Cover news reporter Zhang Jie
In the contemporary Chinese literary world, there are some writers who have worked quietly and harvested a lot in the field of short stories, and Zhegui is one of them. Born in 1973 in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, Zhegui has published novels such as "Tiger Figure", "Metal Heart", "Legend of Xinhe Street", "I Have Something to Say about This Era", and non-fiction works such as "Golden Township". He has won the "October" Literary Award, the Yu Dafu Short Story Award, the First Cao Xueqin Chinese Literature Award, and the Lin Jinlan Short Story Award.
Novelist Tetsugui
Zhegui's literary writing is distinctive: his literary vision mainly explores the lifestyle of the rich and its spiritual fission, and their delicate relationship with this era. His writing starts from "Xinhe Street" with a leisurely and concise tone, using a consistent and simple narrative form, spreading out the lines and textures of each story, and showing and restoring many daily lives in Wenzhou in a calm tone. For Tetsugui, the Xinhe Street in his works has already constituted a hometown like Su Tong's Toon Tree Street.
His short story "Wonderland" focuses on the intersection of economic life and the field of music and art, and multiple narrative lines intersect and entangle a story of spiritual ideals and self-realization. The novel was first published in the third issue of October 2020 and won the second place in the short story list of the "2020 Harvest Literature List". The collection of novels of the same name has subsequently been launched by the Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House. On the afternoon of March 2, 2022, October Magazine organized a seminar on Zhegui's "Wonderland" with the theme of "Local Traditions and Contemporary Narratives". More than 10 domestic critics, including Meng Fanhua, He Shaojun, Liang Hongying, Zhang Li, Rao Xiang, Yue Wen, Xu Gang, cong Zhichen, and other domestic first-line critics, attended the discussion, and Chen Dongjie, editor-in-chief of October magazine, and Zong Yongping, deputy editor-in-chief, attended the meeting. The meeting was chaired by Ji Yaya, deputy editor-in-chief of October magazine.
The fictional Wonderland can be read intertextually and non-fictionally
Meng Fanhua said that he had heard Zhe Gui tell that the novel "Wonderland" originated from a drum artist who set up a corporate company, and after twenty years of development, it was listed in Shanghai and became a very distinctive clothing enterprise in the country. In addition to business, this person also pays special attention to cultural construction, such as building a cultural museum and asking experts to compile relevant books. Every time he appeared in public, his glasses were changed one at a time, his hair was not messy, and some people said that what he wore was designed and customized by himself, and he could not see any difference from other entrepreneurs. Every time he emphasizes that he is wearing a brand produced by the company, it is very ordinary. Some people have also noticed that when he spoke about the place of forgetting, the orchid finger would be cocked, his face was crimson, and even the tone of his voice changed, but when he listened carefully, it did not change. He is a successful entrepreneur. Many times everyone forgets that he used to be a drum lyricist, but at his son's wedding ceremony, he suddenly took out a drum lyric instrument and sang on the stage for the fourteen ladies to collect the demon.
In Ji Yaya's view, the uniqueness and significance of Zhegui's writing lies in telling the story of contemporary China. "If our contemporary literature used to be mostly about poverty, he completed the transition from how to talk about poverty to how to talk about wealth. The collection "Wonderland" deals with the proposition of how wealthy Chinese settle their spiritual subjects. Modern subjects encounter the dilemma of mind and reality in the economy and society. And this story is related to the place, and wenzhou's thousand-year-old industrial and commercial tradition, and the thousand-year-old context of Wenzhou's poetry and book heirs. The collection "Wonderland" about "Xinhe Street" can be read intertextually with his non-fiction work "Golden Township". ”
Zhang Li mentioned that the work "Wonderland" makes people see the complexity of people, see a "psychic craftsman", a "person with a dark room", and forget whether this person has money or no money. He Shaojun believes that the businessman written by Zhegui is very special, and he pays more attention to how another "self" pursues beauty and how to release himself.
"The Relationship between Business Culture and Zhejiang Context"
In Cong's view, the character in Wonderland is a businessman and a hidden artist, "which may have something to do with Zhegui's writing history and practical experience." In this sense, this is again a local tradition. Born in Wenzhou, Zhegui can feel the relationship between business culture and Zhejiang culture at the same time. So this work is not only a reflection of local traditions, it is actually a contemporary narrative. ”
Tetsugui himself elaborated on his creative philosophy in this way. He said that before "Wonderland", his understanding of the novel, his understanding of literature, including his understanding of the world, was from the outside to the inside, and he used various forces of history, culture, economy and society to oppress the characters of the novel to go inward. But starting from "Wonderland", my understanding of the whole world, the understanding of the novel, and the understanding of the characters have been adjusted, and I have changed from the inside, starting from people first, looking at history, looking at society, looking at culture, and looking at the economy from people, so in "Wonderland", the characters are the most important, and it is in the first place.
(Courtesy of publisher)