On Bing Xin's Reportage Creation

Compared with ancient literature, modern and contemporary literature in China has only experienced a handful of historical periods. However, with its gradual historization, scholars who study it are crowded. Just because it is not far from researchers and contemporary literature, many research objects can always have a fierce ideological spark in the process of discussion, showing the different charm of this particular literary category. However, the frequent appearance of relevant papers and monographs does not mean that the research is sufficient in breadth and depth. In this narrow historical interval, the literary phenomenon of free galloping always lures researchers to be "stubborn" for many years like ghosts. Many interesting or contradictory questions arouse researchers' desire to explore from time to time. 1980 China bid farewell to the countercurrent of the old times, and the spring breeze of reform and opening up is stirring people with lofty ideals in various fields such as economy, politics and culture. In line with the arduous responsibility of "systematically investigating and introducing the reportage activities that have occurred in China for more than half a century", the editing and publishing work of China Reportage Series 19 is carried out in an orderly manner with the strong support of the literary and art circles and journalists. The sixth volume of the third series of this series contains four remarkable reportage works created by Bing Xin after the founding of the People's Republic of China, such as A Trip to India, Japan's Return, Ten Days in Zhanjiang and Our Five Children. From this point alone, there is an inevitable connection between Bing Xin and China Reportage, which is also the beginning of my further study on the relationship between them.

Up to now, there is still a big gap between Bing Xin's research and that of Lu Xun, Shen Yanbing and Guo Moruo, just as the theoretical depth of modern reportage research is far less than that of modern novels, poems and even their mother prose. This double neglect will inevitably directly affect the study of the relationship between Bing Xin and reportage. Among the existing research achievements, only Bing Xin and Reportage Creation, written by Li Bingyin on1September 1999, briefly combs the relationship between Bing Xin and Reportage in a linear way, and confirms the reportage attribute of Bing Xin's works from the perspective of authenticity and sociality. In his view, "the connection between Bing Xin and reportage is more about her connection with social life". In the third part of this article, the full text includes My Request published by Bing Xin in 1987 People's Daily, which is a supporting article written by her for the reportage "The Record of Holy Sorrow-A Documentary Report on the Educational Crisis in Primary and Secondary Schools", not her own reportage. Judging from the proportion of this part of the article, it seems that the writer Bing Xin's reportage creation is really stretched, and even a short research article can't hold up? Is the real situation the same? Or is it an example of insufficient collection of historical materials of modern reportage in China?

In fact, when many researchers talk about the reportage creation of many writers, including Bing Xin, they all mention a long-standing problem-the relationship between prose and reportage is actually the problem of stylistic identification of reportage. For a long time, the research scope of reportage has been very narrow, and it is a collective unconscious research inertia to regard it as a category of modern prose. The lack of specialized theoretical construction once made the study of China reportage unsustainable, which was obviously out of proportion to the rich creative achievements in a short time. Naturally, in the current context, compared with more literary novel texts such as Superman and Dong Er's Girl, and poetry works such as Stars and Spring Water, Bing Xin's reportage obviously doesn't have much right to speak. As for what kind of situation the interaction between the two is, only by returning to the gap of history will the truth surface. Any simple neglect or vague past will be disrespectful to writers and history. In fact, when Bing Xin became attached to reportage, what aspects of her related creations showed the narrative characteristics of reportage? How should we position her in the history of reportage development in China? These are all topics worthy of our in-depth discussion.

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In my opinion, the reportage works discussed today should refer to the literary works that take specific people, events and problems in reality as the main objects of expression and documentary narration as the main means of expression, show a real historical field and reflect the writer's distinct ideological theme and emotional attitude. The four key words are epochal, documentary, narrative and literary works. In the narrative process, the writer must balance the timeliness of reporting and the sedimentation of literature, and weigh the distance between "reporting" and "literature". Only in this way can they truly practice the stylistic character of reportage.

Based on the recognition of these stylistic features, we can trace the stylistic occurrence of China reportage back to the modern stage since the late Qing Dynasty. "With the intensification of social life changes and the birth and development of newspapers and periodicals, some documentary prose, biographical literature and travel notes in ancient China have gradually evolved into the earliest reportage works in China." Including Liang Qichao's Travels to the New World, 1898 Coup, A Record of My Travel in Europe, Sun Yat-sen in Huang Yuansheng in the Eyes of Journalists, The Cook of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, etc. It is typical of early reportage. After the May 4th Movement, intellectuals still chose reportage as the carrier of their demands for democracy and freedom. In addition to Qu Qiubai's Journey to Hunger, Heart of Red Capital and Zhou Enlai's Communication in Europe, timely and effective reporting of current events was also an important part of reportage at that time. Diary of Students' Tide Seven and Beijing Citizens' Week Activity are inspirational works that directly reflect the May 4th patriotic movement. Among them, Bing Xin's idea at the 2 1 day hearing is also worthy of attention.

"Although the work is called' feeling', it is actually very memorable." After the failure of the May 4th Movement, the Beiyang warlord government headed by Duan waited for an opportunity to retaliate against the student movement. After finally arresting a student movement leader, the Beijing Justice Department held a public trial on 2 1. Bing Xin had the opportunity to attend the trial and recorded it vividly in words, which appeared in newspapers on the fourth day after the trial. The work revolves around the "double reed play" between the judge and the students who take bribes, exposing the reactionary nature of the Beiyang warlord government. Bing Xin's article well meets the stylistic requirements of reportage in narrative time and documentary. At the same time, while describing and narrating, Bing Xin also stood up in time to make subjective comments and expressed her feelings about this incident. "When lawyer Liu defended, I went to that painful and wonderful place, and a defendant burst into tears. I was very touched. At the same time, I noticed that the four plaintiffs looked "uneasy" when they left the court and they forced a smile. I can't help but think of an old saying,' There is more sorrow in my heart than death in my heart'. Alas! Poor young man! Young people whose conscience is dominated by selfish desires! "Narrative structure was originally a breakthrough of China reportage on the basis of imitating the linear narration of novels. The subjective discussion based on objective narration affirmed the reportage attribute of the Minutes of the Twenty-first Hearing. In the History of Modern Reportage in China, Zhao regarded this article by Bing Xin as a symbol of the occurrence of China Reportage, together with the activities of citizens in Beijing in a week and the great tragedy of Tangshan coal miners being buried. "As the earliest short reportage work in China, it reports the birth of this new literary style in China", and its significance to the development of China reportage style cannot be underestimated.

199465438+February, The Complete Works of Bing Xin edited by Bing Xin's hometown Strait Literature and Art Publishing House was published. "This complete collection includes all kinds of works (including translations and some letters and inscriptions) by 19 19 to 1994, arranged in the order of writing, translation and publication." The first article of the complete works is Bing Xin's Thoughts on Hearing in the 21st Century, which was published in the eighth edition of Morning News on August 25th, 2009. In this sense, we can find that Bing Xin became attached to reportage earlier than her widely acclaimed problem novels, short poems and subsequent children's literature works. Although all reportage writers, including her, don't have a clear sense of style at this time, and Bing Xin's whole article is immature and gentle in terms of creative structure, language and position, it doesn't mean that we can put it out of the whole China reportage discourse field.

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After Bing Xin started his literary career with reportage "Hearing on the 21st", his creative focus quickly turned to problem novels. Two families, and you are helpless and poor, autumn rain, people worry, go to China, etc. One after another came out, and the appearance of Superman gave full play to his fictional narrative ability. This not only caters to the trend of the times, but also shows that few people are interested in reportage at the time of its occurrence. This shows that the literary trend of the times attracts and guides a single writer. But this does not mean that Bing Xin has completely forgotten the existence of reportage, at least in her creation, we can still find her creative achievements sporadically. 192 1 published in the special issue of Yanda University Youth Association for Disaster Relief, and 1935 published Travel Notes along Pingsui Railway Bureau, which reflected Bing Xin's intermittent interest in reportage creation.

During the period of 1920, five northern provinces suffered from severe drought, and patriotic students devoted themselves to disaster relief. Bing Xin also actively participated in fund-raising and other activities, and wrote the Diary of Fund-raising for Drought Memorial Day, which truly restored the whole story. This report adopts a time linear structure, combining limited focus with zero focus, and Zhang Chi objectively describes the ins and outs of fund-raising activities. "Walking in East Chang 'an Avenue, the wind pushed us to go, and we couldn't hear the other side, and our hands with cans were stiff. Wind, be bigger, I want you to try the spirit of youth; Wind, if it is stronger, we are ready to fight against evil society through you! The mild tone in "21day's auditory feelings" was replaced by this cathartic high-spirited passion here. Facing the bitterness and hardship of the external environment, Bing Xin shouted out the voices of all the young students who donated money at that time through his own mouth, which also showed his profound sense of social responsibility and spirit of struggle.

Among all Bing Xin's reportage works, Ping Sui Xing is the longest. 1In July, 934, Bing Xin and Wu Wenzao invited Wen, Lei Jieqiong, Gu Jiegang, Zheng Zhenduo, Chen Qitian and Zhao Cheng to form a "tour group along Pingsui Railway" at the invitation of Mr. Shen Chang, director of Pingsui Railway. "The purpose of our trip is to pay attention to the scenery, historical sites, beautiful buildings, customs, religion, economy and products along Pingsui, and make a few simple reports." "After my trip, I was ill for several months. Today, I remembered what I got a few months ago. I collected the works of my fellow gentlemen and merged them into an episode to give my thanks to the railway bureau! " From this passage alone, the article feels more like a simple list of travel logs. However, if you browse the full text, researchers who are slightly familiar with reportage will definitely feel deja vu. This familiarity lies in that its structure is similar to that of Qu Qiubai's Journey to the Hinterland and Chi Du Xin Ji, which is the representative work of China reportage in the 1920s. Even in the preface listed above, a similar style is basically adopted. Under the framework of tourism style, the article takes time series as the structural clue and tourism experience as the external structure. In fact, the author is concerned with important social and historical issues related to the life and death of the country, such as the importance of border defense, national self-confidence, national integration and so on. In the context of war, Bing Xin's reportage creation, together with Xiao Gan's Refugee Map, The Bonded Worker, Song Zhi's Spring in Taiyuan in 1936, and Fan Changjiang's Northwest Corner of China, undertook the important task of enlightenment and national salvation.

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After the founding of New China, the reportage creation with relatively concentrated Bing Xin gained a bumper harvest. In addition to the 3rd and 6th issues of China Reportage Series, Japanese Return, Ten Days in Zhanjiang and Our Five Children, there are also works such as Great Friendship, Sunrise and Sunset. Among these works, except "Our Five Children" published in People's Literature No.6 of 1964 focuses on touching stories of children who are deeply cared for by misfortune, the other reportage works listed above are all in the style of Ji Youti. These reportage texts also continued the single-line time structure she adopted when she wrote Ping Sui Xing in the 1930s. After describing the event objectively, the author always clarifies her emotional attitude at the end. "In the joy of reunion, we are happy to firmly believe that the will of the people is inviolable! The ardent and friendly wishes of the Chinese and Japanese people have crossed all kinds of man-made obstacles, and the hand of solidarity extended from the other side of the ocean has brought us closer and closer! As a member of the Asian-African family against imperialism and colonialism; Our mutual assistance and cooperation can be said to be just beginning. " In fact, in this kind of reportage created after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the combination of subjective discussion and objective narration has obviously surpassed Ping Sui Xing, and the integration of narrative structure also shows the progress of Bing Xin's reportage creation in narration.

Our Five Children should be regarded as the first reportage for reportage by Bing Xin, which embodies the author's distinct stylistic consciousness. At the invitation of the editorial department of People's Literature, after careful interview, this is her work reporting the deeds of Zhou Tongshan, Zhou Tongqing, Zhou Tonglai, Zhou Tonghe and Friday. True and objective event restoration and emotional clues of true feelings flow are undoubtedly more convenient for reportage to play its narrative function. Later, Bing Xin adopted a similar narrative attitude in the process of praising Zhang Binggui, a salesman of Beijing Department Store.

Seventeen-year reportage presents two very important themes: one is to resist US aggression and aid Korea, and the other is the cause of socialist construction. Ba Jin, Jin Yi, Lao She and other old writers went to the front of North Korea and wrote reportage such as Living among Heroes, People Defending Peace, Motherland-My Mother, Unknown Heights, etc. Bing Xin, who didn't go, naturally won't have reportage writing on this subject. However, she focused on the socialist construction in China. Reportage works such as A Noble Man, Four Athletes and Female Soldiers in Dadongliu Township, Notes on the Site of the Ming Tombs Reservoir, Happy Valley, Miracle Sanmenxia City and Going to Qinglong Bridge appeared in Xingang, Harvest and People's Daily. The social engineering construction in full swing and its typical figures have become the focus of these reportage texts. Although this kind of works shows obvious tendency of ode, which hurts the critical character of reportage to some extent, in the era of political guidance, this slightly alienated reportage has its unique practical significance, although it is branded with political imprint.

1On July 26th, 959, in the article About Prose published by Wen Yi Daily, Bing Xin defined prose as "my favorite literary form". At the end of this article, she said: "I think our modern prose is not without achievements, especially after liberation, new people and new things all over the country have inspired many writers." Not only novelists, playwrights and poets are also writing essays, but there are also many close-ups and exchange articles in newspapers and periodicals, which appear in front of readers with a brand-new look and breath. Moreover, there are not few prose writers with style. My favorite movies are Liu, Wei Wei and. [] Although it is only a few short words, it also shows Bing Xin's vague understanding of the concept of prose and her overlapping understanding of the relationship between reportage and prose. She thinks reportage is a kind of prose. It is not difficult to understand why many of her reportage works were finally selected by her and published in the collection of essays. Although Bing Xin lacks a clear sense of style and is not a special reportage writer, it is necessary to study reportage creation from the perspective of reportage style itself and the writer's own research.