MCLC: Mo Yan wins Nobel lit prize (1,2)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: Mo Yan wins the Nobel lit prize (1)
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I appreciate the cheers and votes of congratulations I have received in
"replies" to the announcement of Mo Yan's winning the Nobel prize, but I
hope we can start a more substantial discussion about the decision, its
merits, and what this means for the study of modern Chinese literature and
the dissemination of modern Chinese literature to the general reading
public in the West.

Kirk

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From: sabrina merolla <smerollaphoto at gmail.com>
Subject: Mo Yan wins Nobel lit prize (2)

Sorry, but I do not feel comfortable with a New York Times article
starting with the statement of how much Mo Yan can or cannot be considered
as a dissident.

Stated that possibly for many of us, as for the CCP,  he is not properly a
'dissident' at all, he is still one of the best contemporary writers from
Mainland China since the 80s and 'pushing' his 'eventually dissident'
nature at the very start of this article results -to me- in a semi-denial
of his real value as a writer.

There are many gorgeous dissident writers around the world and Mo Yan, of
course, is not one of them. Let's say that this choice will make the
Chinese Government quite satisfied (to equilibrate Liu Xiaobo's nobel
before of the next month's great change in Chinese Government? Maybe), but
we should not lower the value of a writer only because 'the Chinese
Government likes him, too'...or try to make him a dissident writer, just
because we use to like dissidents...

As cited at the end of the article: ³A writer should express criticism and
indignation at the dark side of society and the ugliness of human nature,
but we should not use one uniform expression². Informing people should not
 use uniform expressions and perspectives, too. If we use an exclusively
political filter to judge people, they are not persons, or writers, or
workers, or photographers, or surgeons, or children, ... anymore.

Thank You for your time,

Sabrina Merolla