MCLC: Pathlight and Peregrine (7,8)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: jiwei xiao <jiweixiao at gmail.com>
Subject: Pathlight and Peregrine (7)
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That Gao Xingjian was not a Chinese citizen in 2000 is not a "point" but a
fact. This fact has definitely affected how his winning of the Nobel Prize
was and is received in China. You have to ask why it is so--someone wrote
a whole book about it. Maybe there is a more complicated story than you'd
like to think. Whether we like it or not, a non-European writer's
nationality and cultural background are not an irrelevant factor in such
cases. Again I recommend you read some articles or books on this topic
first. The position of Chinese writers in the world literary system as
well as the relationship between Chinese literature and World literature
are fascinating topics that we all probably would encounter at some point.
A better engagement with the issue demands an open and informed mind and a
deeper thinking, not a dismissive attitude. Personally I always value
texts and close reading. That's how most of us come to literature, I would
like to think. Meanwhile I recognize that even though context is never the
whole story, it does affect text. And if you talk about the "reception" of
a writer, you can never just talk about text.

Jiwei

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From: Ronald Janssen <ron.janssen at me.com>
Subject: Pathlight and Peregrine (8)

I was the Fulbright lecturer in lit at Beida when Gao won the Nobel. There
was already a good deal of tension on campus, especially among undergrad
students, because of the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in
1999. The announcement of Gao¹s award seemed to fuel resentments rather
than create pride. I never heard the argument that Gao wasn¹t really
Chinese, but I did hear arguments from my grad students that the novel was
not Chinese because of its narrative devices and also that there were
plenty of Chinese writers who were better than Gao. When I raised the
point that no one amongst them had yet read Gao¹s novel, conversation
usually fell silent. But the resentments lingered, and, of course, the
downing of the U.S. spy plane the next spring only exacerbated them, to
the point that there were mass anti-American demonstrations and rallies on
campus. So I would say that responses to Gao¹s award, whatever their
literary basis, should also be seen in a wider context of political events
of the time.

Ron Janssen
Hofstra University