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  4. Multispecies Soundscape in Mo Yan’s Red Sorghum

Multispecies Soundscape in Mo Yan’s Red Sorghum

Qianqian Chen: Hunan University,
Joan Qionglin Tan: Shanghai University of Finance and Economics

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.13185/KK2023.004201

Abstract

Red Sorghum, the masterpiece of Mo Yan, the winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature, is an exemplar of the Chinese root-seeking literature in the 1980s. Comparing the red sorghum field to an auditory field accommodating diversified species, the article unveils that its multispecies soundscape is characterized by its animated liveliness, tumultuous polyphony, and acoustic harmony between sound and silence. By delving into the historical and cultural context of the novel, as well as Mo’s personal background, this paper concludes that the clamorous multispecies soundscape in the red sorghum field can be attributed to Chinese ancient ecological philosophy, Gaomi people’s egalitarian spirit, and the writer’s animistic view. Moreover, it also contends that the writer gives high praise to Gaomi Township and Gaomi people, and calls for the existence, freedom, and equality of all life forms.

Keywords

auditory field, Chinese root-seeking literature, Mo Yan, multispecies soundscape, Red Sorghum

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10.13185/KK2023.004201

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Kritika Kultura
Department of English
School of Humanities
Ateneo de Manila University

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International Board of Editors

Jan Baetens
Professor
Faculty of Arts
Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven (Belgium)

Joel David
Professor of Cultural Studies
Inha University (South Korea)

Michael Denning
Professor of American Studies and English
Department of English
Yale University (US)

Faruk
Faculty of Cultural Sciences
Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia)

Regenia Gagnier
Professor of English
University of Exeter (UK)

Leela Gandhi
John Hawkes Professor of the Humanities and English
Brown University (US)

Inderpal Grewal
Professor of Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies
Professor of South Asian Studies, Ethnicity, Race and Migration Studies
Yale University (US)

Peter Horn
Professor Emeritus and Honorary Lifetime Fellow
University of Cape Town (South Africa)
Honorary Professor and Research Associate in German Studies
University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)

Anette Horn
Professor of German Studies
University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)

David Lloyd
Distinguished Professor of English
University of California, Riverside (US)

Bienvenido Lumbera
National Artist for Literature
Professor Emeritus
University of the Philippines

Rajeev S. Patke
Director of the Division of Humanities
Professor of Humanities
Yale NUS College (Singapore)

Vicente L. Rafael
Giovanni and Amne Costigan Endowed Professor of History
University of Washington (US)

Vaidehi Ramanathan
Department of Linguistics
University of California, Davis (US)

Temario Rivera
Professorial Lecturer
Department of Political Science
University of the Philippines

E. San Juan, Jr.
Philippines Studies Center (US)

Neferti X.M. Tadiar
Professor of Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies
Barnard College (US)
Director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race
Columbia University (US)

Antony Tatlow
Honorary Professor of Drama
Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)

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