Modern Chinese Fiction

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Modern Chinese Fiction

1Baia
des. 12, 2009, 9:48 pm

What are the quintessential authors of chinese culture today?
don't exclude hong kong & taiwan.

2quartzite
des. 13, 2009, 3:01 am

3rebeccanyc
Editat: des. 22, 2009, 11:06 am

Within the past two years, I've read books by Mo Yan (Life and Death are Wearing Me Out), Yan Lianke (Serve the People!) and Rong Jiang (Wolf Totem), all in English translation. I have no idea how these authors stand in the opinion of other Chinese writers and readers.

4brianjungwi
des. 19, 2009, 1:14 am

I'm about finsiehd with I love Dollars and Other Stories of China by Zhu Wen. It's a bit differnt than other chinese authors i've read, i'd recommend it.

I also like the works of Ma Jian

5goyanaut
Editat: des. 22, 2009, 10:44 am

Quintessential are definitley:Mo Yan(Country of Wine; Red Sorghum), Jia Pingwa (really just about any book of his - I'm not quite sure which books have been translated up until now), Yu Hua (Xu Sanguan sells his blood; Brothers; Living). Ge Fei (I think there are only shortstories of his in translation), Han Shaogong (A Dictionary of Maqiao), Can Xue, Wang Anyi (The Song of Everlasting Sorrow).
These authors can be considered just the tip of the iceberg of the extensive but largely unread/unknown contemporary Chinese literature. Enjoy reading!

6brianjungwi
des. 22, 2009, 11:57 am

5: Thanks for the recommendations!

7amaranthic
feb. 5, 2010, 4:13 am

>5 goyanaut:

Wow, I had no idea that so much of Can Xue had been translated into English! A year or two ago, I heard her speak (she's really awkward in person) and became interested in her work, but I've had to fumble through the original text to get my taste. I haven't looked at the book I own for ages, but I remember being really fascinated by the style of her writing, which I thought stood in sharp contrast with most other contemporary Chinese authors I've read. Tried to ask her about it but she snapped at me...

Anyway, thanks for the recommendations, all; I'm looking forward to reading these, whether in translation or otherwise.

8edwinbcn
maig 5, 2012, 9:41 pm

025. One man's bible
Finished reading: 7 February 2012



The Cultural Revolution was a 10-year long, horrific period in China's modern history. To Western readers of One man's bible by Gao Xingjian, a Chinese writer who has now settled in France, the almost incredible descriptions of the struggles during that period will impress them most. Details about, for instance, the Jinggangshan group at Tsinghua University are outragious and not usually known to the general readership, as they are largely omitted from films and history books. Historical landmark events mentioned throughout the book track the progress in time through this dark period.

It is tempting to assume that the unnamed main character is the book, who is also a writer, stands for the author, but this is not logical. The novel is a work of fiction, and the main character would be several years younger than the author would have been at that time. The sense of distance is enhanced by the use of the second and third person singular throughout the narrative.

Some readers have expressed discontent about the title of the novel, One man's bible. They suggest One Man's Testament would be more appropriate. However, by using the word "testament" would shift the focus to the events of the Cultural Revolution is the book, which is clearly not what the author has in mind. The Cultural Revolution should not be in the foreground of the story, but in the background: Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution alone could not be blamed. He himself was also to blame, although this could not compensate her for her lost youth.. The context of this quote is his divorce from Qian -- the woman he took because she was available.

The Cultural Revolution in the background, what is in the foreground, and partly the blame of the CR, is the writer's yearning for the freedom to write, and the freedom to fuck around. Rationing and restrictions did not only apply to rights, food, goods, but also to social relations, access to women in particular.

The sexual freedom the main character experiences in the village, learning from the peasants, an unmoderated expression of vulgarities, incest and rape, is not exactly what he seeks, but it is "liberating." He marries Qian there, but is soon deserted by her, as his eyes and heart wander to other girls and women in the village.

Lin, Xu Qian, Maomei, Xiaoxiao, Martina, Silvie, Linda, Margarethe; they do not all have names, sometimes it is merely a French filly.

You are filled with gratitude to women, and it is not just lust. You seek them, but they do not necessarily want to give themselves to you. You are insatiable, but it's impossible for you to have them all. God did not give them to you, and you don't have to thank God, but, finally, you do feel a sort of universal gratitude. p.448

and

While he could not find a way out, by seizing these beautiful specks of feeling, he was able to avoid spiritual collapse. p.447

The words 圣经 (shengjing) in the original Chinese title, 一个人的圣经, may refer to the Bible or the Confucian Classics. They are not a testament, but guides to avoid spiritual collapse.

9edwinbcn
maig 5, 2012, 9:42 pm

I was positively surprised about One Man's Bible myself. When I started reading it, I was not so sure what to expect. Part of that apprehension had to do with the fact that the book is banned in China. But the censorship criteria are not clear. Probably it is banned because it is very explicit and very accurate about the Cultural Revolution.

On the other hand, you cannot win a Nobel Prize purely on a soppy story about the CR. Gao Xingjian's work is controversial in the Chinese language community. Stories about the CR are not in themselves interesting to Chinese readers. Millions of people, especially intellectuals, have the same experience, and many of them are even nostalgic about parts of that period, especially the "Down to the Countryside Movement." Ironically, many of them will admit they learnt an important lesson from is, albeit a very hard lesson. In fact, it laid the basis for a great deal of solidarity which shaped social relations in recent China, a solidarity which is now eroding under neo-liberalism, with the gap between rich and poor widening.

But they also learnt more, there. People in the countryside had preserved age-old Chinese (folk) culture, more primitive strands of religion and they stood much closer to nature. I think Chairman Mao's objective was to create the former experience, but he probably did not envisage the second, especially the up-close experience with nature.

That experience is a not very pronounced part of One Man's Bible, although the quotation I gave there (While he could not find a way out, by seizing these beautiful specks of feeling, he was able to avoid spiritual collapse. p.447) (emphasis added), refers to that.

Wolf Totem, which I haven't read yet, is apparently an exponent of that new, ecological writing. I expect Soul Mountain also to dwell more on that line.

I cannot (yet) read such novels in Chinese, but have read that Chinese intellectuals, especially celebrate the work of Gao Xingjian for its literary qualities and use of the Chinese language.
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10rebeccanyc
maig 6, 2012, 11:21 am

Interesting review. You mention Wolf Totem, and I read it a few years ago. I thought it created a wonderful sense of place but was too obvious and too didactic in its ecological and political message, and perhaps a little too romanticized about the Mongolians.

11mvblair
ag. 10, 2020, 3:00 pm

I'm awfully late to this conversation, but I am a big fan of Yan Lianke. I have read many of his books and enjoyed all of them. Dream of Ding Village is perhaps my favorite. Most of his books are allegorical, but they are founded on tragic times or events in recent Chinese history. A lot of his work is banned in mainland China. Not knowing Chinese, I'm very appreciative of the publishers and translators for bringing his work overseas.

I've also liked a few books by Ha Jin. I enjoyed his short story collection Ocean of Words.

Chinese science fiction has gotten a lot of attention recently thanks mostly to the hard work of translator Ken Liu. I don't know the first thing about him, but he has translated scores of short stories and novels. I read Folding Beijing (which Liu translated) and enjoyed it because the class system it portrays is plausible. I also liked The Three-Body Problem.