Role of the Writer
Rowena Torrevillas introduces each of the speakers. Wong Yoon Wah, a poet from Singapore, begins by talking about how you<> can't understand the role of writers unless you understand the circumstances of the country they are from. Wong feels it is important for Singapore writers to keep their work unique and different from that of Western writers. Wong wants singapore writers to write in their native language.
Xhang Xianliang, a poet and fiction writer from Beijing, speaks in Chinese while a translator repeats what he says in English (the translator is somewhat hard to hear). Xhang was imprisoned by Mao Zedong for writing the poem "Song of the Great Wind" in 1957 because it was considered to be rightist propaganda. Xhang spent 22 years in jails and labor camps. Xhang talks about his life after the imprisonment and his views on the politics and social issues in China.
Yang Ching-chu, a fiction writer from Taiwan, spent time in prison and while in prison he wrote several novels, including The Girl From Another Village. This novel is about a woman who is factory worker in Taiwan and it shows the inhumane way women and factory workers are treated in Taiwan. Many of Yang's works have been made into movies. Yang himself is a self-educated writer who grew up as a factory worker. Yang speaks in Chinese and a translator repeats what he says in English. Yang discusses<> how hard it is for the families of factory workers in Taiwan. He writes about the factory workers in Taiwan in order to cause an awareness for the rights of women and factory laborers. In trying to help the laborers, he promoted democracy and this is what eventually caused him to be imprisoned. There is a brief pause during the recording while the tape is switched from side A to side B.
Feng Jicai, a fiction writer from Beijing, believes that it is important for writers to actively experience whatever other human beings experience. He talks about how he hid his writings by burying them in the ground or putting them in the walls under pictures and news clippings of Mao Zedong. He feels that a writer should be a thinker and an artist and not a politician. Feng says that writers should not only write about social problems, but also look behind those problems. Many people are all talking at once during this portion of the tape and so it is hard to hear what is being said at times.
Hsiang Yang, a poet from Taiwan, speaks in Chinese while a translator repeats what he says in English. A translator reads his poem “My Puppeteering Brother-In-Law.” Questions are taken from the audience at the end.
Related Works: Mimosa (Zhang Xianliang) ; “Song of the Great Wind” (poem by Zhang Xianliang); The Girl From Another Village (Yang Ching-chu); “My Puppeteering Brother-In-Law” (poem by Feng Jicai)
In: International Writing Program Archive
Authors: Yoon-wah Wong , Xianliang Zhang, Ching-chu Yang, Jicai Feng, Yang Hsiang
Date Recorded: October 08, 1985
Program: --
Format: discussion
Contributors: Rowena Torrevillas
Topics: Social problems; politics; China; imprisonment; human rights; democracy; worker's rights; women's rights; freedom
Note: Sound quality is poor at times.