confide
——2023 Overseas Chinese Novel Selection
"Confiding: Selected Overseas Chinese Novels in 2023" was recently launched by Lijiang Publishing House. Wang Xiaoping, an associate professor at the School of Chinese as a Second Language at Shanghai Normal University, said in a commentary for this newspaper that in recent years, with the increasing cross-border movement of domestic and foreign writers, cross-cultural experience is no longer the exclusive preserve of overseas writers. Although some of the novels in "Confiding: Selected Overseas Chinese Novels in 2023" still retain the details of cultural differences and conflicts, they are more about exploring the inner spiritual structure of the characters in the environment of multicultural integration, and the exploration and expression of the inner side of the human spirit are more prominent. The narrative styles of the 13 novels are different, but what they have in common is a strong interest in "secrets". Revealing the hidden secrets of one's own and others' lives, and then dissecting the hidden mental wounds in daily life, history and culture, constitute an important narrative driving force for these works.
Breaking the traditional theme of writing and continuing to explore the inner side of the spirit, it not only presents the complex and flowing exotic world, but also reveals the obscurity in the human spiritual structure, and explores the possibility of spiritual repair and reconstruction, which is a kind of change trajectory in the creation of overseas Chinese literature.
Text/Wang Xiaoping
Published in the Literary Newspaper on July 25, 2024
In the past, the short stories of new immigrants have either been related to cultural differences and conflicts in daily life abroad, or told Chinese stories from the perspective of foreign cultures. In recent years, with the increasing cross-border movement of domestic and foreign writers, amphibious and multi-habitat lifestyles are more common, it is difficult to use the nationality and identity of writers as a criterion for judging their literary characteristics, and cross-cultural experience is no longer the exclusive patent of overseas writers, and even some domestic writers have more obvious cross-cultural factors than some overseas works. If it is said that the early overseas Chinese literature showed a strong cultural specificity due to the inconvenience of geographical flow and the delay in information dissemination, then in the era of globalization with frequent movement of knowledge and population, if it were not for the unique style formed by long-term immersion in heterogeneous cultures and intentional integration in terms of language and style, then the difference between the literature of new immigrants and domestic literature would continue to narrow. Writers seem to be losing interest in culturally based narratives, and this is especially evident in the creation of short stories, as can be clearly seen in the book "Confiding: Selected Overseas Chinese Novels 2023" edited by American writer Xia Shang.
The authors of the novels cover United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Australia, etc., and the broad literary geography and rich and diverse subject matter content are undoubtedly the highlights of this anthology, but it is worth noting that although some novels still retain the details of cultural differences and conflicts, they are more about exploring the inner spiritual structure of the characters in the environment of multicultural integration. In the writings of some writers, heterogeneous culture has even become a potential non-functional element, which no longer has an influence on the direction of the story and the psychology of the characters. In contrast, the excavation and expression of the inner side of the human spirit are more prominent. For example, the narrative styles of the 13 novels are different, but what they have in common is a strong interest in "secrets". Revealing the hidden secrets of one's own and others' lives, and then dissecting the hidden mental wounds in daily life, history and culture, constitute an important narrative driving force for these works.
Inner secrets are often related to family memories of growing up. American writer Chen Qian's "It's Time" and Malaysia's Chinese writer Lin Xuehong's "House" tell about the subtle twists and turns in intergenerational relationships. The former writes about the time between the father and his daughter in his later years, but there are cracks under the surface of a warm and homely and undisturbed life, the daughter's emaciation and anorexia, and the father's fear of the coming twilight, all of which hide deep painful memories of family trauma, but in fact, they are also related to a secret in history. "House" also starts from the relationship between father and daughter, describing the ethics of family affection. It's just that in "It's Time", the daughter and her dying father show their hearts to each other, the father dies peacefully, and the daughter also gains peace of mind; In "House", the daughter returns to Malaysia to mourn her father, which instead leads to more traumatic memories. The past has surfaced over the years, and the depression and grievances brought to his daughter by the indifferent and arrogant, self-respecting but cowardly father have not been calmed down with the father's departure. The novel depicts the complex feelings of her daughter with calm and delicate strokes, and at the same time brings out the unspeakable situation of women in the family under the "absurd and unbelievable rules" - which also constitutes an unspeakable "secret" in traditional male society.
The secrets of adults are often inseparable from love and marriage. "Love Extends on the Weekend", "From the Depths", "Snow in Late Spring" and "Poetry and the World" are four novels, and the protagonists of the stories are basically middle-aged men and women. Most of them have gone through the thousands of rivers and mountains of love, worried about the complexity of love, afraid of the loss of love, both longing for the advent of love, but hesitating, preferring to play alone with the secrets of love. The title of the novel is reminiscent of the trilogy "Love Before Dawn" by American writer Xiao Du, which depicts the subtle emotional flow between adult men and women in a very delicate way. A cold from a female companion seems to have ruined the otherwise beautiful weekend date, and the male protagonist has to accompany and take care of it. The novelist does not pursue the ups and downs of the plot, but presents the complex inner thoughts of the protagonist with fine brushstrokes, and explores the possibilities and impossibilities of mutual understanding and communication between people. The other three novels show the love secrets of a married man and woman in real life. The writer Qi Guan's "From the Depths" writes the secrets of the human soul in a soft science fiction way, bringing out the feelings and thoughts on marriage ethics and family relationships. In the light and introverted rhythm of the characters' dialogue, secret words and disguises seem to become a fascinating game, from which the special charm of Japan novels when writing about the relationship between self and others. The protagonists of "Snow in Twilight" by Canadian writer Feng Qun and "Poetry and the World" by French writer Green Knight are South American immigrants living in Quebec, Canada, and Chinese immigrants in France, respectively. The former is as strong and resilient as the rye bread in the novel, and the simple and honest Elvado faces the troubles caused by the secret of his past emotions, but in the heavy snow, the generosity of his friends and the understanding of his children finally cover this secret, bringing hope for spring. The latter places the narrative of "secrets" in fragrant flowers and rich poetry, and the help of friends and chance that the heroine is freed from the troublesome secret, and the ending can be called a happy ending, but a little melancholy and worry, which seems to imply that the secrets of the depths of human nature do not seem to be so easy to peep into.
Several novels such as "Confession", "Pearl of the Sea of Flowers", "Year of the Great Cicada", and "Martha of San Giovanni" reveal the spiritual dilemma of individual survival through the secret narrative of the heart. The German-based writer Haruki is good at burying moving details in a calm and modest, slightly indifferent narrative, revealing the hidden pain and sorrow of life. "Confiding" presents a flowing daily life with a number of seemingly unrelated events, and regularly conducts psychological counseling online in the daily interaction with neighbors in the Germany...... But the end seems to come unexpectedly, the happy and witty old German shopkeeper dies suddenly, and the "most profound communication" with the psychological counselor will eventually be "forgotten in the rivers and lakes", and the loneliness in life may be related to foreign travel, but it leads to a more inner eternal mystery - the loneliness of human beings. Wang Bang's "Pearl in the Sea of Flowers" continues the writer's consistent style, turning his concern for history and reality into an extremely delicate and moving description of local life, and bringing out a rich social and psychological landscape with a light and sensitive narrative. In the novel, Ah Sheng's loneliness and perseverance, An Bai's sorrow and pain flash like pearls against the magical background of the fall of Huahai Fishing Village, forming a Hong Kong adult fairy tale full of fireworks and spiritual symbolism. The free entry and exit of the real and imaginary worlds, the in-depth depiction of the secrets of the soul hidden in each lonely individual, and the precise and beautiful image carrier are the charm of Wang Bang's narrative aesthetics.
The American writer Kong Jiesheng's "The Year of the Cicada" and the Australian writer Wu Lingyi's "Martha of San Giovanni" write about the hidden secrets of reality and history, and then explore the interactive relationship between individual survival, real social structure and historical memory. "The Year of the Cicada" is mature in thought, smooth in rhythm, concise and poetic in writing, and the advancement of the storyline is in harmony with the natural scenery. United States Prince George's Riverside Community, although it is a small community, it also has its own ecosystem. A juvenile homicide case breaks the tranquility, the cicadas chirp from time to time, and everything is disturbed. In the face of undercurrent of racial estrangement and conflict, the cautious and gentle Oriental man Lai Kwok-wah is faced with a choice, whether to keep silent or to reveal secrets. After testifying in court, it really attracted the hostility of neighbors. But the dignity and solemnity of his employer, Rogers, as the last veteran of the Flying Tigers, along with his cheerful and lively Chinese-American daughter Lorina, brought another possibility to quell the incident. In the novel, secrets are everywhere, except for the secrets that Li Guohua is unintentionally involved in, Rogers's secrets and Luo Lina's secrets have their own epochal significance. Through the writing of secrets, the novel shows a narrative that historicizes the life of an individual. The Martha of San Giovanni, a writer based in Australia, also unfolds in the interactive context of history and reality, focusing more on the multiple referential and intertextual narratives that present "secrets" in different time and space. The mystery of the Chinese Jiang Zhen girl and the mystery of the witch in Italy history are related to the tragic fate of women; And the two Martha in Italy, one is a witch who was executed during the plague, and the other is a happy bride in reality, whose situation is very different but gives people a certain terrifying and lamentable association; Jiang Zhen's secret is the different emotional memories of Andre and "me", and it also leads to the difference between national history and culture...... The novel is exquisitely structured and unrefined, and has a special charm in expressing the complex spiritual world and revealing the secrets of the human mind.
Wang Xiyu, a writer in the United States, "Asking Where the Plum Blossoms Fall" echoes the phenomenal film "Thirty Thousand Miles of Chang'an" that year. The latter focuses on the narrative of individual life growth and friendship, while the novel writes about the never-ending conflicts and wars of history with unbridled imagination. At the beginning of the novel, the world is overlooked from the perspective of an eagle soaring, and gradually moves the mirror downward, focusing on the military tent in Liangzhou, leading to a mystery of troubled times in history. How to secretly communicate between the outer frontier and the Chang'an court? How did Gao Shi, who had been down for half a life, eventually become a generation of famous generals? What is the secret behind Geshuhan's surrender to the enemy? However, the writer does not intend to trace historical cause and effect, but uses the hidden deeds of a foreign woman as a force to drive the narrative. Revenge or love, a celebrity or a butcher, has long been a mystery in the repeated performance of history. Zhu Dake's "Wu Gang" traces ancient mythology and shows another way of imagining "secrets". The protagonist of Wu Gang obviously has the shadow of Song Wuji, one of the character archetypes examined in Zhu Dake's Ancient Chinese Divine System, and the elixir of immortality is also related to the "Su Mo wine" (relayed as osmanthus wine) in the book, which is a product of the tree in the moon. However, the main purpose of the novel is not to extend or supplement the mythological story, but to explore the mysteries of the human spirit. Wu Gang's act of logging was endowed with a strong sense of love by the writer, and at the same time, it was the love and tolerance of the tree that prompted Wu Gang to tell the terrible truth hidden in his heart. The wind rises at the end of Qingping, tracing the origin of human civilization and the words about secrets, which have their own fun. What is true and what is false? Will the "rewritten ending of the story" that Wu Gang told to the tree at the end be "wrapped in a layer of lies" as before? However, it is better to put aside the doubts for a moment, after all, ancient times are the childhood of human beings, as the ideal picture shown in the novel - pregnant with the primordial spiritual power that makes human beings clear of their sins and become a "clean human race".
Therefore, secrets are not only about the inner world, but also about the world of words. In an age of ebb-and-dwindle power between the old and the new, the art of telling secrets is more important than ever – based on its immense power to summon emotions. "Rhetoric and sincerity" seem to be getting farther and farther away from us, the appearance of reality makes human beings feel naked, and the love of secrets is increasing day by day, almost becoming a new ethical bottom line. However, when the secrets of humanity are no longer communicable, will the spiritual Tower of Babel also collapse? Malaysia writer Lai Zishu "Letter from a Strange Woman" provides a powerful response, and this novel is also a unique literary criticism. The writer borrows a letter from the old lady Naomi to pierce the inner secrets of the reader/writer with a sharp honesty and sharp strokes, and illustrates a unique understanding of the creation of the novel through the comparison of different texts. In this work, the writer shows a wealth of reading experience and writing skills, the narrative perspective is switched freely, and the voices of Naomi and the narrator appear in turn, forming a multi-part reverberation effect with different "you", which hits the depths of the human heart forcefully and mercilessly, and seeks the possibility of restarting the dialogue with a sharp honesty through the revelation of secrets.
The "secret" narratives in the 13 short stories cover several parts such as family memory, love between men and women, existential dilemmas, history and mythology, etc., pointing to various aspects such as private life, social and cultural criticism, and historical reflection. In recent years, many fields have undergone drastic differentiation and reorganization, new kinetic energy has been converging and emerging, and the digital world's desire to detect and capture human secrets is more urgent than ever before, but emotional and spiritual secrets are human secrets that AI cannot reach for the time being. In-depth exploration and in-depth expression of the secrets of human hearts, summoning and constructing the field of memory, so as to promote the real spiritual communication between people to the greatest extent, has become a new narrative aesthetics of overseas Chinese short stories. Breaking the traditional theme of writing and continuing to explore the inner side of the spirit, it not only presents the complex and flowing exotic world, but also reveals the darkness in the human spiritual structure, and explores the possibility of spiritual repair and reconstruction, which is a kind of creative change trajectory shown in "Confiding: Selected Overseas Chinese Novels in 2023".
Editor-in-charge: Fu Xiaoping New Media Editor: Li Lingjun
Image source: Photo.com
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