Chapter 20 nineteen

The preparations for "Avant-Garde Literature" went smoothly, and the registration certificate was borrowed; Homen also received 5,000 yuan from his mother.Holmen invited me to have afternoon tea at Daimaru Teahouse and discussed several issues. Regarding the manuscripts for the first issue of the magazine, I have a hypothetical table of contents: (A) For the translation part, the following excellent works are proposed to be translated: (1) Gramont's "Proust as I Know it"; (2) Joyce's Letters; (3) Thomas.Hardy's five unpublished poems; (4) Edward's "Stendhal in London"; (5) Henry.James's "On Nana"; (6) Gocteau's short story "Human Voices"; (7) Xinyou's short story "Diary of an Unborn".

(B) In the creative part, it is not difficult to find good new poems and papers, but it is not easy to find creative novels that are original and full of significance of the times. Mehman advocated that shortages should be preferred over excesses, and if excellent creations could not be found, they would not be published for the time being.According to his thinking, if the intelligence of the Chinese is not stronger than that of foreigners, it will never be worse than that of foreigners.The problem is: Our environment is too bad, readers lack encouragement for authors, and authors have to write things that go against their own wishes in order to make a living.If every author with artistic conscience is willing to believe in his own potential, defy any resistance, ignore the malicious slander of those literary hooligans, and go forward bravely, the declining Chinese literature and art may have a chance of revival.

I don't intend to win over readers who only read martial arts novels or Dr. Sex's mailbox, Homen said.If this magazine has only one reader after it is published, and that reader has indeed obtained rich nutrients from this magazine, then our energy and money will not be considered wasted.This is our purpose, even if all the capital is wiped out, it will never change.There are not many literati and artists in Hong Kong who are educated, have an artistic conscience, and have a serious work attitude, but there are not many literary and art workers with strong will.You yourself are a good example. With your intelligence and talent, it is not difficult to write some good works, but you lack a strong will.You can't go hungry; you can't bear the taunts of those ignorant, you waste so much energy just to make a living.Now, I am going to throw away a sum of money for this "Avant-Garde Literature", and I have no other purpose, just hope to form a kind of atmosphere and urge people with artistic conscience to realize themselves.

These words, coming out of the mouths of various households, are like a speech for a publication.I was deeply moved. Referring to the "Introduction", he asked me to make an impartial review of the success or failure of literature since the May Fourth Movement, and at the same time point out the correct direction that literary and art workers should recognize in the future with a pure attitude. I agreed. However, Mehman hoped that I would write another paper to explain why literary and art workers must seek the inner truth in a simple and simple way. In addition, Hemen asked me to express some opinions on the current Chinese new poetry.

I said: There is more than one path for new poetry.I am against rhyming because rhyme is an unnecessary decoration.I am opposed to using images to enrich the painterly quality of poetry, because this is an unnecessary ostentation.I think metrical poetry is outdated, and graphic poetry is not the normal path.When a musician responds to external pressure, he naturally resorts to musical notes; when a painter responds to external pressure, he naturally resorts to color; when a poet responds to external pressure, he should naturally resort to words.Excessive affectation detracts from the integrity of poetic quality and thought.

What is your opinion on the difficulty of understanding new poems?asked Homen. Before seeking an answer to this question, one must know how poetry is produced, I said.When the poet is under the pressure of the external world, he responds with inner induction, and poetry is born.Poetry is a mirror.A mirror hidden within.The external world it reflects is not equal to the external world.This is the case as if every poem purported to contain music; but it is not the same as music.The inner world is an extremely chaotic world. Therefore, when poets respond to external pressure, they express it in words, which is often chaotic, difficult to understand, and even unreasonable.

If the poem is incomprehensible, teach readers how to accept it?asked Homen. Unreasonable is not unreasonable.Poets are free to choose.He can choose his own language.That language, even if it is not accepted by readers; or if it causes readers to produce another interpretation, is not a problem.In fact, one of the basic principles of poetry is to let each reader choose his own understanding and experience of a certain poem. So we can write poetry without the intellect? There is a kind of surreal poetry that is piled up with illogical words and is designed to express fantasy and subconscious processes.Hu Shi called it non-rational poetry, but it is actually a purely spiritual and uncontrollable expression.In my opinion: Difficult poems are acceptable; unintelligible poems must be discarded.

What do you mean: poets still have to use reason to write poetry? Yes.When searching for inner truth, relying on feeling alone or unreasonable novelty will not lead you out. What do you think of the new poetry? First, if there are similar phenomena in new poetry, it is worrying.Second, you should pay attention to grammar.Third, poets have insufficient vocabulary.Poets seem to have a particular preference for certain idiomatic nouns.Fourth, most of the poems are excessively irrational.Fifth, the poet deliberately pursues the novelty of Westernization, and even inserts foreign words in the poem, ignoring the national character of the poem.However, my opinion is superficial and may not be correct.

Does our "Avant-garde Literature" also select new poems? Poetry is a branch of literature and cannot be ignored. Regarding the selection of poems, on what basis will "Avant-Garde Literature" set the standard? As long as it's good, it's all up.We can't be like some poetry magazines, which only publish new poems that are unconventional and violate the language organization; let alone publish prose that is not sick like some "Youth Garden"-style literary magazines in Hong Kong.In short, there is more than one road to poetry, as long as it is a poem with a unique personality, it will definitely be published.

Does the phrase "with unique personality" mean that it is completely free from the influence of Western literary and artistic trends? No.What I mean is: we can absorb the essence of Western literature, digest it, and then try to break out of tradition and create a unique personality. Is this our attitude towards poetry selection? This is our attitude towards manuscript selection. Mehman is in favor of using this attitude to select manuscripts, but he is only worried that good works are not easy to obtain.I recommend doing an extensive call for papers before deciding on a publication date.

Mehman advocated asking old writers to write some articles about creative experiences. The reason is: it can give young writers a little help in writing. To give one example, he said that some young writers don't even know how to use the first person pronoun, and always think that I must be the author himself in the article.In fact, this is a wrong idea.Lu Xun wrote "Diary of a Madman" in the first person, and of course I am not Lu Xun in the article.Otherwise, wouldn't Lu Xun become a madman?A few days ago, a colleague from the newspaper office discussed this issue with me. I said: Most people think that "David.Copperfield is Dickens's autobiographical novel, but we all know David.Copperfield is not equal to Dickens.Although the latter lent part of his feelings and life to David, David and Dickens are definitely not alone. This is one of the superficial principles of fiction, so why waste space explaining it?Our space is limited, so we must publish more valuable texts. As long as you have some reading experience, people who have some reading experience will not fail to understand the first-person question you raised.That colleague of yours must be used to reading chapter novels or martial arts novels to have this opinion.We don't have to fight for such readers.If he doesn't even understand this point, how can he be expected to accept the cutting-edge literature we advocate? Mehman nodded, agreeing with me. When it comes to cover design, I advocate the use of the most revolutionary Chinese painters: The works of Zao Wou-ki or Lu Shou-kwan are very suitable for magazines.Their works not only contain a strong oriental flavor; they are also original.They inherited the tradition of Chinese classical painting art, and finally jumped out of this tradition, writing a distinctive picture scroll, not sticking to the law, not falling behind the stereotypes, revolutionary, and every achievement is unprecedented. dare to imagine.We founded "Avant-Garde Literature" with the purpose of publishing cutting-edge works, so using the works of Zhao Lu as the cover can best represent our spirit. Mehman has no objection to this suggestion, but he is afraid that the general reader will not accept it. We have no intention of winning over general readers, I said.We must recognize the current worldwide trend of literature and art.The search for inner truth is not only the task of writers, but has also become the main goal of other art departments.Not to mention anything else, just take two recent examples in Hong Kong: (1) The Berlin Ballet came to Hong Kong to perform. There was originally a dance titled "Abstract" on the program list. Although it was pulled out temporarily, it can also illustrate a new dance. Trend; (2) When the Hungarian Quartet played in Hong Kong, it also showed Webern's abstract painting movements.The composer uses the shortest sounds to convey his thoughts.As for other art departments, such as painting, sculpture, and literature, abstract art has already become the direction of efforts of progressives.Therefore, although ordinary readers are unwilling to accept abstract Chinese paintings, we cannot make concessions. Mai Hemen lit a cigarette, pondered for a while, and said: I have no objection to using words to describe the inner image; however, we should not publish those grotesque word games.