Zhuang Yu is the most famous Chinese writer in France besides Zhang Zhong, so it is not surprising that Empoli knows him.
"Thank you very much for your kindness." Zhuang Yu said with a smile.
"I am very surprised by your arrival..."
Although this was his first contact with Empoli, Zhang Zhong's impression of Empoli was that this guy looked kind and kind-hearted, honest and honest, but he was also very smooth.
Taking what he told Zhuang Yu as an example, the list of members of their Chinese literary exchange group had been announced a long time ago, and a copy must have been sent to Empoli's desk long ago. This means that Empoli
He knew exactly who was coming in the group, but he still pretended to be extremely surprised by Zhuang Yu's arrival.
After Zhang Zhong introduced the members of the Chinese exchange group, Empoli briefly introduced the welcoming team of their Fourth University.
What Zhang Zhong paid more attention to was Adrian, the dean of the School of Liberal Arts.
Adrian is not just the dean of the Faculty of Arts of the Fourth University, he is also the winner of the Goncourt Literary Prize and one of the most famous writers in France.
Adrian was born in Niort, a city in southwestern France. He spent a long time in the Middle East, so he has a very good understanding of Middle Eastern literature.
Later he settled in Barcelona, Spain, where he worked as a translator and taught Arabic at the Autonomous University of Barcelona for a period of time.
It was not until 2003 that he published his first novel.
His first novel won many literary awards.
It was not until six years ago that he returned to France from Barcelona and taught at the University of the Fourth.
His winning work of the Goncourt Literary Prize that year was "The Needle". The novel mainly expressed the contribution of Eastern literature to Western identity. Adrian integrated his travel experience in the Middle East into the novel. The protagonist Bertel is a
An Austrian music scholar suffering from insomnia was admitted to a hospital in Vienna with his illness, where he thought about life day and night.
Zhang Zhong smiled and shook hands with Adrian, "I am very happy to meet you. I have also read your work "The Needle". Your insights into Eastern and Western cultures are impressive. If given the opportunity, I hope to
I can have further exchanges with you about Chinese and Western culture."
Adrian tilted his head to listen to the translation and said with a smile, "Isn't it a rare opportunity for you to appear at the door of Fourth University? In the next two days, we will have time to discuss what we want to do.
Topics to discuss. There are many things about you that I am very interested in."
"I hope I won't be too nervous during the two days."
"Then we have to hurry up."
…
In the next half day, Empoli took the Chinese literary exchange group around the campus of Fourth University as usual.
As a university with a long history, the scenery of the school is not a problem. Zhang Zhong and the others also paid special attention to the library of Fourth University.
The simple and unsophisticated style has a special meaning. When Zhang Zhong and the others were walking through the library, there were many students studying in the library, and the atmosphere was very good.
Although the arrival of Zhang Zhong and others caused a slight commotion, the students were very restrained and did not make any extraordinary moves.
After having dinner at a hotel near the school at noon, the exchange group started a half-day chat with the Fourth University delegation.
There are no special rules for so-called literary exchanges. People on both sides just sit together and chat.
But what was slightly different was that while they were chatting, there were many media reporters taking pictures.
These reporters are all state media, not only the official media in France, but also some reporters from domestic media.
What they chatted about today will be conveyed to readers through the pens of these media reporters.
So small talk can’t just be small talk.
During this half-day chat, both parties were very polite. It took two or three hours just to use the topic to guide the other party to introduce the situation of the literary world in their own country.
It can be said that this half day is the time for both parties to engage in commercial nonsense.
After the literary exchange on the first day ended, the chat on the second day became a little different.
The commercial nonsense stage has passed, and both sides have begun to ask each other some more targeted questions.
Adrian is relatively familiar with Middle Eastern culture, but the Middle East does not represent the East.
His understanding of China was limited to reports by media reporters and bids in literary works.
"I once read Mr. Zhuang's "Xi Bo". The rural stories described in the book were surprising. I once thought that the Chinese countryside was just like what was described in "Xi Bo"." When talking about his impression of Chinese culture,
Adrian said with a smile.
Zhuang Yu said, "In fact, there is nothing wrong. The rural areas of China used to be basically as described in the book, but that was a long time ago. China has developed rapidly in recent years, and has undergone tremendous changes."
Adrian nodded, "Many of the works of Mr. Zhuang and PZ showed me the traces of China's integration with the West. I thought before that even if China integrated with the West, it would probably lag behind the West, but what I didn't expect was
At that time, Chinese literature not only integrated with the West, but also blazed its own path. I hope to see more things about the Chinese nation in Chinese works, because only national things can truly go to the world."
"Rather than saying that Chinese writers hope to go global, we hope to push Chinese culture to the world platform for everyone to communicate. We believe that when cultures collide with each other, they can inspire more exciting sparks."
Zhang Chong said with a smile, "This is also the purpose of our coming to France and the Fourth University this time. We hope to sit together with the best writers in France, get to know each other, and then through your eyes and mouths
Rediscover ourselves."
Empoli nodded repeatedly, "This is also what we expect. At the same time, we also believe that your group's visit to the Fourth University this time can bring us many new, creative and inspiring things. In addition, in my heart
I have always had a question for pz and other friends. In China, there is a word called Hua Yi Zhi Bian, which means to distinguish between Hua Xia and barbarians. Does this mean that there is a deep-rooted phenomenon in Chinese culture?
Hegemonism and centralism?”
This question is already very acute, but Zhang Zhong and the others don’t think it’s a big deal. Since the other party has raised a question, they can just answer it properly. Moreover, this question is not a difficult one. Anyone in their group can solve it.