Mo Yan’s Reception in China and a Reflection on the Postcolonial Discourse

Abstract

In his article "Mo Yan's Reception in China and a Reflection on the Postcolonial Discourse" Binghui Song argue that the controversial style and themes of Mo Yan's works are necessitated by the interconnected yet different contexts of China and the rest of the world, only by means of which Mo Yan can let his voice be heard. As one of the most excellent and unique contemporary Chinese writers, Mo Yan has exerted extensive influence on Chinese readers, and his works have also caused various controversies over the past 30 years. His winning of the Nobel Prize in Literature, rather than ending such controversies, has only intensified the disputes centering around his works. It is this paper's contention that a critique of Mo Yan's work as distortion and condemnation of the image of China catering to the Western stereotypes is but a product of postcolonial theory misplaced in the Chinese context, which represents a Western cultural neo-colonialism, as well as a narrow-minded interpretation veiling the uniqueness of Mo Yan's creativity.