MCLC: Mo Yan's headache

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: Mo Yan's headache
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Source: The Washington Post blogs (11/19/12):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/19/the-headache-o
f-mo-yan-chinas-nobel-prize-winner-in-literature/

The headache of Mo Yan, China¹s Nobel prize winner in Literature
Posted by Zhang Jie on November 19, 2012 at 11:00 am

BEIJING ‹ Barely surviving a debate over whether or not he deserved to win
China¹s first Nobel Prize in Literature, Mo Yan, a Chinese novelist is
encountering more trouble: What to wear to the Nobel awards ceremony,
which will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, on Dec. 10.

Mo Yan is the first Nobel laureate to be recognized by the Chinese
government. Previous winners of the Nobel Peace Prize are the exiled
Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who China officially considers a
separatist criminal, and Liu Xiaobo, a dissident writer languishing in a
prison cell.

Earlier this month, Guan Moxian, the older brother of Mo Yan, said Mo Yan
had a tuxedo made at a tailor shop and would dress in a tuxedo for the
awards ceremony. He spoke at an event hosted by a local university of
Shandong Province, Mo Yan¹s hometown. According to the brother, Mo Yan was
also studying the waltz, in case he would be invited to dance at the
awards after-party. It all sounded quite lovely.

But China¹s hyper-active community of Internet users, known as Netizens,
didn¹t agree on Mo Yan¹s outfit. Many thought China¹s image should not be
represented by a tuxedo. Traditional Chinese clothes, or Sun Yat-sen¹s
uniform ‹ an outfit similar to the Mao suit, once popular in China ‹ would
be better in their eyes. And some Netizens even suggested he wear a
farmer¹s outfit.

An online survey showed that about 55.7 percent of respondents hoped to
see him wear clothes with Chinese elements, while about 13.4 percent
thought a suit or tuxedo was good. About 30 percent thought it didn¹t
matter at all.

³Wear traditional Chinese clothes, which represent the traditional culture
and moderate thoughts of China,² said one user, ³Shangxi Berglau,² on
Weibo, the Chinese equivalence of Twitter. But another user, called
³Dragon in the Yellow River,² said, ³Mo Yan only represents himself. It¹s
none of the business of the country. What to wear is his own choice.²

Mo Yan is the author of, among other books, ³Red Sorghum,² which was made
into a successful film by Zhang Yimou, China¹s most influential film
director. When the movie received a Golden Bear Award at the Berlin
International Film Festival in 1988, it was criticized heavily in China
for ³pleasing Westerners with elements and cultural logos of the old
China.²

Ironically, two decades later, when Mo Yan is ready to wear his
tailor-made tuxedo, some people think he is not being Chinese enough. Mo
Yan didn¹t respond to the controversy. Let¹s wait and see what he wears at
the awards ceremony.

Click here to see photographs
<http://www.tianjinwe.com/cul/gc/201211/t20121114_140928.html> of Mo Yan
in different types of costumes, posted by Chinese Web users.