Interviews with Female Chinese Writers

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Originally a journalistic genre, the “interview” has gradually found its way into literary criticism as a distinctive form of oral history and a dialogic approach to critique. Interviews or dialogues with writers primarily focus on the writer and their creations. They not only bring critics closer to both writers and readers, but also serve as a unique research method within literary studies.

In the new era, few scholars have consistently and persistently documented the literary lives of contemporary writers through interviews and dialogues. Shu Jinyu stands out as one such figure. A journalist by training, Shu’s expertise lies in conducting interviews. Her works, such as Deep Dialogue with Mao Dun Literature Award Writers, In-Depth Conversation with Lu Xun Literature Prize Winners, and The Recollections and Reflections of Contemporary Literati, offer vivid, firsthand accounts of the literary world. Through these collections, she has established a unique mode of dialogic criticism. 

In her newly published Interviews with Female Chinese Writers, Shu once again adopts a dialogue-based criticism format to delve into the inner worlds of contemporary female Chinese writers. This collection features representatives of six generations of female writers born between the 1920s and the 1970s. Among the 30 interviewed writers are winners of prestigious literary awards, including the Mao Dun Literature Prize recipients Zong Pu, Ling Li, Huo Da, Wang Xufeng, and Chi Zijian, as well as Lu Xun Literature Prize winners He Jiesheng, Ye Guangqin, Zhang Kangkang, Wang Anyi, Zhao Mei, Xu Xiaobin, Fan Xiaoqing, Tie Ning, Ye Mi, Yin Xueyun, Xu Kun, Ge Shuiping, Shao Li, Wei Wei, Qiao Ye, and Lu Min. The collection also includes active contemporary writers who have won various important awards, such as Ye Wenling, Chen Zufen, Bi Shumin, Jiang Yun, Ma Lihua, Can Xue, Chi Li, Lin Bai, and Chen Ran. 

The creative works of these writers bear witness to the upheavals of history, while this interview collection reflects the diverse spiritual trends and artistic pursuits of contemporary Chinese women’s literature. It epitomizes the landscape of China’s contemporary literature and provides an authentic archive for demonstrating the intellectual journeys of contemporary female writers.

Shu attempts to investigate the cultural resources absorbed by female writers from different eras through dialogue grounded in literary creation, textual reading, dissemination and reception, and cross-media literary studies. She ponders the connection between women’s experiences and literary expression, asking: What kinds of life experiences and fateful encounters, what depths of vitality and exceptional insight, enable these women to forge such wings of life and soar across the literary cosmos? This is the question at the heart of Shu’s inquiry. Through her sincere inquiries, these writers open themselves to the world, sharing their personal experiences and voices. 

Zhang Shuyun is a research fellow from Nanning Normal University.

Edited by YANG LANLAN