As the countdown to the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature announcement ticked to its end, the final winner emerged. After much speculation on the Internet that Chinese writer Mo Yan would be the winner this year, Chinese people were finally relieved, and excited to hear that he had indeed won the prize.

 

Mo Yan, pen name for Guan Moye, is a highly recognized writer in China, whose famous works include Frog, Red Sorghum, The Garlic Ballads and Big Breasts and Wide Hips. The 57-year-old writer has been a hot candidate for the Nobel Prize in recent years.

 

"It's not so unexpected that Mo Yan was awarded the prze considering his literary achievements," said Qiu Huadong, deputy editor-in-chief of People's Literature, one of China's leading literature magazines. "Mo Yan has long been a widely-recognized writer in literature circles for his neat combination of modernism and unique Chinese cultural characteristics," Qiu added.

 

 

Mo Yan "with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary," as stated on nobelprize.org. "His works are deeply influenced by the development of modernism, notably Gabriel García Márquez (the prestigious Columbian author who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982)," Qiu told the Global Times.

 

In the 1980s, when China had just started to implement the opening-up policy, many Chinese writers were strongly affected by the Magic Realism writing style of a group of Latin American writers.

 

Different from writing about the real world, these writers tried to create an imaginative world that differs from the real one but still reflects people's lives and thoughts in the real world.

"He also incorporates Chinese features like folktales, and traditional Chinese writing styles like zhanghuiti in his works," said Qiu.

 

Zhanghuiti is a type of traditional Chinese novel writing style with titles for each chapter that all have complete beginnings and endings. "He even drew from ancient Chinese writer Pu Songling (1640-1715, famous for his book Bizarre Stories of Liaozhai)," Qiu noted. For example, the weird, dark but beautiful environment depiction Mo Yan has implied in his book Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out, reminds readers of Pu's ghost stories.

 

 

It makes sense that this year's award should go to Mo Yan, Qiu noted. "They (the Nobel Prize panel) are concentrating more on Asian writers these days, and those from China, Japan and South Korea have particular prominence," said Qiu.

 

South Korean poet Ko Un, Japanese writer Haruki Murakami and Chinese author Mo Yan were all popular candidates. "I believe considering China's increasing clout and the writer's own accomplishments, the judges finally decided to give it to Mo Yan," Qiu said.

 

His opinion is shared by famous Chinese poet Hai Xiao. "It's inevitable that the award should go to a Chinese writer considering the country's growing power economically and culturally," Hai added.

 

"Chinese writers have much greater freedom in writing now, which enables writers to best exercise their talent," Hai Xiao said. "The award this time is an acknowledgment of that."

 

According to Qiu, when the US writer Sinclair Lewis won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1930, many people attributed it  to the fact that US had become a mighty power in the world.

Feeling of relief

 

Despite speculations he would win the prize, Mo has kept cool. "Every reader has their judgement about a writer, and the best way to decide is to read his work," he said to xinhuanet.com in 2010.

 

"I don't know much about him and I have only read one book, Tanxiangxing" said Yao Weijie, a magazine editor in Beijing. She felt surprised when hearing that Mo Yan had won the Nobel Prize. "I feel his writing is bloody and violent, but it attracted me with tense plots and deep thoughts. I also heard that most of his books contain sex and violence."

 

"Mo Yan's works have a wide range of perspectives, from history to realities like family planning and corruption," said Qiu. "It certainly stimulates domestic writers to learn a wider view and have a more diversified style in their writing."

 

Meanwhile, the prize is also a relief in the eyes of professionals. "We used to put so much focus on this prize. Now we have got it I believe our writers can focus whole-heartedly on their works," said Hai. "There is no need to cater to the preferences of the judges since this shows that they don't have prejudice."

 

 

Born in 1955, Chinese writer Mo Yan grew up in Gaomi, Shandong Province. His parents were farmers. As 12-year-old during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) he left school to work, first in agriculture, later in a factory. In 1976 he joined the People's Liberation Army and during this time began to study literature and write.

 

His first short story was published in a literary journal in 1981. His breakthrough came a few years later with novella Touming de hong luobo in 1986.

 

In his writing, Mo Yan draws on his youthful experiences and on settings in the province of his birth.

 

In addition to his novels, Mo Yan has published many short stories and essays on various topics. Despite his social criticism, he is seen in his homeland as one of the foremost contemporary authors.

 

 

Explosions and Other Stories (1991)

 

Red Sorghum: A Novel of China (1993)

 

The Garlic Ballads: A Novel (1995)

 

The Republic of Wine (2000)

 

Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh (2001)

 

Big Breasts and Wide Hips: A Novel (2004)

 

Life and Death are Wearing Me Out: A Novel (2008)

 

Change (2010)

 

Pow (2013)

 

Sandalwood Death (2013)

 

Selected Stories by Mo Yan (Announced but not yet published)

 

nobelprize.org