Behind the Passion for the Nobel Success
“Have you heard the news? Chinese author Mo Yan wins the Nobel Prize for literature!” “Indeed? But who is Mo Yan?” “I don’t know. Regardless of his identity, we Chinese finally hold our head high in the literature area.” Mo Yan does win the prize of honor. Reports and interviews on Mo have sprung up at home and abroad in a short period. When people take delight in talking about Mo’s great achievements, I’m pondering over some possible morbid psychologies behind such overreaction.
When none of Chinese authors has become one of winners of that prize, newspapers and critics made a mockery of contemporary Chinese authors. In 2006, Wolfgang Kubin, a famous sinologist in Germany, claimed that contemporary Chinese literature was good-for-nothing, which had been spreading far and wide. What is more ridiculous, however, is the common attitude Chinese people hold toward such an unfair judgment. Perhaps some articles of contemporary literature are just like trash, but not all. Nevertheless, around 80.7% of people encouraged Kubin, according to the result of an online survey. Contemporary literature in China is good-for-nothing. Is that true? We all know that’s not true. Then, why did the mass agree with Kubin? Shouldn’t we rise and fight against such a mean remark instead of drifting along?
As for the reason why Chinese authors always failed in winning the prize, scholars tend to seek political or ideological bearing. Specifically, there are two major schools of thought in this regard. One school thinks the prize is swayed by prejudice towards the eastern, with the proof of the phenomenon that most of the prize winners are westerners. Another school supposes the failure of literature is due to the drawback of the current social system. They hold that great authors and masterpieces can never be generated if we keep the system running without renovation. Apparently, the former school fixes attentions on international political environment whereas the latter fixes on national one. But if so, how do they explain the good reputations that Journey to the West and The Border City have earned in the world? And how can they explain Mo Yan’s tremendous success in presenting real pictures of the Chinese society? There are many great minds and great works in China.
The majority of people emphasize more on the prize rather than Mo’s works. I reckon that a considerable number of people have no idea about Mo Yan before he