Chapter 24 postscript

In 1980, I started researching English literature at the Institute of Literature of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.At that time, the Institute of Literature was a newly established academic institution. In terms of English literature research, there was no funding, no books, no echelon, and no results.The director asked me to start with the study of stream-of-consciousness novels, and hoped that I would put forward a medium- and long-term research plan.The idea I put forward is "one point, one line, one surface".One point is Woolf Research, which is interdisciplinary micro research with a macro background.One line is the comparative study of stream-of-consciousness novels, which is an interdisciplinary study of mediocrity.One aspect is the study of contemporary British fiction after 1945, which is an interdisciplinary macro study.In the past twenty years, a total of ten translations, compilations, and monographs have been published within the originally conceived research scope, with an average of one book every two years.However, due to various reasons, the shortage of funds, books, and echelons has not basically changed.

In 1981, the scientific research funding I received was only enough for me to copy a copy of Woolf's novel "To the Lighthouse".Mr. Wang Daoqian, deputy director of the Institute of Literature, said: "Currently there are insufficient research materials, but don't waste time. You can translate this book first." After the book was translated, the Translation Publishing House did not accept it.This is totally understandable.Woolf's work is quite difficult to translate, can a novice translate it well?In 1982, I read through all of Woolf's essays that could be found in the libraries of Beijing and Shanghai, selected and translated more than ten articles related to novels and novelists, and compiled them into a collection.I put it in a drawer without any press contact.Later, some individual papers I translated were published in the academic journals of East China Normal University. Mr. Fang Ping, an old translator, thought the translations were very good after reading them, and strongly recommended them to Shanghai Translation Publishing House.Woolf's Chinese translation finally came out in 1986.This is my first officially published translation.Unexpectedly, the book was quite popular with readers, and the first edition of 6,400 copies was sold out soon.In 1990, a traditional Chinese version was published by Taiwan Lianjing Publishing House.

Translation Publishing House intends to supplement and republish this book in 2000, and asked me to translate 80,000 words.I chose Woolf's long essay "A Room of One's Own".In October 1928, Woolf gave two academic lectures at Cambridge University under the title of "Women and Fiction", and the audiences were female college students from two colleges.The paper "A Room of One's Own" published the following year was based on the content of these two lectures.This article uses a high degree of humor, wit and rich imagination to launch a debate. In a society dominated by men, it speaks out for the discrimination women have always suffered, and fights for women's rights to independence and literary creation.This article is divided into six chapters.The first chapter describes the experience of "Oxbridge University" fabricated by the author to illustrate the unfair treatment of women in male-centered institutions of higher learning.The second chapter describes that the author saw a large number of books on women's issues written by male authors in the British museum. A certain professor categorically claimed in his masterpiece that women's intelligence, physical strength, and morality are lower than men's.In the third chapter, the author assumes that Shakespeare has a sister who has the same literary talent as Shakespeare.However, her poetic talent is bound to be buried by the patriarchal society, and she has to spend her whole life in humiliation and depression.In the fourth chapter, Woolf traces the difficult journey of women entering the literary world.Aphra Bain emerged in the seventeenth century, and women writers began to feel proud.However, even in the nineteenth century, most British female writers had to use male pseudonyms to relieve social pressure.Woolf makes two noteworthy arguments in this chapter.One is that women writers must seek a certain feminine syntax in order to express their special femininity.The second is the task of the great artist, which is to prove that a certain inner truth does exist.In Chapter 5, the author argues that women should reinforce their differences from men so that they can fully realize their selves.In the last chapter, the author agrees with Coleridge that the writer's creative mind should be both male and female.In other words, great writers are not unisexual but bisexual in terms of psychological personality, and are "hermaphrodites".Great writing is possible when the male and female writers are in harmony and balance in their minds.I was very surprised to find that Woolf's point of view seems to have something in common with the simple dialectics in which Taoism emphasizes the unity of yin and yang, and Chinese medicine emphasizes the mutual roots of yin and yang.Woolf believes that women's writing is still in the stage of practice and accumulation, which is preparing for the arrival of real great female poets.Therefore, it is worthwhile to write hard and make all kinds of sacrifices in poverty.This is the conclusion of her lecture entitled "Women and the Fiction".This article is written in one go, lively, witty, eloquent and powerful, which can be called a masterpiece of essays.Woolf is not only a leading figure in the literary world, but also a pioneer of women's rights.This article can be said to be a feminist manifesto.And how heartily and brilliantly this manifesto is written!

Readers may have questions: You are a man, why did you choose this Feminist Declaration?Please allow me to ask readers: Which man was not born by his mother in October?Which man is not brought up by his mother with painstaking efforts?My mother is knowledgeable about books and etiquette, but she has no personal career to speak of. Her whole life can be summed up in four words: "beautiful husband and son".For the first half of her life, she assisted my father in managing a private hospital.After liberation, her father dedicated the hospital to the country, and educating her son became her main task for the rest of her life.The mother found that the school curriculum was biased towards intellectual education, which was not conducive to all-round development.So, she hired Old Master Shi Gonghao to teach me ancient Chinese, and Professor Lu Peixian to teach me English, laying a relatively solid academic foundation.She also hired two experts to teach me violin and painting to improve my cultural accomplishment.I was frail and sickly since I was a child, and my mother was deeply worried.Later, I was ordered by my parents to worship Dr. Huang Jinghua, a disciple of Grandmaster Yang Chengfu, as my teacher, and learned Taijiquan, which gradually strengthened my body.I was studying English literature at Fudan University, and my mother used to type and revise English compositions for me.After I entered the Academy of Social Sciences, my mother was the first reader of every paper and translation I wrote.My first research project has not been completed yet. Unfortunately, my mother suffered from cancer. Due to a medical accident, the overdose of cobalt 60 caused serious consequences. Without the care and encouragement of my mother, I would never have survived and completed my research work.At the end of 1986, my first monograph was finally completed, but my mother had already returned home.Oh, it hurts!Her only joy in life is to share a little joy of success from her son's tiny work performance.Why take away even such a small amount of joy?It is often said that men are big children.I feel deeply that this statement is true.Whenever I finish a research result, I always want to send it to my mother again and listen to her criticism.This kind of mood is no different from that of a primary school student handing homework to his mother.I am eager to see my mother's voice and smile again, just like a child looking at the wall clock on the wall, hoping that his mother will come home from get off work earlier.I am translating Woolf's thesis precisely to commemorate my mother, the countless unknown women who have dedicated their lives to their husbands and children.

In 1982, when I selected and edited, I did not select this paper.Because I think that after the founding of New China, the whole society has undergone earth-shaking changes.The people's government closed all the brothels, helped the persecuted class sisters cure venereal diseases, learned labor skills, and organized happy families.We proudly declare: the old society turned people into ghosts, and the new society turned ghosts into people again!People take it for granted that women go to college and become cadres.In our land, sexism seems to be non-existent.However, it turns out that this idea is too naive.Sexism, which has a history of thousands of years, will never go away.We all firmly support the policy of reform and opening up, because it has enhanced the overall national strength, improved people's lives, and provided bright prospects for the survival of the nation and the development of the country.This is the mainstream of today's society.But some minor tributaries must not be ignored.The news about abducting and trafficking women, forcing women into prostitution, and adopting mistresses is often seen in the newspapers, which is shocking.Here is an example of a social survey published on the sixth page of the "People's Political Consultative Conference" on September 11, 2000.The survey report pointed out that among the waitresses in the restaurant and entertainment industry in Liaoning Province, 7% had been sexually harassed by bosses, 63% had been sexually harassed by customers, and 40% said that although they were unwilling, they could only compromise. Miss "escort" has become a "new target" of sexual assault, and has become a victim of alcoholism, fighting, robbery, and violent rape.The reason why this happens, on the female side, is due to the persecution of survival pressure and the distortion of ideas.On the male side, it is because "some people who have become rich satisfy their lust and vulgar tastes by undermining women's personality and basic rights, which is the dross of the old society's male superiority and inferiority, and patriarchal thinking."Women, motherhood also.How can we allow this ugly phenomenon of insulting our mother's gender to exist for a long time!If women, who account for half of the population, cannot effectively protect their personality and give full play to their talents, our society will not be able to develop healthily.Women's emancipation and equality between men and women are one of the symbols of the degree of social civilization.Only in a society where men and women are truly equal can it be possible to produce great female writers and poets.Considered from this perspective, the thesis "A Room of One's Own" still has certain practical significance in today's China.I have therefore included it in this volume, after the group of essays on women and the novel.