Wang Meng<\/b><\/p>\n\n
is one of\nmost famous living writers in China, who has had a seminal influence on \u201cnew\nliterature.\u201d He has published nearly 100 works, which mirror the struggles of\nthe Chinese people and the development of the Chinese society over half a\ncentury. Qing Chun Wan Sui<\/i> (the title\nmeans \u201cLong Live Youth\u201d) and Huo Dong\nBian Ren Xing<\/i> (the title refers to a Japanese toy that changes shape when\none plays with it) are widely considered among his best novels. Apart from\nliterary creation, Wang Meng has also attained outstanding achievements in\nliterary criticism and studies. He was a member of the 12th and the 13th\nCentral Committee of the Communist Party of China, minister of culture of the\nPeople\u2019s Republic of China, and vice president of the Chinese Writers\nAssociation. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Macau (UM)\nin 2009, and became UM\u2019s first writer in residence in late 2012 under the\nWriters-and-Artists-in-Residence Programme co-launched by UM and the Macao\nFoundation.<\/p>\n\n
The\nUniversity of Macau (UM) and the Macao Foundation co-launched the\nWriters-and-Artists-in- Residence Programme in 2012, and Wang Meng was the\nfirst writer in residence under this programme. During his one-month stay in\nMacao, Wang Meng carried out a series of tightly scheduled activities,\nincluding visits, lectures, sharing sessions and writing. He gave a series of\nlectures on Mo Yan\u2019s winning the Nobel Prize in literature, attended an\nacademic conference on the studies of his own works, which was co-organised by\nUM and the Macao Foundation, as well as an international conference on \u201cthe\nstatus and future of Chinese humanities.\u201d He also voiced his three expectations\nfor UM\u2019s Department of Chinese, which are (1) making the department at once\n\u201cinternational\u201d and \u201cChinese\u201d with the support of mainland China and through\ncollaboration with Hong Kong, Taiwan and Chinese communities in other parts of\nthe world, (2) developing its own distinctive character, and (3) fostering its\nown school of thought.<\/p>\n\n
Wang Meng is\none of the most prolific, active and inquisitive living writers in China and\nhis connection with Macao goes way back. He visited Macao in 1997 and 1998 to\ngive lectures. He received an honorary doctorate from UM in 2009. Although he\nhad been to Macao a number of times, this time he still managed to take time\nout of his tight schedule to visit quite a few friends in culture, education,\nmedia, government departments and literature. He said that he could strongly\nfeel how much the various government departments and community organisations in\nMacao value and support cultural activities. He was also gracious enough to\naccept our invitation to give an interview with umagazine<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n
J: Journalist W: Wang Meng<\/b><\/p>\n\n
J: People say that\nMacao is developing quickly in recent years, with the pace of life getting\nfaster. It\u2019s not your first time in Macao, how do you think Macao is different\nfrom the way it used to be? <\/b><\/p>\n\n
W: Oh it has certainly changed a lot. The first\ntime I came to Macao was in 1997, if my memory serves me right. Walking on the\nstreet in Taipa, I didn\u2019t see a lot of people, but I saw many new buildings. A\nfriend joked that I should buy a house in Macao, since houses were cheap and\nthe city wasn\u2019t crowded. Now I\u2019m back and I see more people, cars and shops.\nI\u2019ve also heard that housing prices are a lot higher now. Taipa is more\nprosperous than it used to be, but it has lost its tranquility. Now it\u2019s\ndifficult to find some quiet place for a walk, so I\u2019m looking forward to seeing UM move to the new campus, which may\noffer a better environment.<\/b><\/p>\n\n
J: Macao used to be\nconsidered too mundane and quiet to inspire great literary works. What\u2019s your\nopinion? <\/b><\/p>\n\n
W: Some great literary works were indeed inspired\nby dramatic experiences in a turbulent time, but there are also literary works\nthat were created in the quiet setting of one\u2019s home. For example, Emily\nDickinson, a famous and prolific American poet, lived a very simple and quiet\nlife. So it really depends. But I think life in Macao could be very interesting\nand colourful, because Macao is a mix of different cultures. Actually UM is an\ninteresting microcosm of this cultural melting pot. For example, some teaching staff at UM come from mainland China, some\nhave worked or received education overseas, while others are from Hong Kong,\nTaiwan, Portugal or Europe.<\/b><\/p>\n\n
J: Earlier you voiced\nthree expectations for UM\u2019s Department of Chinese, which are very inspiring.\nYou mentioned that Macao should develop its own distinctive character. What do\nyou think that might be?<\/b><\/p>\n\n
W: I think it\u2019s unnecessary to classify literature\ngeographically. Should Macao literature only study Macao? Should Beijing\nliterature only be about Beijing? Absolutely not. Literature should and can\ncommunicate beyond geographical boundaries. For example, nobody would classify\nLu Xun\u2019s works as Zhejiang Literature. Although he was born in Shaoxing, he\nalso lived and worked in Beijing and Xiamen. It\u2019s the same with world\nliterature. Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde were both Irish, but their names were\nmentioned in England as well because they wrote in English. So Macao literature\nis not just Macao literature, but also Chinese literature, in that it is\nwritten in the Chinese language and by Chinese people. There are quite a few\nChinese-Americans in the United States who write in English and whose works\nhave had a very big influence in the English-speaking world, such as Maxine\nHong Kingston, who writes about stories of Chinese labourers building railroads\nin the United States in the early years, and of course Amy Tan. So I hope Macao\ncan make full use of its advantages, identify its unique subjects of study, and\ndevelop its own school of thought. I also hope that Macao\u2019s literary world can\nbe more embracing and tolerant and less influenced by ideology or political events.\nI really believe Macao could do very well in literary studies, writing and\neducation. I once mentioned in one of my lectures that Macao should explore the\npossibility of launching a literary prize. I wasn\u2019t joking, because Macao is in\na position to do so, financially and academically. Of course such literary\nprizes take time to develop. Take the Swedish Academy for example. It started\nwith only limited influence. It took the academy over a century to become a\nprestigious international brand. And it has an international focus rather than\na local one. So it\u2019s not a matter of whether Macao can do it or not. It\u2019s a\nmatter of how we want to do it. If the\nnew campus can help to create a more open cultural atmosphere, UM should be\nable to host more writers in residence to increase people\u2019s interest in\nliterature.<\/b><\/p>\n\n
J: In recent years\nMacao is placing more and more emphasis on developing the cultural and creative\nindustries, in the hope of making some real progress in this area. Literature\nis a core component of the cultural and creative industries. What do you think Macao\nshould do in this respect?<\/b><\/p>\n\n
W: I can\u2019t offer any specific suggestion offhand.\nBut I\u2019ve talked with some friends about the literary museum to be established\nhere in Macao. I think it\u2019s a good idea. Launching an artists-in-residence\nprogramme to create connections with international artists is also a good and\nfeasible idea. As far as I know, the Macao Foundation is organising the\npublication of Macao literature in mainland China. Actually literature-related\nactivities don\u2019t require a lot of money. It costs much less to publish some\nbooks than to invite a singer to give a performance. The key is to do things\nthat can produce the desired results. But there\u2019s no need to rush. Just take\nthings slowly.<\/p>\n\n
J: You were the minister of culture of China,\nand you have accumulated rich experience in formulating policies to promote\ncultural development. What suggestions do you have for Macao\u2019s literary\ncreation?<\/b><\/p>\n\n
W: <\/b>I think what a government or society can do on the literary\nlevel is actually quite limited. Of course we can provide some support for\nwriters, which is a common practice in many western countries. As far as I\nknow, the Australia Council for the Arts and the British Council, which are\nsemi-governmental organisations, provide financial support for artists. But\nmainland China, including the Chinese Writers Association, actually doesn\u2019t\nhave a lot of planning for literary creation. You can hardly blame them because\nhow can you plan for writing? The most the mainland could do is perhaps\norganise field study trips for writers and provide rewards for particular\nsubjects closely related to real life. But it\u2019s not good for the government to\ndo too much or too specifically. Writers usually don\u2019t want someone else to\ntell them what to write about. We should leave literature alone.<\/p>\n\n
J: Okay, the last question\u2014what\u2019s your take on\nthe new campus? <\/b><\/p>\n\n
W: Moving to the new campus is a huge thing for\nthe university. [After the relocation] the whole situation will be different. A good campus can make people less\nrestless, and perhaps more and more UM staff and students will participate in\nliterary studies, creation and discussion. My biggest hope is that the\nuniversity makes good use of the new campus.<\/b><\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n
(With\nthanks to Prof. Zhu Shoutong, head of the Department of Chinese at UM, for\nmaking this interview happen)<\/i><\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n
Writers-and-Artists-in-Residence\nProgramme<\/b><\/p>\n\n
Co-launched\nby UM and the Macao Foundation, the Writers-and-Artists-in-Residence Programme\ninvites leading figures of the literary world from around the globe to come to\nMacao, in hopes of advancing literary and artistic development in Macao,\nstrengthening Macao\u2019s capacity to interact with world literature and art,\nenriching Macao residents\u2019 cultural life, and enhancing the quality of cultural\neducation at UM. Writers-and-artists-in-residence programmes have always been\nconsidered by universities around the world to be an important means of\nequipping students with knowledge in the humanities and of improving their\nwriting skills. At the opening ceremony for the\nWriters-and-Artists-in-Residence Programme, UM Rector Wei Zhao warmly welcomed\nWang Meng as the first writer in residence. He also disclosed future plans to\ninvite, in the name of UM and the Macao Foundation, well-known writers and\nartists from China and abroad to work with UM, in order to enliven UM\u2019s\ncultural atmosphere, increase Macao\u2019s cultural influence, and enhance the\nquality of cultural education at UM. Rector Wei Zhao pointed out that compared\nto other universities which implement similar programmes, this\nWriters-and-Artists-in- Residence Programme at UM has three distinctive\ncharacteristics. The first is that people invited under this programme are all\nleading figures in the literary world with indisputable social and academic\ninfluence. The second is the university plans to extend the scope of the\nprogramme in the future to include distinguished figures from the artistic\nworld to increase the programme\u2019s influence. The third is that the university\nplans to build on the new campus a special venue that integrates the functions\nof a salon, exhibition hall, workshop, seminar and cafe, which will serve as\npermanent facilities different from a library, archives room or museum, not to\nbe found at any other university in the world.<\/p>
(With thanks to Prof. Zhu Shoutong, head of the Department of Chinese at UM, for making this interview happen)
Wang Meng is one of most famous living writers in China, who has had a seminal influence on \u201cnew literature.\u201d He has published nearly 100 works, which mirror the struggles…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":114366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n