1980 My Literary Era.

Chapter 407 Standing on the Opposite Side of the Elite
Huang Anyi has always felt that Lin Weimin has a unique self-confidence. This kind of self-confidence is very special, at least she has never seen it among the writers of the same generation she knows.

It has been six full years since the period of the Institute of Literature and Literature.

Although Huang Anyi had very little contact with Lin Weimin, every time she met, she was still unconsciously attracted by Lin Weimin's aura.

Her eyes were on the novel, but her spirit had long been empty.

She remembered the time she visited Xiangjiang last spring.

The fellow writers and friends all marveled at the prosperity and wealth there after they arrived in Xiangjiang, only Lin Weimin seemed to be very disapproving.

Every time everyone chatted, Lin Weimin always spoke very little. He never belittled Xiangjiang's achievements, but he never praised Xiangjiang. Huang Anyi was keenly aware of the confidence in his heart.

Huang Anyi suddenly thought of a word that Lin Weimin mentioned a long time ago when he was at the Institute of Literature—national self-confidence.

The more than [-]-year rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the history of national humiliation from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China have destroyed the national self-confidence of the Chinese people. This loss of national self-confidence is all-round.

"It will take a long time for our nation to regain this confidence."

She still remembers Lin Weimin's heavy tone and expression when he said this.

When she was at the Institute of Literature, Huang Anyi actually didn't understand the meaning of Lin Weimin's words.It wasn't until these years that Huang Anyi got older and experienced more and more things that Huang Anyi gradually understood what Lin Weimin was referring to.

Going back to the novel "Burning", anyone who reads the novel will see Lin Weimin's naked hatred and criticism of capitalism, including those who went abroad. Although the criticism is not so harsh, the writing is not light.

The design of the character "foreign student Zhou Weiguo" in "Burning" is very interesting. First of all, he is an image of a cultural person, and he still learns Chinese, but he has to go to the United States to study abroad. This is almost a naked mockery.

But as far as Huang Anyi knows, there are indeed such people around her, who choose to study abroad even though their major has nothing to do with studying abroad or it is better to stay in China.

Of course, the content of Lin Weimin's "Burning" is far more than simple criticism.

The issues involved in the novel, such as the racial contradictions in Western society, the disorderly expansion of capital, and the alienation of people by capital, all show Lin Weimin's understanding of Western countries and his speculation on their social contradictions.

Looking at the whole story, the novel "Burning" may be the last in terms of readability among all Lin Weimin's novels, but its ideological and literary qualities have reached a peak.

In Huang Anyi's view, such a work should win a grand prize and be crowned on the literary laurels.

only……

Huang Anyi couldn't help thinking narrowly, I heard that Lin Weimin went to the United States this year.

What happened to him in the United States that he actually wrote a novel like "Burning" after returning to China?

Thinking of this, Huang Anyi couldn't help sighing.

This time, he might be scolded again!
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The attitude of the novel "Burning" is clear-cut, and every reader who reads the novel can immediately understand what Lin Weimin wants to express.

As Huang Anyi understands, when it comes to the storyline arrangement of this novel, it is worse than Lin Weimin's previous works, but this is exactly what Lin Weimin wants.

It is Lin Weimin's choice to give up a certain degree of readability and pursue the literariness and ideological nature of his works.

After all, he wrote this novel for an impure purpose, so it’s okay to make some trade-offs in order to carry his own private goods.

But Mr. Lin has done thousands of calculations and missed a little bit.

In his novels, there are a lot of descriptions of the extravagant and decadent life of the rich second generation in the United States, including many descriptions of ordinary middle-class and lower-class people in the United States. Of course, Lin Weimin's original intention was to be critical when he wrote.

But for readers in this closed era, it has become a rare encyclopedia that may allow ordinary readers to understand contemporary American society with zero threshold.

In this day and age, when ordinary people talk about the West, they look like they yearn for the West, but after decades of education, they can clearly distinguish between right and wrong.

The content of "Burning" is of course unfriendly to Western society and capitalism, but what everyone has received over the years has been unfriendly propaganda and education, and friendship is only a matter of the past few years.

Therefore, within half a month after the publication of "Burning", the phenomenon of large-scale criticism by readers that Lin Weimin imagined did not occur.

On the contrary, the sales volume of the September issue of "People's Literature", which published the novel, hit record highs repeatedly.

It is rare that a Chinese writer can describe American society in every detail to Chinese people. Isn’t this equal to free science popularization?
How can you not read such a novel?

The word-of-mouth of "Burning" continued to ferment among readers as time went by, and sales continued to rise in a strange trend.

Of course, this novel is not without criticism.

It has been on the market for more than half a month. Among the letters from readers of the editorial department of "Contemporary", some intellectuals in domestic colleges and universities are the ones who scold the most. Many of them are well-known in this era.

They not only wrote letters to criticize, but also wrote articles to newspapers and magazines.

These days, cultural people in colleges and universities receive unprecedented courtesy, so it is not difficult for these people to speak out in the media, which is much easier than ordinary people.

In addition to colleges and universities, there are also many critics of Lin Weimin in the cultural circles. The focus of everyone's attack on Lin Weimin is his "left" in the novel.

These people used the general trend of reform and opening up in China as an argument to criticize Lin Weimin, and each one was more ruthless than the other.

While criticizing Lin Weimin, they did not forget to peddle their point of view, which is to learn from the West in an all-round way, and even Westernize it.

Therefore, with the passage of time, there have been more and more negative comments on "Burning" and Lin Weimin himself in various media.

Although the novel "Burning" received positive and favorable comments from most readers, due to the narrow information dissemination and stagnant information exchange in the 80s, a small number of cultural people had the right to speak in the media. On the contrary, the criticism of "Burning" has a faint tendency to become the mainstream of the media world.

This time, Lin Weimin completely stood on the opposite side of certain elites in society, and became the target of everyone's shouting and beating.

In addition to the above-mentioned people, during this wave of criticism, there were very few criticisms from figures in the Chinese arena, and they only appeared in sporadic forms.

This phenomenon happened because the mainstream of the domestic literary world has not yet fully moved towards the West, so even if some people are dissatisfied with Lin Weimin and the novel "Burning", they will not directly criticize him unscrupulously. It is inevitable to scold.

Another reason is that Lin Weimin now has an extra identity, the vice president of the Chinese Literature Foundation.

This identity looks inconspicuous, usually not obvious, but in terms of the Cultural Association, it has a faint detachment.

Many people in the system knew about Lin Weimin's status, and they were a little more scrupulous about evaluating him.

In any case, "Burning" has a good reputation among readers, which is a gratifying thing for Lin Weimin.

As for whether those descriptions in the novel will increase some readers' yearning and favor for the United States, Lin Weimin put it down after tangling for a while.

If a person, after watching "Burning", not only does not have negative emotions and comments on the United States and capitalism, but yearns for it, then Lin Weimin does not think it is a problem with his own work.

This can only prove that the person is worshiping foreigners in his bones, and there is no way to save him. This kind of person is not within the scope of Mr. Lin's consideration.
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"Hey, look, look! This time is enough, Professor Mizuki. This scolding is too harsh!"

Liu Yin was flipping through the newspaper, the expression on her face couldn't be said to be gloating, but it couldn't be described as "watching a good show".

"Sister Liu, why are you so happy to be scolded by Teacher Lin?" Tong Zhonggui asked.

The other colleagues in the office smiled when they heard the words.

Liu Yinyu said earnestly: "Little Tong, you are still young, so don't be fooled by the leader's usual smooth talk. These people, they have dark hearts!"

Tong Zhonggui didn't say a word, Liu Yin talked more and more vigorously, the expressions of the others were subtle, and the corners of their mouths suppressed a smile.

Lin Weimin patted Liu Yin on the shoulder helplessly.

"Sister Liu, can't you restrain yourself?"

Liu Yin turned her head and saw Lin Weimin, felt guilty instinctively, and then said plausibly: "What's wrong? Outsiders can scold us, but our own people can't?"

Lin Weimin was speechless for a moment.

Colleagues burst into laughter at Liu Yin's wit, and they still didn't forget to tease Lin Weimin after laughing.

"That's right, outsiders say it, but we can't say it?"

"For the people, you don't treat us as your own!"

……

Lin Weimin stood where he was, calmly waiting for everyone to finish laughing, joking and teasing.

Then he said to everyone with a smile on his face: "It has been a year since the last time our "Contemporary" published a series of books. From the next period until the beginning of next year, in addition to our monthly magazine, everyone's most important The task is to finish compiling the series of selected short stories, I discussed it with the agency, and it is tentatively scheduled to be published in January next year, are you okay?"

The happy atmosphere is always short-lived, and the editorial department, which was still cheerful just now, suddenly felt mournful after Lin Weimin finished speaking.

"What did I say, it must be no good for him to come to the office!"

"This is almost catching up with the current world newspaper!"

"Editor Lin, let's take a step back. If everyone takes back the joke, you also take back your work, how about it?"

Lin Weimin shook his head, with a serious face, "Everyone, don't say that. I didn't send the task just as I said, it's all for the good of our editorial department!"

Pooh!
Everyone spat in their hearts.

Liu Yin whispered to Tong Zhonggui: "What did I tell you? These leaders are black-hearted maggots!"

(End of this chapter)