| Chapter : | Introduction: Hunger and Loneliness: Mo Yan’s Muses in Becoming a Writer |
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own words, and he himself, “was of course the sovereign of this republic” (
).21 This literary kingdom, rich in symbolic significance and therefore more than a geographical locale, signifies a landmark in his writing career and provides readers of contemporary Chinese literature with a vast imaginative space.
David Der-wei Wang (
) believes that “Mo Yan … provide[s] the most important historical space in contemporary Mainland Chinese fiction.”22 Wang goes on to define his notion of “historical space” and to explain its importance in Mo Yan’s fictional universe:
In fact, the terms “historical space” and “historical imagination” are appropriate not only for Mo Yan’s “root-seeking” stories but for his other works as well, if the idea of history is to be treated in a broad sense. The following discussion shows that “another time and space” always exist in Mo Yan’s narration, a trait of dialectical narrativity.
Chinese literature underwent a tremendous shift in the early twentieth century with the milestone of the May Fourth Movement. Many important writers emerged from the movement, each with his or her own distinct