CULTURAL NOSTALGIA IN MO YAN’S A LATE BLOOMER
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55197/qjssh.v5i6.516Keywords:
Mo Yan, A Late Bloomer, nostalgia, memory, amnesiaAbstract
This paper explores how nostalgic feeling is present in A Late Bloomer, by Chinese novelist Mo Yan. A Late Bloomer evokes a sense of nostalgia of the past. In the face of the rapid development of rural China, Mo Yan makes a nostalgic narration in the work. Mo Yan’s work vividly depicts Northeast Gaomi Township, blending its physicality with mythic and historical dimensions. This space serves as a cultural microcosm, reflecting tensions between tradition and modernity, rural and urban. His ability to use this setting as a narrative kaleidoscope allows for a cultural reinterpretation of Chinese culture and history. Nostalgia often operates as a tool of narrative tension in Mo Yan’s fiction. His protagonists frequently experience a push-pull dynamic, torn between their memories and the harsh realities of the present. This reflects broader cultural anxieties about modernization and the erosion of traditional values. Andreas Huyssen analyzes the characteristics of culture memory, and examines how modern technological advancements and culture shifts contribute to a sense of temporal dislocation and memory loss. He discusses the pervasive of cultural amnesia as we approach the end of the 20th century. This paper uses the concept of cultural amnesia to analyze the reason why Mo Yan is nostalgic. This paper discusses how nostalgic plot is constituted in the work, and how Mo Yan deals with remembering and forgetting. It focuses on the setting and characters that capture the comparison between the past and the present.
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