"To live is to seek." "People and literary works are connected, and I feel that I am alive." "So the mere act of 'living' is also creating or creating in a sense." "In the content of literature and art, there is everything about human life." "The expression of one's own life is the expression of one's personality; The expression of individuality is the creation of life. ”…… The posthumous work "The Symbol of Bitterness" by Japan literary theorist Chukawa Hakumura, translated by Lu Xun, has been used as a lecture note for courses in Peking University, Beijing Normal University, Beijing Women's Normal University and other universities, and has continuously aroused nostalgia and interpretation for future generations. Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House launched "The Symbol of Bitterness", based on the second volume of the 1929 Japan Reform Society's "Complete Works of Chuchuan Baicun", and includes Lu Xun's first edition of the introduction and translation notes.
Scholar and literary critic Chef Hakumura Kawakawa (1880-1923), whose name was Tatsuo Kawa, was born in Kyoto City and graduated from Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo). In 1923, during the Great Kanto Earthquake, he died in a tsunami in Kamakura. The literary criticism work "The Symbol of Bitterness" is his representative work. In addition, works such as "Ten Lectures on Modern Literature" and "Out of the Ivory Tower" had a profound impact on the literary and artistic circles and even society of Japan and China at that time.
The symbol of anguish, that is, the anguish and frustration that arises from the suppression of vitality, is the root of literature and art, and its expression is symbolism in a broad sense. This is Chuchuan Baicun's summary of the essence of literary and artistic works. This statement has influenced a number of writers in the history of modern Chinese literature, such as Yu Dafu, Tian Han, Feng Zikai, etc., all of whom have been mentioned in their respective works.
"The Symbol of Bitterness" is written to creators, including but not limited to writers, dramatists, musicians, painters, calligraphers, producers, etc. Chukawa Shiramura believes that the pain and depression in life are the source of literary and artistic creation. When people face difficulties and setbacks in life, they will have a strong emotional response, and this emotional response is bitterness. Boredom is a common phenomenon of human emotion, which can stimulate people's creativity and imagination, and prompt people to express their inner world through literary and artistic creation. Therefore, boredom has become the driving force and source of literary and artistic creation. To create is to create a dream to express one's life. The essence of creation is to stand in an absolutely free state of mind and express the only world of individuality, which is a pure expression of life, and can be completely free from the repression and coercion of the outside world. In "The Symbol of Bitterness", Shiramura also put forward a series of methodologies on literary and artistic creation. First of all, he believes that literary and artistic creation should be based on life, drawing materials and inspiration from life. Secondly, he advocated that literary and artistic creation should pay attention to the beauty of form and pursue the expressiveness and appeal of art. In addition, he also emphasized that literary and artistic creations should have individuality and originality, and avoid falling into the quagmire of imitation and repetition. This book tells the creator how to express himself and personality from "heart" to "form", and describes the mental image hidden in his chest.
This book is also written for connoisseurs. Chuchuan Baicun believes that the function of literary and artistic works has two main aspects: one is as a way of emotional catharsis, helping people release their inner pain and depression; The second is to disseminate the wisdom and spirit of mankind as a carrier of ideas. Literary and artistic works can help people understand themselves, understand the world, and improve their spiritual realm. At the same time, literary and artistic works can also stimulate people's creativity and imagination and promote the development of human civilization. Reading is to enter into other people's dreams to heal yourself. Do you often have unspeakable emotions when you read a book or enjoy a work of art, but you don't know where it comes from? The flow of emotions is based on the common feeling between people. And the appreciation of art is that the experience of the creator resonates with the connoisseur. This book tells the connoisseur that the "connoisseur" is not a layman in literature and art, but an important role in constructing the complete flow of a work of art.
This book is also written for people who often think about "the meaning of my life", "why do I feel depressed", and "what is the use of literature and art". Man cannot truly see himself, nor can he experience the lives of others, but he can recognize his own kind. Literary and artistic works are such mirrors. In the moment of suffering, through the common experience, we find ourselves alive, and in the mirror hung by the creator, we see the posture of our soul, and see the infinite extension and possibility of our life. Chukawa Shiramura believes that the essence of literary and artistic works is a symbol of boredom. The emotions, characters, plots and other elements in literary and artistic works are symbolic expressions of the author's pain and depression in real life. Through this symbolic expression, the author can show his inner world to the reader, so that the reader can resonate with it, so as to obtain spiritual comfort. At the same time, this symbolic expression also makes literary and artistic works have a deeper connotation and a wider universality.
In 1923, Chuchuan Shiramura died due to a tsunami. Chuchuan Baicun expanded the scope of the word literature and art, not only literature, plays, sculptures, pictures, etc., but also included prayers and sacrifices, and even pointed out his point in the text: "In literature and art, there is everything in human life, not just good, evil, beauty and ugliness. ”
The book consists of four chapters, which respectively describe the function of literature and art in dissipating, evacuating and depressing, how to play a role in the individual, how it plays a role in the times and the whole society, and to what extent it is important. The first chapter is about how distress works in creators. "It is the greatest pain for man to become a monster of a machine that is only moved by a force that is forced from without; If, on the other hand, labor is prompted by the inner demands of one's own personality, it is often pleasure, pleasure. The same is the labor of moving stones and planting trees to build a garden, and it is painful for a gardener who is ordered by his employer or threatened by the threat of hardship to make a living. However, in the same matter, when the rich village man does it himself for the sake of his own heart's requirements, it is obviously a pleasure and a pastime. It can be seen that there is no essential difference between labor and pleasure in the first place. In other words, it is not labor itself that suffers, but only demands that come from outside, that is, coercion and oppression. The life of people living in modern times is the same as that of horses pulling wagons on the streets. From the outside, it was really a horse-drawn cart. On the horse's side, there may be a meaning of thinking that he is pulling the cart away. But it's not. It was not a horse-drawn cart, but a cart pushing the horse to make it go. For without the suppression of chariots and yokes, there is no need for horses to run in sweat and panting. In today's world, those who fly rickshaws from morning to night, thinking that they are excellent activists, are actually living a life one step away from the poor horses, only they don't feel it, but they are just proud. According to Schiller, in his famous Essayal of Aesthetic Education, play is an activity when the intentions and obligations of the laborer are reconciled. The meaning of the phrase "people are fully human only when they play" means that people are not forced by external forces, but only move by their own inner requirements, and it is the game that creates life freely. The words of the world's noble labors and cheap games are either the fallacies of people who are paralyzed by the eternal coercion of slavery, or the arbitrary nonsense that the absolutists and capitalists have conceived for themselves. Think about it, can there be a life in the world that is more noble than the self-expression of creative life? ”
It is important to note that Chapter 2 is especially useful for us ordinary readers, as much of the theoretical work focuses on the creator and neglects the equally important "connoisseur". Many times, "connoisseurs" laugh at themselves as laymen of literature and art, thinking that art appreciation is a very profound activity and "can't understand it"; Or you can only vaguely feel the ecstasy in your heart when you see a painting or read a good book, and you don't know why, you can't communicate with outsiders, just because there is no relevant basis for expression. And this book is not only for the creator, but also for the "connoisseur", thus constructing a complete flow of artworks.
"The Symbol of Bitterness" was also combined with the achievements of new disciplines such as psychoanalysis and sexual psychology at that time, expanding the scope of "literature and art" and returning to "people" themselves. There are many works on this theme in the theoretical books of literary and artistic creation, but they are basically large academic works or even academic work systems. It seems that there are not many people like "The Symbol of Bitterness" that expounds this theme clearly in 50,000 words.
In the dissemination of this book in China, Mr. Lu Xun's translation is the most critical bridge and recognized as an irreplaceable component. However, due to the distance of the times, the development of academic research, and the evolution of Chinese, some key words in Mr. Lu Xun's translation have brought reading difficulties to contemporary readers, and they may no longer be used and cannot be understood; Or the shape is used but has completely pointed to another meaning, bringing misinterpretation; Or it is difficult to match the common translation of the time. This largely limits the book's impact.
In the process of editing this edition published by Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House, the publishing house took the second volume of the Complete Works of Chuchuan Baicun published by the Reform Society in 1929 as the base, and decided to make a minimum revision of Mr. Lu Xun's translation after repeated reading and comparison of the translation, the original text, and the relevant academic works of key words. There are two criteria, one is to retain Mr. Lu Xun's translation and understanding of this work in its original form, and the other is to allow contemporary readers to read it fluently and without barriers. (Reader Daily all-media reporter He Jian)