Mo Yan
Encyclopedia
Mo Yan (born February 17, 1955) is a modern Chinese
author, described as "one of the most famous, oft-banned and widely pirated
of all Chinese writers". He is known in the West for two of his novels which were the basis of the film Red Sorghum
. He has been referred to as the Chinese answer to Franz Kafka
or Joseph Heller
. He is currently represented by the Hong Kong based Peony Literary Agency
His works have been translated into more than a dozen languages, including English, German, French and Norwegian.
province to a family of farmers. He left school during the Cultural Revolution
to work in a factory that produced oil
. He joined the People's Liberation Army
at age twenty, and began writing while he was still a soldier, in 1981. Three years later, he was given a teaching position at the Department of Literature in the Army's Cultural Academy.
(broadcasted in ATV International, 2008-12-28 11:00), he said this pen name was chosen when he wrote his first novel. He was well known since he was small to be a frank person in speech, which was not quite welcomed in Mainland China. Therefore, he chose this pen name to remind himself not to speak too much.
has deplored the lack of solidarity and commitment of Mo Yan vis-a-vis other Chinese writers and intellectuals who were punished and/or detained despite the freedom of expression recognized by the Constitution.
and the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez
. Using dazzling, complex, and often graphically violent images, Mo Yan draws readers into the disturbing yet beautiful, kaleidoscopic universes of his stories. Mo Yan sets many of his stories near his hometown: Northeast Gaomi
Township in Shandong province.
Extremely prolific, Mo Yan wrote his latest novel, "Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out" in only 43 days. He composed the more than 500,000 characters contained in the original manuscript on traditional Chinese paper using only ink and a writing brush.
, professor of East Asian languages
and literatures at the University of Notre Dame
.
His first novel was Falling Rain on a Spring Night, published in 1981.
His works include:
Other published works include White Dog Swing, Man and Beast, Soaring, Iron Child, The Cure, Love Story, Shen Garden and Abandoned Child.
Honorary Fellow, Modern Language Association, 2010
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
author, described as "one of the most famous, oft-banned and widely pirated
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
of all Chinese writers". He is known in the West for two of his novels which were the basis of the film Red Sorghum
Red Sorghum
Red Sorghum is a 1987 Chinese film about a young woman's life working on a distillery for sorghum liquor. It is based on a novel by Mo Yan....
. He has been referred to as the Chinese answer to Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
or Joseph Heller
Joseph Heller
Joseph Heller was a US satirical novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His best known work is Catch-22, a novel about US servicemen during World War II...
. He is currently represented by the Hong Kong based Peony Literary Agency
His works have been translated into more than a dozen languages, including English, German, French and Norwegian.
Personal life
Mo Yan was born in the ShandongShandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
province to a family of farmers. He left school during the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
to work in a factory that produced oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
. He joined the People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
at age twenty, and began writing while he was still a soldier, in 1981. Three years later, he was given a teaching position at the Department of Literature in the Army's Cultural Academy.
Pen name
"Mo Yan", meaning "don't speak" in Chinese, is a pen name. His real name is Guan Moye . In a public speech delivered in Open University of Hong KongOpen University of Hong Kong
The Open University of Hong Kong is a Hong Kong university providing sub-degree, degree and postgraduate courses leading to awards and qualifications principally through a system of open access and distance education....
(broadcasted in ATV International, 2008-12-28 11:00), he said this pen name was chosen when he wrote his first novel. He was well known since he was small to be a frank person in speech, which was not quite welcomed in Mainland China. Therefore, he chose this pen name to remind himself not to speak too much.
Critique
The Chinese writer Ma JianMa Jian
Ma Jian may refer to:* Ma Jian , Chinese basketball player* Ma Jian , Chinese writer* Muhammad Ma Jian, Confucian scholar who became an Islamic jurist...
has deplored the lack of solidarity and commitment of Mo Yan vis-a-vis other Chinese writers and intellectuals who were punished and/or detained despite the freedom of expression recognized by the Constitution.
Writing style
Mo Yan's works are predominantly social commentary, and he is strongly influenced by the political critique of Lu XunLu Xun
Lu Xun or Lu Hsün , was the pen name of Zhou Shuren , one of the major Chinese writers of the 20th century. Considered by many to be the leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in baihua as well as classical Chinese...
and the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
. Using dazzling, complex, and often graphically violent images, Mo Yan draws readers into the disturbing yet beautiful, kaleidoscopic universes of his stories. Mo Yan sets many of his stories near his hometown: Northeast Gaomi
Gaomi
Gaomi is a county-level city of the People's Republic of China province of Shandong under Weifang . It is the hometown of writer Mo Yan, who has set some of his stories in the region....
Township in Shandong province.
Extremely prolific, Mo Yan wrote his latest novel, "Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out" in only 43 days. He composed the more than 500,000 characters contained in the original manuscript on traditional Chinese paper using only ink and a writing brush.
Works
Mo Yan has published dozens of short stories and novels in Chinese. Several of his novels have been translated into English by Howard GoldblattHoward Goldblatt
Howard Goldblatt is Research Professor of Chinese at the University of Notre Dame. He is a translator of numerous works of contemporary Chinese/Taiwanese fiction, including The Taste of Apples by Huang Chunming and The Execution of Mayor Yin by Chen Ruoxi.Goldblatt received a B.A. from Long Beach...
, professor of East Asian languages
East Asian languages
East Asian languages describe two notional groupings of languages in East and Southeast Asia:* Languages which have been greatly influenced by Classical Chinese and the Chinese writing system, in particular Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese .* The larger grouping of languages includes the...
and literatures at the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
.
His first novel was Falling Rain on a Spring Night, published in 1981.
His works include:
- Red Sorghum (first published in 1987 in Chinese; in 1993 in English)
- The Garlic Ballads (first published in English in 1995)
- Explosions and Other Stories, a collection of short stories
- The Republic of WineThe Republic of WineThe Republic of Wine: A Novel is a satirical novel by Mo Yan This novel explores the relationship between Chinese people and food and drink, and comments on government corruption and excesses...
: A Novel (first published in 1992 in Chinese; 2000 in English) - Shifu: You'll Do Anything for a Laugh, a collection of short stories (first published in 2002 in English)
- Big Breasts & Wide Hips (first published in 1996 in Chinese; 2005 in English)
- Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out
Other published works include White Dog Swing, Man and Beast, Soaring, Iron Child, The Cure, Love Story, Shen Garden and Abandoned Child.
Awards
- Neustadt International Prize for LiteratureNeustadt International Prize for LiteratureThe Neustadt International Prize for Literature is a biennial award for literature sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, World Literature Today. It is widely considered to be the most prestigious international literary prize after the Nobel Prize in...
, candidate, 1998 - Kiriyama PrizeKiriyama PrizeThe Kiriyama Prize is an international literary award given to books which will encourage greater understanding of and among the peoples and nations of the Pacific Rim and South Asia...
Notable Books (for Big Breasts and Wide Hips), 2005 - Fukuoka Asian Culture PrizeFukuoka Asian Culture PrizeThe is an award established by Fukuoka City and the Yokatopia Foundation to honor the outstanding work of individuals or organizations in preserving or creating Asian culture...
XVII, 2006 - Man Asian Literary PrizeMan Asian Literary PrizeThe Man Asian Literary Prize, founded in 2007, is an annual literary award given to the best novel by an Asian writer, either written in English or translated into English, and published in the previous calendar year...
nominee (for Big Breasts and Wide Hips), 2007 - Newman Prize for Chinese Literature (for Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out (2006)), winner, 2009
Honorary Fellow, Modern Language Association, 2010
Adaptations
Several of Mo Yan's works have been adapted for film:- Red SorghumRed SorghumRed Sorghum is a 1987 Chinese film about a young woman's life working on a distillery for sorghum liquor. It is based on a novel by Mo Yan....
(1987) (directed by Zhang YimouZhang YimouZhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He is counted amongst the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum....
) - Happy TimesHappy TimesHappy Times is a 2000 tragicomedy film directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, starring Zhao Benshan and Dong Jie. It is based loosely on the short story, Shifu: You'll Do Anything for a Laugh by Mo Yan; the story appears in English translation in the collection of the same title translated by...
(2000) (directed by Zhang Yimou, adaptation of Shifu: You'll Do Anything for a Laugh) - NuanNuanNuan is a 2003 Chinese film directed by Huo Jianqi. The film won the Grand Prix at the 16th Tokyo International Film Festival. The film is an adaptation of author Mo Yan's short story, The White Dog and the Swing. The film is set in Maoyuan, a small and ancient village in Jiangxi.Nuan's production...
(2003) (directed by Huo JianqiHuo JianqiHuo Jianqi is a Chinese film director. Like the cinematographer turned director Gu Changwei, Huo Jianqi began his cinematic career in the art department...
, adaptation of White Dog Swing)
Further reading
- A Subversive Voice in China: The Fictional World of Mo Yan. Shelley W. Chan. (Cambria PressCambria PressCambria Press is an independent academic publisher based in Amherst, New York. The publishing company was established by 2006, with its first titles released in September of that year. Cambria publishes academic monographs and new titles by scholars in a wide range of research fields, initially...
, 2011). - Chinese Writers on Writing featuring Mo Yan. Ed. Arthur SzeArthur SzeArthur Sze is a second-generation Chinese American poet.-Background:Sze was educated at the University of California, Berkeley, and is the author of eight books of poetry...
. (Trinity University Press, 2010).
External links
- Novelist Mo Yan Takes Aim with 41 Bombs (China DailyChina DailyThe China Daily is an English language daily newspaper published in the People's Republic of China.- Overview :China Daily was established in June 1981 and has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in the country...
June 27, 2003)