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As for reportage in its origin stage, the existing research at home and abroad especially emphasizes its news and authenticity. Therefore, in the definition of reportage writer, the identity of the author's professional journalist or realistic writer with journalist experience is emphasized without exception. It seems that only the special identity and thinking of journalists can capture the rapid changes in reality. From Jack London's Man in the Abyss to john reid's Ten Days that Shocked the World, from Zhou Enlai's Euronewsletter to Qu Qiubai's Hunger Journey and History of Red Capital, the importance of journalist identity has been mentioned again and again. Indeed, the identity of a reporter is conducive to the related reportage works appearing in newspapers more quickly and calmly, which is beyond doubt. In other words, the strong dependence of reportage on newspapers is an important reason for the prominent identity of journalists in this period, but it also creates another shortcoming. This is also an important reason why the relationship between Ba Jin and reportage has been unproven for a long time. In fact, according to Hiroshi Kawaguchi, a Japanese literary critic, this factor is not an important criterion for judging reportage writers. In On Reportage, which has a great influence on the theoretical construction of China's reportage, he mentioned according to his own grasp of reportage: "According to Kitsiou's opinion, if someone wants to be a good journalist and a real-life journalist, he must meet the following three conditions. That is: not distorting the will of the report, strong social feelings, and efforts to keep close contact with the oppressed. " As a model of international reportage, Keesh's pursuit of truth and objectivity and political criticism are important resources for future generations. In this sense, Ba Jin is undoubtedly a writer who can bear this responsibility.
The name Ba Jin was first remembered in the history of modern literature, based on his first novel Death 1929, which was published in China's most influential literary magazine at that time, Fiction Monthly. But in fact, before this, Ba Jin, who was in such a "hasty and changeable era", obviously did not turn a blind eye to the rapid changes of society, which can be seen from his efforts in various aspects. Although he is located in a slightly isolated southwest region, the influence of the surge of the May 4th New Thoughts is still spreading here. The establishment of small publications can temporarily alleviate his inner restlessness, but it can't keep his increasingly rebellious youth. 1923, Ba Jin, who was less than 20 years old, decided to leave his hometown of Sichuan. During the years of wandering in Shanghai, Ba Jin devoted himself to finishing his studies, and at the same time actively participated in social practice, writing articles to promote social revolution for progressive journals in Shanghai and Guangzhou at that time, and enthusiastically participating in the establishment of people and other related journals, which made good preparations for him to embark on the literary road in the future.
Especially during his stay in France, the calls for freedom, democracy and equality around him deeply shocked the young Ba Jin, and it was for this reason that Ba Jin became attached to anarchism, including Kropotkin, bakunin, Van Zat and others. During his stay in France, Ba Jin translated The Story of a Proletarian's Life by Van Zait and Prison and Prison Break by Kropotkin, which is the best proof. Ba Jin himself admitted, "Before writing Death, I read some autobiographies or biographies of anarchists or Paris Commune revolutionaries in Europe and America, such as Autobiography of Kropotkin." Anarchism's opposition to warlord melee and deep concern for the proletariat were a good comfort to Ba Jin at that time. The wandering mood made his heart have nowhere to rest for a while, and the situation that "my motherland is undergoing a revolutionary and counter-revolutionary struggle and the people are being slaughtered" doubled this sadness. On the other hand, during this period in France, the newspapers in Paris are paying close attention to the events of two Italian workers, Van Zait and Sack. The climax of protest in the newspaper harassed Ba Jin's restless heart from time to time. Although they finally got into the electric chair, Ba Jin tracked the change of events with his own pen. A series of articles, such as Reactionary Europe and America, Murder under the Law, Murder under the Law-After the Murder of Sacco and Van Zait, were published in the monthly magazine Equality in China at that time, which sent back the latest trends of events for the domestic people in time:
It is said that the law is not a tool for the ruling class to kill people. Most people may not believe it, but here is an excellent evidence, that is, the Sacco and Van Zait incidents that once caused a sensation all over the world. On this matter, People's Clock magazine in Shanghai will have a long article "Six Years on Death Row", so I won't write much here because of space limitations.
Before writing this article, Ba Jin obviously did a lot of work, so that he knew all the articles to be published by China by heart. This field investigation is an important stage of reportage creation. The capture of hot events, straight-to-the-point views, political criticism, impeccable authenticity and timeliness are the important components of China's early reportage.
What's more commendable is that these reportage works of Ba Jin inject the writer's self-emotion into them at a deeper level, showing the unique lyrical and literary characteristics compared with other travel reportage. At that time, when most reportage texts remained in simple and flat impression description and display, Ba Jin's reportage writing had been saturated with deeper reflection and criticism between the lines, his emotional tendency was highlighted, and the appeal of art was naturally enhanced. Anna Qi's strong color is a good proof. Perhaps it is the bigotry and narrowness of thoughts that prevent us from discovering Ba Jin's uniqueness in these texts. In fact, this practice is not desirable, and Hiroshi Kawaguchi obviously noticed this when studying reportage. He specifically said: "The former has religious elements, while the latter has individualistic anarchism." However, everyone admits that they are also excellent writers of modern reportage. "True facts and lyrical words, Ba Jin's reportage works vividly show us the true colors of history and give us a true and clear sense of historical existence through narration and discussion, with words of humanitarian concern.
Unfortunately, in the existing narrative of literary history, reportage researchers only saw the "impression of trying to understand life" written by Zhou Enlai, Qu Qiubai and others who traveled abroad as journalists, but ignored the early model of China reportage provided by Ba Jin. Although we don't have exact documents to prove that Ba Jin came into contact with and studied reportage writing during this period, during his stay in France, Ba Jin read the works of "Russian teachers Ya herzen, Turgenev, Tolstoy and Gorky" successively, among which Gorky and herzen were important Russian reportage writers at that time, and their reportage writing styles had a subtle influence on Ba Jin's creation during this period. Although Ba Jin could not answer the question "What is reportage" at that time, it did not prevent him from making efforts and contributions in reportage writing. 1935, Lu Xun has skillfully answered a similar question in the preface of Xu Maoyong's works. He said: "When Tolstoy was about to start writing, did he check the American Introduction to Literature or the lecture notes of a domestic university, and learned that this novel is authentic literature, so he decided to make a great creation like War and Peace?" Such comments are also applicable to the study of reportage. After learning the writing techniques of Gorky and herzen, Ba Jin, according to his own ideological tendency, "observing in the dynamic of events is a witness of historical facts, a collector of original materials and a critic of historical events". Such historical truth should not be treated simply. Although sometimes the excessive involvement of emotion will highlight the literariness and destroy the news value of reportage, we should also understand the reportage writing in its infancy.
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Luo Sun said: "Reportage originated from the place where the struggle existed. Whether it is the struggle between the oppressed and the oppressor, whether it is the struggle between the exploited and the exploiters, whether it is the struggle between the invaders, whether it is the struggle between the new forces and the old forces, as long as there is a struggle in this place, reportage will certainly be produced. " Ideology is closely related to the development of China reportage, and highlighting the militancy of reportage from the perspective of ideology is the most remarkable social function of China reportage in 1930s. The occurrence and development of reportage in China well explains the docking relationship between reportage and war. Ba Jin can prove this very well. His concentrated reportage creation happened to be in two stages of war-torn-War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's initial stage and the period of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea and Sino-Vietnamese self-defense counterattack.
Ba Jin, who came back from France, quickly became famous in the literary world at that time by virtue of his excellent novel creation, especially 193 1 Home, one of the famous novels "Riptide Trilogy" serialized in The Times, which established his important position in the history of modern novels in China. After the establishment of the Left League, although he did not join this organization, he was obviously in the left-wing camp, but he always followed Lu Xun. 1936, Ba Jin and Lu Xun jointly published the Declaration of China Writers and Artists and the Declaration of Unity and Freedom of Speech in the Literary and Art Circles, which started the war of resistance with the broad masses of soldiers and civilians in a clear-cut manner and was called "an enthusiastic and progressive writer and one of the few good writers" by Lu Xun ("Answer Xu Maoyong and talk about the anti-Japanese United front"). During his stay in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Ba Jin traveled to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Guilin and Chongqing, and was the publisher and editor-in-chief of Scream Weekly (later renamed Beacon). In such a special capacity, Ba Jin practiced the battle cry of reportage with his own efforts. On the one hand, he published a large number of reportage works in the journal edited by himself, on the other hand, he practiced the corresponding creation in a down-to-earth manner and put "the call of justice and blood" into practice.
"Since the Anti-Japanese War, the evolution of social reality has provided writers with extremely rich materials. However, the changes are too drastic and rapid, which makes writers have no room to synthesize and summarize complex and rich materials. Moreover, writers' busy lives (besides writing, most of them have to undertake a lot of practical work to save the nation) and poor publishing conditions (some publishing industries are stopped, paper is scarce, and distribution is difficult) force them to adopt short and frivolous forms. As a result, this kind of small works became the mainstream of wartime literature and art. Indeed, in such an era that even very private letters would be lost in a hurry, Ba Jin obviously could not continue the construction of novels he was good at, so he consciously chose to keep pace with the times. Reportage creation under the admiration of the left-wing alliance has become a literary style for scholars in this historical period, while travel notes such as A Journey to a Hungry Country and A History of Red Capital are favored because of the war. Ba Jin is no exception. Reportage works such as In Guangzhou, Guangzhou is Bombing, From Guangzhou to Lechang, Guangzhou is Surrounded, and The Last Night in Guangzhou were accepted as Travel Newsletter. 1939 was first published by Cultural Life Publishing House in March and April, and printed three times before and after. This is Ba Jin's third collection of travel essays, including travel notes and essays before, and travel notes after. Obviously, the rich materials brought by the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War gave Ba Jin great creative passion:
In the last two big bombings, I saw how the boundary between people and me was quickly eliminated among the residents here; Many people voluntarily take household appliances as shelters to accommodate some elderly and frail compatriots, and the able-bodied men also take risks to dig the bombed houses and rescue the injured compatriots; The piety of giving up life has not been reduced by the continuous air raid alarm ... I said that the threat of "death" makes people more positive, which is good. It will also make the relationship between people closer, thus increasing the unity of the residents here; It unites the hearts of hundreds of thousands of people and inspires them to move towards the same great goal.
Compared with reportage writers in 1930s, such as Xiao Gan's Map of Refugees in Western Shandong, which directly described the tragic situation of the victims in the war, Ba Jin set his sights on a higher level-the survival of the whole nation, which showed the great national cohesion and strong fighting spirit of the Chinese nation in such a specific critical period. From this brief and embarrassing but sincere and powerful narrative, Ba Jin's sincere humanitarian concern and patriotic feelings are self-evident. Behind the emotional words and dignified atmosphere, we can see the perseverance of the broad masses of soldiers and civilians in that period. Ba Jin hopes that through such "waving flags and shouting", the enthusiasm of the soldiers and civilians in the war of resistance against Japan will rise, and finally the "enemy" will be buried in the night forever. We don't know whether Ba Jin's efforts really played a practical role, but his narrative reportage creation "preserved a little real life at a certain time, a certain place or some people." If someone treats them as' data', they may not be fooled. "Moreover, under such a precedent, the militancy of reportage will undoubtedly become more prominent.
Comparatively speaking, the second blowout period of Ba Jin's reportage creation has undergone a fundamental change. 1952, 1953, Ba Jin, as a member of the Korean Battlefield Creation Group of the All-China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, interviewed with the army and wrote many real and touching communication reports. During this period, he turned his attention to the "most lovely person" in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. Reportages by writers such as We Meet Commander Peng, Model Signal Corps, Tales of Heroes of Thunder and Young Warrior Comrade Zhao were conceived and performed by Ba Jin, and were quickly sent back to China, published in People's Daily, People's Literature, New Observation and other publications, and then included in Living among Heroes, which was first published by People's Literature Publishing House. The direct expression of patriotism was replaced by the shaping of new characters at this stage;
On the morning of March 22nd, we met with Chinese people's Volunteer Army Commander Peng. It began to snow outside, and it was warm in the cave. This is a small reception room. Two electric lights without lampshades hung under the low stone roof by the door. There is a simple table under the lamp. There are several glasses on the table, four simple chairs in front of the table, and more than ten white wooden stools behind the chairs. Seventeen literary and art workers from the motherland sat on a bench and looked at the half-bright and half-dark tunnel outside with excitement and expectation. We waited for a quarter of an hour. We waited for such a man who didn't want to be mentioned by others, but people all over the world respected him as a great peace fighter. Mothers all over the world are grateful to him because he saved Korean mothers and children. All the people in China are willing to say a word of thanks to him, because he has protected the peaceful life of the motherland's mother and children. On his contribution to world peace and his meritorious service in defending the motherland, we are really too small in front of him. Therefore, when we heard footsteps approaching, a sense of awe that we were afraid to approach him suddenly made us nervous.
If during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, due to the objective limitation of time and space, Ba Jin failed to make enough exploration in the in-depth and meticulous aspects of reportage, then the above passage provides another brand-new model. On the premise of literature persistence, the news and typicality of reports began to become an important category in Ba Jin's reportage writing. This sense of style stems from the identity of a war correspondent, and it has accumulated many years of reportage creation practice. Our meeting with Commander Peng can be written in one breath, which is the best footnote.
In narrative theory, attention to person and perspective reveals different literary interests reflected by different choices of writers. The intimacy of first-person writing and the smoothness of communication with readers have always been favored by Ba Jin, which is also the best basis for him to "talk to readers sincerely and responsibly in his articles and tell the author what he wants to say". This kind of hero selected during the period of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea is undoubtedly a brand-new series for Ba Jin's literary creation, and Ba Jin also creatively presents it to readers in the form of reportage. In order to present the truest modality of this kind of characters in the front battlefield more truly and objectively, Ba Jin fully mobilized his existing literary accumulation, especially in the description of characters, and brought readers into a specific artistic realm. The length of more than 2,000 words vividly shows General Peng's cordial and simple style, clear feelings of love and hate and his military ability to defeat the enemy. The narrative choice of the first person and the accurate description of what he saw and heard, especially the vivid description of the author's excited and nervous expression before the meeting, seem to bring us back to a seemingly dignified but relaxed historical scene. "Depicting characters, describing the environment and rendering the atmosphere", the artistic condition that Mao Dun emphasized as "good reportage", has been well presented in Ba Jin's reportage works. The literary choice of first-person narration not only confirms the authenticity of these reportage works, but also shows the character of "telling the truth" that Ba Jin has been practicing all his life.
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"Sketch" is often regarded as another title of early reportage, which remains in the history of reportage, but in fact, "sketch" also has its place in other artistic fields, such as painting. Compared with the existing achievements of reportage research, the sketch in painting is obviously more eye-catching. Gastrau of Spain is the best sketch artist. Living under the ravages of fascism, he exposed the miserable life of the people at the bottom with clever brushwork:
"We want to show the development of current events in Spain with photos here. The street fighting in Bacello, the brutality and evil of fascism, and the different stages of the civil war are all recorded here on time. Workers and farmers voluntarily and harmoniously cooperate to continue their productive labor. Catalonia, a big industrial province, enthusiastically prepared everything for volunteers fighting in Aragon, Levant and central Spain. They fought against international fascism, they fought for bread and freedom, and they fought for a better future. They are willing to face up to difficulties and work hard because they know that this country will be liberated and the principle of equality will be implemented among the people. These photos are the best proof. "
Ba Jin, who was also suffering from the Anti-Japanese War at that time, got an album published by Gastravo in February from a friend, 1937. At that time, he worked in Guangzhou Cultural Life Publishing House, and then reprinted the album and renamed it Blood of Spain. Ba Jin wrote passionately in the preface: "The wailing of our compatriots and the groaning of the land of poetry by the Mediterranean Sea have become one. A sea of blood in the Wang Yang appeared before our eyes. Blood of many innocent people! However, the sea of blood began to roar. Our call for survival and freedom in the Mediterranean overwhelmed moans, whines and appeals. "Two years later, Ba Jin reprinted each painting in Shanghai with explanatory text, renamed it" The Suffering of Spain "and published it again. In Ba Jin's view, "They are all living things. Every picture is full of sympathy and enthusiasm, and the spirit of suffering and sacrifice shines. They told their stories faithfully and simply, reflecting an urgent and inspiring mission. Their spread will arouse the anger and sympathy of countless gentle people. " Connecting with Ba Jin's efforts in reportage creation, we can easily find Ba Jin's innovation and originality. In his view, although the battle cry of reportage can arouse people's sense of struggle, in comparison, "pictures are more real and powerful than words." Therefore, relying on the publication of these anti-fascist picture books will undoubtedly promote the anti-Japanese war process more effectively, "one day the ideal will bloom beautifully."
Xingmen is also an important sketch painter in Spain, but what he saw from the Spanish Revolution from 1936 to 1939 was not the suffering described by Gastaud Lowe, but the dawn of victory. "Revolution also has happy moments, smiling faces, life and youth." Ba Jin was deeply influenced by the revolutionary optimism highlighted in the picture book Awakening the Door. He translated the dedication into Italian completely and put it at the front of the book. The dedication wrote: "Those barbarians who invaded Galicia covered its lovely garden, river bank and seabed with sorrow and pain. They let the place shed a flood of blood ... fell into the hands of invaders and were buried in the land of Galicia in obscurity ... Some people will avenge your pain ..." In the preface, he specifically mentioned "this little picture book.
Carrying reportage content in the form of picture books has become commonplace in our troubled picture reading era. The literary adaptation required by the consumption era also requires the timely innovation and change of reportage style in order to calmly cope with the impact of emerging media on traditional paper media. However, in the special social and historical background of 1930s and 1940s, no matter from objective conditions or subjective efforts, Ba Jin's expression of this unique anti-fascist sentiment is particularly powerful.
1958 Ba Jin said when recalling and summarizing his prose creation, "... I have published twenty papers. In fact, these twenty books are all thin books, full of articles. There are close-ups, essays, travel notes, letters, thoughts, memories and news reports ... "Among the many genres listed by Ba Jin," close-ups "stands out as a very important reportage type. Especially in this period, due to the close relationship between China and the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union's practice of referring to "reportage" with "feature" will inevitably have a far-reaching impact on China's literary and cultural circles in this period. In this sense, we might as well draw an equal sign directly between the two. The prominent position of "close-up" in many prose classifications shows Ba Jin's preference for reportage. This is also the case. On his rich literary road, this style accompanied Ba Jin along the way.
Ba Jin, who has never been interested in becoming a writer, naturally has no intention of becoming a reportage writer. His acceptance and creation of reportage at the beginning of his literary career, as well as his two subsequent concentrated writing, did not seem to show obvious stylistic awareness. Such a simple judgment should not be a reason to exclude Ba Jin from the study of reportage. After all, even today, "writers still can't agree on their understanding as a style, their sense of style has not been clearly established, and the sense of order and cohesion of text organization has not been clearly shown." As far as the development of modern reportage in China is concerned, Ba Jin's contribution cannot be ignored. As early as the end of the 1920s, when his literary career was just beginning, his attempt to create a series of reportage as an "anarchist" was undoubtedly much earlier than the upsurge of reportage creation in the left-wing period. The literary expression in his works was obviously stronger than other reportage texts in the same period, and the authenticity and effectiveness of the report were combined with the appeal of literature. War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's concentrated writing, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and the Sino-Vietnamese self-defense counterattack all showed the uniqueness of Ba Jin's reportage, such as the sketchy method of characterization, the choice of first-person narrative, the relative deviation of subject matter from the mainstream, and the strong literary color. Especially in 1930s and 1940s, the translation and printing of anti-fascist picture books reflected his unique innovation in reportage and further confirmed the importance of reportage to Ba Jin. Mao Dun was also an important novelist in 1930s. He made outstanding contributions to the theoretical construction of China reportage. However, his lack of creation makes him lose his practical rationality, and many viewpoints are contradictory in themselves. In this respect, Ba Jin is obviously more realistic.