Text/Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Wu Xiaopan Sun Lei
Photo/Courtesy of respondent
Culturally strong and thought-provoking interviews
On February 11, Guangdong Province's "Conference on Solidly Promoting the Construction of a Culturally Strong Province" was held in Guangzhou. Accelerating the construction of a culturally strong province and promoting high-quality cultural development will provide solid cultural support for Guangdong to walk in the forefront of the country and create new glory in the new journey of comprehensively building a socialist modern country.
Yangcheng Evening News has created a column of "CulturalLy Strong Province-Deep Interview", through interviews with experts and scholars in various fields of Culture in Guangdong, to provide suggestions and suggestions for further promoting the construction of a culturally strong province.
This issue of "Deep Interview" exclusively interviewed Lin Gang, professor of the Department of Chinese of Sun Yat-sen University and chairman of the Guangdong Literary and Art Critics Association——
Lingang
The face of Guangdong literary criticism: fighting for each other and forming a joint force
Yangcheng Evening News: What is the current appearance of Guangdong Literary Criticism?
Lin Gang: One of the characteristics of this industry is to fight separately and form a joint force. This point in Guangdong is very distinct. For example, Xie Youshun is more of a novel critic, Chen Jianhui is a prose reviewer, Chen Xi is a poetry reviewer, He Zhongming is more concerned about modern literature and rural themes, Guo Bingru has studied literature for seventeen years, Liu Weiguo has studied Liu Sifen's "White Gate Willow"...
Everyone is working hard in their own direction, and after a long time in their own field of concern, a situation of their own strengths has been formed, and a tradition has been formed.
Yangcheng Evening News: In the state of each having its own strengths, can we form some common and common hot discussions, such as the "third criticism", "cultural criticism" and "Cantonese criticism" previously proposed by Guangdong critics.
Lin Gang: The concept of symbiosis on the surface is more considered by the journal, because the journal likes to have hot spots. Hot spots certainly have their own reasons. But Guangdong's literary criticism shows more of a relatively loose ecology of harmonious symbiosis.
In the 1950s and 1960s, literary criticism often had a wide range of hot topics to discuss, and behind them were political issues. In that period, what I was under the impression of being academic and not too much political interference was a great discussion about aesthetics.
Yangcheng Evening News: "Literature and politics" is an eternal topic of modern and contemporary Chinese literature, and now it is also emphasized that there must be a sense of political standing in the process of carrying out literary and art criticism, and how should "politics" be understood in the current literary and artistic criticism and literary and artistic creation?
Lin Gang: No matter what country you are in, you have your own "political correctness", and it is advisable to guard the border. Judging by the evolution of contemporary history, the space beyond "political correctness" is actually greater than ever. Whether it is creative or academic, space is not fixed, and perhaps we cannot see at a glance that the space that has been broadened by life exists. What does this mean for literary criticism? Means you can explore more interesting questions.
For example, Marxism is combined with China's specific practice. This formulation existed during the Yan'an period, and General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed at the conference celebrating the centenary of the Communist Party of China to develop Chinese contemporary Marxism along the path of integrating with China's specific reality and China's excellent traditional culture.
The space for discussion revealed by General Secretary Xi's speech is enormous. The relationship between our contemporary life and traditional culture is no longer like the relationship between extracting quotations and then "critically inheriting" in the past, but means that we can observe and discuss the relationship between the cultural pattern and spiritual temperament created by traditional culture in thousands of years of history and contemporary life with a broad vision.
Is this space expanding? For example, Chinese literature and art were influenced by Confucianism and Taoism a few years ago to form a big pattern: on the one hand, literature and art should be applied to the world, and the tradition of cultivating gentlemen with good government and good governance and governance, in short, poetry; on the other hand, art should reflect the heart of the creator, good works should have personality, and the meaning of art lies in the pursuit of individual liberation of the mind, which is also a very long tradition of Chinese literature and art.
Although these two traditions are the products of ancient China, they still strongly shape the overall pattern of modern and contemporary Chinese literature and art. Is the realist literature and art that has become the mainstream embodiment of the main theme a contemporary expression of the spirit of application through the ages? Are literary and artistic works that get rid of the shackles and express their chests directly develop today the ancient temperament of pursuing the liberation of the individual mind? The answer is self-evident. Because modern China is, of course, the development of ancient China.
At the same time, we should emphasize that this modern development not only does not violate Marxism, but it is precisely the result of the integration of Marxism with China's modern revolutionary process and with China's concrete reality.
The purpose of Marxist philosophy is to transform the world, which is in line with the tradition of applying the world; Marxism also pursues the liberation of man, and the liberation of man of course also includes the liberation of the individual, which is in turn connected with the temperament of ancient China in pursuing the liberation of the individual mind.
With the understanding of the commonality of Marxism and the excellent cultural traditions of ancient times, we can have a greater perspective to observe the historical process of the convergence and integration of foreign ideas and concepts and domestic practices that is taking place in modern and contemporary China. Isn't this an expansion of the space for commentary and creation?
Scholars should walk on two legs: both doing research and looking at reality
Yangcheng Evening News: How does literary and art criticism play a role in guiding creation?
Lin Gang: I think we need to look at this issue historically. Only in the turbulent era, criticism is in front of creation, and in the era when it is not turbulent, criticism basically walks behind creation, which is the perspective provided by history to us.
Today's repeated emphasis on strengthening literary and art criticism can be understood from the application of this Chinese tradition through the ages, because literary critics have to convey the voice of literature to have the value of existence.
And if you look back at the writer's creation, when a writer has thought about it for a long time in life to form an expressive theme or has found a certain subject, he will not consult with critics. Creativity is his treasure, he must grind it slowly, write it well before taking it out, which is different from the revolutionary era.
The emphasis on commentary actually arose mainly from the process of the modern revolution, because in those days it was most important to guide the direction and boost morale. At present, China also hopes to continue to play this function of literature and art to carry forward the main theme.
Yangcheng Evening News: So if this is the case, can literary criticism only praise and not criticize?
Lin Gang: That's not what it means. For example, novels on modern historical themes will have the style of novelists, but the problem is to look at it with a historical perspective, this is the work of literary criticism, and critics should have the vision to see the problem, rather than just expressing an opinion that expresses approval or opposition.
Guangdong held the first national training class for leading talents in literary and art criticism
Yangcheng Evening News: In your opinion, are there still room for improvement among literary and art critics in Guangdong today?
Lin Gang: There is room for improvement at any time, and efforts are an endless process for everyone. This should be divided into two aspects, subjective and objective, subjectively speaking, it is personal effort. Only by enhancing the cultivation of literature, history and philosophy, and by constantly studying and thinking, can we understand the world; only by constantly observing the world can we see where the problems lie.
On the other hand, one of the main forces of literary criticism has shifted to universities, which is very different from the previous situation. The good part is that there is a teaching position, survival is not a problem, and you can think calmly; the bad part is to obey the norms of modern scholarship. Quoting scriptures and frequent commentaries are obviously not the strength of criticism, nor can they be, and the commentaries are more straightforward and expressive.
This gives the impression that the academic quality is not high, so there are critical keen eyes in colleges and universities, and teachers who can write critical articles are not willing to get involved. Because you write very hard, but what you write is not properly included in the evaluation standard system. This caused a change in the ecology of literary criticism.
Yangcheng Evening News: What kind of relationship should academic research and literary and art criticism be?
Lin Gang: You can't put the two against each other. Logically, the mutual gain between the two is obvious, but it is difficult for specific practitioners to achieve the best of both worlds. Of course, literary criticism must touch reality, otherwise it is completely meaningless to write a paper full of terms.
Teacher Hong Zicheng has done a relatively good job in this regard, with standardized academic combing and strong realistic observation. Therefore, I urge scholars to walk on two legs as much as possible, not to abandon themselves, both "into it" and "out of it".
Create our own system of discourse
Yangcheng Evening News: Guangdong's literary and art criticism faces the tradition of Lingnan culture in the past and the Greater Bay Area in the future, what kind of impact will the combination of the two have on Guangdong literary and art criticism?
Lin Gang: When observing regional characteristics, first of all, for historical reasons, there are some unique forms of literary and artistic expression in a certain place that are not available in other places, so of course, it is a promising thing to give play to the unique role of local literature and art, such as Cantonese opera in Guangdong, in the Cantonese-speaking group, this literary and artistic form is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
The first Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Literary and Art Innovation Forum was held in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province
Yangcheng Evening News: What about literature? In terms of literary creation, there may also be a kind of work that only people in the Greater Bay Area can write, just like the previous Guangdong migrant literature and urban literature.
Lin Gang: The current era of globalization brings us a universal perspective, in fact, there is localization that accompanies globalization in parallel with globalization. Globalization and localization go hand in hand in the evolution of human society.
In the process of globalization, trade exchanges are becoming easier and more convenient, but in this process, regional culture will also produce some new forms and characteristics, such as Shanghai's coffee shops are statistically more than Tokyo, and Guangdong may also have unique cultural and social phenomena.
Local identity is not solidified, but is constantly changing with globalization. In the past, the characteristics of Guangdong literature must be lingnan style, emphasizing the use of Cantonese, such as the creation of Ouyang Shan, Huang Guliu, Chen Renyun and others. Today, with the development of the times, different literary and artistic forms, new perspectives and new themes will appear.
In the past, literature may be from the perspective of geography, and local languages constitute characteristics, but now the characteristics of literature are based on personal thinking and discovery. Just like Ge Liang is a foreigner for Hong Kong, but he has formed his own viewpoint and works through his observation of Hong Kong, which has formed his own characteristics, and it is different from the creative characteristics of Previous Hong Kong writers, and it is a new literary work.
Yangcheng Evening News: With the advancement of the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, will Guangdong Literary and Art Criticism have more distinctive characteristics and development in the future?
Lin Gang: Of course I hope there is, it depends on how you explore. From last year to now, I have been in a continuous dialogue with Liu Sifen: out of the shadow of the Opium War. After the Opium War, a pattern was formed: Westerners were teachers, Chinese were students, and generations of Chinese sought truth from the West.
This pattern of thinking has also had a great influence on literary criticism. For example, in the Western discourse system in the critical circles, I don't think it is clear why so many scholars in China are conscientiously learning their discourse patterns. Many of them have not understood what happened in the West in the ideological and cultural circles after the two world wars.
The entire post-war Western world is actually the same as we were in the eighties of the last century, and we also reflect on why such a tragic war occurred in Europe. Their reflection concludes that the Enlightenment is broken and that it is necessary to deconstruct the Enlightenment in order to have a way out.
But deconstruction becomes a piece of paper learning—an unconstructive destruction of ideas. For the West, this is a disaster of ideas and the greatest ill of postmodern scholarship. However, many of our scholars have directly copied that discourse system.
We should create our discourse system based on our own cultural history and current literary creation. This matter cannot be rushed, but it must be taken slowly, because the cultural creation of a country must produce a splendid culture after the economy has gained a firm foothold and the social structure is basically reasonable.
So, in my opinion, China today, both academically and culturally, faces a better prospect, a better prospect than ever before, and we have to be patient.
The academic seminar on "Cantonese Criticism and Contemporary Chinese Literature and Art" was held in Beijing
"Follow" Chinese traditions and build cultural self-confidence
Yangcheng Evening News: I saw one of your articles before, talking about the endogenous power and external conditions generated by literary and artistic masterpieces, which mentioned the problem of going deep into life, what is the relationship between going deep into life and creation?
Lin Gang: There is a proposition that is opposed to "going deep into life", that is, life is everywhere. If you want to write about a rural theme and have never farmed before, then of course you have to go deep into rural life and accumulate writing experience.
If you are Kafka-esque writing, writing about the absurdity of the office, writing about loneliness in the face of the immense power that absolutely overwhelms the individual, then there is no need to go deep into life, he is in life himself, so this is related to your thinking about your own writing and subject matter.
Yangcheng Evening News: You once said that in order to further develop the current literary criticism, it is necessary to overcome the problem of criticism getting rid of creators and readers and self-volumeting, how to make criticism more effective?
Lin Gang: To put it simply, it is to read more of the wise works of the ancients. Chinese pay attention to the clear-sightedness of everything we do, the West is not, the West is very strong. Taking it as an example, we should move the Western practice of circumvention into our own work, into criticism, which requires vigilance, and this is the shadow of the so-called Opium War.
For a while I also read Western narrative science, many scholars like to talk about narrative science, but Westerners talk about narrative science and their language is related, their verbs can be changed, it has more than a dozen morphological changes, and Chinese square characters do not have this change, so we should not be rigid.
China should form its own theoretical system. You see Jin Shengsi's novel review, how easy to understand. We must have our own ideas, get rid of the mentality of "third world scholarship", and do not define ourselves as laggards, otherwise you will lose the ability to criticize the other party.
Yangcheng Evening News: Will it be relatively feasible to connect with the West in the natural sciences, while the humanities are not so easy and unnecessary?
Lin Gang: Yes, the social sciences or humanities are not easy to dock, and they may not be connected. If you can pick it up, don't force it. Our humanistic path is not a system with theirs, each has its own wonderful.
In the final analysis, it is a matter of confidence, it is very important to have confidence in oneself, and the establishment of confidence is inseparable from the continuation of traditional Chinese culture. The May Fourth Movement is a "reverse connection" of the Chinese tradition, and now we need to "follow the connection", that is, the relationship with the historical tradition of the past, to go along, there are still many things waiting for us to explore in this process. (For more news, please pay attention to Yangcheng Pie pai.ycwb.com)
Source | Yangcheng Evening News Yangcheng Pie
Editor-in-charge | Deng Qiong
Edit | Sun Lei