Nobel Politics

In more ways than one, an average Chinese obsession, or the lack of it, with the Nobel Prize is similar to those of Indians. Like us, the Chinese too take pride in the awards given to people of Chinese origin who did most of their work in other countries. Gao Xingjian for example, who bagged the honour in Literature in the year 2000, is an ethnic Chinese who chose France as his home. Decades before that, Yang Zhenning, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957, had migrated to the US amidst upheaval back home. But the Chinese are nonetheless proud of them and they are part of the official CCP promoted textbooks. 

 

However, somewhere in the back of their mind, the Chinese always craved for a winner who was Chinese in true sense. When they got it in the form of Liu Xiaobo in 2010, they were enraged, and justifiably so. In their haste of awarding it to any Chinese “dissident” coming out of the gate first, they actually awarded the Peace Prize to someone who was a vocal supporter of prolonged colonialism in China and the rest of Asia. And if that was not enough, Liu also supported continued occupation of Palestine and supported US military adventurism in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

 

China reacted as the West wanted it to react. Apart from scathing remarks, China left no stone unturned to make the issue as personal as it could have gotten. Rumour has it that among other things, the authority delayed a shipment of fishes to Norway for so long that when it was offloaded, it was already rotten. The award became a diplomatic showdown and the Nobel Committee realised they had bitten off more than they could chew.

 

So when Mo Yan’s name was announced as the winner in the Literature category this year, the decision immediately evoked uncomfortable questions. It is being asked whether Mo Yan’s selection was done to appease China. But then, Mo Yan is not the first one and definitely wont be the last. When Herta Müller was awarded in 2009, critics openly said that a writer with average skills but solid political leanings was given preference over more deserving candidates like Milan Kundera who wrote around more or less same political motif, but in a more subtle and nuanced way. 

 

Mo Yan, whose writing was described as the one with “hallucinatory realism [that] merges folk tales, history and the contemporary,” took time to regain his wits and apparantly toldreporters that he’s not sure whether he’s happy or not.

 

“Happiness means a healthy body and a total absence of mental burdens, but now I’m under high pressure and bothered by worries. Can I say that I’m happy? But if I say I’m not happy, people will consider that I’m striking a pose. How could you be unhappy after winning the Nobel Prize?,” Mo told the Chinese state broadcaster in a demeanor more befitting Zen teachers than fiction writer.Many argued that this is real Mo Yan and he basically was in his elements when the interview took place.

 

Most of Mo Yan’s works, including Red Sorghum Clan, The Republic of Wine and Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out explore the motif of destiny, suffering and lust. He has based many of his writings during the days of Japanese invasion of China around the World War II. He is a card holder of CCP and generally toes the regime’s line when it comes to art.

 

“One of Mo Yan’s most dominant motifs is whether or not the responsibility for evil lies within individuals or in forces beyond their control, such as fate, lust, or history, forces that can be destructive, but also potentially liberating,” says Sabina Knight, professor ofChinese and Comparative Literature at Smith College who specializes in contemporary Chinese fiction. 

 

Mo Yan’s work has been largely unknown outside China. Although adaptation of Red Sorghum into a full length motion picture did bring him recognition in the elite and intelligentsia, the award will go a long way in giving him the recognition among the masses that he deserves.