Introduction to the Dialogues of Xindao

2,398 characters2009.03.07

I haven’t updated the blog much these past several times. On the one hand, it’s because lately I’ve been busy with all sorts of miscellaneous things and haven’t had any mental free time; on the other hand, because some time ago I suddenly had the urge to write in a “dialogue” form, but got stuck halfway through. Only today did I finally rekindle the urge to write, and I’ve now finished the previously stuck draft of the No. 〇 piece, but I still have no motivation to write the first piece (though I already have the title).

According to my plan, all of these “dialogues” will be written by me in my idle after-meal state at the Xin Dao Café (after dinner, that is). The participants and topics of the dialogues will be fictionalized on the basis of my actual experience of conversations at Xin Dao Café. But the degree of rewriting will be very great: for example, I may merge several different interlocutors into a single person, or even blend several different conversations into one dialogue. Of course, the interlocutors’ language, views, and logic—including my own—will all be completely rewritten as well, so please by no means take these dialogues “seriously,” and even less should you try to “match names to faces”——except that the role of “A Niu” is obviously my spokesperson, the other characters are entirely fictitious; any resemblance is purely coincidental……

The interlocutors’ names will all be the most ordinary code names: Xiao Ming, Xiao Hong, Xiao Jun, Xiao Hua, A Niu, A Fei, A Li, Zhang Ge, Li Jie, Wang Shu…… Roughly speaking, the names preserve a little information about gender and age, but they have nothing at all to do with real names and carry no further meaning.

Whether this writing plan can continue mainly depends on whether my conversations at Xin Dao can truly unfold. At present, there has still been almost no progress. The No. 〇 piece that I finished first also seems to be mainly monologic—that is, an opening speech for this café salon activity, merely made in a different form. I still haven’t made the dialogue truly come “alive.” I hope that in the future I can gradually find inspiration.

As for what this so-called salon at my Xin Dao Café is, if you didn’t notice earlier blog posts, then you can refer to: https://yilinhut.net/2009/02/15/2380.html. At the same time, you’re welcome to follow the “Coffee—Salon” column: https://yilinhut.net/category/2/2-3/page/3.

By the way, if I hadn’t set up camp at Xin Dao Café, but instead returned to the Plato Café I used to haunt a few years ago, then wouldn’t this whole series of my “dialogues” be able to bear the grand title “Plato’s Dialogues” with perfect legitimacy? That sounds pretty cool~~

March 7, 2009