Hello Gentle Reader
It is official; the Chinese author Mo Yan, has given his Nobel Lecture and has received the prize and the diploma (with medal) from the Swedish King. However up to this point the political feeling of the prize, and the feeling that China, has stopped its low grumbling and whining and poor me attitude in regards to again not having a Chinese award been given to a ‘true,’ – or better yet; Politically Tolerable, Laureate. After Liu Xiaobo’s imprisonment and receiving in two-thousand and ten the Nobel Peace Prize, it was clear that China did not sit well with the decision. Leading up to the award in two thousand and ten was quite tense, as many felt China’s cold attitude towards the inevitable as just as appetizers for what they would certainly announce officially.
The road to Stockholm for Mo Yan has been less than kind in its criticism of the author; who many feel is a light way of agricultural pop literature, at best.
As Doctor Wolfgang Kubin, professor of Sinology points out in an interview:
“He writes sensational works. His style dates back to the late 18th century. As a member of the Chinese Communist Party he only criticizes aspects of the system but not the system itself.”
-- Doctor Wolfgang Kubin further points out that, Mo Yan lacks a modern style of writing (as my authors do these days) because there is no readership for it.
“People want sensational works, "sagas" that tell stories that cover 30 to 40 years, about a grandfather, a father, the grandchildren.”
That is just criticism of his literary work. Politically Mo Yan has been under fire the most. In October, when news came of his achievement at winning the award, many applauded it, and asked about the jailed Laureate Liu Xiaobo, and Mo Yan had made it clear that he had wished for the fellow author’s release. In Stockholm during an interview, with the Press, Mo Yan refused to answer the question and further extrapolate on his earlier comments in October when he had made it clear that he would like to see Liu Xiaobo’s release; stating that he had made the comment already, and would sooner drop it. Don’t speak, apparently is more than just a pen name.
The final blow though came in the same interview when Mo Yan had stated that censorship is necessary. Surely Nobel Laureate in Literature of two-thousand and nine, must surely be feeling like saying: I told you so; in regards to the criticism and comment she made when she stated that Mo Yan: “Celebrates censorship.”
Mo Yan compared the act of censorship (he quickly pointed censorship of rumours and unprovoked attacks), to the necessity of security checks at an airport. In his lecture Mo Yan addressed the criticism head on stating that it was what others thought of him, not what he truly is: a Chinese Government Pawn – or as some other people have put it in less milder terms a Political Prostitute, unable to recognize their own affiliations in the mirror.
The balancing act Mo Yan has, been forced to dance, along his way to getting the award, has polarized and divided many people, from critics to human rights activists, to the general reading public. Though throughout it all, there has been a feeling of the Chinese government been Mo Yan’s shadow – from escorting the author to Stockholm Sweden, to the unprecedented feeling that any mention of Liu Xiaobo or other politically inappropriate comments, were prepared for in advance and Mo Yan was told what to say if they were to appear.
What came to be a final blow in the nail in Mo Yan's coffin, and in the respect that many had or would have had for the author, was his political stance, in regards to a position, that Mo Yan refused to sigh in regards to the immediate release of Liu Xiaobo from prison. Such a backwards Public Relations move, that most certainly is political motived, Mo Yan loses his credibility and further alienates himself as a Patsy of the Chinese Government.
Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
*And Remember: Downloading Books Illegally is Thievery and Wrong*
M. Mary
Links to all References:
http://www.latimes.com/features/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-bummer-nobel-prizewinner-mo-yan-defends-censorship-20121206,0,3452308.story
http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/11/does-mo-yan-really-deserve-the-nobel-prize/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/06/mo-yan-nobel-literature-p_n_2250956.html?utm_hp_ref=book
http://www.voanews.com/content/chinese-nobel-writer-mo-yan-takes-on-critics/1561057.html
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/nobel-laureate-mo-yan-takes-swipe-critics-lecture-194313495.html
http://www.dw.de/interview-mo-yan-bores-me-to-death/a-16301782
