Change
A personal exploration of China's social transformations
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Seagull Books London Ltd
Published:23rd Oct '12
Should be back in stock very soon
This novella offers a unique perspective on recent political and social changes in China, focusing on the everyday lives of its citizens. Change is a compelling exploration.
In Change, Mo Yan, the 2012 Nobel Laureate in Literature, offers a unique perspective on the political and social transformations in China over recent decades. This novella, which blurs the lines between autobiography and fiction, presents a narrative that diverges from traditional historical accounts. Instead of focusing solely on major political events, Mo Yan emphasizes the experiences of ordinary people, providing a 'people's history' that reveals the impact of significant changes on daily life.
The structure of Change is notable for its non-linear approach, as it shifts between different time periods and highlights small, seemingly mundane events. This technique allows readers to see the profound effects of larger societal changes on the lives of individuals. Through the lens of everyday experiences, Mo Yan breathes life into historical narratives, illustrating how monumental events resonate within the personal lives of citizens.
By centering on the voices of common people, Change challenges conventional historical storytelling and invites readers to engage with the complexities of modern Chinese history. Mo Yan's work serves as a reminder that history is not just a series of events but a tapestry woven from the lives of those who live through it, making it accessible and relatable to a broader audience.
"In his novels and short stories, Mr. Mo paints sprawling, intricate portraits of Chinese rural life, often using flights of fancy-animal narrators, elements of fairy tales-that evoke the lyrical techniques of South American magical realists." -New York Times "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."-Nobel Committee for Literature "If China has a Kafka, it may be Mo Yan. Like Kafka, Yan has the ability to examine his society through a variety of lenses, creating fanciful, Metamorphosis-like transformations or evoking the numbing bureaucracy and casual cruelty of modern governments."-Publishers Weekly"
ISBN: 9780857421609
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
118 pages