Mo Yan (1955-…), a Chinese author, was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in literature. Mo’s fiction has made him a controversial personality in China and has sometimes attracted the disapproval of the Chinese government. His novels and short stories are known for mixing reality and fantasy and for criticizing Chinese government and society.
Mo Yan was born Guan Moye on Feb. 17, 1955. He was born in Shandong Province in eastern China. He has set many of his stories near his hometown of Northeast Gaomi Township, usually called Gaomi. He joined the People’s Liberation Army—that is, the Chinese armed forces—in 1976. He attended the Army’s Academy of Art and Literature, and he began to write by the early 1980’s. His earliest published works include the short story collection The Crystal Carrot (1984). About this time, he chose the pen name Mo Yan, which means don’t speak, while writing the novel. He said he chose the name as a reminder to himself not to speak too much, which his parents warned him about to avoid trouble with the authorities.
Mo Yan’s best-known novel is probably Red Sorghum (1987). The narrative stretches across three generations and describes Chinese peasants fighting both Japanese invaders and each other during the 1930’s. The story is told through a series of flashbacks that depict events of great violence and brutality set against a landscape of delicate beauty.
Mo’s novel The Garlic Ballads (1988) portrays Communist Party officials as corrupt and cruel. The Chinese government reacted by refusing to allow Mo to leave the country for a time. Mo also faced government disapproval for his novel The Republic of Wine (1992), a tale of corruption in Chinese society. Mo also wrote such novels as Big Breasts and Wide Hips (1996), Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out (2006), Pow! (2003), Frog (2009), and The Dark Road (2012). Mo’s other short story collections include Explosions and Other Stories (1991) and Shidu: You’ll Do Anything for a Laugh (2001).
