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The Scent of Garlic: China Postmodernism and Mo Yan
In spite of the fact that postmodernism in China, like every influence coming from the West turns into something completely inimitable and unique, the art of Chinese authors can be still understood by the European dwellers. Among the issues which modern Chinese writers touch upon the one concerning the political life of the country takes one of the key places.
Since expressing direct critique is not the Chinese refined style, Mo Yan, one of the most prolific modern – or should it be said, postmodern? – writer uses the most refined and exquisite style of metaphors. As Jensen explains, “Interfamily struggles and intrigues, involving complex and sensitive historical and political issues, lend the novel an allegorical quality” (166).
Putting his ideas into his characters and making them speak the way he does and think the way he thinks, the Chinese author creates the world of his own where there are no boundaries for people’s will, the specific “’my’ world” (122), as Lu says.
Exploring the political issues is one of those spheres where Mo Yan is most brilliant. With the most subtle hints and the most picturesque descriptions he exposes the life of the ordinary people to the eyes of the audience, making the readers live in China fro a while.
Thus, plunging into the fascinating, wise and enticing stories, one can touch upon the versatile and yet so conservative Chinese culture. Cai explains this in the following way: “the post-Mao move toward modernity has also been designed and implemented under an acute awareness of the need to position china in an increasingly globalized environment” (154).
However, like a real wise man, Mo does not speak his ideas in the novel, leaving this complicated issue to his characters. And they do talk, in an impressive and convincing way. Yet there is quite an important question: whom should the reader listen to?
The Faces of the Author
No matter what one can read between the lines of a novel, the author will never reveal his/her true face to the reader. However, trying to draw certain parallels between the lead characters of the book and the author him-/herself, it could be possible to come to certain conclusion. Thus, it would be better to consider the ideas which the works of Mo Yan are shot through with.
What Mo Yan was trying to convey in his book was the desperate state of Chinese peasants in the so-called Paradise County. His heart was aching for the country stamped into dirt straight after its short revival. With great pain for the results of the situation in China, he managed to express his sorrow through the novel. However, Mo Yan did not accuse either of the parties. Like a wise man should do, he only observed what was going on. Not able to speak out loud, he created the characters who could speak the truth louder than anyone else.
Thus, Sollars comments on the works of Mo Yan in the following way:
In Mo Yan’s The Garlic Ballads, the rural world is moved to China in the 1980s. Set in the fictional Paradise County in northern China, the novel relates the stories of Gao Yang and Gao Ma, two peasants participating in a riot of the garlic farmers. (533)
Pointing that Yan is greatly concerned with the political situation in China and its tragic past, Sollars gives a hint to understanding which character speaks the words of Mo Yan.
It is obvious that the character whom Mo Yan has chosen as the herald of the author’s own opinion is supposed to be a person of certain social position concerning the politics of the Chinese “the powers that be”, with the soul of a rebel and with the eyes of a wise man. Contrasting to the typical Shifu who will “do anything for a lunch” (Yan 50), these self-assured little people have great power and even greater influence.
It seems that Mo Yan has added a piece of his own ideas into each of the characters – otherwise his novel would not have been so impressive and convincing. One of the characters who could convey Mo Yan’s ideas was the lawyer. The author’s idea of justice for China and lenience to the politicians who led China to its decay was perfectly demonstrated by the lawyer and his position towards the chaos in China.
Another character who could impersonate Mo Yan and speak his ideas was the Storyteller. Old and wise, the man merely observes the situation, the people and the results of their actions, and keeps the story for the descendants. As Yang said, “Mo Yan has never persisted in the ideal of root seeking” (207).
Yet it seems that the one and only character who could embody the ideas of the author was the blind minstrel. It is a peculiar detail that Mo Yan’s pen name is translated as “Don’t speak”. Mo Yan cannot speak openly about his ideas; likewise, the minstrel cannot see what is going on. Yet both of them know how to make the situation change, and they change it. The minstrel convinces people to create a riot, which drives them to even worse condition than they used to be.
Conclusion
Because of his concern for the country and its citizen, Mo Yan cannot keep silence, yet knowing that bald accusations would be of no use, he makes the characters of his novels speak on his behalf. With such simple and yet efficient way of making people listen to his reasons, the author can afford being as sincere as possible.
Choosing different characters with various backgrounds, Mo Yan can make readers see the versatility of the aspects which he discusses. Proving his geniality, Mo Yan revives the old stories and makes his characters completely alive.
Works Cited
Cai, Rong. The Subject in Crisis in Contemporary Chinese Literature. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 2004. Print.
Jensen, Lionel M., Timothy B. Weston. China’s Transformations: The Stories Beyond the Headlines. Lahlam, MD: Rowman&Littlefield, 2007. Print.
Lu, Tonglin. Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Chinese Literature and Society. New York, NY: SUNY Press, 1993. Print.
Sollars, Michael D. The Facts on File Companion to the World Novel, 1900 to the Present. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing, 2008. Print.
Yan, Mo. Shifu, You’ll Do Anything for a Laugh. New York, NY: Arcade Publishing, 2003. Print.
Yang, Xiaobin. The Chinese Postmodern: Trauma and Irony in Chinese Avant-Garde Fiction. Ann Atbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2002. Print.
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