Chapter 11 Ha Jin: Since you can’t go back, you can only go forward

Ha Jin, who has been away from China for more than 20 years, finally returned to the country for the first time, and was invited to participate in the 2008 Hong Kong Book Fair with his new work "AFree Life".Many mainland journalists were full of interest in him, and lined up to interview him. They all said: I can't imagine that such a great writer is completely unassuming, kind and lovely, and speaks truthfully. But I still remember the feeling when I read his famous novel "Waiting" (Waiting), and that was really a surprise.Why can a Chinese who is a half-way monk write such simple and accurate English?Why does a contemporary writer have Chekhov's Russian style of realism?If you regard him as a Chinese writer, you can definitely read his difference in the first sentence of each of his novels; it is really not the beginning of ordinary Chinese novels.It does not wait, does not write, and does not allow you to enter the work slowly and longly; it moves from the first sentence, directly bringing the core and the scene to your eyes.For example, "Waiting": "Every summer Lin Kong returned to GooseVillage to divorce his wife, Shuyu.".So the first question I asked was, why did I write it like this?

Liang Wendao (Liang) / Ha Jin (Ha) Ha: This is probably influenced by Western culture, and technically, it should be influenced by Tolstoy.Tolstoy believed that a novel should release a beam of light on the first page, and this light can affect the first half of the novel.As for the last page, there must also be a ray of light, which can affect the second half of the novel.Then let the two rays meet.So the main thing is to make it appear on the first page, to create that urge to create.That is, the first sentence should be close to the center of the story.After Chekhov became famous, many young writers sent him their works for reading, and the advice he often gave them was--divide your story into two, throw away the first half, and start from the second half. start.Chekhov didn't explain much at the time, but my personal understanding is that the second half is the center of the story.That's how I've always taught, and my students agree; like Chekhov, start from the center.

Liang: I am surprised why a Chinese can write Chekhov's traditional works in English.Did your interest in writing start in China, or did it start when you went to the United States? H: It started after I came to America, but this is not just my experience.For example, in Japan, the best writers today have all been influenced by the West; after decades of study, they have become masters by themselves. Liang: But the United States has a very special thing, which is rare in China and other countries, and that is the writing program you are teaching at Boston University.A lot of people think that writing can't be taught; but you've taken writing classes and taught writing classes, so you must be sure that writing can be taught.

H: At least a quarter of all writers in the United States come out of different writing classes.Of the twelve people in our class back then, four or five of them became very good writers later on.In other words, it can produce writers; but if you are not that material, it cannot train you to be a writer, because only good material can produce good writers.If you are that material and capable, it can shorten your learning process.And, more importantly, it is very important that students still communicate with each other after graduation. Some of them continue to communicate after decades, forming a community and creating a community of writers.There are ten students in each class in our school, and about 300 people submit application forms. On average, one person is selected out of every 30 people. This person must be more or less capable.After graduation, everyone will do a good job on their own for a few years, slowly publish their works, and start to grow bigger and bigger, to see who can persist in the end.Because writing is not a sprint, the so-called talent is just the ability to run; but writing is to run far and long, and requires endurance.

Liang: It's like running a marathon. Ha: Yes, this kind of person is often not the most prominent in the writing class, but they can continue to do it and make progress after graduation. Liang: Han Han and Chen Danqing recently criticized Ba Jin and Mao Dun for their bad writing in a TV program, which caused a great uproar. Many people raised it to the height of national dignity, thinking that they had forgotten their ancestors.I find it very strange that this was originally just an ordinary literary opinion, why did it go to such an extent?A very common situation in contemporary Chinese literature is that many literary opinions can easily become political things.American writers have to submit their works during the writing class, and everyone will comment and discuss with each other.Later, I found a manager, and then had to negotiate with the editor of the publishing house; before the work was published, it had already gone through layers of comments and revisions.So in the United States, is everyone's attitude towards comments more relaxed?Maybe everyone is used to it when they are in class.

Ha: Yes!They are not afraid of bad reviews, the worst fear is that no one will comment.It doesn't matter if the comments are not very good, the most important thing is to be able to get the attention of others.Chinese writers pay special attention to positive comments, although American writers are not indifferent, especially when the book is first published; but other than that, they don't pay much attention to it.Writers often do not have special respect for critics, because they think that many critics are echoers. Liang: Your interest in writing began in the United States, and your training was also completed in the United States.Do you think this makes you different from other Chinese writers?In fact, many writers in the Chinese-speaking world do not know how to position you.In theory we should regard you as a contemporary English writer, but at the same time everyone seems to have noticed your Chinese identity.So when discussing your works, it seems that there are two sets of coordinates: sometimes you are placed in the ranks of contemporary English fiction writers, and sometimes you are regarded as contemporary Chinese writers.If you are regarded as a contemporary Chinese writer, everyone will find that your work is different from others.Not only because you write in English, but also because your entire writing style and thinking are related to your background in the United States.

Ha: It also has to do with another situation you describe: us writers, especially first-generation immigrants, with two cultures, two languages, often find ourselves in between the two very easily, making a difference degree of measurement.But there shouldn’t be too many worries. What we can do is to write as best as possible, and we should look for the highest level in the center of the world.For a writer, as long as he writes good works, it is a field that accommodates different cultures and languages. Liang: There are quite a few Asian-English writers in the United States and the United Kingdom, who are characterized as minority literature in the market and critics.Then everyone’s first impression is that what you write are all local themes that you are familiar with, for example, Malaysians write stories about Malaysia, and Chinese writers write stories about Chinese people.However, many people would think that a great writer should be able to transcend the limitations of geographical subject matter.In the case of Conrad, English is also his second language, but when we see him writing about the sea, it becomes clear that he is not just talking about his native Poland.What is your opinion on this issue?Will it create a kind of limitation and anxiety-do I just need to write about China-related subjects, which means I will be trapped?Or, even if we write about China again, can it be regarded as a window to world literature?

Hal: I don't think so, good literature doesn't care about that.For a writer, writing about the local area means writing about the most intimate subject matter that he knows.Writers should not feel inferior because of this, there is nothing wrong with the subject matter itself.A writer may only be familiar with Harvard or Oxford, or may write about small towns in the southern United States like Faulkner, but he has written the most common and common themes.As for Conrad, he took a big advantage. The subject of his writing is the ocean, which is an international space, but he is a sailor, and that is his native land.

Leung: So you're finally turning your subject matter to America, because that's your life now? Ha: Yes, this moment is my life.But that doesn't mean I won't write about China in the future. Liang: Speaking of Russian literature, do you think it is the most important tradition of world literature? Ha: This is not only my own opinion, but also that of western fiction writers.The things of Tolstoy and Chekhov were not only written for the Russian people, but also for the British and Chinese.But here's the question, if they're from the perspective of Western people, from the West, then why should we take that as our standard?It is better that we have a common beginning with it than we follow them.

Liang: So the poems you wrote in the appendix of AFree Life, are you paying homage to "Doctor Chivago"?That is to use poetry to complete the sublimation of the whole novel. Ha: It can't be called a tribute, because those poems were not selected in the plan.But this book should really express a kind of metaphysical spiritual detachment at the end. I think it must be expressed in the form of poetry, so I added more than 20 poems.Of course, this is actually very labor-intensive, and it really took a long, long time to write continuously.I know other people are going to link it with "Doctor Chivago", but I can't help it.I can't take shortcuts, the development of a story has its own special pattern, I can only express it.

Liang: The fun part of your book is the language changes and games.And the style of writing is very different from before.Is it because the subject of your writing is the United States, you want to talk about Chinese immigrants, and you want to imitate their Pidgin English? H: Yes, the English version is more recognizable.In fact, I have had a continuous development in language experiments since a long time ago, and this book only goes further. Liang: But will this make many people uncomfortable?When you write about Chinese subjects, your language is very different from other Chinese-American writers.Although the stories you write are bizarre, the language you use is very unexotic, very succinct, plain and calm to describe an absurd thing, making them feel that it is true.This is the tradition of realism, we seem to be witnessing a real event, but that event is so weird, so grotesque.But AFree Life doesn't seem to be following this path. Will it dissatisfy many readers who used to like your works?I noticed that John Updike didn't seem to like your changes much in the NewYorker comment. Ha: He thinks I've broken the purity of the English language. Amy Tan (Tan Enmei) has an article Mother tongue, talking about how her mother speaks English, which is similar to the mediocre English in my book, without grammar at all.But Amy Tan's own works don't write like this, because I think many people realize that this is a shock to the English language.But I feel like, I'd rather be wrong about that, I just can't be too careful. Liang: Today's English literature has become very rich, because there are many writers with different backgrounds writing, and then everyone brings a little difference to English.For example, the English of some Indian and African writers is very standard, but you just feel that their writing is different, as if there is something more.Chinese used to occupy this Esperanto status in Asia. For example, the Japanese used to write Chinese poems.Do you think modern Chinese still has such an opportunity? Ha: This is really difficult, because Chinese is different from English. English is a phonetic language, which is expressed by letters and stretched by letters. It is very malleable.Chinese is hieroglyphic, and it has involved politics from ancient times to the present; for example, if there is a dot missing under the character for horse, in ancient times it was necessary to kill the head.Therefore, writing is related to politics and the country.In the future, there will be many people learning Chinese, but it is hard to imagine that speaking Chinese will become a universal literary language.But there is a woman from England in Beijing who writes very well and authentically.There are a few Americans who are willing to learn, and they have been very successful in writing, and maybe gradually everyone has it.This is definitely not a bad thing for Chinese. Liang: But now we see more Chinese writing in foreign languages, and they have achieved good results, winning literary awards in France and Japan. Ha: It's certainly a success, but I'm sure they never thought it was a good thing to write in a language other than their mother tongue.Many people in this world, myself included, feel intimate about writing in a first language, and it's not just a matter of technique.It is really difficult to find your place in a non-native language.There's no point in writing if you can't find your place.Now some people have won awards, and some people have published books that sell very well, but these are all temporary.The most important thing is masters like Nabokov and Conrad, because English is not their mother tongue, but they have found their place in this language and can bring something new to it.Moreover, they are the mainstream and backbone in the history of English literature. If you extract them, the entire language line will be broken and incomplete.I mean how do you carve out a space in another language. Liang: Isn't this also the benefit of non-native-tongue writers?Since it is not your mother tongue, when you use it to write, you will have a sense of distance, which allows you to jump out, look at the language from a different layer, and be more aware of the rhetorical and fictional nature of the language. Ha: It's like Nabokov and Conrad, they knew they were weak.Someone once asked Nabokov: "What is your biggest problem with being a Russian and writing in English?".He said: "I don't have a little natural. All I know is artificial."But he turned this defect into his own style, which is different from others.It's amazing that he knows that he is inferior to others in many ways, but he turns his shortcomings into strengths.But what others have done is not something that every one of us can do now. It is something that only a few people do, and it requires a long and painful process.However, writing should not be painful. Nabokov has another metaphor: "When I write in English, the situation is equivalent to losing seven or eight fingers in an explosion, leaving only two or three fingers, and then Relearn to grasp things." Liang: When you write about China in such an unnatural and artificial language as English, the distance created may not only be a linguistic distance, but also a distance to see China again.And "China" is on you at all, which is tantamount to dividing yourself with a foreign language.For those of us who write in our mother tongue, there is no distance between me and my language.When I use English to write about things I am familiar with and myself, will there be some changes that do not appear in my mother tongue writing, and will I discover some things that I have not seen before? Ha: That’s right, that is to say, through the distance of English, the angle and depth of seeing things will be different, the things you see are different, and the vision and feeling are also different.It's not intentional, it just happens naturally. Liang: So your views on China are now more able to distance yourself. Ha: Yes.But the problem is that I have lived in China for twenty-nine years, and it is part of my personal existence.I can't say that because it's in the past it doesn't have anything to do with the present.But you can’t carry it all on your back, you won’t be able to carry it.What is meaningful to your life must continue.If there are many things that can only bring side effects, can only create stress, and make your life difficult and painful, then you would rather not have it.Because you go to another place to survive, it is a journey.You can't take everything with you on this journey. Liang: But for many Chinese, I found that "China" is not just an existing identity in reality, it is even a moral ideal; I am not just a Chinese, I also want to be a Chinese.When talking about evil people and bad things in mainland Internet forums, there is often a saying, "Is such a person still a Chinese?" Are people still Chinese?"This expression is very interesting. Could it be that the Americans would do the same, and the Japanese could do the same?It can be seen that "Chinese" is still a moral ideal to be fulfilled, even a kind of belief. Saying that I want to be a good Chinese is like saying that I want to be a good Christian. Ha: I was also like this when I was in mainland China. I often said that "Chinese people are the best", which is completely an idealized personality type and very religious.We regard the country as the only religion, and because we have no other religions, the country often becomes our only and complete.In the end, the country is mythologized.When it comes to the country, there is a moral bottom line, which is how to define the relationship between the country and the individual.Nations are voted, participated and built one by one.The country is entirely artificial, something created, and there should be no sense of sacredness or mystery about it. Liang: Until now, it seems that you have not entered the cultural circle of mainland China, and you have not even published your works? Ha: What can I do if I don’t publish it?There are several reasons. One is that I said a lot during June Fourth.In addition, I think there is some artificial relationship.Some books are crazy, like "War Waste", which is about prisoners of war in the Korean War. Its significance to Chinese people is much greater than that of Westerners. I really want mainland readers to read it.But someone deliberately distorted the report, making it seem like there is a big problem. Liang: Interesting.Almost all writers and artists who are valued in the West will be criticized in China as "vilifying China and pandering to the West."What do you think of this comment? Ha: It depends on how it is said, which China is being vilified?I think it's not a bad thing for a writer to have a grudge, the worst thing is that you don't care. Liang: You haven't been back to the mainland either. Ha: I haven’t been back since I left, and the nearest place is Hong Kong.But Hong Kong is also part of China.At first, I really wanted to go back, but 97 years ago, my passport could not be extended, so I couldn’t leave the United States, and then I gradually became indifferent.I'm not saying I don't want to go back, I applied for a job in 2004.At that time, a professor at a university in mainland China resigned. He was engaged in American poetry, and my major was American contemporary poetry.So I wrote to apply, but the other party did not reply. Liang: I guess you won't be able to write books in Chinese anymore. Ha: Not very good, unless it is writing small things, the big ones should continue to use English.This decision is already a painful decision. After finding a way, you must go all the way to the end.You can't go back and forth in life, life is very short.