Chinese Government Very Pleased With Mo Yan's Nobel Prize In Literature

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The Chinese government’s quest to win international prizes has been an admitted fact for years. From Olympic gold medals to honors in scientific achievement, money, time and resources have been poured into such goals for decades. Twelve years ago, Chinese-born writer Gao Xingjian won the Nobel Prize for literature, but as a French national not on the best of terms with his government, the award wasn’t recognized by China. Mo Yan’s victory won’t have any such hurdles.

The author, best known for his work Red Sorghum, was announced this morning as the 2012 Nobel Prize winner for literature. In a brash and ridiculous rewriting of history, the Chinese government released a statement today congratulating him for being the first Chinese citizen to take home the honor. According to The Los Angeles Times, Mo Yan has occasionally had a contentious relationship with the powers that be in China, but in recent years, it has dramatically improved. He’s attended state functions and altered his writing some to work around the country’s censorship guidelines.

Many Chinese citizens living abroad have already released statements bashing the Nobel committee’s decision, but books with a political slant aren’t necessarily better. Words can be beautiful whether written by someone who is openly critical of communism or not.

Pop Blend’s congratulations go out to Mo Yan. Here’s to hoping he celebrates with all the joy in the world tonight.

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.