Veteran culture reporter Xia Yu [夏榆] interviewed German Sinologist Wolfgang Kubin for the lead story this week.  He goes by the Chinese name Gu Bin [顾彬] and happened to be at Qinghua University heading up an international Sinology forum.  This title of the article is: Gu Bin: “They feared post 1979 China the most"

He is also a well known critic of Chinese literature, having been interviewed by SW at this time last year about his book “Chinese Literature of the 20th Century.”

This article comes one week after a story on Gunter Grass and two weeks of articles on Herta Mueller, both German Nobel laureates in literature, and the controversy at the Frankfurt Book Fair. 

Here are some of the more interesting bits of the interview:

Kubin: I sometimes went to East Berlin [in 1985] and the inspection was very strict because I was a Sinologist.  At the time, they were extremely afraid of China.  What they feared most was post-1979 China influencing East Germany. 

Xia Yu: The reunification of Germany is seen as a result of the Cold War. It’s a symbol of the transformation in Eastern Europe. 

Yes, but so many years later, I believe the transformation in Eastern Europe hasn’t been as successful as China’s.  This is because they didn’t have an economic foundation and they lacked the spirit of democracy.  The former German Democratic Republic did it well.  Though it may be a bit backwards today, development compared to 1989 is pretty good.

Xia Yu: Confinement and closure of an ideology can only cause a society to fall behind, or even make it collapse. 

Kubin: Yes, that’s for sure.  Some say it’s the age of globalization.  I say it’s the age of cooperation. 

For example, a lot of people think Germany has achieved the ideals of socialism because we are a welfare state.  If people don’t have money, they can still live fairly well.  Some also say China is a capitalist country.  Therefore, how you define socialism is a problem.  There are some ideas in socialism which still have great influence in Germany.  Their socialist theories are fairly specific, like “what kind of methods should we use to benefit the elderly?”

Xia Yu: Do you have any advice you would like to share with Chinese writers?

Kubin: Some contemporary writers see writing as a toy, but it’s actually something quite serious.  Also, writers should be courageous.   They should be daring enough to openly talk about social problems.  The problems in German society are growing and the spiritual dangers people face are becoming more serious.  People aren’t going to pastors or priests today to solve spiritual problems.  They’re going to philosophers and writers.  Chinese writers are not like Western writers in their concern over society and public affairs.  They just don’t go as deeply into it.  Western writers will often directly come out and state their own point of view.  Yu Hua [余华] gave a speech recently in Germany and talked about some of the problems in Chinese society.  This was a very courageous thing to do.  I think writers in China today need to learn from this. 

I’m not sure Chinese writers would completely agree with his assessment.  I know in my time in Xinjiang, talking about social problems openly was very difficult to do, especially for a writer.  It’s definitely not that they didn’t care as much as western writers.  It was not a matter of a lack of courage or ideas but a lack of space to write.  Publishers are obligated to print material that contributes to and/or preserves “social stability” and “harmony.”    

Coming from the U.S. where the political system is extremely stable, I am used to a fierce public debate.  I have no fear of chaos in my society.  Given the violence in July in Urumqi, there is obvious reason for publishers of newspapers and books there to err on the side of caution. 

The challenge in all of China, not just Xinjiang, is to create a space for open and intelligent dialogue.  Frankly, I was amazed when I started working for Xinjiang Economic Daily in 2006 to learn how many areas there are for open dialogue.  Except for religion and politics, I was able to comment on most anything regarding culture.  Here at SW the space is even greater.  The sense of responsibility is stronger too, but in a much different way. 

The western model of freedom of speech is one that cannot separate the chaff from the wheat.  It’s an all or nothing proposition that is buttressed by a culture that does not fear the worst.  The vibrant political and social debate stands alongside the ribald, vulgar and even subversive.  It is unreasonable to expect China with a different political system and valid concerns over social stability to adopt this model wholesale.  It must find it’s own way to realize the ideals of freedom of speech enshrined in its constitution.  The fact that it hasn’t happened yet is not necessarily due to a lack of courage or care. 

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