Singtao News

北島接受星島日報記者黃偉江先生訪問全文
Interview in English by Singtao reporter David Huang

Bei Dao (pseudonym of Zhao Zhenkai), one of the most renown living poets, will be giving a reading of his recent work at the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco. His oeuvre has been translated into 25 languages, awarded various literary prizes and numerously nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature.

The Chinese poet’s life has been a striking dance of strenuous situational circumstance and unyielding creative spirit. Born in the pivotal year of 1949, the poet’s youth was marked by devotion to the state ideology. In fact, in unison with his generation, he became a member of the infamous Red Guards, and following the Cultural Revolution, was sent to be “reeducated” in the countryside. The 11 years he spent doing labor in the countryside have been definitive, fostering the sense of disillusion and alienation that seeps through his work. Bei Dao first gained recognition through his participation with the Misty poets, who collaboratively published the progressive literary magazine ‘Today”. Following the Tiananmen Square protests the magazine and the movement was banned, and Bei Dao was forced into exile. The poet has since been living and publishing abroad, taking residence in Germany, Sweden, Norway and settling in USA, where has been lecturing in various universities.

The poets words have developed as a response to his personal crisis, and through the interplay of symbols, perspective and metaphor his words have created a parallel of truth and humanity. His poetry engages the reader’s imagination on all levels, enveloping the subconscious between the words, and consuming the conscious with the word. and In 2006 Bei Dao was finally given permission to return to China, and his reading in the CCC will be the last he will give while in exile. The reading will be both in English and Chinese.

7月29日 （周日）下午2：00， 舊金山中華文化中心將有幸邀請到著名詩人北島進行詩誦會（中英文），免費入場，$5 建議捐贈， 座位有限，請從速報名並提早到達。

“北島是一代中國青年的精神領袖。他早期的詩歌中具有強烈的懷疑和叛逆精神，在他的詩歌中，人們見到的是一個內心充滿痛苦和不安，熱血激昂，具有社 會責任感和正義感，正在努力擺脫黑暗，四處尋找光明的青年形像。面對中國七十年代“文革”前後紛亂荒誕的社會現實，他有時感覺到苦悶和迷惘，“一切都是命 運/一切都是煙雲《一切》”，在他的成名代表作《回答》中，他寫出了充滿激憤唾棄和理想追尋的響亮詩句──“卑鄙是卑鄙者的通行證，高尚是高尚者的墓誌 銘。”這兩句詩和另一位朦朧詩代表詩人顧城的“黑夜給了我黑色的眼睛/我卻用它來尋找光明”兩句成為了一代青年人的精神寫真。直到今天，這四行詩還是在中 國當代青年中傳誦最廣，影響最大的新詩名句。” 節選自張祈的“ 歡迎你，詩人北島！”一文。

结局或开始—献给遇罗克 (節選）

我，站在这里
代替另一个被杀害的人
为了每当太阳升起
让沉重的影子象道路
穿过整个国土

…

必须承认
在死亡白色的寒光中
我，战栗了
谁愿意做陨石
或受难者冰冷的塑像
看着不熄的青春之火
在别人的手中传递
即使鸽子落到肩上
也感不到体温和呼吸
它们梳理一番羽毛
又匆匆飞去

我是人
我需要爱
我渴望在情人的眼睛里
度过每个宁静的黄昏
在摇篮的晃动中
等待着儿子第一声呼唤
在草地和落叶上
在每一道真挚的目光上
我写下生活的诗
这普普通通的愿望
如今成了做人的全部代价
…

Excerpt from ‘Dedication to Yu Luoke”

…I write poems of life
This universal longing
Has now become the whole cost of being a man…
Here I stand
Replacing another, who has been murdered
I have no other choice
And where I fall
Another will stand
A wind rests on my shoulders
Stars glimmer in the wind

Perhaps one day
The sun will become a withered wreath
To hang before
The growing forest of gravestones
Of each unsubmitting fighter
Black crows the night’s tatters
Flock thick around (tr. Bonnie McDougall)

Excerpt from Quiet and Tremble
you are drawing yourself
being born–light’s rising
turning the paper-night

madness that you released
is quiet cast by truth
pride shines as if internal wounds
darken all the words

Bei Dao Interview en

Bei Dao Interview by David Huang (Singtao USA)

Q=Question from reporter A=Answer from Bei Dao

Q: You once said this about American poetry: “Poetry has become the middle-class’ dessert, it’s a game of the brain, it has nothing to do with the heart.” However, a lot of contemporary poetry is intergraded into rap music, and has become very popular among the younger generation. What do you think about that phenomenon? With consideration of this trend, where lies “the game of the heart”?

A: I know very little about rap music. Generally speaking, poetry and music are two different things. Occasionally their spheres intersect, as with the case of Bob Dylan, who is both a singer and an important poet.
The main difference between poetry and song is its medium. Poetry is about language, songs are about melody. Rap music is more about language, but this type of language is more outward, spontaneous, current and kind of critical; poetry is completely different, it’s inward, hidden and private, most of time above or outside of reality.

Q. Poet or poetry, which is more interesting?
A:It’s hard to use the word “interesting” about poet or poetry. I am afraid this standard is irrelevant in the examination of something inherently subjective.

Q: Your early poetry seems to be more rebellious and angry, your recent prose and poetry are more vicissitudinous and peaceful. Is creativity something very personal? Is it necessary to communicate?
A: Based on the structure of creative writing, the substance of poetry and prose is different from each other, and is hard to make a comparison. Literature certainly needs communication, and poetry and prose are two different ways to convey an idea. While one may be a bridge, the other could be a road.

Q: You once said, “I drift around with nothing, Chinese is my only luggage”. The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco strives to explore the issue of cultural assimilation and culture identity under the background of globalization and migration. Having drifted outside of China for many years, what kind of impact does being in exile have on your thinking and writing? Does it change your conception of territory, borders and homeland? And finally, how do you view the “World citizen”generation, which your daughter is a part of?
A: You combined the two sentences I said into one, which is kind of dangerous. In terms of cultural assimilation and identity, it is a constant changing concept following the continual expansion of horizon. We are the generation of exile. We were sent to the countryside as teenagers, went far away and flew high, since then, home is no longer home. Later on we went further, too far to go back home, even no longer wanting to go back home. Incidentally, this coincided with the trend of worldwide migration. After these many years of drifting, I went from homeless to feeling the world is my home. It seems to be some kind of destiny. My daughter inherited my destiny of drifting, crossing through multiple cultures, and thus she has a vision that is different from her peers. I worried about her when she was young, and now I am really proud of her. Because she has grown strong wings, that will enable her to balance the danger in flying.

Q: You mentioned you like the American jazz music, and long for the America in the 30’s. What are you listening to currently? What do you long for now?
A: I still like jazz, but I don’t listen to it as much as I used to. Now I mainly listen to classical music, especially solo. It’s like a dialogue between two hearts.

Q: You mentioned many poets in your new books, and it seems that you have established a friendship that is above language. For an art form like poetry, can we establish a communication above language?
A: Friendship is friendship. Poetry must be translated, this is the dilemma the human being has as described in the collapse of Babel tower in the Bible.

Q: Does China still need poetry? What kind of poetry do we need for China nowadays?
A: As long as there is human being, we need poetry. Poetry is the spirit of a nation (ethnic group). Without it, we became walking soulless corpses. Regretfully, we are failing in our own humanity. I don’t expect everyone to read and understand poetry, but they should at least understand the importance of poetry in the ethnic spirit.

Q: Facing commercialization of everything, what kind of role should the poet play?
A: Poet should always be a poet, this is a life calling and a profession. If you ask poet to be a business man and vice versa, it’s a huge mess.

Q: After 20 year, the readers in China have transformed quite a bit, maybe you can share your views on the matter?
A: Time changes, so do the readers. Sadly, the commercialization and the internet generates a class of predominantly tasteless writers and tasteless readers. A good writer will not follow the readers.

Q: You lived in seven countries in four years, moved 15 times, you said “I am grateful to all the turmoil these years, it takes me away from the center, the turbulence (of China), and lets my life really calm down.” After all these years, what did you gain? What did you lose?
A: Without the turmoil and drifting, it’s hard to imagine that I can still be myself in China’s turbulence. I probably don’t have the composure. Looking at many of my peers in China, I feel really fortunate. I feel like I’ve been to the sky’s edge, and took a very tough road. But I first needed to conquer myself.

Q: If time goes back to 1989, what would be your choice?
A: Of course what happened in 1989 is unfortunate. But in the long run, it was the incident that caused many people to flee their homes, which is not necessarily bad for the Chinese culture. Our ancient nation needs someone to be “away from home”, suffer a little, be punished a little, so that then they can gain some new understanding. I am very lucky to be one of them. To a certain extent, it’s a historical crusade, but the intention of the crusade is not to conquer the enemy, but for the person to conquer him/herself.