The erosion of literature by the tide of the market has become more and more fierce since the reform and opening up.

Prosperous commerce devours all the old rules and sacred things like a monster, and literature is inevitably hit and swept by the tide of commercialization.

Writing for money, or for dreams?

It's something that many writers struggle with.

By the end of the 90s, the tentacles of capital had penetrated into almost all literary newspapers and periodicals, and commercial advertisements and sponsorships had become important sources of income for literary publications.

The market, commerce, and capital are the most urgent things for quick success, and literature that is tainted with the smell of copper is inevitably anxious, impatient, and utilitarian.

The literary world became vanity fair.

Many literary magazines have become the last carnival places for writers within the system.

Literature is no longer as popular as it was in the 80s, and the title of writer is no longer as glamorous as it used to be.

The [none] [wrong] decline of literature is inevitable.

Even at this time, Harvest magazine was always implementing the principles of Balao: no government funding, no commercial advertising, no capital interference, and insisting on publishing the best literary works.

In the last few years of the late 90s, although Harvest still maintained a high level of high quality under this principle and continued to be widely loved by domestic literature lovers, its subscription volume remained at a fairly high level.

But how is it possible for the harvest to stay completely out of the tide of the times and not be affected by it? In recent years, the harvest has also been in the throes of marketization.

Because, a large pure literary magazine is not supported by government funds. If you don't want commercial advertising or capital sponsorship, you have to survive on the number of subscriptions to the magazine!

In fact, Harvest can be regarded as the earliest large-scale literary journal with market-oriented operation.

It's alive. The hardships of running a journal are best understood only by insiders.

Xiao Fei's "Literature is Dead. The reason why "Please Burn Paper" touched the old man Ba Jin is because this article discusses the current situation of the literary circle in too much detail, and basically points to the point, accurately pointing out the current diseases of Chinese literature.

What is even more rare is that some methods of solving the problem and the future prospects for the development of literature are also pointed out.

After hearing this, how could Ba Lao not be moved?

When Ms. Kobayashi heard her father speak, she smiled and said, "Dad, the person who wrote this article is only a 19-year-old child, can you imagine?" ”。

"Oh? The author is only 19 years old? Ba Lao looked surprised.

"Yes! Father. Our magazine just launched a 'novel special issue' not long ago, and the title of the special issue was also written by Xiao Fei! Ms. Kobayashi took out another special issue of the harvest novel and showed it to her father.

Ba Lao looked at the cover of the magazine, and stretched out his finger to the small print of "Fish Walking on Land": "This is written by Xiao Fei?" ”

Ms. Kobayashi nodded: "Yes." ”

"I'm going to read it later." Ba Lao said.

The father and daughter were talking, and an uninvited guest came to the house, but a reporter from the Xinmin Evening News wanted to ask Ba Lao's opinion on the article "Literature is Dead, Please Burn Paper if You Have Something" published on the harvest.

In his later years, Ba Lao was sick and frail, and he rarely saw foreign visitors, and he did not accept interviews with reporters very much.

"Dad, I'll deal with it. Let them go. Ms. Kobayashi said.

Ba Lao waved his hand and said with great interest: "Today's spirit is fine, and it doesn't hurt to meet the reporter." ”

Ms. Kobayashi shrugged, she couldn't bear to dissuade her father anymore. Besides, it is also appropriate to let the reporter know about his father's recent situation.

A reporter from the Xinmin Evening News was brought in.

"Hello Ba Lao, there is a review in the new issue of Harvest, called "Literature is Dead. Please burn paper if you have something", I wonder how you feel about it? ”

The reporter greeted him with two greetings. He asked straight to the point.

Ba Lao bowed slightly: "I have heard Xiaolin read the article just now, and it is well written." It has the implication of the current disadvantages in the literary circle, and I think this article is to the point. ”

The reporter was overjoyed when he heard this.

Ba Lao, this is a clear statement of support for the article's point of view!

What is the identity of Ba Lao? A titan in the Chinese literary world!

By 1996, with the death of the older generation of literary masters, the old man Ba Jin was already the only remaining literary leader of the Republic.

If he expresses his opinion on something, it will have a great impact.

The reporter of Xinmin Evening News clenched his fists below, extremely excited, he knew that he came to visit Ba Lao today with the attitude of trying it out, which was considered to be coming.

Caught a big news!

"Oh, does Ba Lao have any thoughts on Xiao Fei?". The reporter then asked.

"I haven't had a careful understanding of Xiao Fei, so it's inconvenient to evaluate him, but I just heard Xiaolin say that he is only 19 years old this year, and it is very rare to have such profound thoughts and vision at such a young age." Ba Lao said with great interest.

The reporter nodded frequently, quickly wrote down this sentence, and asked: "Ba Lao, have you read Xiao Feifa's novel on the harvest novel issue?" ”。

"I haven't read it yet, I'm going to read it carefully." Ba Lao patted the book he had just gotten from his daughter and said seriously.

"Do you have anything to say about today's literary scene?". The reporter shook his spirits and wanted to hear some of Ba Lao's views on the current literary world.

"What I want to say, "Literature is dead, please burn paper if you have something" has been said in the article." Ba Lao replied.

The reporter wanted to continue to ask, but he was stopped by Ms. Kobayashi's gaze.

Ba Lao's health is not good, and after a long time, it will make the old man overly tired.

The reporter was also very knowledgeable, and quickly got up to say goodbye.

The next day, a special news was published in the Xinmin Evening News: Ba Lao said that what he wanted to say was that the article "Literature is dead, please burn the paper if you have something" has been said very well!

The headline is prominently displayed on the newspaper's reading column.

The old man Ba Jin can be said to be an iconic cultural figure in the Great Demon Capital, and seeing Ba Lao's name appear in the news headlines is still very attractive to readers.

As a result, this news first caused a sensation in the magic capital.

And then its influence spread throughout the country.

Because of Ba Lao's support for Xiao Fei's views, those who originally fiercely opposed Xiao Fei's views in this article began to rein in. However, the number of articles reflecting on the current situation in the literary world began to increase.

This is a concentrated manifestation of the enormous influence of literary leaders.

Xiao Fei learned the news on the same day that the Xinmin Evening News published an interview with Ba Lao. The exchange of information between newspapers is relatively fast, and the news of Xinmin Evening News was faxed to Zhongyuan Evening News in the morning of the same day, and Liu Zelai immediately informed Xiao Fei after seeing it.

Xiao Fei heard Liu Ze say that after the old man Ba Jin agreed with his article very much and praised it, he was very moved, and his heart was even more excited.

He didn't expect to get such a high evaluation from Ba Lao.

ps: The second update, there is a ...... in the back (To be continued......)

Chapter 179 Affirmation from Pa Lao: