MCLC: interview with Zhu Wen

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: pjmooney <pjmooney at me.com>
Subject: interview with Zhu Wen
***********************************************************

Source: SCMP (8/12/13):
http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/books/article/1295493/oblique-critiques-china
s-moral-decay-still-relevant

Oblique critiques of China's moral decay still relevant:
Q&A with author Zhu Wen

Mainland author and director Zhu Wen hit the literary limelight in 1994
with his short story I Love Dollars , in which a writer chases sex and
money in a second-tier city with his ageing father in tow. This month Zhu
has a new collection of short stories out in English, The Matchmaker, the
Apprentice, and the Football Fan: More Stories of China , translated by
Julia Lovell. Like many of his works, it deals scathingly with the moral
chasm left in Mao Zedong's wake. He talks to Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore.

(Q) When were the stories in your newly translated short story collection
first written?

(A) This book is a re-edited version. I wrote the stories 15 or, at
earliest, 20 years ago. At the time of writing I believed they could stand
the test of time. After 20 years there are still people reading them.

(Q) Much of your writing focuses on money and sex. Why?

(A) In the past 30 years, especially since the 1990s, money and sex have
become better examples to reflect a lot of societal issues or mentalities
of society during China's rapid development. The attitude towards money is
quite interesting; in the past China didn't have money. But as it
gradually starts to have money, it lacks the education that comes with
money.

(Q) In your newly translated short story, the sex-obsessed anti-hero is
horrified when he is called back by authorities for political re-education
10 years after he graduated during the 1989 pro-democracy protests. You
were also a student in 1989. Why did you decide to write about this period?

(A) "Re-education" is a key phrase in China and it carries a strong
political colour. It addresses the intellectuals who were "sent down to
the village, up to the mountain" [during the Cultural Revolution]. I
graduated from university in 1989. This year was a very important turning
point in China. When this short story was published, it played the rules
of the game, which is to make something sensitive more surreal. It's
actually a political story, but because we can't talk about politics, we
might as well talk about something else made up.

(Q) You studied engineering at university before working in a thermal
power plant for half a decade. Why did you decide to become a writer?

(A) If I were asked this in different times, I would probably give
different answers. The basic attitude I have is that I never really
intended to become a professional writer even when I was just starting
out. First of all, I think writing itself is a process of finding that
answer as to what I really want to do. Secondly, I was pursuing something
of pure enjoyment. I was very chilled out and relaxed about the concept of
writing.

(Q) In 1998 you and other writers spearheaded the "Rupture" movement,
which preached a break away from official literary institutions. What did
you want to achieve?

(A) We wanted to break away from the old system, which confines writers.
For example, there is this Chinese Writers' Association that recognises
you as long as you agree to certain terms.

(Q) Your books seem to be critiques of decaying morals following China's
opening up and reform.

(A) I think my books are about my generation reflecting on Chinese culture
and criticising it. This culture was created to centre around communism,
and the party doesn't really reflect the people. A lot of traditions have
been lost, a lot of Chinese values have been lost.

(Q) You were born in 1967 during the Cultural Revolution. How do you look
back on those years?

(A) The Cultural Revolution was a disaster. For some people it was tragic,
for others it was like a carnival.

(Q) Is any of your work autobiographical?

(A) No. Of course you can trace some of my footprints in my books, but
[they're not platforms] for my ideas and thoughts. I think if I wanted to
express those I would have just written an opinion piece and taken
responsibility for it.

(Q) Your debut film won the 2001 Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film
Festival. You are now working on a new film set in urban China. What do
you think of the Chinese film industry?

(A) I think it's even worse than the writing industry because the cost is
higher - you need to pour in a lot of money and it involves a lot of
people working for it, whereas writing is just one person's business.

(Q) You said you first took up writing to discover what you really wanted
to do. Have you found your goal?

(A) I haven't really found it yet. A lot of people devote their entire
life to one thing: their career, such as writing or directing. I think
there are always things that are more important than a career in life. I
think the overall mission and task that I have is to live an honest and
truthful life.