Mo YanAwards:
Nobel Prize in Literature-2012
Nobel Committee in its citation stated that Mo Yan got the Prize
for his work as a writer
"who
with hallucinatory
realism merges
folk tales, history and the contemporary"
Born: 17/02/1955 in Gaomi,Shandong, China
Citizen: China
Language: Chinese
Guan Moye who is popularly known by his pen name Mo Yan is a
novelist & writer of China and is often referred to as the Chinese
equivalent of Franz Kafka and Joseph Heller.
He was born in a poor peasant family of China, left school when the
country was in the grip of Cultural Revolution and at the age of 18,
he was a worker in a cotton factory. During this period, he showed
interest in literature and read books which were available. These
novels were mostly written in socialist realist style of Mao Zedong
and the theme was the class conflict and class struggle.
In 1976, Mo enlisted himself in People's Liberation Army and started
writing when he was still a soldier. The works of Faulkner and
Maraquez had an impact on him. In 1984, he bagged a literary award
from PLA Academy. His first novella, A Transparent Radish, was
published in 1984 followed by Red Sorghum in 1986. The novel
catapulted him to national fame.
Mo
Yan's works are epic historical
novels characterized
by hallucinatory
realism and
containing elements of black
humor. A
major theme in Mo Yan's works is the constancy of human greed and
corruption, despite the influence of ideology. Using
dazzling, complex, and often graphically violent images, he sets many
of his stories near his hometown, Northeast Gaomi Township in Shandong
province.
When Mo Yan was awarded Nobel Prize, he had his share of criticism.The
Chinese writer Ma
Jian deplored
Mo Yan's lack of solidarity and commitment to other Chinese writers
and intellectuals who were punished or detained in violation of their
constitutionally protected freedom
of expression. Several
other Chinese dissidents such as Ye Du and Ai
Weiwei also
criticized him,as did 2009 Nobel Laureate Herta
Müller who
called the decision a "catastrophe".A specific criticism was that Mo
hand-copied Mao
Zedong's
influential Yan'an
Talks on Literature and Art in
commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the speech, which described
the writer's responsibility to place politics before art, and
he has attracted criticism for his supposed good relationship with the
Chinese Communist Party.
Notable Works:
Falling Rain on a Spring Night(1981),
Red Shorghum Clan(1987/1993),
The Garlic Ballads"(1988/1995),
--
The Republic of Wine(1992/2000),
--
Big Breasts & Wide Hips (1996/2005) ,
Sandalwood Death (2013),--
Powl (2013)
Order Mo Yan's Books below
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