Editor's note: An era, there is an era of literature; an excellent literary work must profoundly record this great era! Different works also respond to the times in a literary way. Why did the novel "Swallow Flower" win the unanimous approval of the majority of readers? What are the stories behind this novel?
RedNet Moment News Reporter Hu Bangjian reported from Changsha
In the 1950s, Hunan writer Zhou Libo returned to his hometown of Qingxi Village in Yiyang and wrote a novel called "Great Changes in Mountains and Townships", which depicted the earth-shaking changes in rural production and life and peasants' ideological concepts, and became a literary classic of the times. In the 21st century, Hunan writer Gong Pengfei's novel "Swallow Flower" is full of rich local atmosphere, witnessing the changes of the times in the new countryside with a tone of presence, which has aroused strong repercussions once it has been published and distributed, and has been called the "great changes in the mountains and countryside" in the new era by readers.
Hunan writer Gong Pengfei's novel "Swallow Flower" witnesses the changes of the times in the new countryside with a kind of presence tone, which is called the "great changes in the mountains and villages" of the new era by readers.
Tribute to literary classics, a new era of "great changes in the mountains and countryside"
"Swallow Flower" is a 320,000-word novel written by the author over a period of 10 months. From the perspective of Lü Huaiyuan, an editor who retired early, for more than 20 days to visit his relatives, combined with his life notes written in the 1980s, the book makes a panoramic description of the customs and customs of Baisha Village on the bank of the Zishui River, as well as the fate of the villagers' fathers and elders, love and hate.
To understand this book, we must first understand the meaning of the title. What exactly is a swallow flower?
Swallow flowers, also known as Ziyunying in the countryside of Huxiang, are the messengers of spring in the fields and have a kind of endless power.
"Swallow flowers in accordance with the orders of the land, one year old and one withered, spring wind blowing and growing, branches and leaves, purple and red, not only is the representative plant of the hometown, but also the group symbol of the people on both sides of the Zijiang River!" Gong Pengfei introduced to reporters that at the beginning, he had been struggling with whether the title of the novel was "agricultural change" or "swallow flower". After much deliberation, it was finally named "Swallow Flower".
The swallow flower is the messenger of spring in the field and the group symbol of the people on both sides of the Zijiang River.
In "Swallow Flower", the image of Cao Wanjun, Yang Haoguang, Yang Lisheng, Xie Danxin, Zhao Huibao, Chen Tiezhu, Liu Ying and a number of people on both sides of the Zijiang River was created. The rural characters in northern Hunan in the novel, as well as the distinctive regional culture, construct the legendary story of the landscape on the downstream side of the Zishui River, giving people a sense of scene reproduction of "Great Changes in Mountains and Countryside".
The reporter learned that in fact, such a "scene reproduction" is not accidental. Gong Pengfei and Zhou Libo are both Yiyang people and editors, and they focus on the countryside with the same affection.
In order to write "The Great Changes in the Mountains and Countryside", Zhou Libo used the inherent perseverance of his warrior writers to go deep into his hometown and eat and live with the peasants and work together, and there was a good story in the work that the archetypal characters and the author walked around each other for decades and generations, and finally made "The Great Change in the Mountains and Countryside" enduring.
Before starting to write, Gong Pengfei repeatedly studied "Great Changes in Mountains and Townships", learned Zhou Libo's perspective on problems and the skills of using language, and visited Qingxi Village, Zhou Libo's hometown many times, to understand the anecdotes of his creation of "Great Changes in Mountains and Townships".
Of course, the accumulation and collation of materials is far more than that. In recent years, the author has often used weekends and holidays to return to his hometown again and again, from the urban-rural integration department to the nursing home, from inviting Zhao Huibao's prototype to dinner to talking with Cao Wanjun's prototype all night long, and the characters in the novel are the "role mapping" of his real-life acquaintances.
The same deep life, the same local feelings. It can be said that "Swallow Flower" is Gong Pengfei's tribute to Zhou Libo and an innovative work of new vernacular literature.
Sculpt nostalgia with love, and look back and gaze at your hometown at once
The famous poet Ai Qing once wrote in a poem: "Why do I often have tears in my eyes? Because I love this land deeply. ”
Every life has a land that can never be abandoned, and that is the homeland on which life grows. In literary creation, nostalgia is a topic that has been sung for a long time across time and space.
In order to write "Swallow Flower", Gong Pengfei returned to his hometown many times to feel the local atmosphere.
As the "Xinxiang Review" posted an article on "Swallow Flower": "This is a work that looks back and gazes at the hometown. The main character in the book, Lu Huaiyuan, has been watering the homeland of the lower reaches of the Zijiang River with his heart and soul all his life, and has been carving nostalgia with love all his life. ”
In fact, this is also a realistic portrayal of Gong Pengfei. "Writing 'Swallow Flower' is actually a return to the origin, a return to the hometown, a retracement of the roots of the hometown for decades." Gong Pengfei recalled that for many years, his hometown has been in his heart, and after the publication of the novel "Drifting Bottle", he considered writing a novel of his hometown and using his work to record nostalgia to return to his fellow villagers. This is also his original intention in creating "Swallow Flower".
What does the nostalgia that has been polished and presented to the reader look like?
The various characters portrayed in the book and the many stories depicted are the carriers of nostalgia. The swallow flower has forty-seven chapters in the whole book, and the chapters titled on the names of the native villagers amount to twenty-five chapters. A book of "Swallow Flowers", half of the history of the hometown! The author borrows the stories in the book to express his deep affection for the homeland.
The earth is speechless, only to see the moon in its hometown.
A "big local book" in the writer's pen, born with a variety of forms, aroused the resonance of readers.
"After reading 'Swallow Flower', the cultural genes of my hometown that have been integrated into my blood have been deeply awakened, and the image of my hometown is clear, warm, familiar and kind again." Shu Bin, chairman of Hunan New Century Education, Science and Culture Development Co., Ltd., praised "Swallow Flower" as a good work rich in Yiyang cultural genes.
Writer Yuan Jiaosu believes that "the landscape of the hometown and the memory of the times are restored one by one in "Swallow Flower", and the rural stories and scenes of the past surface in the dream, resurrecting our fading past." ”
Acura Great Times, a literary flower that blooms in the fertile soil of the countryside
Great literary works are inseparable from great times, and works with real social value should have the functional attributes of recording the times.
The reporter noted that another theme of this book is to sing the great changes in the mountains and villages of the new era. In the words of the character Lu Huaiyuan in the book, "The white sand has indeed changed, and the countryside that has basically looked like it for thousands of years is bearing the strong impact of the outside world, and it is like Sun Wukong, constantly changing." ”
In the novel, the countryside is undergoing rapid changes.
In "Swallow Flower", the leaders of all ages in Baisha Village have been branded with various eras and have witnessed the development and changes of the times. From villagers dancing square dances and singing gambling songs, to hardening the pavement, to transforming the living environment... The author's brushstrokes seem to be unfazed and eloquent, but in fact, the ink is subtle, and the wood is three points, and he has written the great changes in the lower reaches of the Zijiang River for decades, and the old appearance of his hometown has changed its new look.
Of course, when the author enthusiastically embraces this change, he also exudes a faint sadness in his heart, that is, the agricultural civilization of thousands of years is likely to disappear. Many of the artifacts of the agricultural era, such as clothing, water wheels, windmills, and stone mills, have now become cultural relics, and many rural slang has become unfamiliar.
"As a writer, I also have a sense of urgency in my heart, and I also want to leave these things in my pen as much as possible, record them, and leave some physical evidence of my hometown during the period of agricultural civilization to future generations." Gong Pengfei told reporters.
New countryside and new look.
Entering a new era, from the comprehensive victory in the battle against poverty to the comprehensive implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, the COMMUNIST Party of China has led China's rural areas to complete one great leap after another. Times change again, what remains unchanged? The belief in the pursuit of a better life has never changed.
The reporter found that "Swallow Flower" also portrayed a college graduate Chen Ping. As a college student village official, he is young and promising, using "Internet thinking" to think about how to sell the agricultural products of Baisha Village, and he has a "package" idea for the future of Baisha Village. This character is the representative of the new people of the times, pinning the author's hope for the comprehensive revitalization of the countryside!
Today, after experiencing the great changes in the mountains and villages of land reform, the vast rural areas of China have ushered in more magnificent changes in the mountains and villages of the new era. "Swallow Flower" searches for rural memories in the depths of history, and witnesses the changes of the times in the new countryside with a tone of presence, which is the echo of history and the precursor of the times, which is the historical mission and inevitable requirement for literary works to become classic.
Rooted in people's lives and praising the great era. The reporter believes that in the fertile land of Hunan where humanities gather, more literary flowers like the novel "Swallow Flower" will bloom!