Beijing - Beijing - page 452

Wang's stories - dark, sometimes fantastic and taking jabs at just about every aspect of
contemporary Chinese society - are notable for their inventive use of Běijīng slang; his
style is similar to the way the Scottish author Irvine Welsh uses the Edinburgh vernacular
in novels such as Trainspotting . But Wang's unrelenting satirical assault has not endeared
him to the Chinese authorities, who see him as a 'spiritual pollutant'.
One of Wang's most contentious novels, Please Don't Call Me Human, first published
in 1989, was written after the Tiān'ānmén Square democracy protests and provides a
mocking look at the failures of China's state security system. Wang's works appeal to a
broad spectrum of Chinese society, despite being banned. He has written over 20 books as
well as screenplays for TV and film. Books available in English include Playing for
Thrills (2000) and Please Don't Call Me Human (1998).
Like Wang, Yu Hua grew up during the Cultural Revolution and that experience is
filtered through all his work. Yu too, uses extreme situations and humour, and often viol-
ence, to illustrate his essentially absurd vision of modern-day China. But unlike Wang,
Yu's novels are vast, sweeping affairs that cover decades. To Live (1992) follows the
tribulations of one family from the founding of the new China through the Cultural Re-
volution.
Its impact overseas helped turn Yu into a global literary star and his subsequent novels
Chronicle of a Blood Merchant (1995), which moves from the 1950s to the 1980s, and
Brothers (2005), a vicious, dark satire on the rush for riches that has characterised the last
two decades in China, are both available in English translation.
Mo Yan (real name Guan Moye: 'Mo Yan' is a pen-name that means 'don't speak' in
Mandarin) has become a worldwide literary star since winning the Nobel Prize for Literat-
ure in 2012. His short stories and novels are less pitiless and abrasive than that of Yu Hua
and Wang Shuo and, like the great Lu Xun, are essentially social commentary. Most of his
work is available in English. The short story collection Shifu: You'll Do Anything for a
Laugh (2002) provides a great introduction to his writing.
By far the biggest literary hit of recent years has been Jiang Rong's Wolf Totem (2004),
which received widespread exposure in the West after being published in English in 2008,
with a Howard Goldblatt translation. Set in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, it's a lyrical,
semi-autobiographical tale of a young Běijīng student 'sent down' to live among Mongo-
lian nomads during the Cultural Revolution and the contrasts between their lives and the
one he has left behind.
The advent of the internet has spawned a whole new generation of young writers who
have sprung to fame by first publishing their work online. Now, legions of wannabe au-
thors are posting their short stories, novels and poetry on websites. At the same time, the