Nobel laureate Mo Yan takes swipe at critics

STOCKHOLM (AFP) ― Chinese Nobel literature laureate Mo Yan on Friday took a swipe at his critics in the traditional Nobel lecture, saying their target “had nothing to do” with him and urging them to read his books.

The writer has walked a tightrope during his stay in Stockholm, where he will pick up the award on Monday, with some pundits supporting his own claims that he is “independent,” and others casting him as a Beijing stooge.

Mo Yan is the vice-chairman of the government-backed China Writers’ Association, and the country’s state-run media have hailed him as a national hero.

“The announcement of my Nobel Prize has led to controversy. At first I thought I was the target of the disputes, but over time I’ve come to realise that the real target was a person who had nothing to do with me,” he said on Friday.

The best way for a writer to speak was through his work, he argued, adding that everything he needed to say could be found there. “Speech is carried off by the wind; the written word can never be obliterated,” he told the audience.

He wrapped up the annual Nobel Lecture in Literature with a sarcastic comment seemingly aimed at his critics: “Many interesting things have happened to me in the wake of winning the prize and they have convinced me that truth and justice are alive and well.”

Elsewhere in the Swedish Academy reading, the Chinese writer honoured his illiterate mother, who held people who could read in high regard but who also worried that her son’s story-telling could land him in trouble.

“Talkative kids are not well thought of in our village, for they can bring trouble to themselves and to their families,” he said.

At a press conference on Thursday, the writer stood by his call for the release of jailed compatriot and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, but refused to elaborate on the issue.

“I have already issued my opinion about this matter,” he said, in response to questions from journalists.

The Chinese staged a black-out on coverage of human rights champion Liu’s 2010 Nobel win. He is still serving an 11-year prison sentence handed down on Christmas Day 2009 after leading a manifesto for democratic change called Charter 08.