Lin Zixuan's class is mainly to whitewash himself, to establish a positive image, not a perfect image.

It's good that this kind of aura brushing thing can be stopped in moderation, too much is easy to be hated, and he doesn't want the students and professors below to run up and beat him.

After explaining the reasons for how he embarked on the path of literature, the topic turned to new literature.

Of course, this is also to justify the novel he wrote.

So what is New Literature?

This question has been debated since the birth of the new literature, and even now it has not been clarified, and everyone has their own opinions.

Some people say that writing in the vernacular is new literature, others say that literature with the spirit of the new era is new literature, and some people say that it is new literature that overthrows the old literature.

The Literary Research Society advocates "humanistic literature", and the Creation Society advocates "revolutionary literature", and each group has its own literary propositions, and no one can convince anyone.

"I can't give a precise definition of new literature, but I think that new literature should be inclusive, and it should bloom and contend, so that it can flourish." Lin Zixuan explained, "If you insist on putting a box on new literature and limiting its scope, then it will always be able to develop within the box and cannot grow." ”

Lin Zixuan had done his homework before he came, and he knew that it would not work if he didn't come up with something real.

Not to mention these students, just those professors are knowledgeable people, and just showing off their grades can't stop them.

"One might ask, how do we choose between so many literary claims? Who's right? Lin Zixuan asked this question, and then replied, "My opinion is that we should neither accept it in its entirety nor reject it all, but we should learn to distinguish it with our minds, and then absorb the essence and eliminate the dross." ”

This is the point of view in a later article called "Take-it-ism" by Lu Xun.

Lu Xun proposed that we should carefully distinguish the things we brought, absorb the good things, and destroy the bad ones.

This view applies everywhere.

Whether it is borrowing from Western ideas and culture, or inheriting traditional culture, "absorbing the essence and eliminating the dross" is the only way.

"Others ask, how do we tell the difference between the good and the bad? You wrote "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", is this the essence or the dross? Lin Zixuan smiled.

He made fun of his novel, drawing laughter from the students below.

This is the view of the Literary Research Society, and all literary works of entertainment and recreation are old literature and should be swept away.

As I said before, a writer named Liu Bannong, because he wrote a novel of the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School in Shanghai, and later joined the team of new literature, has always been ridiculed by others, and he can't hold his head up, and later went to study abroad.

This is the exclusivity of the new literature.

"Distinguish between the essence and the dross, you can't be superstitious about authority, and you can't follow the crowd." Lin Zixuan elaborated, "Young students must have their own thoughts and opinions, not superstition, not blind obedience, and adhere to the truth. ”

This is a question of attitude towards academic research.

If Lin Zixuan wants to clear his name, he must let these students not be influenced by the views of other new literary schools, as long as they are influenced by him alone.

"So how do you tell the difference between the good and the dross? How do you know what the truth is? Lin Zixuan threw out his own opinion, this is a big killer, "I think that practice is the only criterion for testing the truth." ”

The criterion for testing truth is social practice, theory and practice are unified, and any theory must be constantly tested by practice.

This view comes from the philosophy of dialectical materialism, that is, Marxist philosophy, and Marx's view comes from Hegel's dialectics, which originated in ancient Greek philosophy.

Dialectics is the method of unifying speculation and empirical evidence.

Therefore, this is not Marx's originality, but a philosophical view that has existed since ancient times, and Marx elaborated on it.

"There may be the best and the worst in a novel, and this needs to be verified by your own practice, not hearsay." Lin Zixuan emphasized, "Take "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" as an example, what is the idea to be expressed in this novel? ”

He turned around, picked up the chalk, and wrote eight words on the blackboard: "The great man of chivalry, for the country and the people."

"This is the idea that "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" wants to express." He said seriously, "The chivalrous warriors here are no longer walking the rivers and lakes and doing chivalrous deeds, but fighting for the country, the nation, and the people. ”

The students at the bottom were talking.

They are more reluctant to read old literature, or literature that is a pastime, but it doesn't mean that they haven't read this kind of book.

"The Legend of the Condor Heroes" has been serialized in the newspaper for nearly a year, and people living in Shanghai, even if they have not read the newspaper, have heard the storytelling in the teahouse, and it can be said that this story has become popular all over Shanghai.

Then the question is, if according to the view of the Literary Research Association, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" belongs to old literature and should be discarded.

"Sir, is "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" new literature?" A student asked with a slight hesitation.

"It's not up to me to define, but you need to verify it through practice." Lin Zixuan encouraged, "As long as you have an attitude of not being superstitious or blindly obedient, and have your own thoughts and opinions, you can distinguish the essence from the dross." ”

Lin Zixuan knew that he couldn't admit that "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" belonged to new literature, which was undoubtedly challenging the entire group of new literature, especially at this moment of fierce battle between new literature and old literature.

So, he wittily kicked the question to the students, you have to learn to think for yourself.

Of course, he also knew that the content of today's lecture would certainly cause controversy within the new literature, but the three ideas he put forward were all historically proven and could stand the test of time.

The first is that the new literature should be full of flowers and a hundred schools of thought should contend.

The second is to absorb the essence and eliminate the dross.

The third is that practice is the only criterion for testing truth.

Whoever dares to oppose these three articles now will probably have to suffer when they turn over old accounts in the future.

"Finally, I would like to share with you two sentences: Chinese intellectuals should have 'independent thinking and free spirit', so that they can become the backbone of China's cultural circles." Lin Zixuan concluded.

These two sentences were first put forward by Mr. Chen Yingge in 1929 in his inscription on the monument to Wang Guowei, and they became the academic spirit and value orientation pursued by Chinese intellectuals.

After hearing this, Vice President Shao Lizi, who was behind the auditorium, felt that these two sentences were very good and could be used as the motto of Shanghai University.

Cai Yuanyuan of Peking University put forward "inclusiveness, freedom of thought" as the school motto, so this sentence "independent thought, free spirit" is no worse than the school motto of Peking University.

Lin Zixuan's class is over, but the debate around the new literature is far from over.