Mo Yan's Fiction and the Chinese Nativist Literary Tradition

Abstract

Mo Yan's Fiction and the Chinese Nativist Literary Tradition LiuHongtao Scholars usually concur that the great Chi nese writer Lu Xun (1881-1936) was the forefatherof the nativist literary tradition inChina on two grounds: first, by turninga par ticular location into the object of representation, and second, by transplanting the contemporary discourse on "national character" in native soil, thus spearheading the Enlightenment model of literature fora backward nation forciblybrought into the modernization process. But in my view, Chinese nativist literature has two traditions: besides the Enlightenment tradition represented by Lu Xun, therewas the cultural conservatism of Shen Congwen (1902-88), whose stature rivals thatof Lu Xun. And Mo Yan has inheritedboth traditions. The most dazzling and also most controver sial aspect of the Shen Congwen tradition is the idealization of the primitive state of existence. Shen went to great lengths to depict themagic and romance of west Hunan, imbuing with ten der affections its insular but robust inhabitants even as they engage inmurder, robbery, drunken brawls, and debauchery. Mo Yan has carried on this style. In Red Sorghum, the natives of Gaomi are all rough and boisterous bravehearts.What is usually regarded as uncivilized behavior?killing, robbery, adultery, and so on?all emanates poetic aura under his unrestrained pen. Both Shen Congwen's and Mo Yan's works have been regarded as national allegories. Shen's fictionchronicles theparallel historical experience of the Miao people ofwest Hunan going frompri meval isolation tobeing absorbed into thenational community and of China going from a dynastic empire to a modern nation-state. By moving back ward in history,Mo Yan is able to reinvent the national imaginary. Sandalwood Punishment, Big Breasts andWide Hips, Red Sorghum,LifeandDeath Are Wearing Me Out, and other novels encompass Learning fromPu Songling byMo Yan Three hundred // west ofmy home is a place called Zichuan. There, threehundred years ago, under a tallwillow tree in thePu Village, sat a gray-bearded old man. In frontofhim stood a small square tablewith a tea kettle, tea cups, tobacco, and pipes arrayed on the table top.Any thirsty orwearied pass erby could sitdown and help himself to a cup of tea or a smoke.While thevoyager was puffing away or sipping his tea, thegray-bearded man would say, "How about a tale?Anything will do: strange folks, bizarre events, ox demons, snake spirits.... Anything will do. Much obliged...." Although his hair was all silver gray and his face deeply furrowed,his eyes were as limpid as those of a three-year-old. Who would have theheart todisappoint such a host? Then of course there was the tobacco and the tea courtesy ofhim. Thus many a fantastic tale,perchance heard ormade up on the spot, became the rawmaterial of StrangeTalesfroma Chinese Studio.The gray-bearded old man was of course Pu Songling, a genius with a copper-coin-sized birthmarkunder his rightnipple. My great, great, great. . . grandfather was a horse dealer. Several times a year he would drive his *. flockof steeds throughPu Village by the tallwillow. He had drunk Pu Songling's tea, smoked Pu *, Songling's pipe, and naturally told stories toPu Songling as well. That storyabout a femalemouse ' V V spiritnamed Aqian inStrangeTales, forexample, was furnishedby none other thanmy ancestor. It is theonly story,of theover fourhundred stories in thecollection, that is set in my hometown, Gaomi. Aqian is such a cutemouse under thegrandmaster's writing brush. She is lovely and the fullrange ofmodern Chinese history: fromthe Boxer Uprising, Sino-Japanese War, land reform, collectivization, and the Cultural Revolution to reformand opening up. Mo Yan's fictioncarries greater historical depth than Shen Congwen's fiction, and his national imagination is heavier and more astringent, shedding Shen's passionate romanticism.Mo Yan laments the regress of the "race," the stagnation of society, and thepointless slaughter and strifethathave wasted theprimitive vitalityof thepeople ofGaomi. Inbearing witness to theunrealized promise of the modern nation, he comes closer to theLu Xun tradition. In comparison to both Shen Congwen and Lu Xun, Mo Yan has the advantages of a richer language and more sophisticated style. InOctober 2008 BeijingNormal University and the University of Oklahoma co-sponsored an international con ferenceunder the rubric "World Literature Today and China." The...