January 6, 2022, is the day of the 90th birthday of the "Poetry Hero". Many people and many organizations expressed their congratulations. This is indeed something to be congratulated, even ordinary people, at the age of 90, it is not easy, let alone Xie Mian such a "poetry giant"?
Xie Mian (image from the Internet)
In these congratulations, it is inevitable that some people will recall some of Xie Mian's past events. So, something we don't know, we know. No, in Ding Dongxing Xiaoqun's article "Xie Mian Ninety Birthday", we can find some context of the development of poetry, and we can also see a general process of the development of modern poetry to the present.
"At the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, there was an intergenerational shift in the Chinese poetry scene." Indeed, at that time, there were successive signs of obscure poetry, colloquial poetry, and so on. "The poets Ai Qing and Zang Kejia have all stood on the opposite side of the new poetry tide. Some of them said they couldn't understand it, and some said they couldn't get used to it. ”
Although this article has the meaning of criticism, the phenomena such as "not being able to understand" and "not being accustomed to it" mentioned by Ai Qing and Zang Kejia are now becoming more and more serious. If you look at the so-called poems now, how many people can understand them? How many people are used to it? Except for the "famous poets", "famous critics" and "famous editors" in the circle, few people really understand and are used to it.
However, Xie Mian supported the new poetry trend, "expressing his views in support of the new poetry trend at the meeting." With the death of He Jingzhi, Ai Qing, Zang Kejia and other people who opposed the new poetry trend, the new poetry trend officially became the mainstream. Although there are still many opponents to this day, those who support the new poetry trend have become the "Taishan Beidou" of the poetry world, which cannot be shaken.
The representative figure here is Xie Mian, who has just turned ninety years old. After nearly forty years of development, the new poetry wave has gone from obscure poetry, to oral poetry, to saliva poetry, to the current and urine body. What has modern poetry become? I think that anyone who cares a little about poetry will probably have a feeling of "heartache".
Poetry Journal, which has always been the core journal, is no longer the core journal in 2018. In the latest "Overview of the Core Journals of Chinese" issued in 2021, there is still no shadow of "Poetry Journal". Some people may think that it does not matter whether it is a core journal or not, but in any case, "Poetry Journal" is still "the only central poetry journal".
But as a journal, it is too important to be a core journal. What does this mean? The "central poetry journals" have become ordinary periodicals, so is this "central poetry journal" still interested in holding this title? You can imagine how unpopular modern poetry is. It is estimated that it is intolerable, otherwise how could the "Poetry Journal", which has always been a core journal, be eliminated?
The closing of the Tenth National Congress of the Chinese Writers Association gave the poetry world a blow. With the departure of Ji Di Majia and Gao Hongbo as vice chairmen of the Writers Association, there was not a single poet among the 15 vice chairmen of the Writers Association. Not only that, but among the 27 members of the Presidium of the Writers' Association, only Yang Ke was a poet.
Not only that, but out of the 168 national individual committee members, there are fewer than ten poets. Let's look at the comparison of this string of numbers, what does it mean? Poetry, as one of the three major literary genres, has been completely marginalized in the Writers' Association and has become a dispensable existence. This is what the new poetry trend has achieved in the past few decades.
Let's look back and see if He Jingzhi, Ai Qing, Zang Kejia, and others were right to oppose the new poetry wave? And is it wrong for Xie Mian and others to support the new poetry wave? There is no other meaning here, just facts. Now the poet has become a derogatory term, and the current poets shout and beat, isn't this all the credit of the new poetry wave?
Xie Mian, who has now become a "poet titan", wonders how he will feel when he recalls that he supported the new poetry trend at that time? And how will he feel when he sees the new poetry wave he supports, which has led to such a current situation in the poetry world? Xie Mian had originally opposed the poetry titans, and now, he himself has become a poetry titan, but I am afraid that many people oppose him.
I hope that Xie Mian will be healthy and alive, and he can continue to see where the new poetry trend he supports will take to the poetry world. There is no longer a core journal in the poetry world, and there is no poet among the vice presidents of the Writers Association. I am afraid that before long, there will not be a single poet among the members of the presidium. So what else does the Writers Association want to do in the poetry world? Where cool to stay and go.