Xue Yihao: The Historical Destiny of Pearl Buck

(Editor in charge: 20 18 is the 80th anniversary of Pearl Buck's winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, and the first year after World War II, Nobel Prize in Literature suspended the award. Xue Yihao, a Canadian Chinese writer, first met North American writers during a trip to the south of the Yangtze River, but went to Zhenjiang to attend the commemorative meeting of "Revisiting Classics and Reading the Earth" by Pearl Buck Research Association, so he contributed to this magazine. He said, "I really hope to publish an article in the United States at this important moment about the soul of this great woman in heaven." )

"At the same time in the same year, I was in Sweden to accept Nobel Prize in Literature." She wrote succinctly. At the same time in the same year, Nobel Prize in Literature was linked to ancient China for the first time in history.

Pearl S. Buck (1892- 1973), a famous American writer, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938, becoming the first person to win this honor in American history. Known as "the most influential western writer describing China since Kyle Poirot in the 3rd century/kloc-0".

"Don't let anyone underestimate your award. This is an important event, the biggest event in a writer's life. Enjoy every moment, it will be your best memory. " Pearl S. Buck remembered the warning of sinclair lewis, who was in the same boat and was considered by public opinion to have "defiled Nobel Prize in Literature" before leaving. Therefore, she neither defended her birthright nor succumbed to the irony of the elite. She wants to enjoy every moment brought by "absurd" fame.

"1938 Nobel Prize in Literature". Adjust the focal length more accurately, and we will clearly see that the criticized result coincides with the gloomy international situation of 1938. In Europe, Hitler and Mussolini's teams are ready to go, and Franco they support has won Madrid. In Asia, the Japanese army, which has occupied the North China Plain and all coastal cities in China, is extending its iron hoof to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and continues to take the initiative in the battlefield. "Freedom", the most basic concept represented and defended by literature, once again encountered the strongest and greatest enemy in history. In this crisis, the peace-loving Swedes turned their attention away from the spire of literature, which is actually a psychological reaction to the current situation. They hope to have a peaceful voice on their podium, and they hope to express their yearning for freedom and sympathy for slavery with their own choices. Therefore, I chose Pearl Buck, who made an international voice against violence and defending freedom through a lot of writing.

Opposing violence that tramples on freedom is part of her action. She refused the invitation of Nazi Germany because she didn't want to visit a country where she was not allowed to think and speak freely. "I am an individualist and a democrat." She told reporters like this. Her remarks about China made the authorities even more disgusted. She criticized the corruption of government officials and showed no concern for people's welfare. Diplomats in Sweden refused to attend her award ceremony. On page 253 of Fei Zhengqing's autobiography, Madame Chiang "retaliated" Pearl Buck in a very funny way.

Pearl S. Buck included her speech when she accepted the prize in My Several Worlds. She emphasized her special position as an American woman writer. This identity is quite special. It was more than half a century before another writer (Tony Morrison) stood in the same position in the same capacity. Buck further "specialized" her identity: this is a special identity that may never reappear in human history. China's voice first appeared on the podium in Nobel Prize in Literature through this special identity. ...

"Over the past years, the life of the people of China has been my own life. Their lives will always be a part of mine. China, which adopted me, has many psychological similarities with my own country, the most prominent of which is the love of freedom. Today, when all China is fighting the greatest struggle for human freedom, we can see this more clearly by introducing Pearl Buck. "

Pearl S. Buck's autobiography is almost full of admiration for China, the land where she once lived for decades. For example, in her autobiography, she included an article published when she was thirty. She used this essay entitled "The Beauty of China" to defend "The Beauty of China". She said that the beauty of China is an inner beauty and a classical beauty that needs more people to discover and appreciate. Her memory of Mei Lanfang also mentioned the "inner dignity" in the master's character.

Fortunately, she finally had a chance to bring this intoxicating beauty to a more eye-catching platform.

In her writing career of more than forty years, Pearl Buck has created and published more than forty works. These works are written in an informal and realistic way. Most of these works are even done in one go, that is, without modification. Therefore, "fragmentation" and incoherence and jumping of narration have become her writing style. This style is influenced to some extent by her missionary family, and to a greater extent, by China's classical novels, as she repeatedly emphasized in her early writing. After living in China for 36 years, this 46-year-old woman's stubborn connection with China has brought originality to her literature that no one in the western world can surpass, and also made her accept her own "Western canon" without giving in. The topic of her speech is China's novels. This speech is based on the lecture notes she gave when she was teaching at Nanjing University. This speech was later subtitled "Nobel Speech" and published in another book on the same subject.

At the beginning of her speech, Pearl Buck affirmed that "China novels, not American novels" shaped her "literary efforts". Then, she talked about Kan Kan. She talked about the classics of Ming and Qing dynasties from jokes of Han Dynasty and legends of Tang Dynasty (especially the Water Margin translated by herself). She said that although China literature did not leave outstanding novelists like the West, it left novels as great as the achievements of the West. She said that China's novels are not exquisite works of art created by lonely artists, which can be measured by western standards, but they have extremely strong roots in life: they come from the people, they serve the people, and they belong to the people. "Just like a China novelist, I was educated that I want to write for the people ... People's judgment on the story is the most correct, because the feelings are not worn out and there is no fetter." She declared herself so proudly at the end of her speech.

Is it accidental coincidence or the brand of the times?

The autobiography of Pearl Buck was published in 1954. This year is a meaningful year for her: it has been 20 years since she left China to adopt her. It was also a meaningful year for America: the rampant McCarthyism finally came to an end. McCarthy's main target, Owen Lattimore, is a friend she has known for more than 20 years. In her autobiography, she reproduced many anecdotes, such as her meeting with the Ladimos in Beijing in the early 1930s. It makes up for the roots and faults of Pearl Buck's life in the first 60 years. The greatest contribution of the author (Peter Kang En) is to explain the last 20 years of the biography, that is, the legendary woman continues to be troubled by "controversy" after experiencing endless misunderstandings.

Her free speech left her between Scylla and Charybdis. No matter in the east or the west, the hostility from the left or right camp is cold. Because he actively participated in the civil rights movement and opposed racial discrimination, gender discrimination and war, he became a representative of liberalism and a pioneer of the feminist movement. In the authoritative opinion poll of 1969, she ranked eighth among the top ten outstanding women in the United States (and one of only two women who entered that list by their own efforts). Accordingly, her behavior aroused official vigilance and hostility. The FBI files are getting thicker and thicker. Some people even want to take her works off the shelves of public libraries.

This politically controversial figure is an undisputed mother. She brought up her mentally retarded daughter who "will never grow up". Her long article "Children Who Never Grow Up" published in 1950 has aroused strong response from Qian Qian's millions of mothers, including Madame de Gaulle, who "bears the same cross and sorrow", and further shaken the historical discrimination against mentally retarded and other mental patients in western society. She donated all the rich royalties from the independent publication of this long article to the school for mentally retarded children that she has funded for many years. At the same time, she also adopted seven children. Her famous adoption agency "Welcome Home" has found a new life and an unexpected future for thousands of children all over the world for many years.

Embarrassed between Scylla and Charybdis, she did not hide her love for China. This kind of love was almost a sin in the 1960s. I read her categorical rejection of hatred on the first page of "Crossing the Bridge and Crossing the Road" published by 196 1. "I refuse to call it (China) a hostile country." She wrote like this. She said that in her memory, the people in China were "too kind" and the land in China was "too beautiful".

She always reminds her readers and listeners that she has lived in China for longer than she has lived in the United States. However, the Cultural Revolution completely broke the "deficit" in her life. There is a little hope at the historical turning point in changing Sino-US relations. Although she was 79 years old at that time, she still frequently used telegrams to ask for help from Chinese and American politicians and diplomatic departments. However, she couldn't find her way again.

Perhaps, China can only exist in her memory and will never be seen again. Or for her, China will always be the classical beauty that fascinates her, not the modern giant that puzzles her. I thought Nixon's trip to China should also be her "home" trip after 28 years' absence. But unfortunately, she was eventually rejected by her "earth".

10 months later, Pearl Buck passed away. Nixon once called Pearl Buck "a bridge between eastern and western civilizations". The architectural style of this bridge should be basically Chinese, just like her tombstone. Her tombstone was designed by herself, with a brief introduction of Pearl Buck. Her almost household English name did not appear on it, but her Chinese name was neglected but never forgotten.

(In Sequoia Forest 20 18.438+02)

Brief introduction of the author

Xue Yihao, born in Chenzhou, grew up in Changsha and now lives in Montreal, Canada. Beihang University holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and engineering, a master's degree in English and American literature from the University of Montreal, and a doctorate in linguistics from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. He used to teach at Shenzhen University. He was hired as a visiting scholar by City University of Hong Kong and Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou. He has published 20 works, including 5 novels, such as Abandonment, Empty Nest, Hillary Clinton, Amity and Me, 6 collections of novels, such as Shenzhen People and Victory in the First Battle, and 6 collections of essays, such as Literary Motherland, Great Depression and Labyrinth in a Foreign Land. He won the Taiwan Province United Daily Literature Award, the Lin Jinlan Excellent Short Story Writer Award and the Shenzhen Reading Month Top Ten Book Award twice, and was nominated as the novelist of the year 20 13, 20 14, 20 15 by the China Literature and Media Award for three consecutive years. His works have been translated into English, French, German, Italian, Swedish and other languages for publication. Among them, the English version of Shenzhen People won the multicultural award of "Blue City International Literature Festival" in Montreal.