Evaluation of modern fantasy literature

It is often said that fantasy works are a product of regional culture that originated in the West and followed Europe and America. But I don't think so. In fact, because of the richness of fantasy works, the origin is not single. The imagination of going to heaven and going to earth is not unique to one person at a time, so it can't be attributed to who inherited who.

In fact, as the carrier of culture, the works with this theme should be the oldest literary expression in the world. Its origin can even be traced back to the period of primitive human activities, that is, the so-called "myth era". In this period, there are legends and totem worship in every region and civilization, so I say that fantasy culture should be a worldwide phenomenon of thinking and consciousness, not just a product of a certain regional culture.

The source of China's fantasy culture should also come from ancient myths and legends and the worship and imagination of nature, biology, reproduction and many other things. "Zhuangzi Xiaoyao Tour" has such a description, "There is a bird, named Peng, whose back is too high and its wings hang like clouds. It is the nine Wan Li who shakes its horn, which is absolutely negative and then suitable for the south." This description lists a bird that does not exist in the real world-Kunpeng. With obvious characteristics of fantasy novels. The well-known Classic of Mountains and Seas should be an ancient geography book with myths and legends. The countries listed in this book, namely Hungary, Jiaoshen, Wuchang, Li Rou, Santi, Naked, Tired Ofthe Fire, Gu Xuan, Xiaoyang, Qibi, Blackpool, Longarm, Feather Republic, Shoutou People, Adults, Lebi and Scholars, are actually a self-contained "overhead world". "Overhead world" is the most important feature of fantasy literature.

Compared with western classical myths, China ancient myths did not establish their own clear pedigree, but mostly spread in fragmentary chapters. It is a kind of unrestrained roaming and imaginative imagination, which is not close to the real world. On the other hand, western myths, which are dominated by Greek myths and legends, have obvious hierarchical concepts and social ideologies. Because western mythology is closer to the real world and more like a historical picture of life.

I think Huainanzi in the Western Han Dynasty preserved ancient myths and legends, such as Yu Xia's Mending the Sky and Shooting the Sun and the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon Controlling Water. Books such as Nerve, Searching for the Gods, Records of Different Records, Natural History, Bielu, Jilu, and Records of the Ghost should be regarded as China's early fantasy works. Interestingly, there is a story in natural history, which is very similar to a passage in the Bible-Genesis. The description of "Qi made a flying car with his arms around his country, flying 40,000 Li with the wind, landing in Shang Tang, and Shang Tang smashed the car without showing people" is not only a genesis, but also a divine spectrum, and even more a fantasy with sci-fi colors. As for who borrowed it from whom, I don't know, hehe.

In fact, China's classical fantasy works can be divided into ancient myths, tales of the Six Dynasties, legends of the Tang Dynasty, tales of the Song and Yuan Dynasties and stories of ghosts and gods. The Journey to the West's Romance of Gods, Flowers in a Mirror and Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio should be the most famous four. In terms of completeness, The Journey to the West should be the pioneering work of ancient fantasy novel in China. The most important connection between his creative thought and modern fantasy literature is that the author constructs a complete fantasy world through pen and ink description. It has something in common with the modern fantasy works of the "overhead world" independently constructed under the virtual background. Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio should be a masterpiece of ancient fantasy short stories.

In fact, thinking has no boundaries, and culture is a fixed way of thinking and an external manifestation of thinking habits. However, thinking, as the cultural subject itself, will only make people feel comfortable and not seek development if too many restrictions are set.

If I say, "Fantasy is not culture, no style is culture. The real connotation of culture is an idea, a consciousness and a need. I believe many people will refute me. However, from the perspective of "fantasy", the unique mysterious essence of any fantasy story has infinite fantasy space, which is also the source of people's imagination beyond their realistic thinking.

The traditional culture of China, as understood by contemporary China people, is very conservative and unimaginative, so it is impossible to compile something like Star Wars. In contemporary fantasy works, the adventure of sex, love and blood seems to be the four magic weapons of fantasy works. The purpose of writing adventure is to satisfy self-fantasy, thus changing one's ordinary destiny. Writing is to make one's blood boil, which leads to the lack of oxygen in the brain for a short time and no time to savor the quality of novels. As for writing about love, it is because you are not satisfied with the loneliness and loneliness in real life. Writing blood should be an almost helpless sigh and struggle.

I don't want to comment on the fallacy of this statement, but after reading many contemporary fantasy works of "great works", I feel like a mixed freak of long soap operas and Hollywood commercial films. If the works on this theme pay more attention to the tension in the story process, then I would like to ask: "What achievements have the authors made by digging deep into human nature through the advantages of words and visual arts?"

I like to eat Lamian Noodles, and I always feel that contemporary fantasy writers are somewhat similar to Master Lamian Noodles. Starting from the little face, it is almost infinitely stretched and stretched again. The main line of the story is old-fashioned, thin and stiff. In shaping the characters, the image is dull and appears dispensable. I only know that the so-called "visual shock and sensory stimulation" is created blindly, and the "purification" higher than reality is really missing. The imagination that should be possessed in "fantasy" is also limited to dissatisfaction and indignation with reality.

Some people say that "fantasy novel is a martial arts novel with wonderful fantasy style, which combines the magical nutrition of Chinese and Western literature on the basis of traditional martial arts novels." .

At the beginning of the article, I have mentioned that "the source of fantasy works is not single." In my opinion, fantasy works and martial arts works originated earlier and should be the oldest external expressions of literature in the world. As for the view that "fantasy novel blended the magical nutrition of Chinese and Western literature on the basis of traditional martial arts novels", it is obviously a one-sided and extreme theory put forward by researchers without fully understanding the history of human cultural development.

As early as the beginning of the formation of human society, the source of "fantasy" has developed into different systems and cultures because of different regions. The biggest difference between China's fantasy works and western fantasy works is that there is no "multi-dimensional consciousness".

In fact, fantasy works themselves can be said to be varied. There may be wild adventures, intrigue and political competition, or economic changes piled up in sand. To create an excellent fantasy work, the author often reserves a lot of information about religion, history, humanities, geography, economy, politics and many other aspects, and of course, he can't lack exploration and independent thinking about nature and science. So I said, "Courage above the real world and wise thinking about the future world will never write excellent fantasy works"!

It seems that it's time to write here, but I still have a lot to say. Hehe, the statement must be a "foot-binding cloth" again, so I decided to say more and stop writing.

Many young contemporary writers study China's classical culture and find it conservative. I don't want to make any comments on this, but judging from the feeling I have gained from thinking about fantasy culture in recent days, people today are far behind the ancients in terms of pioneering and creative thinking modes. At least in terms of imagination and creativity, contemporary people are more conservative!