Chen Si'an is a writer, drama screenwriter, director and translator. He has published short story collections such as "Fire in the Body", "Living Food", "Counterfeit Life", "Next, I Ask, You Answer" and so on. Drama screenwriting works "Mortal Dreams", "In the Wilderness", "Counterfeit Life" and so on. Drama director's works "The Dream of Mortals", "Traveling with Huang Gongwang to Fuchun Mountain", "Eating Fire" and so on. He won the 3rd "Zhong Shan" Star "Young Writer of the Year Award" and the 12th "Shanghai Literature" Short Story Award. Her theatrical works have been performed at the Royal Court Theatre, the Edinburgh International Theatre Festival, the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, the National Theatre of China, the Beijing International Youth Theatre Festival, and the City Theatre Festival.
Creative freedom is not without restrictions and requirements, but the ability to fly between the point you want to reach and the point you finally land, and you can control the tools and routes you use
Wu Qi: Your writing has always been experimental and imaginative, but the last time I heard you say, you would also give yourself writing training and requirements from time to time, set space limits, and so on, such as "Internal Flame". Will the contradiction between these two creative opportunities be pulled? What makes you feel that you have to write, that you have to write?
Chen Si'an: I have never thought that the relationship between setting limits and imagination is a conflicting and contradictory relationship. In many cases, the more strictly limited the basis, the more room there is for imagination to play a huge role. The short stories included in the book "Fire inside the Body" are limited in length, and each story must be completed within a few hundred to two thousand words. In the book "Living Food", what I pay more attention to is the unity of the characters' spiritual problem consciousness. The types of stories in these two books are relatively diverse, including traditional reality, science fiction and even fairy tales, but the core is relatively consistent.
In my opinion, creative freedom is not without restrictions and requirements, but the ability to fly between the point you want to reach and the point you finally land, and you can control the tools and routes you use. It's hard for creators to do that, and I'm trying to debug and find it through each work in writing and theater.
Stylistically, "Inside the Flame" really hopes to achieve an attempt, and under the very clear limit of the word count, I hope to try a different language and structure from the standard short stories written before. In addition, in fact, I hope to explore the interaction and alienation between people's dreams and reality.
When it comes to self-training, most writers train their ability to observe and express themselves, as well as the ability to explain and describe a thing in words. There are also some writers who train themselves in imagination and fiction. Fiction is not all about creating something that doesn't exist, you can empathize with and accurately grasp what already exists, which is actually a fictional ability. And after grasping it, can you still give something unexpected that others did not expect? Whether it is a new language, a new way of thinking, or a new way of expression, in fact, this is all the training of imagination.
As I may have mentioned in my previous conversations with you, I want my writing and actions to be what I have to say and do what I have to do. This idea is not so much about specific works as it is about what I expect from myself. I want to anchor myself and not deviate from my course due to the external environment.
Wu Qi: What is the most enjoyable part of the creation? At what stage does it occur?
Chen Si'an: There are still a lot of pleasant parts. A thought, a character, an event, or even a word, finds you, gently strokes the door of your head like a leaf blown down by the wind, or pierces into your heart like a thorny arrow, making your head buzz and your heart rate accelerates, that moment is very exciting and very pleasant.
When you are younger, you will be immersed in this very direct stimulation, and you will be eager to immediately translate these ideas into creations. Now it is more able to calm down, so that those ideas will first be precipitated in the body and then precipitated and fermented, and then germinated and then go to the next step.
With this idea, there is also a starting point for writing, and walking forward along the starting point to finally completing a work will experience many twists and turns along the way. Stories and characters are born of flesh and blood, grow into silhouettes, shine, and find their own language, which is very pleasant. Of course, there are also many moments, and in the middle of the way, you will find that those starting points are full of possibilities and motivation only in the initial moment, and they are distorted as they walk. Sometimes it's because the problems it contains that you want to discuss haven't been fully figured out, sometimes it's just that the idea is really not solid enough, and sometimes it's not suitable for the stage of creation you are in right now. Perhaps every writer has far more ideas in his mind and buried in his notebook than the work he ends up writing.
Wu Qi: Corresponding to reading, has the reading habit changed in recent years? Are there some guidelines? For example, which category to look at, never to look at which category, and so on.
Chen Si'an: There are no books that are absolutely not read, and some books will not be read from beginning to end, but they will not give themselves a clear idea of who and which kinds of books will never be read. The change in reading habits over the years is to further clarify the way, channel and type of reading according to their own needs. Every year, there will be a planned re-reading of some classics, bounded by writers or periods, and through careful reading to sort out the re-recognition and understanding of these works, this part of the reading is basically paper reading. In addition, we will pay more attention to the newly launched original literary and social science works at home and abroad, and understand the latest creative dynamics, which are read a lot through e-books. Finally, I read books with no pre-set plan according to my interest, and I prefer to read books on insects and animal science, as well as artificial intelligence and technology, and historical research.
Wu Qi: Do you watch the Olympic Games or sports competitions? Do you think there is a connection between competitive competitions and cultural work? Can you inspire some morale and get some nutrition?
Chen Si'an: I have always liked to watch sports competitions, usually I see more ball games, football, table tennis, basketball. During the Olympic Games, we will focus on some sports that are rarely exposed to every day, such as short track speed skating, free skiing, curling, sledding and so on that have recently watched many Winter Olympic Games.
In my feelings, sports competition projects have a lot in common with creation, a lot of mental and physical labor, long-term relatively boring repeated training, and self-breakthroughs that strive to lean on even the slightest difference, and finally crystallize into a relatively ornamental moment that can show people - for sports projects, it is tens of seconds to tens of minutes on the field, and it is a book, a painting or a play for creation. For the individuals involved, many pleasures and pains also have similarities, athletes repeatedly polishing the cornering technique to turn the angle and writers repeatedly polishing a word and a character, all of which have great joy and self-torture that cannot be detailed for outsiders. The subtleties of the final effect are even faint enough to be undetected without explanation, but the satisfaction obtained is not diminished.
Of course, there are natural differences between the two, and the evaluation norms and standards of sports are extremely clear even if there are vague areas, and for creation, there is no such clear judging criterion. The competition on the field is also more brutal, and the thrilling difference between opponents of equal strength is difficult to compare in other fields.
There is a word in Japanese called "life-defying", which originally referred to the medieval Japanese samurai desperately guarding the territory handed down by their ancestors. When watching sports competitions, especially world-class large-scale competitions such as the Olympic Games, there will be a strong sense of suspense in life, which is indeed spiritual nourishment for me.
Wu Qi: I also watch it! I can't stop it, and I have a lot to gain. If we compare the body and the mind, it is easier for us to see which aspects of the weaknesses and shortcomings of the mind occur. Athletes in sports competitions are heroic, and most of the credit is off the field. Not a single muscle grows on its own. Cultural work, on the other hand, is easy to be lazy, using stereotypes, common sense, and cleverness instead of true observation, analysis, and insight, without being perceived.
To use the curling sport that I particularly like to make an analogy, its rules actually have a very similar part of playing chess, the player must have the ability to strategize and adapt, but it is not a game in the brain, you must resort to the body, depending on whether your shots and physical strength can send the pieces to the position of imagination. And, fascinatingly, physical and mental strength blend almost seamlessly in this sport, are difficult to break apart, and must support each other, thus constituting a sound test. Cultural work can easily be carried away by some illusory concepts, so that no source of power can be found, and this soundness is ignored.
We should recognize the social conditions that give rise to new trends, find them incompatible with the cognitive framework of habit, and then propose different insights. "Literary" is more likely to occur in conflict and loneliness than in obedience and following
Chen Si'an: Over the years, in publishing and cultural activities, you have come into contact with many young writers and cultural workers, and I am curious to see if you have any new observations on the new generation of creators and cultural practitioners. Do their work and work appeal to you? Are they more attractive to you than previous generations of creators? Have you seen any noticeable changes in their creations over time?
Wu Qi: I don't need the word "observation" anymore, it sounds like I'm not in it. The biggest impression of the work in recent years is that it is difficult to be alone, and the impact of the environment is still overwhelming, except for genius. It was also on this premise that I reacquainted myself with my work and new creations.
Previously, I was skeptical of any "new generation" I said. One is that it is difficult to summarize the individual as a whole, but many new things are either fake or actually old. However, social change has indeed reached a tipping point, and the sudden outbreak of the epidemic is the most obvious reminder to stop resting on our laurels and not to hesitate any longer, because the new world has already arrived. At this time, I felt that the discussion of the "new generation" had practical significance, not only as a linear intergenerational division, but through their creation, to resonate with reality, and even longed for it to contain a struggle for the future. It is more important and more personal than worshipping the classics and studying the predecessors to face the experience of this generation.
Before I felt that the new generation of creators and young people in the cultural industry, the common problem is self-indulgence, and then I found that this judgment is not sufficient, the problem is not to talk about the self, but how to talk. So my current revision is that the general problem is that the anxieties and struggles of a generation lack layers and content. Everyone has a good vision and the impulse to perform, but in the specific practice, they lack the method of creation, the patience of research, and no one should stop my lonely courage, to shout out my feelings, ask the questions I want to ask, so I fall into the cycle of squatting and drawing circles. Like patients with chronic pharyngitis, they are not happy to speak, and they are also aggrieved. This is not all the creator's own problem, full of shortcuts and temptations, stepping on traps when not paying attention, and deviating from the topic in creation. In this regard, Hu Bo is indeed an exciting example, he abstracts the despair of the individual, the distortion of the environment, in literature with great force, and as a result we all see, in the end he can not continue to get along with the world. Such a transaction, although not uncommon in the history of literature, still lacks cost-effectiveness in the choice of reality.
Chen Si'an: Are you and your team doing podcasts, live broadcasts, videos, and other new media work, is it just a way for you to expand publicity and channels, or do you also get inspiration and thinking about the transformation of the current literary and cultural carriers?
Wu Qi: From my personal point of view, I have always been more passive, because of the trend of the times, I have to follow. However, after so many years of reluctance, there are indeed some practical effects, which seem to allow literary and cultural issues to still have an outlet for further dissemination. My understanding is only that, and I don't want to think about it too much, because if I think about it further, it is easy to step into the traps mentioned earlier, and eventually let us deviate from the runway. I tend to think that the so-called "curve to save the country" also has its limits, and cannot slide down indefinitely.
On the one hand, any industry should learn a new language, adapt to a new environment, and not blindly be satisfied with our traditions, but the premise is that we can clearly understand the context of tradition and understand our own position, so as to maintain a clear sense of the problem and obtain a new starting point. Blindly seeking new trends tends to exaggerate the role of the former, while ignoring the latter's work actually requires longer preparation and harder efforts. Literature and culture, these industries, are easily used as embellishments, and if practitioners also give up cultivation and reserve themselves, they will give up the dignity of this line and become empty performers.
Chen Si'an: Some cultural observers believe that RPG games, talk shows, short videos, and some variety shows can contain quite literary while strong entertainment, and have a wider appeal and influence than traditional literary forms. Do you often come into contact with the above mentioned content forms, and how do you feel about the literary nature of them?
Wu Qi: I think it is enough for these new forms to sit on a huge attraction and influence, and there is no need to fight for such an outdated label as "literary", right? As for our cultural observers, there is no need to rush to use this concept as a label for evaluating everything, and behind this way of thinking, there is a very dangerous "winner-take-all" philosophy.
Different forms of culture can coexist and influence each other, not necessarily conflating or replacing each other. At least for now, these forms of entertainment are quite different from "literary", such as they almost all have strong commercial attributes, stylized expressions, and excessive sensationalism and flattery, which are completely opposite values to what we understand as "literary". We should recognize the social conditions that give rise to new trends, find them incompatible with the cognitive framework of habit, and then propose different insights. "Literary" is more likely to occur in conflict and loneliness than in obedience and following. For good-looking values such as "literaryness", tragedies often occur not because they are obsolete in themselves, but because the parties gave up too early. For example, independent aesthetic and social criticism has almost disappeared in today's public opinion, is this not a bigger crisis?
Chen Si'an: If you put aside all the limitations of objective conditions and can do what you want to do the most (rather than what others expect), do you want to do it the most at present?
Wu Qi: If I don't say the answers to those hippie smiley faces, eating, drinking and having fun, I definitely want to try to be a more pure creator, write my own small articles, and even challenge dramas and movies, after all, creation is the most difficult action in this industry. The work I do around and around is still going in circles around it. However, it seems that it is not the objective conditions that limit me, but the subjective laziness and fear of difficulties. I must also be suffering from the "chronic pharyngitis" that is prevalent in this era. What about you, what do you want to do the most?
Chen Si'an: I want to open a beetle farm and stay with my bugs for a while every day.