In the year 2000, the Chinese government disowned the absurdist author Gao Xingjian when he won the Nobel Literature award. In 2010, they cast out Liu Xiaobo, describing the actions that made him worthy of the Nobel Peace prize as Western propaganda. In 2012, though, they welcomed the acclaim of Mo Yan, an author of Magical Realism literature, with open arms. His works, while not in open dissent of the Chinese government, create complex studies of Chinese social issues that include balances of power, justice, and freedom to change. Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out, a lengthy yet rewarding read, follow an oblivious patriarch's reincarnations to learn the truth of his actions, life, and casual cruelty. Mo's earlier works, such as The Garlic Ballads, used elements of Magical Realism to distance difficult topics such as government resistance from reality or identifiably specific criticism.
“A writer," said Mo, "should express criticism and indignation at the dark side of society and the ugliness of human nature, but we should not use one uniform expression. Some may want to shout on the street, but we should tolerate those who hide in their rooms and use literature to voice their opinions" (Jacobs & Layall, 2012). These words, delivered in a speech to the attendees of a festival that barred and censored more problematically critical authors, create a complex view of Mo's actions in a world that only suffers the careful to speak. Mo Yan, after all, is only a pen name. It means "don't speak", a strange moniker for a world-famous author. Mo chose his name from the constant childhood warnings delivered by worried parents to not speak his mind in public. He treads a thin line, bringing odd acceptance from his government and a grudging love from his countrymen (Jacobs & Layall, 2012). In a humanizing instance of failing to follow his own advice, Mo self-published The Garlic Ballads in Taiwan after they were viewed as too critical to publish in the wake of Chinese student unrest. An excellent English translation was published in 1995.
In present-day Taipei, Taiwan, the author Ron Smith records director Chung Chiao's political theater entrenched in Magical Realism. Social criticism and Leftist politics can scarcely have a safe voice in the theater’s country, so Chung has turned to aboriginal myth as a form of free speech. Drawing from his inspiration, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Chung cites the example of a Bu Nong creation myth. It speaks about a giant woman who creates the earth and its inhabitants with her sighing and broken appendages, but Chung uses it as a metaphor for what he perceives as the profound intellectual loneliness felt by the Taiwanese people (Smith, 2005). Set apart from each other by the inability to communicate, they use people's theater to balance their reality. Chung believes that he can take the elements that are wrong in reality, criticize and dissect them in an alternate world in plays, and then give these new points of view to those who would seek to live differently.
As an example, the 2003 production of "River in the Heart" explores the lives of women farmers. An all-women cast of actresses speak their minds in the dream-like state of the play about their cultural inability to be outspoken in their community. A senior actress in the troupe, Zhong Feng-ji, sums up the purpose of her mission with eloquence.
"In the beginning," said Zhong, "our families really had no idea what we are doing... [My daughter] came to watch it alone, because she was afraid that she might lose face with her friends, so she wanted to see it and decide for herself. But after watching it, she told me, "Mom, your play, it really touched me a little bit." You know the young peoples language, when they say "a little bit" it really means a lot. So finally, we so-called old women can make a play that touches people" (Smith, 2005).
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Link List:
Mo Yan:
Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out
The Garlic Ballads
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Resources:
Please comment if any links are broken!
Smith, Ron (Spring, 2005). Magical Realism and Theatre of the Oppressed in Taiwan: Rectifying Unbalanced Realities with Chung Chiao's Assignment Theatre. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org.libproxy.utdallas.edu/stable/pdf/4137078.pdf?acceptTC=true
Jacobs, Andrew, & Lyall, Sarah (October 11, 2012). After Fury Over 2010 Peace Prize, China Embraces Nobel Selection. The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/books/nobel-literature-prize.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
“A writer," said Mo, "should express criticism and indignation at the dark side of society and the ugliness of human nature, but we should not use one uniform expression. Some may want to shout on the street, but we should tolerate those who hide in their rooms and use literature to voice their opinions" (Jacobs & Layall, 2012). These words, delivered in a speech to the attendees of a festival that barred and censored more problematically critical authors, create a complex view of Mo's actions in a world that only suffers the careful to speak. Mo Yan, after all, is only a pen name. It means "don't speak", a strange moniker for a world-famous author. Mo chose his name from the constant childhood warnings delivered by worried parents to not speak his mind in public. He treads a thin line, bringing odd acceptance from his government and a grudging love from his countrymen (Jacobs & Layall, 2012). In a humanizing instance of failing to follow his own advice, Mo self-published The Garlic Ballads in Taiwan after they were viewed as too critical to publish in the wake of Chinese student unrest. An excellent English translation was published in 1995.
In present-day Taipei, Taiwan, the author Ron Smith records director Chung Chiao's political theater entrenched in Magical Realism. Social criticism and Leftist politics can scarcely have a safe voice in the theater’s country, so Chung has turned to aboriginal myth as a form of free speech. Drawing from his inspiration, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Chung cites the example of a Bu Nong creation myth. It speaks about a giant woman who creates the earth and its inhabitants with her sighing and broken appendages, but Chung uses it as a metaphor for what he perceives as the profound intellectual loneliness felt by the Taiwanese people (Smith, 2005). Set apart from each other by the inability to communicate, they use people's theater to balance their reality. Chung believes that he can take the elements that are wrong in reality, criticize and dissect them in an alternate world in plays, and then give these new points of view to those who would seek to live differently.
As an example, the 2003 production of "River in the Heart" explores the lives of women farmers. An all-women cast of actresses speak their minds in the dream-like state of the play about their cultural inability to be outspoken in their community. A senior actress in the troupe, Zhong Feng-ji, sums up the purpose of her mission with eloquence.
"In the beginning," said Zhong, "our families really had no idea what we are doing... [My daughter] came to watch it alone, because she was afraid that she might lose face with her friends, so she wanted to see it and decide for herself. But after watching it, she told me, "Mom, your play, it really touched me a little bit." You know the young peoples language, when they say "a little bit" it really means a lot. So finally, we so-called old women can make a play that touches people" (Smith, 2005).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Link List:
Mo Yan:
Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out
The Garlic Ballads
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resources:
Please comment if any links are broken!
Smith, Ron (Spring, 2005). Magical Realism and Theatre of the Oppressed in Taiwan: Rectifying Unbalanced Realities with Chung Chiao's Assignment Theatre. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org.libproxy.utdallas.edu/stable/pdf/4137078.pdf?acceptTC=true
Jacobs, Andrew, & Lyall, Sarah (October 11, 2012). After Fury Over 2010 Peace Prize, China Embraces Nobel Selection. The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/books/nobel-literature-prize.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
