[Reading Notes] An implicit lesbian whisper in Taiwan and Japanese - "The Countdown to the Five Seconds Crescent"

After a while, I made a decision in my heart. The next time you open your eyes, turn around and face Mizakura's departure direction—if Mizakura's figure is still in front of you, let her tell her what you're thinking. (abbreviated)

I quietly closed my eyes and started the countdown, five seconds.

"The first Taiwanese to win the Akutagawa Prize", Li Qinfeng can be said to be one of the most discussed famous writers in Taiwanese literature circles in recent years, but this is not only because of her delicate and profound writing, and her ability to speak two languages fluently, which makes her The works can cross language barriers and reach a wider audience. At the same time, as a translator and a writer, Li Qinfeng's writing can avoid the context and meaning that many works are easily lost during language conversion, and "customize" the content for different readers, making these works seem to be "amphibians". As usual, you can travel freely in both Japanese and Chinese languages.

Japanese subtle style tells two lesbian stories

As the first work to know Li Qinfeng, "The Countdown to the Crescent Moon in Five Seconds" is appropriate. In this work composed of two short stories about lesbians, the description of the lesbian mood, the creation of the sense of time, and the elaboration of the meaning of language are all impressive. In some comments, it is regarded as a "lover's whisper". Compared with the more straightforward, enthusiastic, and even violent styles that have been common in recent years, "Countdown to the Five Seconds Crescent", in a fresh tone, is indeed relatively Subtle, "Japanese" a lot.

As a heterosexual male, he may not be so sensitive to the emotions on the other end of the spectrum, and some "stalks" can only be perceived with the help of a guide; but even so, he can still feel the profound and moving words in the text. Emotion, especially in the face of the pressure of the big environment, even confession is extremely difficult state of mind. As for the time, depending on the angle of sunlight, or "one year at that time was enough to look at the history of Chinese literature for 4,000 years and the history of Japanese for 2,000 years, it must be a long time", etc. The sense of time has become more diverse and unpredictable. Although the actual time described in the two articles is actually less than a day, under various memories and small theaters, it has produced an effect that can be said to be like a year.

However, the most interesting element among them may be "language".

I sometimes wonder if it's possible for people to actually be "in love" before they learn the word "in love"? If human beings view the world through the filter of language, do unknown words mean a blind spot for the world?

Language is a barrier and an umbrella to hide your mind

In addition to being lesbians, interracial (language) is also a common element of the two works, but although they both cause a rupture in communication, the role of language in the relationship is completely different. In "The Countdown to the Crescent Moon", the language that the other party (probably) does not understand becomes a prop for the protagonist to show love, or even to hide his emotions; as for "Sacred Night Silk", the protagonist suffers from the fact that the language is as fragile as a thread, unable to Carry your true heart.

"Holy Night Silk" was published in the April 2019 issue of the pure literary magazine "Group Portrait". The original text of this novel is titled "Sacred ナイト" (i.e. Holy Night, Christmas Eve), which can also be interpreted as "Sacred Naito" ("Ito" means silk thread, which is an important image of the novel), and "Sacred" in Japanese The sound of the inside is the same as "sheng" and "sexual", and the sound of "糸" is the same as "meaning", which can lead to multiple associations. The same word game cannot be played in Chinese, so after a lot of consideration, it is reluctantly translated as "Saint Night Silk".

In addition to the storyline, "The Countdown to the Crescent Moon" itself seems to be another symbol of language barriers. Although the author can use two languages at the same time, when the author is also a translator, he still faces the problem of not being able to fully convey the context. predicament. Even so, Li Qinfeng still created another breakthrough possibility in novel translation, just like the end of the two novels, providing a more open imagination space for future creation and translation.

Eslite Online: https://eslite.me/49klef
Jinshitang Online Bookstore: https://pse.is/4acacq
Blog to: https://pse.is/49uat9
Reading Life: https://pse.is/498dsj
Reading Books Used Books: https://pse.is/49m3y9