Chapter 54 Magazine

The way of doing things "only ask about hard work, not about harvest" has long been outdated.The relationship between magazines and readers is the relationship between producers and consumers.The editing, typesetting, printing, binding, and distribution of magazines are all small "cogs and screws" in the big machine driven by the commercial society.Some readers buy magazines, and some readers read them. Only small gears and small screws play a role in the operation of large machines.Small gears and small screws do not operate well, and large machines will be affected to some extent; it is not difficult to understand the purpose of setting up funds to promote cultural work in various countries in ancient and modern times.If a big machine fails, small gears and small screws will inevitably suffer; no wonder the editorial board of the British Encounter magazine issued a statement in October last year calling on all walks of life to support the magazine, saying that the UK has serious unemployment, inflation, the pound is surprisingly strong, and the dollar is getting weaker and weaker. Devaluation of revenue received from US and foreign subscribers and donors."Our time is full of tragic stories, and the work of examining culture is dead," the statement said.

I borrowed Lenin's "gears and screws" as a metaphor for the relationship between commercial society and magazines, mainly because magazines should not be out of touch with the times and should not be alienated from readers; Play a little role in the machine.Despite the many tragic stories, the work of examining culture has not died out.This is not a pretty word, culture itself is not beautiful; when dealing with cultural issues, we need to be down-to-earth.In the nineteenth century, many people in Britain wanted to be professional writers, and felt that writing could make a living and be famous: famous women, clerks, lawyers, priests, famous writers and celebrities wrote.Many people have given up their original careers and devoted themselves to writing. Unfortunately, with their ambitions for fame and fortune and their poor background, they end up poor and destitute, and it is too late to change careers.Gissing (George Gissing) said that encouraging young people to engage in literature to find a living is simply a heinous crime.Later, with cheap paper and advanced printing, book and periodical publishing houses began to supply a large number of cheap reading materials, boasting that the writing was clear and clear, interspersed with statistics and jokes, and abandoned long articles.In this way, the cultural tastes of academics and ordinary scholars are far away: the literary critic Matt-hew Arnold denounced the education of the middle class as "vulgar".

Social progress and cultural value standards should not be set so rigidly, let alone be divided into prisons and separate circles.Comprehensive magazines can best reflect this truth.Articles from all walks of life have their unique features, and one should not favor the other over the other.There is a passage in Mr. Song Qi's letter that is accessible: "Since the explosion of knowledge, the division of knowledge has become more and more detailed, and the scope has become narrower and narrower. Everyone has a hunger for other studies that are not in their field. This is why the best-selling Most of his novels are the result of years of research. After reading a novel, you can have a deep understanding of the automobile industry, banks, hospitals, hotels, airports, cinemas and television, etc., combining entertainment and knowledge. Why not do it?" Every article in a comprehensive magazine can be regarded as the result of knowledge explosion.

April 1981