Chen: After her hit love story Wedding on the Verge of Death on September 11th,
the Canadian Chinese woman writer Bella produced another two novels which are
now coming to be recognized as "9-11 literature". Party facts, part romance,
these works oblige their readers to experience the sentimentality in the wake
of the terrorist attacks. How do you interpret her motive for such an artistic
creativity? She keeps writing on the same theme. Why? Is it possible that she
writes in memory of her lover who is a victim of the event? Is it likely that
she writes to express her deep sympathy for humanity? Does she write for money,
as is criticized on the Internet? Did she publish any other things before such
a great success?
An: First, I would confirm the point that Bella was well prepared for her 9-11
series before she started writing. In fact, she published six books, one of
which is a collection of essays entitled Boundless Spring, published in China.
In that collection, she demonstrated her wonderful ability of story telling.
Besides, she was endowed with a superb talent for music and painting, this alone
makes her differ from the rest of the writers of her time, and adds an intense
touch of romance and aesthetic beauty to her work. Such an artistic build-up
enables her to sustain a great expanse of poetic pathos throughout the narration
of her stories. The combination of romantic love and musical rhythm is important
to promote several keynotes of characters' feelings about love and death, transcending
clich¨¦d assumptions about erotic desire and sexual consumption. In fact, such
a style is characteristic of Bella's narrative, which expresses her understanding
of all sorts of sufferings and frustrations in life. Of course, one most direct
motivation for her accentuated concentration on the theme of love and loss comes
from the fact that she lost her friend in 9-11 attacks. So far as I know, her
friend sent her an email at the last minute:"Let us meet in paradise!I had
a similar experience of loss. One of my best friends died of SARS. I got a similar
message before death came to take away her life. For several days, I cried and
refused to take it as real. I think I have a very sympathetic understanding
of Bella's story. If you ask me why she keeps on the theme of great pathos,
I can tell you: expression is the best method of finding solace.
Chen: For the recent several months, Bella's 9-11 series, a publication project
under your instruction, has been a focus of attention. I wonder how such a project
comes to its present shape? I remember that you designed Cloth Tiger Series
10 years ago in China, the great success of the project made you a well-known
publisher in China. You are obviously not satisfied with your success within
the country, that is why you direct your attention beyond the domestic book
market. Could you say something on your conception of publication as a market?
Why is there such a shift of attention from book series to that of an individual
writer?
An: The "Cloth Tiger Series" took almost ten years before its full establishment
at the book market. My conception of publication is an yearning for the sublime
which promotes a common dream for beauty and immortality. For a country with
a long history of culture but without that of religion, I take it as the responsibility
of the intellectual to reconstruct ideals of morality and rationality. In a
sense, such a task has become an anxiety of the Chinese intellectuals. But unfortunately,
due to certain default in ideas and beliefs, Chinese writers become silenced
and unsure about what is commonly regarded as a motif of literature, such as
"uprightness, kindness, honesty and love "; sometimes, they show varying degrees
of shallowness and vulgarity. More often, their work lack a brilliant touch
of humanity and beauty for their insufficient understanding of sympathy, benevolence,
gratitude and confession. For that reason, most of the writers fail to communicate
with the great world literature in terms of narrativity and exposition on a
spiritual level. One embarrassing situation that we are so familiar with is
that the new generation often fails to understand what is produced by the elder
generation, no matter how good they used to be. Worse perhaps, people living
the north part of China find it difficult to appreciate regional works in the
south. Such a phenomenon is incompatible with China's present economic and political
status in the world. My personal experience makes me believe that books written
by Chinese contemporary writers are simply invisible in bookstores outside China.
A country economically powerful but culturally impotent is likely to be looked
down upon. But China is a country of great national character and rich cultural
heritage. It is capable of its own breed of national pride and prestige. So
far as I can see, the problem is that the way we do our literature is wrong.
To a large extent, that explains why I direct my attention to the mainstream
literature in the Euro-American market. I am grateful to Bella, who gives such
a chance to demonstrate such an idea.
Chen: As far as I know, you have a perfect group of three co-coordinators.
Besides Bella and you, there is the famous commentator Bai Ye. When did such
a teamwork start? What makes it that you work in such a group? What is your
ultimate purpose for doing so?
An: I have been together with Mr. Bai Ye for quite a long time. He worked as
my collaborator when I staged the "Cloth Tiger" ten years ago. In fact, Bella
always sends her manuscript to Bai Ye for he is such a brilliant literary critic
and also a superb editor. As I mentioned above, our common goal is to present,
with our best efforts, some of the best literary works that are representative
of the contemporary China.
Chen: Why do you choose Bella as one of your representative ideal, and with
such a meticulous effort? Do you intend to make her a new literary star? Or
do you make her in such a way so that the final product comes out as an indirect
way of expressing your own ideas and attitudes towards those issued touched
upon in her work? I came across a critical essay on the internet written by
Meng Fanhua, who levels some unreserved criticism at Bella's novels. In his
opinion, Bella writes in such a way that her literary production represents
the middle bourgeois class and its vogue, rather than a realistic picture of
the laboring masses. How would you take that sort of criticism? Besides, how
do you look at those responses towards Bella's work from those women writers
in China?
An: What is so-called the great writer of any period is at most representative
of one specific history period, s/he should never be regarded as an idol for
whatever plausible reasons. So far as our work is involved, we never aspire
for that, neither do we have that ability. But we do believe Bella ˇ®s work expresses
what is on our mind, and we try our best to make this point it clear. As for
Meng Fanhua's critical comments, I think it is quite justifiable to say so.
Indeed, Bella's narrative is richly tinted with the bourgeois life. Nevertheless,
this is not say that the work is morally bad. In fact, while we call for the
necessity of writing for the laboring masses, those great masses are working
hard for a "comfortably well off " bourgeois life. I believe what is narrativized
in Bella's work represents the common dream for a better life. Human beings
are forever encouraged for a better life. Speaking of the responses from the
Chinese women writers, I feel to some extent they resemble the way some pop
stars color their hair at their middle age, which express a somber sentimentality.
As I emphasized above, it is the bad impact from extreme realism.
Chen: Xianghai Baby is another product under your publication design. Could
you make some comparison between the two? How do you feel your own experiences
during these transformative years? Both writers come Shanghai, there must be
some similarities?
An: There are many differences in many aspects. I was the general editor of
Chun Feng Wen Yi Publication House when the book Shanghai Bay went to print.
I would never have agreed to get the book published if I were asked for opinion
about the book. However, if one wants to be an editor with a liberal inclination
and an open mind, I would not judge a book according to my own taste, neither
would I lay down prohibitions with my own will. My immediate response to the
book, so far as I can remember, is that I did not appreciate the life style
of protagonist, nor did I like narrative style of its author. But I know such
a messy style of writing is popular among a number of writers, and it is enjoyed
by some of the young readers. But the book Wedding on the verge of Death is
quite a different matter. I not only appreciate it very much. It belongs to
the classic, with an intensely romantic feelings in its content of love and
death-a recurrent and lasting theme of humanity. In this sense, I should say
I have never changed except that I changed my role and position in my work.
Chen: It is said that there is already an English version of Sentimental Casablanca,
and you have sent it to several Hollywood film companies for a prize. Is it
true? Could you say something about how you will make it at the international
market? People say that you make Bella "wake up famous one night". Is it true
that you are financially backed up by SNP national publication co-corporation?
At present, Bella's novels are being warmly discussed on Sina internet. Do you
have any connection with Sina internet?
An: It is true that the corporation to which I belong has supported me greatly.
But what I want to say is the fact that almost all the Chinese are proud of
Bella since her works went to publication. Many American people of upper classes
enjoy reading them. They are greatly moved by this talented Chinese woman writer;
with her open personality and artistic creativity, she reveals her emotional
responses to the horrible terrorist attacks, sharing all the miseries and impact
of the catastrophe with the American. In its semi-autobiographical way, the
novel calls people to face the tragedy of life with great courage. This is the
most important reason why the book became popular. Commercial dealing is rather
secondary, and it can never replace the priority of the artistic achievement.
To be frank, in the process towards its success, many people extended their
hands to help us just because they are moved by the novel. Bella is a wonder.
Chen: One explanation out of many for Bella's success is that Bella has a profound
education in western music, besides, she has such an exotic experience of the
world, the marvelous combination of the two factors makes her writing and herself
an attractive figure of the oriental feminine figure. How do you look at this?
An: My personal interaction with Bella gives me the impression that she is
rather reserved in spite of all that she acquires as her personal charm. You
have to admit that there are many attractive women in the world but few achieve
success by her beauty or by publishing books.
Chen: Scholars within the country and overseas are all happily surprised by
Bella's success. I conducted another interview not long ago with about 30 famous
scholars. Most of them have a high opinion of her book Sentimental Casablanca.
Wang Ning, professor of English from Qinghua University, Beijing, said that
"Bella has a profound educational background with quite good literary training,
her literary achievement ranks her among the best contemporary writers of China;
what makes her most outstanding is her superb grasp of language and artistic
sensibility; she is a writer who speaks softly but persistently to us about
humanity with her romantic perception of life. Understanding Bella from such
a perspective, can we say that her narrative catches what you want to express
to the reading public about life?
An: Yes, it does.
Chen: According to what is said by some of the American publishing houses,
there are more than one English versions of works by Chinese writers, one work
can be translated into more than 20 different languages, although with a small
impression of copies. But Bella's novels might be a different case. Highly praised
as "the Chinese D. H. Lawrence", Bella's novels enjoy an impression of enormous
copies. In what way do you think her work differ from that category of novels?
How long such a popularity will last?
An: There are quite a number of Chinese writers with prolific literary production,
but usually, they have a relatively small number of copies printed at one impression.
As I said above, their works fail to become popular because readers in America
and Europe find them difficult to understand. Bella's novels are different,
for they seem to go beyond the geographical and cultural boundaries. To summarize
our discussion, Bella's works display what we might call the purely aesthetic
charm of an oriental lady. Such a beauty, to quote from Hegel, is free from
any utilitarian goal, hence immortal for its everlasting power of life and truth.
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