Lin Chaoyang made a selfish guess, and after agreeing, Chen Jiangong happily said: "Okay, I'll tell her later and make an appointment again."

Zha Jianying's interview came very quickly. She met Lin Chaoyang on the fourth day after Chen Jiangong finished talking about it.

The meeting place was not at home, but at Yanda University.

Lin Chaoyang walked into the slightly crudely decorated cafe, his eyes full of novelties. Cha Jianying asked him: "Have you never been here before?"

"No." Lin Chaoyang shook his head.

This cafe is located in the small courtyard of the Student Union and Culture Department on the south side of Building 32 of Yanda. It opened four years ago, but at that time Lin Chaoyang rarely appeared in Yanda.

He doesn't usually have the habit of drinking coffee. Unless he is on a date with someone, he would only appear in such a place.

"I also came back to school to play some time ago and discovered this place."

After the two sat down, they chatted for a few words, and the topic was all about the coffee shop.

The employees in the cafe are all students from Yan'an University, who come here for work-study studies. The customers here are mainly teachers and students of Yan'an University, but there are also people from other schools.

There were several young people wearing strange clothes in the store today. Based on their dressing style, Lin Chaoyang judged that some of them should be students from the Academy of Fine Arts.

There are several abstract modern paintings hanging on the walls of the cafe. It is not surprising that these people are attracted to gather here. Lin Chaoyang and Cha Jianying chatted for just a few minutes, and someone has already noticed him.

Although Lin Chaoyang has rarely appeared at Yanda in recent years, his face has become a legend on Yanda campus.

Every time a new student enters the school, he will be mentioned again, and he will take a look at the library where he worked.

"It has been almost six years since my class graduated. I remember that at that time, the dining hall was still the cafeteria.

Now it has been converted into an auditorium, and so many old buildings are gone."

Interviewing is a science, and the topics often start with topics that both parties are familiar with.

Both Zha Jianying and Lin Chaoyang have stayed at Yanda, so this is a natural topic.

There was a hint of mirth in her tone, some reminiscing about the past, but Lin Chaoyang said: "If the old ones don't go away, the new ones won't come. Yanda's construction is getting better and better, which is essentially a good thing.'

The pen in Zha Jianying's hand was still gathering strength. She asked, "Don't you miss those glorious times?"

"Everyone will miss the past, but personal nostalgia can't change anything."

"That's right, the past has passed after all. But I think there are always some things that remain unchanged, such as the humanistic spirit here."

Lin Chaoyang glanced around and said, "It may look like this to you, but it doesn't look like that to me."

Zha Jianying looked questioning, "What do you think is different?"

"It's nothing, just personal feelings."

Seeing that Lin Chaoyang didn't want to talk more, Zha Jianying had no choice but to change the topic, "I remember that at that time, the famous writers at Yanda were all in the Chinese Department. Nowadays, Yanda doesn't seem to have many writers."

"The situation is different. At that time, people had accumulated talents for more than ten years, and they had accumulated enough age, knowledge, and experience. Plus, there was a real need in society, so it was naturally easier to get ahead."

Zha Jianying nodded and asked: "There were indeed many opportunities at that time. Every magazine was short of manuscripts and authors. The editors also had the patience to guide the new authors. You should be regarded as the first batch of writers to succeed after the flood of humanity.

, have you encountered any setbacks when submitting articles?”

"No. It went very smoothly. I just waited for two months. Compared with many people, I am already very lucky."

The interview got to the point, the two of them asked and answered each other, and the atmosphere was harmonious.

When talking about winning awards overseas, Cha Jianying asked: "Do you think you will win awards overseas in the future? Or let me ask another question, do you think other Chinese writers are likely to win awards overseas?"

"Whether Chinese writers will continue to win awards overseas is of course a matter of course, but after all, it is a small probability event.

Literature has no national boundaries, but language and writing are a gap.

Nowadays, most literary awards in various countries are only for domestic works, and it is not easy to win awards for foreign literary works.

The scope of some literary awards may be wider, but for works in non-native languages,

First, there is still an ideological barrier to overcome.

Personally speaking, winning the Renaudeau Literature Prize is a kind of luck.

After all, this is the first time in the history of the award that an exception has been made to award a foreign writer. If one or two judges had objected at the time, it might not have happened."

Lin Chaoyang's answer was not optimistic. Cha Jianying asked: "You said you were lucky to win the Renaudeau Literature Award, but I heard that "The Truman Show" sold very well in France before it won the award, and in the United States.

The sales volume is also good. By the way..."

While she was talking, she suddenly remembered something and took out a magazine from her bag.

Passed it to Lin Chaoyang, "I asked my colleagues to send this issue to me specially."

While Lin Chaoyang was flipping through the magazine, Cha Jianying introduced: "The interview in this issue has received a very good response from the intellectual class in the United States, which means you have gained some fame in the United States, which is very rare among Chinese writers.

"

Lin Chaoyang was not as surprised as Cha Jianying expected. He just said "thank you" with a smile on his face.

Zha Jianying asked without giving up, "What do you think it means to you when your works go abroad?"

After pondering for a moment, Lin Chaoyang replied with two words, "Royalty."

Zha Jianying's face was full of surprise. She didn't expect to hear such an answer and couldn't help but ask:

"International reputation is not important to you?"

"It's not that reputation is unimportant, it's just that royalties may be more practical.

You should understand that in this era, it is impossible for world-class literary giants like Hugo and Tolstoy to be born again.

Even if it is what you call 'international reputation', it is extremely difficult to seek."

Zha Jianying looked puzzled when she heard this, "Why?"

After taking a sip of coffee, Lin Chaoyang asked slowly: "Have you read any Malaysian literature?"

Zha Jianying didn't understand what he meant and shook his head.

"What about South African literature?"

Zha Jianying shook her head again, but she had already realized something.

"In fact, in essence, the so-called literature without borders in the past hundred years was largely a strong cultural invasion brought about by invasion and war.

1

Lin Chaoyang's sudden cultural outrage shocked Zha Jianying. She had never thought about the problem from such a perspective, so it took her a long time to recover.

"What if I take Latin American literature as an example? Latin America has not invaded other countries, right?" Zha Jianying tried to find an example to refute Lin Chaoyang's point of view.

"When did you first hear about the 'Latin American literary explosion' or 'magical realism'?"

Cha Jianying looked reminiscing, "It was probably in 1982 when Marquez won the Nobel Prize for Literature."

"So, the widespread spread of Latin American literature in the world is essentially still a cultural export under the discourse power of Western media.

Without the recognition of the Nobel Prize for Literature, and without the support of the media and elites in various countries who promote Western cultural values, there would be no widespread spread of Latin American literature in recent years."

Lin Chaoyang's words made Zha Jianying look thoughtful. As a person studying in the United States, she instinctively did not want to believe Lin Chaoyang's story, but after thinking about it carefully, Lin Chaoyang's statement seemed to make some sense.

"But whether it's communication or output, overall it's beneficial."

"Of course." Lin Chaoyang looked relaxed, "As long as it is not a unilateral output, it is beneficial."

Zha Jianying heard the unfinished meaning in his words and asked: "But you can't deny that whether it is French literature, British literature or Soviet literature, it has its own uniqueness, right?"

"Aren't there any unique features in the literary works of other countries? "Mocobharata" is not inferior to "The Divine Comedy", and "A Dream of Red Mansions" is not inferior to "Les Miserables"."

2

"A Dream of Red Mansions" tells the story of feudal princes in ancient China, how can you expect readers from other countries to understand it?"

"So, why can we understand Hugo's Jean Valjean, and why can we understand Jane Austen's Elizabeth?"

Lin Chaoyang's rhetorical question left Cha Jianying speechless. After a while, she smiled bitterly and said, "I didn't know you were so resistant to Western culture."

"This label is too big. Our ancestors said that we should take the essence and discard the dross. Any culture and civilization has its advantages and disadvantages. There is no perfect culture or system in this world.

Didn’t you just ask me what I think is different here?”

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, Zha Jianying ignored the debate between the two and asked, "What's the difference?"

"Many people here are blind in their pursuit and yearning for Western culture." Lin Chaoyang said sharply.

Zha Jianying couldn't help but frown, "Nowadays, developed countries in Europe and the United States are indeed ahead of most countries in the world in terms of economy, politics, culture, and military. Everyone's pursuit of a better spiritual and material life can't be considered blind, right?"

"Then you might as well do a survey and ask them whether they think jeans look better or Mao suits look better."

Lin Chaoyang's suggestion made Zha Jianying fall into silence. Based on the aesthetics displayed by these young people in the cafe,

Their choice speaks for itself.

"The conversation got a little sidetracked, let's talk about literature.

Seeing that Cha Jianying was trying to get into trouble, Lin Chaoyang took the initiative to change the topic. Zha Jianying wanted to argue with Lin Chaoyang, but he thought that this was an interview after all, so he controlled his desire to debate.

"Speaking of awards, I heard from Jiangong that you are recently cooperating with the Literary and Art Association to hold a literary award. Can we talk about it?"

"Of course. This award was first proposed by Mr. Zhuang Chongwen from Xiangjiang——"

Lin Chaoyang briefly introduced the origin and overview of the Zhuang Chongwen Literature Award. Cha Jianying sighed: "A single prize of 100,000 yuan is an astronomical sum for many creators in the current Chinese literary world!"
To be continued...