Text/Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Wang Junjie Liu Chaoxia
Photo/Courtesy of respondents
Are there any rules for novel writing? Where are the boundaries of contemporary Chinese literature?
On the afternoon of November 6th, Huo Xiangjie, a pioneering writer dedicated to the creation of nonlinear experimental literature, came to Guangzhou Fangsuo Bookstore with his new book "The Complete Works of Copper Seats", and together with Xie Youshun, professor of the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University, Young Writer Wang William and poet Shi Bin, shared with readers the writing process of "The Complete Works of Copper Seats" and the new changes in contemporary Chinese novels.
Guests exchanged views at the sharing session
Huo Xiangjie was born in Guilin in the 1970s and now lives in Beijing. In the domestic literary world, Huo Xiangjie is an "outlier" dedicated to pioneering exploration, which is called "the ghost coiled above Chinese literature". His first novel, Local Knowledge, was published in October 2010 and shortlisted for the Mao Dun Literature Prize. In the 2017 Winter Issue of Harvest, Huo Xiangjie's second novel, The Chronicle of spirit, was published, which is believed to embody Huo Xiangjie's unique complex texture aesthetic with a non-linear temporal narrative.
Huo Xiangjie was at the sharing meeting
Published in July this year, the Complete Works of copper seats is an addition to Huo Xiangjie's previously published novel "Local Knowledge", which uses ancient Chinese local chronicles and anthropological thick description techniques to detail everything in the virtual village of "Copper Seat", including territory, language, and customs.
The Complete Works of the Bronze Seat: An encyclopedic text
Both guests and readers at the event admitted that The Complete Works of the Bronze Seat is an almost impossible book to read. The book not only has nearly 1,000 pages and a huge length of 800,000 words, but also a large number of anthropological terms, ancient languages, dialects, etc. interspersed with the text have brought great difficulties to reading. To understand this book, it is necessary to review the creative path of the author Huo Xiangjie.
The book focuses on the real prototype of the "copper seat" in a small village in the Guilin region of Guangxi, and the author Huo Xiangjie has carried out a lot of literature reading and fieldwork to observe all aspects of this village from an anthropological perspective, so this book has a kind of academic book color. However, this book is still a fictional text, and Huo Xiangjie refined and processed the collected materials, and set up a structure with reference to the local chronicle writing method, and finally completed the so-called "one city, one place encyclopedia" style text writing.
Huo Xiangjie admitted that he also encountered many challenges when writing the book, and it was very draining to stabilize the structure and write in depth for such a large-scale work. In recalling the process of solving difficulties, the Qing Dynasty historian Zhang Xuecheng was a person that Huo Xiangjie repeatedly mentioned. Huo Xiangjie said that Zhang Xuecheng's two propositions inspired him, one is "the six classics are all history", Zhang Xuecheng believes that the scriptures can also be viewed as history books, this concept helped Huo Xiangjie break through the barriers of literature and no longer stick to the traditional way of writing novels; the other is The Fang Zhixue viewpoint put forward by Zhang Xuecheng, which allows Huo Xiangjie to clarify the writing method of Fang Zhi's novels, that is, "one city and one place encyclopedia".
The guests recited the works in dialect
At the event site, Xie Youshun, professor of the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University, also affirmed the positive significance of the Complete Works of Copper Seats in exploring the style of the novel. Xie Youshun believes that there is no shortage of good stories in China with people as the protagonists, but there are relatively few literary creations with ideas and knowledge as the main body, and "The Complete Works of the Copper Seat" is a useful attempt. At the same time, the cross-genre writing method of the Complete Works of the Copper Seat also alludes to the original textual state of literature such as the Analects and the Bible, that is, a "writing style that is not limited by style".
Young novelist Wang William believes that Huo Xiangjie's novel form can be traced back to the original style of ancient Chinese novels, that is, "Barnyard Official Wild History", which is a kind of documentary-style literary creation with prototypes and materials. The poet Shibin summed up his views with the word "landscape", arguing that "the text of the novel is a landscape, and the author is a landscape". ShiBin quoted the avant-garde poet Hai Hai's evaluation of Huo Xiangjie, that is, "an incredible person is doing impossible works", which reflects Huo Xiangjie's strong creative energy and pioneering nature in the forefront of the times.
"I would like my work to be crystal-like, stable and clear"
After the sharing meeting, the Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter interviewed Huo Xiangjie, and the artist who walked in the forefront of the times had his own views on literature, art, and even nature.
Yang Wan: Hello Teacher Huo, you have spent many years writing this "Complete Works of Copper Seats", which can be said to be a very courageous thing, what kind of thinking have you been thinking about, would you like to create such a work?
Huo Xiangjie: I have only completed three products (works) so far, but it took twenty years. I pursue a way of writing called non-linear temporal narratives, which is very difficult. Every time I build a structure, or a model, for every work, it's a very difficult process. At the same time, I will compress a lot of information in my novels in order to bring more energy to the reader.
Yang Wan: Why did you ask your grandfather to write the preface to the Complete Works of the Bronze Seat?
Huo Xiangjie: My grandfather was of the older generation, with different perspectives, and he had been a civil servant and had some preliminary investigations. In terms of writing, it is through him to distance a distance and give readers a new perspective, which is a narrative technique.
Sheep Evening: What was your state when you were writing?
Huo Xiangjie: In my early years of practicing in the temple, I learned a way to concentrate, which is to retreat. When I need to concentrate on building the structure of my work, I choose to write alone. Another method is "stop talking", because speaking will consume a lot of energy, and I can better devote myself to creation without speaking.
Yang Wan: You emphasize the structure and logic of the works, what kind of works do you want to see?
Huo Xiangjie: I hope that my work will be in a crystal state after completion, the internal structure is very stable, and at the same time it is very clear and transparent, very beautiful.
Sheep Evening: Do you have any writing plans in the near future?
Huo Xiangjie: I also have a novel about family history that is about to be published, about 300,000 or 400,000 words. Family fiction is hard to write, and there are too many excellent works around the world. In the past fifty years, the most difficult family novel to surpass should be "White Deer Plain", and I want to challenge it.
(For more news, please pay attention to Yangcheng Pie pai.ycwb.com)
Source | Yangcheng Evening News • Yangcheng Pie
Editor-in-charge | Shi Peilin
【Source: Yangcheng Evening News】
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author, if there is an error in the source or infringement of your legitimate rights and interests, you can contact us through the mailbox, we will deal with it in a timely manner. Email address: [email protected]