Winners of the 11th Mao Dun Literature Award.
During the trip to the sun and the moon, Xinghan is brilliant. Last night, the "2023 China Literature Festival Mao Dun Literature Night" was held in Tongxiang, Zhejiang Province, Mr. Mao Dun’s hometown. It was broadcast simultaneously on the network platforms such as Zhejiang Satellite TV and iQiyi, paying tribute to the writers who "climbed" the literary peak, so that outstanding writers’ works could meet the public with richer literary forms and more novel ways of communication.
Five novels, Yang Zhijun’s Snow Mountain Land, Qiao Ye’s Treasure Water, Liu Liangcheng’s Bemba, Sun Ganlu’s A Thousand Miles of Scenery and East-West Echo, won the 11th Mao Dun Literature Award. They are an important review of the literary achievements in the new era, reflecting the common efforts of writers to tell the story of China well, and showing the myriad weather of China literature in the new era.
Literary Memo and Spiritual History of Chinese Modernization
Mao Award-winning works are literary memoranda and spiritual history of Chinese modernization. He Xiangyang, director and critic of the Creative Research Department of the Chinese Writers Association, analyzed the respective characteristics of the winning works and pointed out the general common characteristics: "The winning works all have a vigorous and distinctive spirit of the times, which embodies the new achievements of novels in the past four years. Have deep practical concerns. The novel shows literary concern for reality. This concern is not superficial, but deep inward excavation; With burning people’s feelings, the works such as Snow Mountain Land, Precious Water and Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains are all among the people, starting from people, closely linking individual people with the people, writing about my love for the people, and writing about how I fit into us. Deep love for the people is revealed in the writing of’ the great country’; Has a solid local style and innovative spirit. From the new era to the new era, contemporary literature has experienced the development of reform and opening up for more than 40 years, forming a solid Chinese local style and innovative spirit of integrating human culture. Each of the five novels has its own style innovation, which is remarkable in terms of characterization, novel structure and language features, and reflects the return of realism spirit to varying degrees. This is an open-minded realism through the development of the times and the creation of the main body, which combines the advantages of heroism, idealism, romanticism and classicism, and shows the realism with China’s cultural aesthetic concept and the spirit of the times. "
Cong Zhichen, the judge and critic of this year’s Mao Prize, remembered the days of the award: "We have a deeper understanding of the literary pursuit of Mao Dun’s literary prize, that is, the unity of the times, the people and the innovation: writers saw the glory of the times worthy of being recorded in literature in ordinary people; Award-winning works all reflect the strong demand of reflecting and understanding the times, and show the exploration courage of understanding the world and expressing the times in literature; The image of newcomers, avant-garde style, multiple narrative methods and the use of narrative means in genre literature and film and television literature all reflect the importance that Mao Award attaches to innovation. "
Telling the story of China well needs to be "deep", which is the methodology of literature. Ji Yaya, the executive editor and critic of October magazine, thinks that the characteristics of the times reflected in this Mao Award are the "action" of literature: "Writers go to the vast land of China to write about the experience and practice of the times, and a perceptual way and aesthetic way rooted in the vast land of China are growing, and the roots must touch the fresh experience of the land, and we are emotionally connected with the land, thus growing the subjectivity of contemporary literature. Award-winning works go to the depth of history and culture, to the scene of rural construction, to show the light of humanity and idealism in history and times, which is the’ thousand miles of mountains and rivers’ of heroism and the’ echo’ of countless ordinary people’s hearts. Baoshui and Bemba, first published by October magazine, are the fruits of contemporary writers’ deep roots in the earth. "
Yang Zhijun, a writer, has lived in Qinghai for nearly 40 years. The stories in the novel are all his own experiences. He is very emotional: "The writing process of Snow Mountain Land is to plunge into the embrace of snow mountain land, look back on his childhood and youth with deep affection for grassland and love for ghee, and write how his fathers survived and developed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau for half a century, and how to work together with local Tibetan compatriots to help each other." The blending of the life history of fathers and the history of modernization in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau makes the novel full of artistic appeal, which provides important creative practical experience for deepening life, improving realistic creative techniques and telling the story of China well.
"For literary writers, the great changes that are taking place in rural China are a rich literary mine with unlimited possibilities. To dig treasure in it, foot strength, eyesight, brain power and pen power are really indispensable. " This is the writer Qiao Ye’s important experience in writing "Treasure Water". She went into the village in the way of "running to the village" and "soaking in the village", went deep into life, listened and recorded immersively, and heard the subtle worries hidden in the depths of villagers and village cadres, and had a kind of empathy. Countless vivid details make Qiao Ye truly realize the harvest of "deep plunge" and the dialectical relationship between big times and small details: "A broad era must be attached to these details, and this detail is built by countless ordinary people’s tiny things, just like a trickle will eventually become a river."
The biggest feature of the winning and nominated works of this year’s Mao Award is to focus on the development of China society in the new era since the reform and opening up. On the one hand, it shows the current reality of China, the people’s life and the spiritual world; On the other hand, it pays attention to the inheritance of Chinese excellent traditional culture and the cultural contribution of the Chinese nation to Community of Shared Future for Mankind. Wujun, a judge and critic of this Mao Prize, said: "Telling China’s story well has become the conscious consciousness of contemporary writers, and the ability to tell China’s story well has been fully improved. Mao Prize works are also model texts for telling China’s story well, and literary criticism should deepen discussion and research in this respect; Mao Prize works are also an important resource for college curriculum teaching. The introduction of contemporary literary classics into curriculum teaching is the mission of humanistic construction and talent training in universities in the new era. "
Run the spirit of innovation through the whole process of literary creation and communication
"Only by grasping the pulse of the times and taking root in people’s lives can our literature glow with new vitality. The writing of China’s experience, China’s story and China’s spirit is, in the final analysis, to open up the most authentic life experience and aesthetic experience among people. " Sun Ganlu, a writer, talks about literary innovation from two aspects: going deep into life and cultural inheritance: "Culture is the soul of a country and a nation and an important force for survival and development. Learn from the past and learn from the present. Every time about the re-practice and re-creation of literature, new ideas of the times, social concepts and humanistic spirit will be integrated, and the world will therefore present a new perspective and side. "
Bemba is a tribute to the epic Jianger. Liu Liangcheng, a writer, was inspired by the rap tradition of grassland culture to conceive Bemba. "I want to say my own voice outside these ancient and magical rap. At the end of epic speech, find your endless imagination and the way to structure a novel. Write your own words in the end of the language. " Liu Liangcheng devoted himself to his hometown, land and life, and explored the literary narrative of creative transformation and innovative development of excellent traditional culture.
Facing the ever-changing life of the times, how can writers integrate innovation in their literary creation? The writer shared his experience: "Put the spirit of innovation through the whole process of literary creation. First of all, we must find new inspiration in life, find new people in life, and develop new words in writing. " Talking about the writing of Echo, he was deeply touched: "As a writer, I am lucky. I am in the era of great changes, and China has changed both materially and spiritually. New characters are constantly emerging, new plots are emerging one after another, and new things are common. "
Xu Zechen, the winner of the 10th Mao Prize, said: "For me, Mr. Mao Dun is a predecessor and model in a double sense. It is a great honor for a writer to be lucky enough to win a literary prize named after Mr. Mao Dun. Mr. Mao Dun was also the first editor-in-chief of People’s Literature magazine where I worked. The literary and editorial tradition of People’s Literature initiated by him has influenced generations of People’s Literature people. I am deeply nourished and honored to be in this great tradition. "
Yang Yi, a young critic, is sensitive to the spread of literature in the new media era: "The China Literature Festival invites writers who are immersed in their study to the stage and screen to become the protagonists of the literary festival, which not only respects and affirms the writers’ creative work, but also stimulates the society’s attention to literature. The way of live broadcast on TV and online platforms shows the literary achievements of the new era enthusiastically and vividly, and the literary works with rich meanings draw the distance between the audience and the writers inside and outside the screen, especially attracting the young audience of generation Z, so that they can intuitively feel the writer’s gas field and literary charm, and resonate with the literature of the new era. "