What kind of novel is Lotus Lake?

First of all, according to the usual research field of vision, we have to admit that Lotus Lake is a war novel. But as far as the whole artistic thinking and discourse operation of the novel are concerned, it is a war novel that has been completely non-war. That is to say, in the whole process of discourse expression, the novel thoroughly dispels the primitive war features of the war theme itself through language violence, thus finding and expressing the primitive beauty of life that is ignored and concealed by the cruelty of war itself and the traditional mode that is usually used to thinking about war as a cruel reality. It is said that this novel is a war novel, not only because it is based on the war years and wars as a whole, but also because the central event it constitutes is a fierce gun battle. Moreover, the work can be said to completely describe the battle scene from the front. However, due to the author's intentional grasp and handling of non-war, the whole battle scene, that is, the battle scene that appears as a central event or usually as a climax, is only a few strokes in the novel, which is understated and brushed aside, completely avoiding the usual tragic scenes of smoke, bullets and bloody pieces, and even completely omitting the fierce killing and confrontation between the opposing sides. In a few words, the battle ended and a mythical victory was achieved. When you read such a novel, it seems that you didn't experience a war through this artistic expression at all, and you didn't get any war experience at all. All the characteristics of war are deconstructed here, and the novel does not recreate or reproduce a war by artistic means, so it is completely non-war. Although its material is indeed a life-and-death war. Secondly, this novel not only covers and dispels the characteristics of war, but also extracts all contradictions and conflicts in life, thus highlighting the clear and pure natural form in social life. This may be the result of the author's understanding of war from a brand-new angle and grasping the theme of war. War is undoubtedly cruel to anyone, extremely destructive to the whole society and bound to bring more disasters to people. However, due to the clear confrontation between the two fronts and the single determination of the antagonistic relationship, the interpersonal relationship of the whole society will be clear and simple, and the complex and subtle contradictions and entanglements between people in peacetime will be easily put aside temporarily, and those trivial daily contradictions or emotional conflicts will be naturally or forcibly cancelled by the fundamental interests and the general principle of consistency. At this time, metropolitan areas such as family relations, neighborhood relations and even class relations are naturally or consciously subordinate to the front line delineated by war, and people's emotions can only be based on this. It is based on such a grasp and feeling of the reality of war that Lotus Lake boldly downplays people's emotional conflicts, psychological conflicts and daily life conflicts, leaving only a highly pure and quiet beauty. As the main story of the novel, his wife sent Lang to the battlefield without such sadness as parting and being abandoned. Even this sudden farewell did not cause any dissatisfaction and resentment from his wife. This is true of cadres' families, and so are others. Everything seems so simple, and it is in this simplified artistic relationship that the novel leaves readers with a fresh lotus leaf-like warmth, which is the ultimate in pure beauty. In addition, most of the previous interpretations of Lotus Lake focused on the analysis of its distinctive personality and complex and subtle psychological activities. Therefore, I think this is still a wonderful short story by a writer. In fact, it is an unconventional creation, an unconventional text, which is misinterpreted and misread by conventional ideas. In fact, Lotus Lake is not a novel about people at all, or it is not a work of art centered on portraying characters. Characters do not have a particularly prominent position in the works, or in the overall composition of novel elements, characters (that is, characters as formal factors) are not in the most central and prominent position. First of all, almost all the characters in the novel are anonymous. For realistic writers' novels, since it is necessary to create a complete three-dimensional character image, the name of the character should undoubtedly rank first, otherwise the character will lose the basic code as an individual and the most superficial basis for his existence. Of course, short stories sometimes omit characters' names, but they must be emotional novels, atmosphere novels or other art novels. Since writing a novel focuses on writing people, we should not ignore people's names, otherwise we will not be able to write a complete person who can be vividly portrayed. The most superficial reason is that we exclude Lotus Lake from writing novels. The most important figure in the novel-the water woman has no first name and surname, and even the title of "water woman" is rarely used, only the word "woman" is used. Even the most powerful description of women's appearance at the beginning of the work is only replaced by an abstract and universal "woman", but it is not specifically limited to "water woman". Therefore, the omission of characters' names here is not because women's names in the old society are unimportant or mostly have no names, and women in Sun Li's other novels have names, but the omission of names in Lotus Lake obviously has special artistic significance, that is, it is necessary to fully dilute the characters and integrate them into the pure atmosphere and pure picture of the work. Another basis is that the only person with a name in the novel is called "Shuishui", and the "Shuishui" in such a novel is not only an individual's symbolic meaning (signified), but only implies an abstract general meaning (signifier). In Baiyangdian, Wang Yang, the lotus leaves of men and women are all aquatic, so "aquatic" is not only a person's name, but also everyone's * * * name, not only a cadre, but also a representative of everyone, and even an allusion to that furry lotus leaf. I don't think this understanding is far-fetched. Such an argument will be used in our later analysis. Secondly, the appearance of the characters in the novel is also highly vague. The so-called vague appearance is not only because there is little or no direct and detailed portrait description in the works, but also because all the characters in the novel have no obvious differences in appearance and modeling. The description of the novel did not deliberately highlight these differences to form contrast and make the personality distinct, but deliberately caused confusion. There is only the difference between men and women, just as there is only the difference between lotus leaves and lotus flowers in Lotus Lake. As for the characteristics of every man and every woman, it is not important in the novel. The only portrait in the work is Shuisheng: "This young man is only in his mid-twenties, wearing a big straw hat and a white jacket, with black trousers rolled over his knees and barefoot." This is obviously what any young person wears, especially in that era and environment. The facial description that best reflects the difference in appearance is not a sentence. As for the description of female portraits, it is completely integrated into a fairyland-like environment (such as editing seats and Lotus Lake in distress). These characters are very similar in psychological characteristics, including language characteristics, especially those women (try to understand the dialogue in those texts). These are all manifestations of deliberately diluting the characters and pursuing the poetic artistic conception of the works. Someone will definitely refute my above point of view. The description of psychological activities in Lotus Lake, especially through the actions, behaviors and dialogues of the characters, reveals the rich and complicated inner world of the characters, which is very accurate! This is of course a unified evaluation of the artistic analysis of Lotus Lake, but it is not a more unique and profound understanding and discovery of the artistic skills of Lotus Lake. In my opinion, the description of psychological activities like that in Lotus Lake is a skill that any mature artist can easily master, and it is not so strange and brilliant. The genius of the author of Lotus Lake lies in fully diluting the scenes and plots of the characters, inadvertently smearing the characters, and greatly reducing the pen and ink that should be described in detail. Through a few words, the writer usually needs to deliberately use the pen to the extreme, but the artistic intention of this work is not limited to this. Above, we have analyzed in detail the characters' non-war, non-conflict and overall dilution in Lotus Lake, among which the dilution of plot is well known. So, where is the fundamental interest of this novel? What is the aesthetic focus of the novel? That is, why does the novel have eternal artistic charm beyond the times and regions? In my opinion, this is a poetic novel with pure beauty, and its whole meaning lies in the beauty of nature and the beauty of life which are highly refined and sublimated by the author. I think that every reader who has read Lotus Lake may not be able to clearly restore a few real water characters from the description of the work, let alone leave a deep impression on the fighting scene, and even a story told by the work seems so vague and vague; But you will never forget the endless Baiyangdian Lake with dense reeds, especially the Lotus Lake with "fresh lotus leaves and fragrant lotus". People often say that "there are pictures in poems and poems in paintings", but in the novel Lotus Lake, there are pictures and poems, which is really an infinitely open lotus picture like a fairyland on earth, and it has been fully poeticized by the author. This is the real charm of the work. In this regard, the writer Mr. Sun Li himself has long said: "This novel has attracted the attention of readers in Yan 'an. I think it's because comrades have worked in the northwest plateau for many years and are used to the windy and dusty climate there. Suddenly I saw the description of Baiyangdian water town, and I couldn't help but feel fresh with the wind of lotus fragrance. "Isn't this the fundamental reason why novels attract readers? Isn't this the most profound point out the ultimate source of artistic charm of Lotus Lake? Looking back at the work itself, although the novel downplayed the characters, events and even the core plot that should have been the climax, such as the cause of writing the story, it only used one sentence: "But the door has not been closed, my husband has not come back yet", and the farewell only wrote: "All the men, women and children in the village have also sent him out. Shui Sheng smiled at everyone and got on the boat. "It is highly concise, but writing about natural scenery is so tireless, deliberately demanding, and always full of charm and charm. Of course, the most wonderful thing is the opening of the work, which is simply a stroke of genius. Even for China readers and ordinary readers who are most used to reading drama novels, they don't find it difficult to communicate or read. Four natural sections, large and small, take up a lot of space here. Let's quote two of them first and then analyze them: the moon rises, the yard is very cool and clean, and the broken reed eyebrows are wet during the day, just making seats. The woman sat in the middle of the yard, her fingers twisted with silky and slender reed eyebrows. Lu Mei is thin, jumping around in her arms. ..... This woman made a seat. Soon, it was woven into a big piece under her. She seems to be sitting on a piece of snow and white clouds. She sometimes looks at the lake, which is also a silvery white world. There is a thin transparent fog on the water. When the wind blows, it smells fresh lotus leaves and lotus fragrance. Special attention should be paid to these descriptions: first, the natural beauty of the images selected by the author: the moon, the woman, the reed mat under her, and the lotus lake in the distance ... second, the special combination of images will be further sublimated and enriched: under the moon, the woman fills the mat, and there is a fragrant Baiyangdian floating in the distance ... third, the rhetoric and modification of words add and expand the infinite aesthetic feeling: cool, clean, moist and smooth. Coupled with the vast and rich association of Baiyangdian caused by several problems in the middle two natural sections ... where is the smell of war in these words? Where is there any earthly disturbance? It is through this beautiful picture that the author brings the reader into a realm of pure beauty. Generally speaking, the beginning of a novel is the part that sets the tone for the whole article. The beginning of Lotus Lake is very beautiful, which obviously brings readers into a specific atmosphere and has a strong influence on the reading of the whole article. This poetic description is similar to this one, except that there is a positive description of Baiyangdian water surface in the middle part, and then there is a direct description of Lianhua Lake at the end. The description of Lotus Lake is more dynamic, and it also intends to integrate people with lotus leaves. People can not only appreciate the infinite beauty of Lotus Lake, but also deeply grasp its inner soul. As we all know, when Xu Beihong painted horses, he did not simply draw the shapes of those horses, but concentrated on expressing a human spirit, thus showing a national spirit. The novel Lotus Lake, a work with a strong sense of pictures, has the ultimate significance of embodying the integrity of a nation. Like a lotus leaf full of lakes, it is full of vitality and graceful, which is the deep connotation of all the pure beauty created by "Lotus Lake". In fact, every main picture of this novel has such a basic direction and such an inner spirit. At the beginning of the work, the basic colors described in the picture of the female seat are "white", "silvery white" and "transparent", which intentionally associates moonlight with the lake. Although it can't directly show the positive scenery of Lotus Lake, it is necessary to introduce it through the "vision" of women. There is a thin layer of fog on the water. When the wind blows, there are fresh lotus leaves and lotus fragrance. " In the paragraph where a woman is looking for a husband, Baiyangdian is written as "water is like endless diving silver", which is particularly prominent in the midday sun. Make it consistent with the tone at the beginning and gradually advance to Lianhua Lake. In the end, it is directly manifested as "I don't know how many acres there are in Lotus Lake" and "The big lotus leaves that are layered on top of each other stretch out against the sun, just like an iron wall. The pink lotus arrow stands tall ... "At this point, all the pictures are integrated, gradually becoming completely clear from obscurity and directly showing from hints. The front and back pictures are progressive, flowing and distinct, which makes the artistic conception profound and lofty. We say it is a pure and beautiful novel, which is permeated with a national spirit. This is because any beauty is not completely abstract and empty, and beauty itself can always reflect a specific spirit, or it can make the appreciation subject feel a spirit, especially for artistic beauty. Therefore, I think "Lotus Lake" is a poetic novel with a unique style, and its focus is on creating a kind of painting beauty. In the perfection of pure beauty, it contains healthy and bright human spirit and national spirit. And this spirit is closely related to every ordinary person with national integrity. Therefore, Lotus Lake has always been loved by the broad masses of the people and has become a masterpiece of war novels without war. This beautiful artistic creation is Sun Li's consistent pursuit. He once said: "Seeing the perfection of truth, goodness and beauty, I wrote some works. Seeing the extreme of evil, I don't want to write. I have experienced these things deeply, which can be said to be unforgettable, but I don't want to write them. I don't want to recall it either. " It can be seen that Mr. Sun Li's lifelong pursuit is the ultimate of truth, goodness and beauty, and his art is also the ultimate of truth, goodness and beauty. He tried to fight evil with truth, goodness and beauty, which was more powerful and persistent than direct preaching. Therefore, Lotus Lake does not directly penetrate into many established conceptual rational contents, but only tries to create an artistic beauty. As for the spiritual connotation of this beauty, as mentioned above, it is natural. This artistic pursuit permeates not only his series of Baiyangdian novels, but also his series of mountain novels. Lotus Lake is the ultimate war novel that embodies Sun Li's pursuit of beauty, and it is a truly pure beauty novel.