Chapter 147 Attachment: Postscript of the Russian translation of "Life"

(Su) Schemanov Not long before my trip to China, I read Lu Yao's novella in Moscow.At that time, I knew that Lu Yao was a Chinese writer who entered the literary world after the "Cultural Revolution".The novella was his first major work that aroused enthusiastic response in China.This work was the first to draw attention to the description of the intersection of the countryside and the city, reflecting the sharp conflicts of contemporary life, and the novella has aroused debate among readers and critics alike.However, the final result of the debate was that the new author was recognized and became one of the winners of the 1983 National Literary Competition.

Afterwards, I have seen films based on Lu Yao's novels, which have been screened in countries all over the world. The films are touching and distinctive (especially the wonderful depiction of a rural wedding), but the novella always reveals the social The conflict unfolds in the depiction of negative characters and the reflection of urban and rural life.In the end, I met the writer Lu Yao himself in China, a simple but at the same time an intelligent and thoughtful man.The writer himself is a little older than I thought, and he is already the vice-chairman of the Shaanxi Writers Association.Shaanxi is a province in northern China.And this north has sent many excellent prose writers to China and the world, such as Zhao Shuli, whose short stories "Xiao Erhei Married", "Li Youcai's Banhua" and other works describing Chinese peasants have been widely known in our country .

What's more interesting is that the novel Ordinary World written by Lu Yao not long ago (the first novel was published in 1986) was also dedicated to the countryside.This novel makes readers turn to the "Cultural Revolution" period.The writer Zhao Shuli was persecuted to death during this period.The author makes a broad generalization of historical reality, making active use of national traditions.At the same time, Lu Yao is not only connected with European culture, but also with Russian literary heritage. Now, China's social life is undergoing extensive changes, absorbing European culture is a real problem, but Lu Yao's thinking is special, he believes that creative freedom and national responsibility are equally important for a writer: "We cannot tolerate social Some low-level aesthetic views”, “Writers must not lose the feeling of ordinary laborers at any time. Once we treat working people negatively, then our works will become rootless grass.”

Another important thought of Lu Yao is revealed here, the root of the nation is first in the countryside.The novella, like many other works of China's master craftsman, approaches our "rural" prose in this respect.The author did not idealize the peasants, not only writing about their love of labor, frugality and integrity, but also writing about their lack of culture and their timidity to fight against rural leading cadres.It is these peasants—by virtue of all the necessary conditions—that ultimately become the epitome of moral principles in the novella. In recent years, a comprehensive "root-seeking literature" has developed in China. However, this is not exactly what Lu Yao provided to us, but more accurately reflects the spirit of Chinese localism or Latin American "magic realism". The idealization of ancient and primal power.Lu Yao spoke of this kind of literature with a condemning attitude: "What is puzzling is whether to call on all writers and artists to go deep into the 'primitive forest' in order to 'seek their roots'."

Of course, the novellas of young authors were written after a period of long decline in Chinese culture.Therefore, the novella is by no means without flaws in terms of artistic thought development or style expression.However, it attracts people with its unusual attention and enthusiasm for contemporary Chinese literature, and the distinct sociality conveyed in a very gentle form.It is not for nothing that Chinese critics say: "The novella depicts the complex conflicts of life. City and country, society and family, striving and sinking, hope and regret, love and depression are intertwined, and all these They are all shown in the real picture of contemporary social life."