Recently, the young writer Lin Peiyuan's novel "Dark Light" is suspected of plagiarizing the writer and Japanese literary translator's silent novel "Beside the Characters", which has aroused public discussion. In August 2009, As a newcomer author, Mo Yin published the short story "Beside the Characters" in the magazine "Carp", telling the story of the entanglement between Pan Haisheng, Shen Ting and the intersex Pan Xiaoyu, in which the identity dilemma faced by the intersex Xiaoyu in the process of growing up was impressive. In December of the same year, the "Minimal Talk: Third Anniversary Special Issue" was published, including Lin Peiyuan's short story "Dark Light", which revolved around Runsheng, Zhaozhen and the "wolf child" Lingsheng of unknown gender.
After receiving feedback from some readers, Mo Yin, the author of "Next to the Word", publicly released "Author's Statement: Copied" in the "Carp" group in early 2010, which pointed out that Lin Peiyuan's "Dark Light" "cottage" her previously published novel. Under the statement of the editor at the time, the editorial department of the "Carp" said that it had tried to contact Lin Peiyuan on this matter, but there was no follow-up progress. Since then, the incident has been silent for a while, and recently re-entered the public eye.
On March 17, Moyin re-forwarded the statement from 12 years ago, saying that the cause was "the recently plagiarized Douban friends and neighbors have been continuous", thinking of their previous experiences and feeling "empathetic", and attaching a full-text link to "Next to the Word". Some readers spontaneously found out the original text of "Dark Light" for comparison, and this matter immediately fermented on the Internet, which also caused the collision of different views. On March 20, the party Concerned MuYin once again issued a statement article on the matter, "Why do I want to repeat an old plagiarism incident that occurred more than a decade ago?" " combed through the whole incident. That night, young writer Lin Peiyuan responded to the matter by issuing a statement "Lin Peiyuan: A Belated Apology Letter", and the content of the article once again triggered readers to discuss, many of which were questionable.
Comparison of the storylines of the silent short story "Beside the Word" and Lin Peiyuan's short story "Dark Light". The image is from the article posted by MoYin on his personal public account "Why do I have to repeat an old plagiarism incident that happened more than a decade ago?" 》。
In response to this matter, the Beijing News reporter tried to connect the two sides of the incident. Mo Yin said that the statement in the apology letter did not seem to be about the plagiarism itself, and That Lin Peiyuan had not yet reached further contact with her on the matter. At the same time, she also said in the interview that she hopes that the public will discuss things on the facts, pay attention to the event itself, and avoid emotional transfer. Nor does she think that a person who has copied once will always copy. When asked what kind of response he would like to get, Mo Yin said: "A sincere apology is just an apology for the specific plagiarism, so that it is OK, in fact, it does not need too much." ”
After being interviewed by a reporter from the Beijing News, on the evening of March 21, Moyin has publicly responded on Douban: "Please understand that I will not continue to talk about this matter." On March 21, a reporter from the Beijing News also connected Lin Peiyuan on this matter. Lin Peiyuan said that he is currently "physically and mentally exhausted" because of this incident, and his family has also been subjected to online violence, and has publicly issued a statement, which is inconvenient to respond. The following is a transcript of the interview between the reporter and Mu Yin.
Written by | Shen Lu
Beijing News: What do you think of the apology letter issued by Lin Peiyuan on March 20?
Mu Yin: It is true that the whole content is very long, and there is no need to say more, everyone can see it. I will only talk about one of my feelings after reading it, and there seems to be only one sorry in the whole text- "I want to say to Teacher Muyin again: I haven't publicly responded and expressed my position on this matter for so many years, I'm sorry!" Please forgive me! After reading this sentence, I flipped up and found that there was no "sorry" in front of me, and I didn't quite understand why I used "again". And, the core content of this sorry is "there has been no public response and statement on this matter for so many years", not "plagiarism".
Beijing News: The other party mentioned in the apology letter that in addition to publicly apologizing, it will also contact you privately to fight for forgiveness. Does Lin Peiyuan have further communication with you on this matter?
Silent: Not yet.
Beijing News: In 2010, you mentioned in your statement that you wanted Lin Peiyuan to publicly apologize for plagiarism, but the statement at that time did not receive any reply, and this matter was later resolved, what impact did it have on your subsequent creation?
Mo Yin: One of the things that I think is very strange is that a person who has been plagiarized actually has a strange sense of shame, a so-called "shame." Later, in fact, I have been insisting on writing, whether I go to literary forums or pen clubs, I can't help but look at the list first to see if he is there. I would be very afraid to run into him and feel very embarrassed because I didn't know how I was going to deal with this person, that is, how to face him without him admitting it.
Of course, now because I have spoken frankly about this matter this time, there are many people, who know, more strangers who do not know, they see it, as if they have been recognized by a society. I now feel that I am not afraid to face him, but now I think it is strange that a person who has been copied can have a sense of shame.
Beijing News: You also mentioned in your self-statement, "Looking back, I am not without doubts in my heart, if you give up writing halfway, won't you lose to that shadow?" Is there still an impression of "doubt" at that time? And what does this "shadow" refer to? In addition to "anger", what is "lost"?
Mo Yin: I think I can speak out very calmly now, also because I have gradually realized that we are actually on a very equal footing. Although I don't know exactly how our books are selling, we have published several books from each other, and they are all authors with some social recognition.
But at the time, because I was an author that no one knew about, and he already had a certain amount of "fans", I came out at that time and said such a thing, it seemed very weak. After I posted that statement in 2010, his readers came and left a message saying they believed he wouldn't plagiarize. To talk in such a situation that is not completely reciprocal is actually very powerless.
Silent was released in a douban comic.
As for the content of "loss", it is actually difficult to express clearly. Not long ago, I saw two friends and neighbors on Douban being copied, and I forwarded their statements, and then painted this small picture, which also thought of my own experience. The plagiarists are not just hanging a mask similar to the original, as people think, they are actually taking your face. Until someone at the bottom replied that the Internet has a memory, I suddenly remembered that I had actually said the whole thing on the Internet, but the Internet did not seem to have a memory.
Beijing News: There are views that many literary creations originate from imitation, including the previous discussion on "text regeneration" triggered by Mu Xin's suspected plagiarism incident, how do you think the boundary between "imitation" and "plagiarism" should be defined?
Mo Yin: Lin Peiyuan repeatedly mentioned in his apology letter that he only used the core of my story. But I posted a "color palette" on Weibo, and readers will find that it is not only the core, but a lot of the plot is exactly the same as the direction of my (story). It's okay to write intersex stories, a lot of people are writing them, but if even the plot is the same, it's a little too obvious.
It is no denying that a person may be influenced by the writers he likes when he is young, but I am certainly not the writers he likes, he just happens to see my novels.
Beijing News: The whole thing has developed to the present, do you have anything you want to add?
Mo Yin: Let me add my point of view, I don't think that a person who has plagiarized will continue to plagiarize, and it is also possible that after a person has plagiarized, he writes very seriously, which is entirely possible. Then, I think the sincere apology is just to apologize for the specific plagiarism, so that it can be, in fact, it does not need much.
Finally, I would like to say to the readers of your platform that creation is a very beautiful thing, and please let everyone create freely according to their own ideas.