He Kelan is not just talking about the situation in France. In fact, since the publication of "Lord of the Flies" and its connection with the Goncourt Literary Prize, this book has become a frequently discussed topic in the literary and academic circles.
.
Except for a period in the middle when people were led astray by Kurt Romney and focused on whether the book was patriarchal, at other times what everyone discussed more was the artistic value of "Lord of the Flies" itself.
The theme of human nature being inherently evil may still be controversial in China, but it has a huge market in European and American literary circles.
This is related to Western ideology. The belief of most people in the West is that human nature is inherently evil. Many people believe that people are born to atone for their sins and repent.
"This is nothing. When I chat with my writer friends in China, when we talk about realism, we always talk about your "Christophe" and "Mother and Son". Two works that have been published for so many years are still relevant today.
It's really amazing that people always talk about it." Zhang Zhong said with a smile.
Zhang Zhong did not deliberately make up these words to compliment He Kelan. When he chatted with Zhuang Yu and the others, he would indeed talk about He Kelan, and when he talked about He Kelan, he would naturally talk about his two novels.
"Christophe" and "Mother and Son" are both realistic novels that show the social situation at that time, and the emotional rhythm and ideological situation of the protagonist occupy a central position in the novel. The intricate social relationships exist in the consciousness of the protagonist and are internalized.
It becomes the driving force for their spiritual perfection, and the social background always disappears and appears with the relaxation and ups and downs of the protagonist's inner activities.
He Kelan was once considered a deviant adventurer in the literary world, but it is not easy for him to reach this point today.
In fact, in this auditorium, there were many people who criticized He Kelan at that time.
They once criticized He Kelan for confusing imitation of nature and expression of nature, blurring their boundaries.
But later it was proved that either/or value standards are undesirable. Imitation of nature is not the basis of materialist progressive thought and the only way to create realism. Expressing the soul is not a sign of paying attention to reactionary ideas and unreality.
Common points to note.
He Kelan smiled and said, "Let's not flatter each other. I heard that you made a joke for netizens on April Fool's Day a few days ago. I found out about it and it was quite interesting."
"It's just a joke, I didn't expect that even you knew it."
"Every move you make now has touched the hearts of millions of people. It's a pity that the Goncourt Literary Prize award ceremony was not broadcast live. Otherwise, there might be many people waiting in front of TVs and computers to watch you." He Kelan
He shook his head and said with a smile, "The organizing committee of the Goncourt Literary Prize is indeed not very good at running the business. Otherwise, the prize money would not be only ten euros."
"This is also a feature."
"Of course, if poverty can be considered a characteristic." He Kelan looked up at the stage. There was no one on the stage at this moment, only a lonely podium. He continued, "Wait until you go to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature next time.
When the prize comes, your readers won’t have to wait in vain.”
Zhang Zhong knew what he meant. The Nobel Prize in Literature was broadcast live. However, He Kelan was so sure that he would win the Nobel Prize in Literature that he was a little surprised. "This kind of thing can only depend on chance."
He Kelan shook his head, "If winning the Nobel Prize depends on chance, then there is no need for this award."
"Oh, I'm not saying that you won the Nobel Prize by chance, but I think winning the prize requires a little bit of fate." Zhang Zhong said.
"For others, it may take a little chance, but for you, I'm afraid you don't need these things. I really hope that you can win the Nobel Prize for Literature, at least their bonus is very considerable." He Kelan joked.
…
The two chatted for a while, and the award ceremony was about to begin.
The ceremony was very simple. Nolan, the chairman of the organizing committee, walked up to the stage and said a few words, then directly invited Zhang Zhong up.
"Please don't be stingy with your applause and welcome Zhang Zhong, the winner of this year's Goncourt Literature Prize, to the stage."
Xu Yuhan put her ear against Zhang Zhong and translated Nolan's words for him. After the translation was over, she said with a smile, "It's time for you to go up."
Zhang Dian nodded, shook hands with He Kelan next to him, and went directly onto the stage.
Unlike the other times Zhang Zhong received awards, this time he took the stage without an award speech, only the applause of the guests.
The applause stopped after he walked onto the stage.
Nolan handed a red box to Zhang Zhong. The box was open and there was a brand new ten-euro banknote lying inside. There was even a smell of copper.
Zhang Zhong took the box and shook hands with Nolan again.
"congratulations."
"Thanks."
Nolan made an invitation gesture, signaling Zhang to step forward and deliver his acceptance speech.
Zhang Zhong walked forward, tried the sound into the microphone, and then said, "Ladies and gentlemen, good evening."
After saying this, he paused, not to leave time for others to applaud, but because his acceptance speech was in Chinese, he wanted to leave time for the interpreters present.
After the translator translated his words into French, he continued: "First of all, I would like to thank the organizing committee for finally awarding this award to me. Even though more than a month has passed, I still clearly remember when I learned about the award.
The excitement I felt when I did that.”
Xu Yuhan in the audience curled her lips. Zhang Zhong was not excited at all at that time, not as excited as she was.
"The Prix Goncourt is a great award. I have known about this award since I was very young, before I could read literary works independently."
This is nonsense. The status of the Goncourt Prize for Literature is indeed quite high, but in terms of reputation in China, it is not as good as one percent of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
If you randomly pick someone on the street and ask him about the Goncourt Literary Prize, ninety-nine point five out of a hundred people will look confused, and only half of them will know what this award is.
"The Goncourt Literary Prize has a long history, dating back more than a hundred years..."
The guests below, including He Kelan, were a little confused. They originally thought that Zhang Zhong would give some wonderful acceptance speech, but instead he said some useless things.
He actually popularized the history of the Goncourt Literary Prize to French writers here...
However, Zhang Zhong on the stage was serious, as if he was talking about something very important.
"To this day, over the past 100 years, there have been more than 100 winners. These more than 100 winners are all very outstanding. Their works..."