Mo Yan's bold leap forward
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The book Frog by Mo Yan. [Global Times] |
In stark contrast to his previous works, Mo does not pay deliberate attention to the use of florid words in Frog, but instead emphasizes the use of plain language to reflect the suffering and spiritual heartache of many Chinese people.
Mo explained that he endeavored to reproduce the painful realities of the family planning policy through the use of simple wording and that directly reflecting society's concerns and the lives of everyday people was his untiring pursuit.
As one of the most renowned and prolific modern writers in China, Mo was born in 1955 in Gao Mi, Shandong Province and named Guan Moye. His pen name Mo Yan in Chinese means "not to speak," as the writer tends to be frank in his depictions and his views are often not welcomed – as a result he chose the name to remind himself to speak less.
The author's birth into a poor peasant family and his early life in the countryside has inspired much of his works, with his roots always close to his heart. Many of Mo's novels have touched on delicate topics related to the countryside and the lives of the lower social classes.
Joining the army at the age of 20, Mo began writing in 1981 when he was still a soldier. Mo is one of the most highly acclaimed writers in China with accolades both at home and abroad including the Kiriyama Prize for Notable Books in 2005 for his novel Big Breasts and Wide Hips, the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize XVII in 2006 and the Newman Prize for Chinese Literature for Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out, last year.
Several of Mo Yan's novels have been translated into many languages, including English, French and German and Mo has been touted as one of China's "hottest" writers and one with the most potential to one day take home the Nobel Prize in Literature.
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