Eyes of the world on Chinese novels

The sensation caused by Mo Yan winning the Nobel Prize in literature is one thing, what it means for Chinese literature and the writer himself is another.

Mo's win seems to have stimulated Chinese people's appetite for serious literature. But the enthusiasm is superficial, mostly out of curiosity and some organizations' pursuit of economic interests, and it will definitely fade.

Compared with the readership for popular magazines and the huge number of people who surf the Internet, the readership for serious literature has been declining over the past few decades, and sales of literature magazines and novels have continued to drop. Little wonder that many Chinese people did not know who Mo Yan was when it was announced he had won the literature Nobel.

This is because serious literature has less appeal to the majority of people. Despite publishers rushing to print Mo's novels, many readers will not delve into what is deep inside the stories. It is quite likely that many will not be absorbed in Mo's works, as they are not easy reads and require some effort on the part of the reader.

And claiming that his winning the prize means Chinese literature has gained recognition from the rest of the world, the Western world in particular, is ridiculous.

We can be proud of Mo, but there is no need for us to consider the Nobel as the sole benchmark for good literature. This is because Chinese literature has its own tradition and in some ways Chinese people see the world differently from their Western counterparts. Also the Chinese language has its own unique characteristics. How to translate Chinese novels into a foreign language without losing their essence and literary style is still a hard nut to crack. Cultural and language barriers have prevented readers in the West from really appreciating Chinese literature and that will continue to be the case.