Journal of Northeastern University(Social Science) ›› 2023, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (4): 137-143.DOI: 10.15936/j.cnki.1008-3758.2023.04.015

• Linguistics and Literature • Previous Articles     Next Articles

On the Transmission of the Literariness of Mo Yan's Works from the Perspective of World Literature

SHAO Lu, YU Yajing   

  1. (School of Foreign Languages, SunYat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China)
  • Published:2023-08-15
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Abstract: Mo Yan's work has been selected in The Norton Anthology of World Literature, and has entered the world literature. However, the academic circle overemphasized the external factors such as economy, politics and the symbolic capital of the Nobel Prize, and ignored the intrinsic literary value of Mo Yan's works. This paper explores the literary journey of Mo Yan's works in world literature from two aspects, i.e. the localization and the translation of literariness in his works. From the author's perspective, Mo Yan borrows from foreign literature the writing technique and narrative style, and takes root in Chinese context. His works have special literary significance. From the perspective of the translator, Howard Goldblatt not only pays attention to the transmission of literariness, but also improves the aesthetic value of the translation by adding literary elements, such as rhymes, images and metaphors, etc. Whether Chinese literature can go to the world and become world literature, it involves two procedures-bringing in and going out, which are influenced respectively by the author and the translator. Among them, the accurate transmission of literariness is the decisive factor.

Key words: world literature; literariness; Mo Yan; Red Sorghum; Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out

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