I will definitely have a deep understanding of current life. Mo Yan: I want to write a work from the 1930s
"Even if I write a historical work that seems completely unrelated to the present, I still need to pay close attention to reality." Famous writer Mo Yan said at today's Beijing Cultural Forum's "Cultural Man: Literary Value and Social Life" roundtable forum, that literature transcends time and space, and good writing is not limited by geography and time.
He said that when we read historical works such as "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Book of Songs", we will still be moved, strongly shocked, and have a noble aesthetic enjoyment. This is a very convincing example.
Mo Yan believes that a writer's creation should focus on the present, but must also be free from the constraints of the present. If you want to create a novel set in the 1930s, you first need to be fully familiar with the various aspects of society in that era, and also need to have an understanding of the rapidly changing life of the current era, and even have a deep understanding. By observing the historical period described in reality, its uniqueness and individuality can be presented.
Mo Yan further explained that historical development is rolling forward like a river, with no absolute past or present, and everything is a link in the chain of historical development. Human life also develops from lower to higher levels, which is not linear but spiral. Sometimes it may seem like a regression, but regression contains factors of progress.
He emphasized that the core of novels and dramas is story, but storytelling is not the fundamental purpose of a writer's writing. The core pursuit of writers is to shape character images with unique value and personality through artistic means. He gave an example that Lu Xun's greatness lies in shaping well-known characters such as Ah Q and Xianglin Sao, while Tolstoy's greatness lies in having a series of character images that readers can imagine with their eyes closed.
Mo Yan said that understanding and paying attention to the characters in current stories and life scenes can help to compare with past characters. The purpose of this comparison is to reveal the unique personalities of the characters depicted by the author during that period, as well as the distinct characteristics of that era's thinking, thinking methods, emotional patterns, etc., in order to leave a deep impression on readers. By reading such works, readers can understand the background of the times, ethnic culture, and historical changes, while also gaining a better understanding of themselves.
