In February 2022, Scottish writer Miao Lier Sparker's novels "Kensington Past Events" and "Deliberate Thoughts" were published by Nanjing University Press. Known as one of the "50 Great British Writers Since 1945", Sparker is a sharp writer with a sharp eye who shows a unique British sense of humor and her insight into human affairs. Baidao Network interviewed Fu Yu, the editor in charge of "Kensington Old Things" and "Deliberate Thoughts", and asked her to introduce the publishing stories of the two books and the charm of Spark.
Watchmen Literature: Kensington's Past
Publisher: Nanjing University Publishing Co., Ltd.
By Muriel Spark
Translator: Bai Xue
Publication date: February 2022
Watchmen Literature: Deliberate Thoughts
Publisher: Nanjing University Publishing Co., Ltd.
By Muriel Spark
Translator: Peng Guiju
Publication date: February 2022
Born in Edinburgh on 1 February 1918, Muriel Sparker had already shown an unusually precocious talent for literature at a very young age: she had already published her own poems at the age of twelve and won her first poetry prize. At school, she was known as a "poet and dreamer" and often published in school magazines; in 1932, she was dubbed the "Queen of Poetry" by the school.
Sparker spent her life in many different countries, and her literary works from the corresponding period reflected the characteristics of the place where she lived. From 1937 to 1944, in the difficult and tortuous life in Africa, she still did not give up writing, and in her subsequent works, she drew inspiration from the experience of that time and created many immortal masterpieces related to this past. After the Armistice of World War II, she began writing in London in a variety of ways, including a jewelry magazine reporter, an editor of a poetry society magazine, and more. Dissatisfied with the magazine's publishing policy and encouraged by the well-known British literary figure Graham Green, Sparker finally decided to leave his post and focus on his own literary creation.
Kensington Past Events by Muriel Sparkle Spark
In recognition of his outstanding achievements and outstanding contributions in the field of literature and culture, Spark was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1967 and the Order of the Commander of the British Empire in 1967 and 1993 respectively. In 2004, the Scottish Arts Council created the Literary Fund, which bears its name. In 2008, Muriel Spark was named one of the "50 Great British Writers Since 1945" by the Times.
"Kensington Past Events" and "Deliberate" are two of Sparker's representative novels, their language is concise, playful and funny, to the point, intelligent but not explicit, with a strong Spark personal character. On the surface, Sparker's narrative depictions are completely realistic, but in fact, just as the magical things in García Márquez's book are close at hand, reality is sometimes as absurd as a novel. British writer A.S. Byert said of Sparker's story: "This is a moral fable or puzzle that Muriel Sparker is so exquisite that it contains a wealth of insight and wisdom, and the answer is by no means simple. ”
"Kensington Old Things" and "Deliberate Thoughts" are responsible editors Fu Yu
With two mini anthologies,
Let the reader feel the "high-level fun" on the edge of London
Spark's novel was recommended to Fu Yu by a teacher in the English Department of Nanjing University, who said that Spark was an interesting and controversial writer, and reading Spark's works can make people harvest great pleasure of reading. There were very few Sparker works imported in China, and only her most famous "Miss Brody's Youth" and "Driver's Seat" were published at that time. Fu Yu also liked Spark's works after reading them, and some clever details and "spit" often made her can't help but laugh out loud, so she began to seriously study this British female writer who was somewhat "unpopular" in China.
The teacher at NTU was very fond of the two novels "Kensington Old Story" and "Deliberate Thoughts", which happened to be classified into the same genre: both with strong personal characteristics of the author, the background of the story was in London, England in the 1950s and after the "Second World War", one was about the story of the editor, and the other was about the story of the new writer. The editors felt that perhaps the two books could be launched together as Sparker's mini-anthology, and by contrasting them, they might be able to better illustrate the bizarre, quirky fringe world of post-war London's literary circle that Spark experienced. In this way, the two books and Nanjing University Press were officially married.
Fu Yu said that compared with British female writers such as Virginia Woolf and Angela Carter, Spark's language is obviously more plain and the theme is closer to realism. At first glance, it looks bland, but in fact, her novels hide mysteries. Sparker's narrative is cold, pungent, ironic, full of black humor, or a uniquely British humor. Her perspective on life is unique, nuanced and to the point. Characters in her books often come up with "poisonous tongue" phrases. "Interesting" is what many readers and critics say about Sparker's novels. "It's not easy to be sophisticated, cleverly fun, but Sparker did it."
Sparker's works are generally shorter and always focus on a specific group of people— girls' schools, monasteries, publishing houses, "autobiographical societies", collective apartments... Her work is like a small social experiment or a sitcom, watching what sparks and humanity a group of people can collide in a particular situation. Like traditional novels, Sparker's novels have a complete, well-organized storyline and don't seem as ambitious, but she always adds some magical twists and bizarre elements to the story. Spark converted to Catholicism in 1954, and religion is an important element of her work. Her focus on good and evil in human nature, violence and death, is common in her novels, but she can always deal with it lightly, like a ballet, using delicate words to leap between these serious issues.
Fu Yu also pointed out that Spark always discusses reading, books and literary creation in novels, and she consciously breaks the "fourth wall" to let the characters in the book talk directly with the reader, remind the reader of the fictionality of art, and let the reader pay attention to the writing skills here. In David Lodge's view, Spark challenged both The British Neorealism and the aesthetic principles of Modernism. Later critics even argued that Sparker had become a representative writer of postmodernism before the word "postmodern" became popular.
Intensive reading at the time of editing,
Let me have fun exploring and solving puzzles in the maze of words
The cosmopolitan nature of Sparkian literature is an issue that Nanjing University Press focused on when introducing Spark's works. Can Spark's goodness transcend the language and cultural barriers and be appreciated by Chinese readers?
Sparker used her life as material for fiction, her experience of studying at girls' school, her post-World War II experience of working in British intelligence agencies, working as an editor in a poetry magazine, her mental breakdown... All were shattered and rubbed into her novels. Like most writers, Sparker's work shows the social environment and culture in which she lived during a particular time period, as well as her own perception of life. Time and space are different, and cultures are different, but writers' reflections on life, their perception of human nature, their feelings about fate, their criticism of good and evil and power, and their reflections on artistic creation can always resonate with readers of different eras. Good literature is bound to impress readers in different countries. Fu Yu said that from the reader feedback after the publication of Spark's two novels, Spark's "good" can indeed be appreciated by Chinese readers.
Originally, Nanjing University Press wanted to ask Nanda teacher who recommended Spark as a translator of the work, but he was too busy, so the editors asked the translators who had cooperated and knew better before, and also solicited translators in the translation group to try to translate. The two translators selected in the end were Peng Guiju, who had translated "Top of Dreams", and Bai Xue, a graduate student in the English Department of Nanda University who happened to be interning at Nanjing University Press at that time.
"'Top of dreams' is also my responsible editor, I remember reading the manuscript at that time, I felt that Teacher Peng translated it very well, not only accurately, but also very literary, and even reflected the sense of age of the work. This is a collection of psychedelic literature, and the styles of each chapter are very different, but Mr. Peng can translate it appropriately according to the style and content. Although compared with Teacher Peng, Bai Xue's translation experience is not so rich, but her translation accuracy is good, the quality of the translation is close to the original text, the key is that she is very careful and careful. It is precisely because of the two very reliable translators that the editing of these two novels is going very smoothly, and the pain of editing is less, more of a pleasure to read. Talking about the translation level of the two translators, Fu Yu sighed.
If you are not an editor and translator, it may be difficult to speculate on a novel so carefully and word by word. Fu Yu found that the devil was indeed in the details, and intensive reading could gain the pleasure of exploring and solving puzzles in the maze of words. One of the outstanding features of "Kensington Old Things" and "Deliberate Thoughts" is that it is interesting, high-level and interesting, the heroine looks at the turbulent twists and turns of life and the good and evil around her with a literary eye, her eyes are sharp and sharp, and the distance is witty and ironic, Fu Yu compares it to "as if Mrs. Maisel is talking about talk shows in a lively bar".
In Fu Yu's mind, the most eye-catching thing about "Deliberate Thoughts" is its heroine, Fleur. Fleur, who aspires to be a writer, is completely unconnected with traditional female virtues, maverick and different. She greedily draws nourishment from life to nourish her literary creations. She is optimistic and calm, with a kind of Creator's banter, even cruelty, watching the absurd drama of life. She is not sentimental, and no matter how many twists and turns she has experienced, for her, it has only increased the material for her writing. The book even bluntly states that Freire is "not like a woman." At the end of the story, Freire happily embarks on her life journey with a beautiful kick in her life after several attempts to knock her down. Such a vivid and unique female image is still dazzling to this day.
The book begins to reflect: Is a writer really a psychic medium? Why does the reality in the book unfold according to the plot of the novel created by the protagonist, making life as magical as a novel? In "Deliberate Thoughts", it is no longer simply "art originates from life and is higher than life", but art becomes Plato's rational form, and reality becomes the shadow of art.
Perhaps the biggest highlight of "The Old Story of Kensington" is the recurring demonic and deadly word in the book— "The Pee Man." That's what Mrs. Hawkins, the book's senior editor, calls a crappy literati, who thinks that urine writers don't write at all, "but a parasite that vomits out a bunch of literary material, pees out of newspapers and magazines written by hired literati, and pulls out disgusting prose." Mrs. Hawkins stubbornly calls the villain in the book, Butler, "the pee writer", loses two jobs for this, and the people around her are involved in it and dies, and she still flatly refuses to change her mouth, as if she is a martyr of literary value. Fu Yu said that it is interesting to read this book as an editor, to see the strange shape of the publishing industry portrayed by Spark, and to listen to Sparker share her understanding and thinking about art and literary creation through the mouth of her characters.
Both books have threats of death and power, but Sparker handles them easily and fun. Through these two books, Sparker talks to the reader: look at this interesting literature, with it, the ordinary life has a magic. These two books expand the reader's imagination, allowing us to look at life and art with a new perspective, and to see the world through the eyes of art.
Look at Spark from the work:
Pursue freedom, be happy to "laugh", and love poetry
Compared with "Kensington Past Events", the domestic attention to the novel "Deliberate" is slightly higher, and there is more research. Dai Hongbin, a professor in the English Department of the School of Foreign Languages of Xiamen University, believes that "Deliberate Thinking" reflects Sparker's pursuit of creative freedom, his affirmation of irony and ridicule, and his love of poetry.
At the beginning of the novel, Freire confidently declares: "As an artist and a woman, living in the twentieth century, it feels so good!" Because she was able to control herself and her art, Freir enjoyed greater freedom, which influenced the tone of the entire novel. Her tone in fiction is always light and positive, and her attitude is optimistic and upbeat. At the beginning of the novel, Freire is almost penniless, and has quarreled with the landlord without complaining, mainly because she is glad that she has just left an autobiographical association and is no longer bound by it. She made many efforts to leave the Autobiographical Society and gain freedom.
Before Freire applied, she did not know that Quentin, the organizer of the association, used autobiographies written by members of the association to exert control over them. In the process of winning the trust and admiration of the members of the association, Freire slowly discovered Quentin's plot. In her spare time, she was still working on a novel, but Quentin interfered with her creative freedom and tried to hinder the publication of the novel. She responded aggressively, retrieving the manuscript of the novel stolen by Quentin, and eventually completed and published the novel. Later, Quentin died in a car accident. In this way, Freir was completely liberated.
Freire evaluates her own strengths and weaknesses impartially, and rationally controls herself, speaking freely in the novel, freely expressing her creative concepts and aesthetic ideas. She believes that intuition occupies a very important place in her own creation, and feels that the purpose of fiction is to express truth. Freyer's freedom becomes the deep theme of the novel. On the surface, the novel is more about the fusion and juxtaposition of fiction and reality, but in fact, the author implies that only after gaining creative freedom can he wield freely, shuttle between reality and fiction in the novel, and choose materials and express ideas at will. Thus commentators point out, "In fact, the profundity of Deliberate Thoughts is far from being an interesting game of reality and fiction, but in its constant contemplation of the concept of freedom. "At the time of the creation of "Deliberate Thoughts", Sparker, who was over the age of flower, had completed the creation of 15 novels after years of struggle, and had a rich and unique understanding of literary creation. Through revisiting and writing about free themes and literary creation methods, she reviews her writing career and summarizes her experiences and insights for the reader's enjoyment.
Baidao Network understands that Spark emphasizes the dual purpose of creation: while making people happy, it should also play a role of teaching, so as to better cope with external pressures. She said, "Literature and art that are full of emotions should be eliminated." They are deceptive and make us feel like we are participating in society and life. But in fact, this kind of literature and art is a separate activity. Spark rejects such literary works because they belong to an "elite culture" in which only a few people participate, and are therefore "separatist" activities. Because of Sparker's opposition to this "separation" activity, her works often take into account popular tastes and are close to life. She believes that novels should not only be innovative, but also lively, interesting, and exciting in order to be popular. Sparker experimented continuously, employing many postmodernist techniques in her work, using a large number of novel techniques such as new novels, intertextuality, metafictions, irony and pre-narrative, but she took into account both the interest and readability of her works, so they were not as esoteric as most postmodern works.
If you read "The Old Story of Kensington" and "Deliberate", you will find sparkle's unique black humor running through it. Sparker once said something like this: "... I advocate replacing it with an art form of irony and mockery. I don't think there could be any other art form in the future. We are left with only ridicule for this venerable weapon. Spark felt that irony and ridicule were the only effective artistic means of our time for two reasons: the absurdity of the times and societies we faced was indisputable; in the face of the world, everyone could somehow share only the art of "ridicule." "And the art of ridicule, if it hits the target——— if it can't really hit the target, then it is not art at all——— can go deep into the marrow." It leaves a beneficial scar. Spark said.
In addition, in stories such as "Deliberate Thoughts", Spark also expressed his love for poetic form through the mouth of the protagonist: "I have begun to write a novel, and it requires me to concentrate on poetry. Because, I conceive of things in a poetic way. Freire admits that novels are "continuous poetry." Due to the influence of poetry, Spark attached great importance to concise style and precise expression in the creation of novels, believing that the highest state of creation was to use the least amount of words to express the richest ideas.
Under the norms of minimalist style, Spark's novels are short, concise and profound. Most of her novels bear the characteristics of poetry: concise, condensed, delicate and refined. In her novels, she spares ink like gold, uses words with elaborate words, and borrows concise words to convey multiple meanings, which is endlessly evocative. She strives to embellish the dialogue with poetry and present the dialogue in a poetic way. This shows Spark's superb skills and infinite charm, and also adapts to the fast-paced life of today's society, winning her a huge readership. Sparker's novels have been translated into 26 languages, many of which became bestsellers and were made into films that became world-renowned.
The style of the "Watchmen Literature Series":
Create fine serious literature
"Kensington Past Affair" and "Deliberate Thoughts" belong to the "Watchmen Literature" book department of Nanjing University Press. The "Watchmen Literature" book series has published more than 20 books, including works by outstanding foreign modern and contemporary writers, including British writers Angela Carter and Barbara Pym, Irish writer John Banville, Argentine writer Alvito Mangueel, Japanese writer Shusaku Endo, and many French writers, such as Paul Morand, Georges Perek, Claude Simon, Pascal Kinyar, Ines Bayar, and so on. From the above names, it can be seen that the series selects important writers from various countries and occupies a place in the history of literature, and their works have different styles, different genres, but all are ingenious works.
The works included in Watchmen Literature may not necessarily be the most representative or best-selling works of these writers, but they must be important or special works on their writing path, which reflect their unique writing characteristics and are worth reading. Reading them, you can get a glimpse of the picture of modern and contemporary world literature with a hundred flowers, and harvest the pleasure of reading excellent literary works. These excellent writers' works are the cornerstone of the "Watchmen", and the series of interviews, biographies, and literary criticisms of Nanjing University Press have been extended accordingly, forming a unique literary publishing map.
For the overall literary publishing of Nanjing University Press, the small-folio hardcover "Watchmen Literature" book department has established a style: to create high-quality serious literature. The company strictly selects works and translators, attaches importance to the quality of translations, pays attention to the design of book binding, and strives to make each book have both tone and quality.
(In addition to an interview with Fu Yu, editor-in-charge of "Kensington Past Events" and "Deliberate Thoughts", this article also refers to Dai Hongbin's articles "Spark's Multi-color Female Figure" and "A Preliminary Study of the Narrative Theory of the Novel by British Female Writer Sparker".) ）
Author: Liu Ruili
Edit: Daozhi
Final: Ling Jia