2012/10/19 by CNA
The nuance and diversity of contemporary Chinese literature can be seen in the work of all three recent recipients of prestigious literary prizes: Mo Yan and Liao Yiwu of China and Yang Mu of Taiwan.
Didi Kirsten Tatlow, a Beijing-based New York Times correspondent, presented the view in an article, titled "In 3 Awards, 3 Ways of Seeing China."
Tatlow was referring to Mo Yan, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature Oct. 11; Liao Yiwu, a dissident writer who won this year's Peace Prize awarded by the German Book Trade; and Yang Mu, a Taiwanese poet and scholar who received the Newman Prize for Chinese Literature Oct. 5.
The authorities in China welcomed the honor for Mo, saying that it "reflects the prosperity and progress of Chinese literature, as well as the increasing influence of China."
Liao, on the other hand, accepted the German prize in Frankfurt Oct. 14 with a scathing speech in which he wished for the breakup of the communist empire in China.
The dissident writer spent four years in prison after the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen massacre for his anti-government writing. He managed to flee China last year and is now based in Germany.
Besides Mo and Liao, Tatlow said, there is a third dimension of modern Chinese literature, which is best reflected in Yang's works.
The Newman Prize for Chinese Literature is given out by the University of Oklahoma's Institute for U.S.-China Issues. It is awarded biennially in recognition of outstanding achievement in prose or poetry that best captures the human condition, and is conferred solely on the basis of literary merit.
The following are excerpts from a special report in the Friday edition of the China Times based on Tatlow's article in the Oct. 18 edition of the International Herald Tribune:
Tatlow wroted in her article that Mo and Liao has been widely portrayed as representing antagonistic camps -- one establishment, one dissident -- that together define the boundaries of contemporary Chinese literature.
However, she said, it's an incomplete map. There is something missing from the situation.
Citing Hong Kong poet and scholar Leung Ping-kwan, Tatlow said there are other traditions of modernity that are not being considered.
Especially in the West, Leung was quoted as having said in a telephone interview that people's concept of Chinese literature is really limited.
"When they talk about Chinese literature, it's either Mo Yan, who represents the acceptable mainstream writer from the China mainland, or it's Liao Yiwu, who represents the dissidents," said Leung whose landmark book of poetry about Hong Kong, "City at the Edge of Time," has just been reissued.
Echoing Leung's view that the sheer scale of China's politics, like its population and economy, can eclipse other, smaller voices from independent Chinese traditions like democratic Taiwan's or Hong Kong's, Tatlow wrote that not considering these alternative visions of China diminishes what is in fact a richly diverse culture.
And it is this culture that has groomed an outstanding poet like Yang Mu, Tatlow wrote.
She quoted Michelle Yeh, a professor at the University of California at Davis, as having praised Yang as the greatest poet writing in Chinese today.
"If I had to say who was the greatest poet writing in Chinese today, I'd say Yang Mu," said Yeh.
"It's about who has made the greatest contribution to the Chinese language, and the body of work Yang Mu de so far has made an amazing contribution," Yeh said.
"Now a lot of people don't know that because they don't read him," she said. Writers on the China mainland often find his work "too refined and literary."
Yang is best known for his early, romantic poetry and his interest in challenging fixed historical narratives.
Noting that Yang's role model is the scholar-writer of the past, like 11th-century poet Su Tong-po, Yeh said Yang is "a writer thoroughly versed in the classical tradition, in the culture."
Asked what the three prizes for the three writers tell the readers, Yeh told Tatlow in the interview that it may be worth pointing out that "Chinese writers have radically divergent realities, about China, about the Chinese language."
"Mo Yan is a roots-seeking writer. He is true to that," Yeh said. "Liao Yiwu is very passionate about what he does. He can only be himself, and I admire him for what he has been through. Yang Mu is for me the best artist, the one with ties to the culture and the past." (Oct. 19, 2012).
(By Sofia Wu)
enditem
The nuance and diversity of contemporary Chinese literature can be seen in the work of all three recent recipients of prestigious literary prizes: Mo Yan and Liao Yiwu of China and Yang Mu of Taiwan.
Didi Kirsten Tatlow, a Beijing-based New York Times correspondent, presented the view in an article, titled "In 3 Awards, 3 Ways of Seeing China."
Tatlow was referring to Mo Yan, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature Oct. 11; Liao Yiwu, a dissident writer who won this year's Peace Prize awarded by the German Book Trade; and Yang Mu, a Taiwanese poet and scholar who received the Newman Prize for Chinese Literature Oct. 5.
The authorities in China welcomed the honor for Mo, saying that it "reflects the prosperity and progress of Chinese literature, as well as the increasing influence of China."
Liao, on the other hand, accepted the German prize in Frankfurt Oct. 14 with a scathing speech in which he wished for the breakup of the communist empire in China.
The dissident writer spent four years in prison after the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen massacre for his anti-government writing. He managed to flee China last year and is now based in Germany.
Besides Mo and Liao, Tatlow said, there is a third dimension of modern Chinese literature, which is best reflected in Yang's works.
The Newman Prize for Chinese Literature is given out by the University of Oklahoma's Institute for U.S.-China Issues. It is awarded biennially in recognition of outstanding achievement in prose or poetry that best captures the human condition, and is conferred solely on the basis of literary merit.
The following are excerpts from a special report in the Friday edition of the China Times based on Tatlow's article in the Oct. 18 edition of the International Herald Tribune:
Tatlow wroted in her article that Mo and Liao has been widely portrayed as representing antagonistic camps -- one establishment, one dissident -- that together define the boundaries of contemporary Chinese literature.
However, she said, it's an incomplete map. There is something missing from the situation.
Citing Hong Kong poet and scholar Leung Ping-kwan, Tatlow said there are other traditions of modernity that are not being considered.
Especially in the West, Leung was quoted as having said in a telephone interview that people's concept of Chinese literature is really limited.
"When they talk about Chinese literature, it's either Mo Yan, who represents the acceptable mainstream writer from the China mainland, or it's Liao Yiwu, who represents the dissidents," said Leung whose landmark book of poetry about Hong Kong, "City at the Edge of Time," has just been reissued.
Echoing Leung's view that the sheer scale of China's politics, like its population and economy, can eclipse other, smaller voices from independent Chinese traditions like democratic Taiwan's or Hong Kong's, Tatlow wrote that not considering these alternative visions of China diminishes what is in fact a richly diverse culture.
And it is this culture that has groomed an outstanding poet like Yang Mu, Tatlow wrote.
She quoted Michelle Yeh, a professor at the University of California at Davis, as having praised Yang as the greatest poet writing in Chinese today.
"If I had to say who was the greatest poet writing in Chinese today, I'd say Yang Mu," said Yeh.
"It's about who has made the greatest contribution to the Chinese language, and the body of work Yang Mu de so far has made an amazing contribution," Yeh said.
"Now a lot of people don't know that because they don't read him," she said. Writers on the China mainland often find his work "too refined and literary."
Yang is best known for his early, romantic poetry and his interest in challenging fixed historical narratives.
Noting that Yang's role model is the scholar-writer of the past, like 11th-century poet Su Tong-po, Yeh said Yang is "a writer thoroughly versed in the classical tradition, in the culture."
Asked what the three prizes for the three writers tell the readers, Yeh told Tatlow in the interview that it may be worth pointing out that "Chinese writers have radically divergent realities, about China, about the Chinese language."
"Mo Yan is a roots-seeking writer. He is true to that," Yeh said. "Liao Yiwu is very passionate about what he does. He can only be himself, and I admire him for what he has been through. Yang Mu is for me the best artist, the one with ties to the culture and the past." (Oct. 19, 2012).
(By Sofia Wu)
enditem
