.

Yu Guangzhong did indeed write about it...

So, does Li Ao have no flaws?

Li Ao is a complete scoundrel; the things he's done that are utterly outrageous and morally reprehensible are too numerous to list. He's like the "Latin American" of the Chinese cultural sphere. Perhaps he'll take a jab at mainland writers? Or maybe he'll start spouting nonsense and saying things that aren't suitable for the press?
Moreover, there was also an anarchist named Nie Hualing, who had also gathered a group of followers.

……

In short, things didn't go as smoothly as expected.

However, there are some fools in the delegation. What if they go to Nie Hualing's place and write some terrible articles, become useless teammates, or suddenly fall ill and say something outrageous in public? How will Yu Qie, the head of the delegation, face them?

Yu Qie could only frequently hold meetings to emphasize this matter. "We must always remain vigilant! Although we are exchanging ideas, we must always be clear-headed about our stance."

Qian Zhongshu was responsible for playing the "good cop," conveying Yu Qie's key points to everyone in a gentler way after the meeting.

However, Qian Zhongshu also felt that Yu Qie seemed to be emphasizing it a bit too much.

As someone from the older generation who had some connection with Ma Shitu, Qian Zhongshu advised:

“Yu Qie, you still haven’t learned your teacher’s tact. Although he criticizes formalism, he himself is very good at handling things.”

"Your constant emphasis and questioning of the stance of those veteran comrades makes them lose face."

Yu Qie found it very difficult to remain calm after hearing this.

Well, even Qian Zhongshu is like that.

Yu Qie then came up with a plan to get back at Qian Zhongshu.

Qian Zhongshu has recently been studying oracle bone script and the Book of Changes.

During his visit to a museum in Colombia, he discovered that some primitive symbols in the local Latin American indigenous culture were similar to certain symbols from the Xia and Shang dynasties in China.

He found this very interesting; how could it be such a coincidence?
Few in the delegation were qualified to appreciate his research findings, but he couldn't resist showing off a little, so he came to Yu Qie to present his results.

Yu Qie commented, "I agree with you, but I think we need to expand it a bit more, don't be afraid to go too far."

"How much do you want to expand?" Qian Zhongshu asked, beaming with joy.

“I believe that American civilization is a descendant of Chinese civilization. Thousands of years ago, a group of people from the Xia and Shang dynasties... or even earlier, crossed the Bering Strait to the north and came to the Americas, bringing with them agricultural techniques and civilization achievements from the Central Plains.”

"Then, because the geological and cultural conditions of the Americas, as well as the climate conditions, are very different from those of East Asia, their civilization temporarily remained at the stage that we were at at that time."

Qian Zhongshu was taken aback: "What do you mean by that? What are you trying to say?"

"This shows that America is our promised land, and we are not visiting it, but returning to the old homeland of our ancestors."

"Jews can leave their land thousands of years later and return to that place with a single scripture to claim ownership. Aren't these proofs? The fertile land of America has long been stained with the blood of the Chinese people."

Qian Zhongshu was sweating profusely: "How could you view my research findings like that? You're trying to ruin me!"

Yu Qie immediately laughed and said, "You see, this is the consequence of talking nonsense. Although I said the words, you are the one who bears the consequences."

Qian Zhongshu was a very cautious man, and Yu Qie's joke startled him. As a result, Qian Zhongshu later became the political commissar of the delegation, emphasizing the importance of stance and the need for careful consideration in communication every day.

Instead, Yu Qie started to play the good cop, hoping that Deputy Commander Qian wouldn't be too harsh on everyone.

"Don't distrust our veteran comrades so much. Veteran comrades shouldn't be made to make things difficult for each other!"

By mid-April, Yu Qie had already translated many works by the Latin American literary giant Pablo Neruda.

After being proofread, the manuscripts were sent back to China, becoming some of the few translations in Yu Qie's literary career.

Wang Meng teased him, "You've become a complete expert on Latin American literature. The last time I ran into the boss, he said he hoped you would come back and train them."

Neruda won the Nobel Prize in 72 and is best known for his poetry. Therefore, translating his works is relatively quick.

In translating Neruda's poetry, Yu Qie gained a deeper understanding of Latin American history and why Latin American literary giants all exhibited extreme openness regarding gender relations:
Surprisingly, this is also related to the colonists!
Latin America has a large mixed-race population, including people of Asian, white, and black descent, living together in equality. It is more deserving of being called a melting pot of ethnicities than the United States.

Historically, the indigenous people of Latin America were predominantly of East Asian descent. When the first Western white settlers arrived in the Americas, they brought with them enslaved Africans. These enslaved Africans intermarried with other conquered indigenous groups, resulting in a population of East Asian and Black people… This is the origin of the "Black" character in Latin America.

After conquering this land, these white people who held power intermarried with the more attractive natives, thus giving the continent a white hue.

That's not all; yellow-black people also intermarried with yellow-white people, which further complicated the bloodline.

At the same time, white people did not consider their "mixed-race" offspring as their own. In their eyes, they were still a type of slave, slightly superior to slaves. They selected the most beautiful and virginal slaves from among them—even though these slaves were their own children! This continued, resulting in inbreeding, and these inbreeds remained slaves. Slave owners forced these inbreeds to breed further, just like animals. This became the cultural root of Latin America's "incredibly open" attitude towards sex.

Their sexual chaos is essentially a bitter consequence of complete subjugation and violence. Social order has completely spiraled out of control, and an order unlike any other continent has emerged here.

In "One Hundred Years of Solitude," Gabriel García Márquez wrote many absurd scenes. Many people who read this think that Márquez is practicing magical realism again, but in fact, this is indeed the reality that Márquez saw.

In fact, Márquez's maternal grandmother and grandfather were cousins. Therefore, he wrote at the beginning of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" that José married his cousin Ursula.

……

Yu Qie squatted in Colombia translating Neruda's poems, which also had a bit of an enlightenment feel to it.

Neruda started by writing love poems, then he wrote war poems when he was a guerrilla, and political poems when he was a member of parliament... he could write about anything.

In the past, Yu Qie copied, adapted, and adapted... but now this approach has been rejected by the Western literary world. He has to do what Neruda did: combine cultural background with research to develop a new interpretation.

Otherwise, let alone adaptation and adaptation, even a direct word-for-word translation would be disastrous.

Here's an example: Qian Zhongshu's wife, Yang Jiang.

Yu Qie and Qian Zhongshu were chatting when they talked about Yang Jiang's translation of Plato's short dialogue "Phaedo," which is widely regarded as the worst translation ever made.

The entire text is filled with fabrications and far-fetched connections. The version of Phaedo that Yang Jiang encountered was written in Latin. Because Yang Jiang did not understand Latin, he chose to translate the English version, which directly limited the level of the translation that could be achieved.

Then, surprisingly, even though she had studied at Oxford University in the UK for many years, she didn't know many basic cultural facts.

For example, she translated "music" literally as "music," but this word actually evolved from the ancient Greek word "mousikē," which in the text refers to "activities that heal the soul," and can be translated as education; if one had to find a specific activity to represent "education," it would generally refer to literature rather than music.

Qian Zhongshu said, "I told you, her skill level is less than one percent of mine!"

Then, when Márquez learned that Yu Qie was studying Latin American literature, he was very excited and began to train Yu Qie in the way Hemingway wrote.

Hemingway's writing style is the "academic" style of modern literature.

Gabriel García Márquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold was adapted from Hemingway's work. This "academic" writing style, combined with his personal talent, made Márquez one of the most popular writers in the Western world.

After learning this writing model, Yu Qie progressed rapidly, drawing upon countless classic Western works for reference. In terms of humanoid AI, he was far superior to Qian Zhongshu.

“You are following the path I once took,” Márquez remarked with admiration.

Yu Qie couldn't help but ask, "What I'm learning now is, in essence, a Western literary writing technique. It doesn't affect my ability to write novels in China. I can only use it when writing novels in English or other languages. Isn't that too narrow-minded?"

Marquez shook his head and said, "Hemingway was a well-known communist, which led to him being monitored by the authorities and suffering from depression and extreme anxiety... I once visited the United States and in a very high-end hotel, I found the record player to be very strange. When I opened the record player, I found a listening device the size of a button inside."

"I was furious, but everyone was just giving me the runaround and no one gave me justice. So I had no choice but to write an article in an American newspaper, rant and rave, which caused some minor impact and helped me get some justice."

“Gabor, you mean…”

Márquez said, "If you have an AK, it's Chinese in your hands, but Colombian in mine."

Yu Qie immediately understood.

He was free from any psychological burden and devoted himself wholeheartedly to studying writing techniques.

Gabriel García Márquez was a journalist who traveled to many countries and regions and developed a set of universal templates—basically a modified version of Hemingway's writing style.

He armed himself with this "dragon-slaying technique," which enabled him to achieve a reputation surpassing that of other Latin American literary giants. Although his novels are considered obscure by later generations, they were highly readable in their time, captivating even foreigners.

Now, Yu Qie only lacks an opportunity to practice, and that opportunity will come soon.

Colombia, a tropical country, enters its rainy season in April. The region has experienced daily rainfall exceeding 100 milliliters, a standard heavy downpour. The delegation's accommodation in Bogotá nearly flooded, and news reports indicated that more than ten people died.

While in the hotel, everyone watched the news on television and was shocked by the low-lying houses in the news. These houses were mostly made of wood and plywood, and once there was a heavy rain, they would be destroyed wherever the water flowed, just like fallen leaves being blown away by the wind.

The government initially wanted to provide relief to these poor people, but Colombia is a place where the central order is not strong. Apart from the drug lord Pablo, each region has its own power, and each street has its own families... They are like leeches, clinging to the heads of the poor and sucking their blood, taking away any money they can get.

News reports soon surfaced that "disaster relief funds had been embezzled," and after this happened several times, the government had no choice but to announce that the relief efforts were coming to an end.

Some members of the delegation only began to realize, before leaving Colombia, that the country was not as wonderful as they had imagined.

Yu Qie also took notice of this matter and discussed this strange phenomenon with Márquez—the authorities gave in so easily.

Márquez dismissed the idea, saying, "This kind of thing happens every day in Colombia. There was a case where a judge sentenced a drug lord's henchman to death, and then his wife and daughter were murdered, their bodies covered in ravaged marks, while the drug lord continued to roam free."

"You ask why there are so many murders here? Because when we are angry, the only way to express ourselves is with bullets. There is no middle ground."

"Either surrender or run out of bullets."

The place where Yu Qie and Márquez were talking was the same restaurant they had visited before. Shortly after they left the restaurant, a massacre occurred in the area, in which a middle-aged man shot and killed 29 strangers.

Yu Qie rushed to the scene, and thanks to Marquez's connections, he quickly learned the whole story. The murderer was born in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, and was a former U.S. soldier who had fought in the Vietnam War.

After returning to his hometown, he worked as an English teacher at a school, earning a meager income and living in poverty. His greatest pride was having served the United States, yet no one in Colombia appreciated this.

So he chose to go on a killing spree, killing far more of his compatriots than he had accomplished as a soldier.

Because so many people were shot and killed, the incident immediately made headlines in major Latin American media outlets. It also received widespread coverage in the United States.

While Yu Qie lamented the terrible thing that happened in Colombia, he also realized: retired veterans, the United States, a shooting that killed dozens of people, and a huge media frenzy... these were excellent creative materials.

(End of this chapter)