The "Political Science" of the Daily Book | The Narrative of Literary History

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Contents

Red, Yellow, and Blue: The "Politics" of Color: The Compilation of the "History of Red Literature" in 1958

Death and rebirth? --Mayakovsky of contemporary China

III. Writing Through Contemporary Literary History: An Interview with Professor Hong Zicheng

Editor's Introduction

Text | Li Songrui

It's all empty words, empty words, empty words.

When Polonius inquired about the contents of the book Hamlet was holding, the Danish prince uttered the famous line above. This is both a doubt about the practical function of books written in words and a foreshadowing of Hamlet's own destiny. For no one knows better than Hamlet how to attack and ridicule others with words, hamlet can be called a master in this respect; but at the same time, no one is more addicted to fantasy and clumsy in action than Hamlet. In the end, the revenge failed miserably due to the Constant Delay of the Danish Prince, and the play, like most tragedies, ended with dead bodies lying on the stage.

Shakespeare's line represents a widely circulated idea: "Words" are nothing more than a series of illusory symbols, which may be breathtaking because of their rhetoric, but because they cannot build themselves on a solid foundation, they have no practical function, but they are just beautiful "words". This concept has for a long time shrouded the field of contemporary Chinese literature research. Due to the particularity of the object of study, contemporary literary research naturally has a certain relationship with literary criticism, and at its best, it may be able to guide literary creation and even affect the direction of the creative trend, but in many cases, it is only a kind of appendage of creation. When faced with specific literary works, the interpretation given by the contemporary literary research community is often "horizontally looking into the peaks on the side of the ridge". That is to say, the results of contemporary literary research are only some kind of impression or opinion in many cases, which are profoundly influenced by the background of the times, the structure of knowledge, ideological concepts and even personal tastes, so they change all the time, and it is difficult to contribute accurate and solid knowledge to the academic community. Although the so-called "poetry is not up to parable", although it can provide a nearly impeccable defense for such a research path, it cannot prevent academic colleagues from looking up and down at contemporary literary researchers with a questioning eye. This may be the origin of the chain of contempt that has been secretly circulating within the Chinese Department (those who engage in ancient literature look down on those who engage in ancient literature, those who engage in ancient literature look down on modern literature, and those who engage in modern literature look down on those who engage in contemporary literature).

It is Professor Hong Zicheng's relevant research that makes the study of contemporary Chinese literature no longer only appear in the guise of literary criticism, but also obtain a new path for historical research. In the author's opinion, the characteristics of Hong Zichengzhixue are to temporarily shelve the aesthetic judgment of literary works and the introduction of various theories, and to restore literary works, literary phenomena and related issues to the historical context, so that they can transform them from aesthetic objects into materials for historical research. It should be said that aesthetic judgment is one of the most important themes of literary research; the use of theory to "reopen" the text can also greatly broaden the researcher's horizons. This kind of research method itself has its own value, and it is also the mainstream way of contemporary literary research, but Hong Zicheng does not want to join such a "chorus", but prefers to choose to explore a new path. Therefore, Hong Zicheng is unwilling, or temporarily shelved, to discuss how a work is written, but to examine the context in which the writer created the work, and what social and historical conditions are restricted by the evaluation of the writer and the work, thus opening up a new research horizon. It is precisely because of the development of this vision that the establishment of literary organizations after the founding of New China, literary periodicals at different levels, and the political motives behind related literary discussions have become the objects and materials of research, so that contemporary literary research has gradually shaken off the fate of being criticized as "empty words" and built on a more solid foundation.

The two papers included in this book clearly reflect This research method of Hong Zicheng, and also show the turn of his research interest in recent years.

The first paper, "Red, Yellow, and Blue: The "Politics" of Color: The Compilation of the "History of Red Literature" in 1958," was originally published in Literary and Art Studies, No. 11, 2020. This article is Hong Zicheng's review of the experience and background of the 1955 students of the Department of Chinese of Peking University in compiling the textbook "History of Chinese Literature" (hereinafter referred to as "Grade 55 Literary History"). The full text is divided into eight parts. The first part introduces the background of the preparation of textbooks: opposing the bourgeois academic authority movement; the second part analyzes the basic principles of collective writing and points out that the writing principles formed in the process of compiling the "55-level literary history" have a far-reaching impact on contemporary literary research and even contemporary Chinese academic research; the third part introduces the extensive impact of the "55-level literary history" after its publication; the fourth part analyzes the ideas and positions of the ancient literary research community in criticizing the "55-level literary history" with He Qifang as the center; the fifth part is taken out separately" The concept of "intermediate works" analyzes how the ancient literary research community uses this concept to rescue some classical writers who cannot obtain a high evaluation in the struggle between realism and anti-realism, and at the same time points out that the very important "middle figure theory" in contemporary literary research comes directly from these controversies in the ancient literary research community; the sixth part introduces the background of the birth of the "Yellow Book" "History of Chinese Literature"; the seventh part reviews the compilation of liberal arts textbooks in colleges and universities across the country presided over by Zhou Yang and the birth of the "Blue Book" "History of Chinese Literature" The eighth part, named "Aftermath", introduces the thinking of Fei Zhengang, Xie Mian, Huang Xiuji and others on the "55-level literary history" and the writing process decades later. "Grade 55 Literary History" has a far-reaching influence in the Field of Chinese Literary Studies, and those who have witnessed it have also said that Hong Zicheng, as a student of the Class of 1956, although he did not personally participate in the work of the senior, he used the historical research method in this paper to carefully sort out the process of compiling the textbook of "History of Chinese Literature" in the 1950s, not only combing the basic situation of the previous revisions, but also through the comprehensive possession of relevant historical materials. Reveal the thoughts of the relevant people behind the preparation of the textbook on fundamental issues such as how to apply Marxist theory to study the history of Chinese literature, how to deal with the discord between the facts of the development of literary history and historical materialism, and how to judge the literary heritage created by the non-proletariat. That is to say, this paper seems to introduce the process of compiling and revising a textbook on the history of Chinese literature, but in fact it presents a unique atmosphere of thinking about literature in a special era.

The second paper, "Death and Rebirth? ——Mayakovsky of Contemporary China" was originally published in Literary and Art Studies, No. 1, 2019. This paper continues Hong Zicheng's previous series of "reading history" research, and continues to explore the writers and works that have had a significant impact on his thoughts and experiences since the 1950s. This time, Hong Zicheng chose to investigate the famous Soviet poet Mayakovsky. The article is divided into five parts, the first part presents the situation of the Chinese literary circles in the 1950s and 1960s who enthusiastically translated and accepted Mayakovsky; the second part analyzes Mayakovsky's situation in the Soviet Union, based on which to point out that Chinese readers can only one-sidedly understand Mayakovsky's situation for a long time; the third part introduces how the Sino-Soviet confrontation caused Chinese readers to stop talking about Mayakovsky, and in what context after the End of the Cultural Revolution, Chinese re-emphasized the poet The fourth part explores the complex attitudes of the Chinese literary world toward the poet when Mayakovsky's more comprehensive message was introduced to China; the fifth part analyzes the complexity of Mayakovsky himself, the relationship between his fate and the intricacies of the politics of the 20th century. Readers will find that Hong Zicheng does not discuss the characteristics and values of Mayakovsky's poetry creation in the article, but carefully analyzes the social conditions that restrict people's understanding of Mayakovsky in different historical periods, and shows how the change of the context of the times has comprehensively rewritten Mayakovsky's image in the reader's mind. It is in the process of Mayakovsky's change from revolutionary poet to love poet that the complex information of the times and history has been captured by Hong Zicheng in a unique way.

I believe that after reading the two papers included in this book, readers will also notice Hong Zicheng's narrative style with a distinct personal imprint. On the surface, the author only uses clear and simple language to list in detail various historical materials related to the research object according to the clues of time, and presents mainly solid material skills. But between the lines of the narrative, Hong Zicheng actually contains mysteries and has his own clear likes and dislikes and value judgments, but he prefers to express it in an introverted way. For example, when talking about the influence of contemporary Chinese poets on Mayakovsky's political poetry, Hong Zicheng pointed out: "The fanatical 'revolution' is precisely the rich soil for the breeding of political poetry, and Mayakovsky's poetic style continues to have strong vitality." 'Red Guards Battle Song', poems of Guo Xiaochuan, Zhang Yongmei and others in this period, "Ideal Song" of 'Workers, Peasants, and Soldier Cadets', and the creations of He Jingzhi, Zhang Xuemeng, Ye Wenfu, Luo Gengye, Qu Youyuan, Xiong Zhaozheng and others after the 'Cultural Revolution' to the early 1980s were all influenced by Mayakovsky. This is obviously an objective account of the facts of literary history, but after this quotation, Hong Zicheng immediately added: "Naturally, the ideological and artistic standards of the poets and poets listed here are mutually exclusive, or even the gap is very different." Here, the author did not evaluate any writers and works, but behind the plain language, the praise and criticism have been integrated into it, which is quite wonderful in the Spring and Autumn Style. For another example, when Hong Zicheng talked about He Qifang's criticism of "55-level literary history" using the struggle between realism and anti-realism as a clue to narrate literary history, greatly simplifying the complex face of literary history, he seemed to highly affirm He Qifang's views and contributions, but he quickly added: "He Qifang's views are believed to be approved by many scholars, but at that time, such criticism was not something that anyone could do, not to mention vision, talent, etc., but also needed corresponding identities and qualifications." A short comment, but quietly reveals the power structure behind the academic discussion of that era, making people can't help but stop and play with the deep meaning.

What is even more valuable is that Hong Zicheng was able to incorporate paragraphs with strong literary characteristics into texts that are known for presenting historical materials, so that the thesis not only expresses views and sorts out materials, but also becomes an article that shows personal talent. For example, in "Death and Rebirth? At the end of the article "Mayakovsky in Contemporary China", the author suddenly opened a stroke from the historical materials and talked about the exterior decorations of the Mayakovsky Memorial. Today, it's a huge Russian "I," and according to Mayakovsky's Biography written by Mistsa Trevole in the 1930s, there is a poem on it:

My resounding power as a poet

The whole thing is given to you,

Fighting class.

Here, the slogan on the wall changes from "class" with strong collectivist overtones to "I" branded with individualism. With the help of these two concrete and perceptible images, Hong Zicheng allows readers to clearly understand how the poet who is wrapped up by the times has been rewritten by the times.

Limited by the style of the small series of "Literary and Art Studies", this "Editor's Introduction" cannot fully present professor Hong Zicheng's academic thought and academic characteristics. Fortunately, this book is also included in the interview "Writing through Contemporary Literary History: An Interview with Professor Hong Zicheng", originally published in the 6th issue of Literary and Art Studies in 2010. In this interview, Professor He Guimei of the Department of Chinese of Peking University asked Hong Zicheng questions from the aspects of study experience, academic thought development, transformation of research interests, and methods of governance, and the latter answered very seriously, believing that readers can gain more from it.