Reportage 丨Ji Hongjian: The characteristics and spiritual dimension of the times of reportage

Wen 丨 Ji Hongjian

Recording and writing the times is the mission entrusted to us by the times, and even more so for reportage writers. Reportage literature is a stylistic form that deeply touches the pulse of the times and the human spiritual world, and with its temperature close to reality and the depth of its roots in the earth, it has become one of the most important and distinctive literary and artistic expressions in the new era.

The times call for reportage, and the times need reportage, which also puts forward higher requirements for reportage writing. The four words of "reportage" are based on the word "literature", and because of the participation of the word "report", reportage is endowed with distinct characteristics of the times, social responsibilities and commitments of the times, so I think reportage is more of a mission literature. It is not just a superficial involvement of the surface of characters and events, but requires the writer to go deep into the depths of the character's soul, the core of the event, and needs to make a timely and vivid and accurate and effective reflection of the real society. When interviewing, the writer is required to be able to extract the rough and refined, to remove the false and the true; when creating, the writer is required to have a calm and objective attitude. An excellent work of reportage literature, it is not only a literary presentation, but also involves all aspects, such as political science, sociology, geography, regional economics, psychology, statistics, etc., it should be a multi-faceted synthesis. This requires the writer to have a basic conscience bottom line, a relatively broad vision, a broad thinking, dialectical thinking, and a historical vision.

Of course, reportage writing ultimately has to return to the text, and "literature" is the root, or essence, of reportage. But this is not to say that "reports" should not be "reported", "reports" are equally important, it requires reportage works to have a strong sense of mission and the characteristics of the times. "Report" is a consideration of the writer's thought, philosophy and other knowledge, and "literature" is also a consideration of the writer's literary accomplishment. In the current reportage industry, there is such a phenomenon, some writers believe that as long as the record is the things and people that exist in real life, it is reportage, as long as it grasps the big theme, it can write big works. In fact, many writers often ignore "literature" when grasping "reports", which greatly weakens the power of reportage.

The distinctive characteristics of the times of reportage literature are also reflected in the mission and responsibility, or it is a kind of mission literature. As a kind of mission literature, reportage literature has never shirked its social responsibilities and the commitment of the times, always adhered to the role of presence, participation, commitment and reflection, and always insisted on starting and digging deeper at the place where the news ended and the hot spot gradually faded into history, thus making a unique and important contribution to the writer. Especially in the face of major disasters such as flood prevention and rescue, earthquake relief, fight against SARS, and the fight against the new crown pneumonia epidemic, as well as in the face of social focus and hot events, reportage writers always rush to the forefront and are at the forefront with the courage and consciousness of "not afraid of difficulties and sacrifices". Because truth is the life of reportage, reportage writers must go into the hearts of the characters, into the scene of events, into real life, which is the basic attitude of writing. But it is not enough, we must also pour out our emotions, truly perceive, judge, grasp, and then truly record and profoundly express the truth of the event.

Reportage is mission literature and walking literature. Good reportage literature is walked out, and good reportage writers have to go through a lot of fieldwork, field investigation, and on-site interviews, which is a literature that comes out step by step. And walk sincerely. Only by walking and creating sincerely can we get closer to the true meaning of life. And sincerely reproducing life is an indispensable quality of a good work. Sincerity has nothing to do with the times, has nothing to do with literary phenomena and ideological trends, and has nothing to do with cognition, attitude, and piety. In recent years, Chinese society has undergone historic changes, becoming an inexhaustible literary rich mine for current writers, and has also attracted the majority of reportage writers to invest in this broad stage. As one of them, when I interviewed, I regarded myself as a primary school student, listened carefully and recorded; when I created, I focused on the people and conveyed the voice of the people from the perspective of the common people. Practice tells me that only by sincerely throwing ourselves down, taking root in the frontline of the grassroots, and mingling with the masses can we understand their true hearts and create works that are close to the times, close to life, close to the masses, and breathe with the times and share a common destiny.

However, we must soberly realize that the success of a work is not a simple literary presentation, and the spiritual dimension is the most important part of the value structure of reportage literature. Mature writers and classic reportage works will reflect the adherence and unremitting pursuit of the spiritual dimension of literature. In the creation of reportage literature, I also strive to present more spiritual dimensions, especially in the creation of "Rural Country Is" and "Colored Porcelain Sail Shadow".

"The Country Is" presents its spiritual dimension in multiple dimensions. The first is the presentation of the national spirit. The work records the stories of ordinary people and poverty alleviation cadres fighting tenaciously against poverty and difficulties, and their spirit of self-improvement is the source of the Chinese nation's unceasing strength for thousands of years. The second is the great responsibility of the Chinese Communists. People's livelihood is supreme, and we do not forget the fundamentals. Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has gone to the mountains, walked on the frontier, visited the old areas, and entered the islands – through a winding road map for poverty alleviation, we can see the commitment and responsibility of the Chinese Communists, and the leader's feelings of being a big country have also jumped on the paper. The third is the successful practice of building a community with a shared future for mankind. Poverty alleviation is a great cause without borders, China has always closely linked its own destiny with the fate of people around the world, while committing to eliminating its own poverty, it has actively participated in international poverty reduction cooperation, been an advocate, promoter and contributor to the international poverty reduction cause, and worked with other countries to build a community with a shared future for mankind without poverty and common development. There is also the fact that I try my best to inject my own emotions, feelings, reflections, worries and many other factors into this work, do not avoid contradictions, difficulties, and difficulties, try to look at problems with the eyes of development and scrutiny, and adhere to my independent personality, independent will, and independent thinking. Instead of writing about poverty alleviation for the sake of poverty alleviation, we focus on exploring the development of Rural China, put the big theme of poverty and the victory over poverty in the narrative of rural life, and strive to show the changes in rural life and the changing life of peasants. It embodies the spirit of the individual, but also the spirit of the nation and the spirit of the times; it also embodies the fate of the individual, and also reflects the fate of the nation, the fate of the times, and the fate of the world. The three-dimensional interweaving of many emotions and spirits makes the works rich and thick.

The "Colored Porcelain Sail Shadow", which is about to be completed, also pays attention to the presentation of spiritual dimension. From a perspective that runs through China and the West, combining walking, memories and historical narration, I trace the magnificent process of Changsha colored porcelain from China to the world, not only exploring the cultural and economic factors of Chinese manufacturing and exporting overseas, but also depicting a historical picture of the history of thousands of Chinese and Western civilization exchanges. I strive to convey my attention and contemplation of humanity, history and reality with unique experiences and words.

Times are changing, and literature is constantly changing. Although the era of new media has profoundly affected the production and dissemination of literature, as well as people's acceptance of literature, I believe that what has changed is only the form, not the essence. In fact, the way chinese and foreign literature is disseminated in ancient and modern times has been changing, and the spiritual essence of literature has not changed. The new era is undoubtedly a great opportunity to give birth to the vigorous development of reportage, while we conform to the development of the times and science and technology, only by constantly revising our own value orientation, adhering to the character of independence and unswervingness, constantly strengthening and improving the text and theoretical system, "digging deep wells, digging deep wells", and writing works that are truly popular with the people and the majority of readers, is the way to develop reportage.

The author is a member of the presidium of the Provincial Federation of Literature and Literature, the vice president of the China Reportage Literature Society, a member of the Reportage Committee of the Chinese Writers Association, and the winner of the Lu Xun Literature Award