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China Nobel winner Mo likely to steer clear of politics: translator
By John Ruwitch
SHANGHAI | Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:26am EDT
(Reuters) - China's newest Nobel laureate, novelist Mo Yan, could use his new-found stature to make a subtle difference in the arena of freedom of speech in China, but he is more likely to keep his head down and avoid politics, his translator said on Friday.
The 57-year-old Chinese author, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature on Thursday, has achieved his success by working within a system with distinct boundaries, not ignoring them, said Howard Goldblatt, who has translated several of Mo's works into English, including the acclaimed "Red Sorghum". The book was later the basis for a film directed by Zhang Yimou.
"I think Mo Yan could actually, in a very nuanced way, make a difference and get some of this stuff happening," Goldblatt said by telephone from Boulder, Colorado, referring to improving freedom of speech and conditions for writers.
"To be honest with you, I doubt that he will. I think he's just a novelist who doesn't want to be involved in those things."
"He wants to continue to write, and to continue to write the kinds of things he needs and wants to write he has to live within certain parameters."
Mo is the first Chinese national to win the prize, which comes with a financial reward of $1.2 million, and the decision was celebrated by state-controlled media in China and on popular Chinese microblogging sites.
Critics have said the decision was odd, and that Mo's works were not artistically original, emulating Latin American authors. Dissident artist Ai Weiwei said Mo carried the "taint of government".
Such comments were neither accurate nor fair, though, said Goldblatt, who noted that Mo started writing his trademark fantastical novels before reading Latin American works by authors including Gabriel Garcia-Marquez.
"If he's influenced by anything he's influenced by Chinese storyteller traditions, by the mindset and the concept of place by Faulkner," he said, referring to U.S. writer William Faulkner.
"NO PUSHOVER"
Mo is a Communist Party member who grew up in a small town and served in the military, which Goldblatt said colored his world view. But he was not very different, in that respect, to other authors in China.
"They are all party members, and they are all members of the (state-backed) writers union," Goldblatt said.
"You have to be. And all of these other writers are writing under the same strictures, they're writing in the same environment, they know the rules, they do essentially what he does."
Mo is not a pushover, though. He has not been afraid to push the literary limits and some of his works have been banned in China. His 1988 book "The Garlic Ballads", which Goldblatt later translated into English, depicts folly and brutality in Communist policy, which leads to tragedy.
Twelve years ago, when Chinese-born author Gao Xingjian was awarded the Nobel literature prize, Beijing attacked the exiled dissident writer and sharply criticized the Nobel award committee. Mo publicly defended Gao.
"He was one of a very, very small number of writers who came out and defended Gao Xingjian saying 'He's a good writer, he's Chinese, all of these things that you're saying are simply not true'."
"You know, he respects and likes the dissidents," said Goldblatt.
"He just doesn't want to become one of them in exile."
'Overjoyed' Mo Yan accepts Nobel prize with characteristic humility
Staff Reporter 2012-10-12 12:35
Mo Yan on a visit to Taipei in 2010. (Photo/Chen Jen-tang)
As China rejoices that a Nobel prize has finally been awarded to a non-dissident writer, this year's literature laureate Mo Yan has stated in his usual humble manner that he is not especially worthy of the honor. The author was speaking with the state-run China News Service after he was informed of the award on Thursday, reports our sister newspaper China Times.
"There are many outstanding authors in China. Their great works can also be appreciated by the world," Mo told CNS, saying he planned to continue writing. He did not confirm whether he would accept the award in person in Sweden.
The Swedish Academy, which awards the literature prize, praised Mo's work, which "with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary."
"He has such a unique way of writing. If you read half a page of Mo Yan you immediately recognize it as him," head of the academy Peter Englund was quoted by the BBC as saying.
Mo had been told of the award ahead of the announcement, Englund said, adding, "He was at home with his dad. He said he was overjoyed and terrified."
With a number of reports predicting that Mo would be crowned this year's winner, media outlets had interviewed Mo's brother and father in his hometown of Gaomi in the eastern province of Shandong before the announcement. Mo set much of his oeuvre in similar rural communities, like the novel for which he is perhaps best known outside China, Red Sorghum. The writer's family appeared dubious that Mo would be presented the honor.
"The stories from sorghum farms are common stuff. What else is there to say?" Mo's older brother said, according to a post by a reporter on Sina Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter.
"It is impossible for him to get the award," Mo's father reportedly said.
Chinese media outlets and the internet were abuzz with the news of Mo's prize on Thursday. Rumors of his win went viral on Weibo, which immediately exploded with Mo news after the announcement. State broadcaster CCTV also reported the news at prime time, the broadcaster having been invited to cover the announcement for the first time, a key suggestion ahead of time that China finally had a Nobel laureate the country could openly embrace.
The dissident writer Gao Xingjian won the award in 2000, by which time he had become a French citizen and the prize was ignored by Chinese media. There was also an outcry when the jailed democracy activist and writer Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2010, which prompted the country to set up its own Confucius peace prize to reflect a more Chinese view of peace and human rights. The 2011 recipient was the Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who was cited in part for his war in Chechnya, which had "impressed the Russian people."
Bookstores set to cash in on Mo Yan's Nobel win
Staff Reporter 2012-10-12 13:48
A young woman reads a Mo Yan novel at a bookstore in Taipei on Thursday. (Photo/Wang Yuan-mau)
Sales of the novels of Chinese author Mo Yan have shot up after he was crowned this year's Nobel literature laureate on Thursday, reports our sister newspaper China Times.
Rumors that Mo could be in line for the honor went viral on the internet in China in the days before the announcement, leading bookstores to order in more copies of Mo's works, which in addition to full-length novels also include novellas, short stories and essays.
A staff member at Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing Group, Mo's publisher, said his most recent novel, Frog, has sold 200,000 copies since it was first published in 2009 and 5,000 copies in stock have been sold since reports of his Nobel win began to circulate.
The company plans a new print run of Mo's 16 major works, and pre-orders are being taken with online bookstore Dangdang. Mo's books have sold out at some online bookstores, which must wait at least one week for new stocks.
Some online stores said they previously only shifted a few copies of Mo's books a year but they have now become top sellers.
State-run bookstores are also stocking up. "Many readers would like to buy Mo's books. We have put his works in the center of our store," a staff member at Xinhua Bookstore, the country's only national bookstore chain, told the China Times.
Mo Yan, which means "don't speak" in Chinese, is the pen name of Guan Moye. He was born in 1955 in a rural area of Shandong province and worked in a factory during the Cultural Revolution. He began writing in the 1980s after retiring from military service.
His best-known works have been characterized as belonging to the "searching for roots" school of modern Chinese writing. These include Red Sorghum, The Herbivorous Family, The Republic of Wine, and Big Breasts & Wide Hips. Several of his works have been translated into other languages, while some have been adapted for the screen, with renowned director Zhang Yimou having filmed Red Sorghum in 1987 and another film, Happy Times, in 2000. Many of his stories take the theme of life in China's rural communities.
