Chinese author Mo Yan today won the Nobel Literature Prize for writing that mixes folk tales, history and the contemporary, the Swedish Academy announced.
Nobel Literature Prize:诺贝尔文学奖(Nobel Prize in Literature)
"Through a mixture of fantasy and reality, historical and social perspectives, Mo Yan has created a world reminiscent in its complexity of those in the writings of William Faulkner and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, at the same time finding a departure point in old Chinese literature and in oral tradition," the Swedish Academy said.
Yan was born in 1955, "with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary," the jury said.
Mo Yan has published novels, short stories and essays on various topics, and despite his social criticism is seen in his homeland as one of the foremost contemporary authors, the Nobel committee noted.
social criticism:社会批判
The 57-year-old, whose real name is Guan Moye, is perhaps best-known abroad for his 1987 novella "Red Sorghum", a tale of the brutal violence that plagued the eastern China countryside - where he grew up - during the 1920s and 30s.
Red Sorghum:《红高粱》
The story was later made into an acclaimed film by leading Chinese director Zhang Yimou.
In a style that has been compared to the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mo Yan authored other acclaimed works including "Big Breasts and Wide Hips", "Republic of Wine" and "Life and Death are Wearing Me Out".
Gabriel Garcia Marquez:加夫列尔·加西亚·马尔克斯(哥伦比亚作家,1982年诺奖得主)
Big Breasts and Wide Hips:《丰乳肥臀》
Republic of Wine:《酒国》
Life and Death are Wearing Me Out:《生死疲劳》(三本都是莫言的代表作)
His latest novel, 2009's "Frog", is considered his most daring yet, due to its searing depiction of China's "one child" population control policy and the local officials who ruthlessly implement it with forced abortions and sterilisations.
Frog:《蛙》(莫言代表作)
The heroine of the novel is a midwife who is an enthusiastic advocate of such practices.
But she later breaks down in remorse after a drunken hallucination in which she is attacked by thousands of frogs whose croaks are the wails of the babies she hasaborted.
break down:失败
Despite such content, Mo Yan has so far deftly managed to avoid running into serious trouble with Communist authorities.
This has been aided by his position as vice chairman of the state-sanctioned Chinese Writers Association.
state-sanctioned:国家批准的
Chinese Writers Association:中国作家协会
Though Mo is the first Chinese national to win the Nobel literature prize, he's not the first Chinese.
Chinese national:中国公民
A Chinese emigre to France, Gao Xingjian, won in 2000 for his absurdist dramas and inventive fiction, especially the novel Soul Mountain. His works are laced with criticisms of China's communist government and have been banned in China.