4: Noisy Fame and the Dynamics of Art and Power

As media ecologies evolve, many hope that the Party’s imperfect control over the pluralistic cyberspace opens space for civil engagement. Yet, paradoxically, the limits of Internet discourse may muffle literature’s voice and contribute to authoritarian dominance. How much space remains for literature’s witness?

How can scholar-critics advocate for literature’s unique powers and aspirations? In the context of shifting economies of attention, this talk explores the interplay of cultural work, political interests and market pressures. As a case study I look at Mo Yan’s celebrity, for better and for worse. I consider his fortunes before his 2012 Nobel Prize, after the Prize, during his 2015-2018 term on the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), after his stepping down, and now as he falls victim to online criticism and official displeasure.

Upon winning the 2012 Prize, Mo Yan became a scapegoat for the sins of the regime in which he must survive. He also became a target of domestic critics who interpret his works as critical of that same regime. At the time, I and others analyzed the Realpolitik of Mo Yan’s fiction in terms of its subtle negotiation of the grey zone in which the government tolerates camouflaged historical witness.

Now even more than then, focus on the politics surrounding Mo Yan the man distracts from attention to his fiction’s power. What are his critics and his supporters saying now, and why?