Chapter 29 a cold voice

Dai Xiaohua That day, when I knew that she was invited by the Department of United Daily News of Singapore to attend the 5th International Chinese Literature and Art Camp at the end of May this year, I made a long-distance call to her. Her clear and anxious voice came from the other end of the phone: "The nanny who took care of the children has just left. My two sons are five years old and one and a half years old. If I can't find helpers, I'm really worried that I won't be able to go." Unexpectedly, this brave and free and easy woman, like ordinary women, still has a side she can't let go of.

Time: June 1, 1991 Location: Singapore Characters: Long Yingtai, Dai Xiaohua Long Yingtai finally made the trip smoothly.On this day, the two of us wandered the streets and alleys of Singapore together.She felt fresh and curious about everything she saw, touching here and there from time to time. The woman in front of her is not at all like Professor Long who "made waves" in Taiwan six years ago, but more like an innocent and happy girl. She said excitedly: "This is a very rich society. Different cultures, different races, and different languages ​​all converge on this land."

I think if she comes to Malaysia, her feelings will be even stronger. Time: June 3, 1991 at ten o'clock in the evening People: Long Yingtai, Dai Xiaohua, photojournalist of Malaysia China Press A light suit wrapped around Long Yingtai's slender body, making him look charming.The only thing that can reveal the rebellious and uninhibited character flowing in her blood is her curly and fluffy long hair that is not "controlled". Although many people still miss the sharp edge she emitted in the past, however, after arriving in Europe, it seems that she no longer has a mission for this chaotic era full of vitality.

After all, she no longer cares?Or does it belong to something else?From the following dialogue, she will explain why for us. Dai: After arriving in Europe, it seems that Taiwan is no longer your concern. Is it because Taiwan's society has already met the ideal?Or did you expand your horizons? Long: There are several reasons for this: First, when I was in Taiwan, my feet were on the ground, and I faced the same fate as the people there. I have the right to criticize any unreasonable phenomena.Now that I have left Taiwan, people enjoy the relatively beautiful environment established by others in Europe. If I criticize Taiwan, it will be unfair to the people there.

Second, Taiwan in the 1990s was different from Taiwan in 1985.Taiwan in 1985 was an era when the steam pot was covered with a lid and boiled for 40 years, but there was nowhere for the steam to come out.The whole society needs a spokesperson, and if I show up at the right time, I will be regarded as a cultural hero.Now the pot lid has been lifted!They can take to the streets themselves, and no longer need cultural heroes to speak for them.Today's Taiwan is a relatively mature and confident society. Third, in recent years, epoch-making drastic changes have taken place in Europe. I happen to be here, and it is inevitable that my concern will expand from the originally limited concern to the society of mainland China and Taiwan to the various changes that have taken place in the whole world.

In other words, Taiwan has changed, and so have I.Sometimes what a society needs is a cultural hero who speaks out, and sometimes what it needs is a calm voice. Writers themselves also need to grow, and I can't be bound by the applause of the "Wildfire" era.Readers' expectations are often a trap, and writers must break through their own past, no matter how glorious and beautiful that past is. Dai: You have been living in Germany for the past two years. After the reunification of East and West Germany, what changes have taken place in the whole society? Long: Very complicated.The current East Germans, no, should be called "German Easters".Their psychology is very unbalanced. Before the wall fell, what they pursued in their hearts was freedom, but when they pursued freedom, they had an accompanying dream in their hearts, that is, they believed that when freedom was obtained.You will also enjoy the same material level as the "Desi people".However, this is not the case, and the psychology is out of balance.

Dai: So what does it feel like to be a Desi? Long: The Desi people are also unhappy, because their losses are already big enough; the tax increase will start on July 1st, and it will increase by 7 or 8%.The material enjoyment that the Desi people have today is the result of their forty years of hard work, but now they let the poor brothers share it out of thin air, but the Dedong people still feel that it is not enough; therefore, the emotions among brothers are not harmonious. Dai: Does it mean that Germany after reunification is not as good as before? Long: That's not true either. After the reunification of Germany, looking at the status quo alone, there are many problems, and people complain a lot. Every family in Germany is unemployed. However, I personally still feel optimistic, because under the thin layer of complaints, there is a very strong national sentiment as the foundation. .After all, blood is thicker than water.In addition, West Germany's economic strength is very strong. In time, this country will become a truly unified country.

Dai: Sometimes injustice is not so easy to show, because the monopoly of information may affect the correct visual angle. Long: This is a human tragedy.German intellectuals did not know the true face of the Nazis and the truth of history in the early days of World War II.Japanese intellectuals did not know until very late. Dai: There cannot be a comprehensive source of information to judge the real right and wrong. This is the biggest problem in our search for the truth. Long: A person's judgment depends on the truth he knows, and the truth will not be comprehensive under any circumstances.You have to try to expand the source of information.The people are likely to be deceived by the government's monopoly on information, and what we do is to uncover this layer of deception.This is work to be done for a long time.

Dai: How to train a person's keen observation and independent thinking ability? Long: This requires cultivation, and the most important way of cultivation is education. From an early age, children are trained to understand things with their own eyes and draw conclusions with their own questioning methods.For example, the title of the composition given to us in the past was: "Taiwan is a government with great promise." , If you want to train children's independent thinking ability.The composition title should be: "What kind of government is a promising government".We should not give conclusions first, but train children to find conclusions by themselves.

Dai: If the school does not encourage this kind of independent thinking ability training... Long: Read more logic and philosophy books that teach you how to think. In addition, read more good literary works, so that you can have a multi-faceted understanding of life.In addition, comparisons can only be made by contacting more information from various sources; however, if the channels of information sources are all controlled, it will be difficult. Dai: The training in the academy enables you to have a rigorous thinking, and to look at good literary works allows you to know how to analyze human nature. However, people who receive the same education and read the same books as you may not be the ones who lift the lid on everything. To find out what your personality is, does your family's growth environment also have an impact on you?

Long: I've never really thought about this kind of question... (in deep thought) Well... I think my mother really influenced me.On the surface, I can’t see any similarities between my mother and me. This is because of the difference in our education levels, and I am not as tough as her. Maybe it’s because my life is better and I don’t need to be tough to survive.But in her mother's time, she had to be strong to support the family, but she couldn't show that she was more capable than her husband. Her pain lies in the fact that she can handle many things better than her husband, but she can't show it, because she is a woman, and for this, she has suffered all her life. If the surface layer is peeled off, maybe my mother's toughness and rebelliousness have affected me, making me unwilling to accept the mercy of reality easily. Dai: This has inspired me to ask another question. Suppose you used the name of Hu Meili or Wang Axiang to publish social commentary, and readers knew that you were just a housewife. Do you think the effect of publishing the article would be the same? Long: At the beginning, my social criticism not only resonated with the general public, but was also affirmed by the intellectual circles.If it is like the situation you mentioned, I think it will be rejected at the beginning, so we can see a very interesting phenomenon from this.It is the mentality revealed in this society that only men can write intellectual articles, only men have opinions, and it turns out that this determination is a stereotype. Dai: The emergence of writers like you has also played an educational role in reversing the stereotypes of male and female roles. Long: However, until now, this bias towards gender stereotypes still exists.Since the author of the novel is a woman, they thought that this kind of woman must be a very loud, fierce, and unlovable half-female. In short, most of the discussions are negative. And if the man who writes this kind of article is a man, they think that this man is very insightful, mature, and courageous... Dai: This time you almost failed in Singapore because you couldn’t solve the child care problem. What kind of responsibilities do you think the government and enterprises should play in this regard to help women participate in social affairs? Long: I think the responsibility of the government and society is to provide women with opportunities to choose.For women who want to work, the government and enterprises have perfect childcare systems and facilities.Women can work without any worries; women who want to stay at home and concentrate on raising children also have the freedom not to work outside the home, and the society will not discriminate against her for not being able to work outside the home.Society must understand that raising a home is a real "job" that is highly valued. Dai: The topic of your lecture this time is "A Writer's Sense of Mission". What is your observation on this point? Long: I don't think anyone has the qualification or authority to tell writers that they should have this or that sense of mission.However, I think the more unhealthy, abnormal, and unreasonable the society, the stronger the sense of mission of the writer; Not strong. Dai: The ideal of literature is to elevate people from political, racial, and religious prejudices and hatreds. At least in the field of literature, people are equal and respect each other; but sometimes literature cannot avoid being combined with politics. , why? Long: The "combination" of literature and politics is inseparable from the cultural and social background at that time.Let me take East and West Germany as examples: East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall was a relatively repressive society.There is no freedom of the press, and there is no representative politics, which means that people do not have their own mouthpieces, and the people can only go to writers and find spokespersons.And the author's creative theme is not easy to divorce from the political reality, and there seems to be a perfect tacit understanding between the reader and the author.East German readers were very good at reading between the lines in an author's work.The East German writer is like a tightrope walker, he performs carefully, and then seeks balance in every crisis.He needs great writing skills, and he can't fall to his death because the writing falls.Readers are like confidantes watching a high-altitude performance. They look up to find the writer who deliberately took a step in the air, and then give the greatest admiration and surprise at the most appropriate time! Dai: Now that the Berlin Wall has come down, has the status of writers in the minds of readers changed? Long: In an open and free society, the people no longer need a spokesperson, they have found their own voice.One seeks literature only when one really needs it, and that is not often the case. Take West Germany as an example: West Germany has many writers and many works. When a work comes out, it is like a small drop of water falling into the sea without even a sound, let alone foam.The themes created by the writer gradually entered the world of the inner universe, and the readers became a minority of the society. Dai: Finally, I would like to ask: Should writers have a sense of mission? Long: Of course, the sense of mission can be the source of a writer's main creation.It is itself ignited by a sense of mission.But from the standpoint of a literary critic, I am not in favor of making the sense of mission the only measure of literary art. We allow writers with a mission to embrace the people, and writers without a sense of mission to embrace themselves, each doing his best, each giving what he has, and each taking what he needs. The literary society will naturally be a flourishing literary society. I believe that a poor, oppressive society is the best environment for a writer with a sense of mission, but, after all, literature has a favorite, and its name is "freedom."