Studies On Regional Folk Culture Revealed In Mo Yan’s Novel

Folk culture is closely linked to novel and decisive in moulding the style andnational characteristics of novel. Mo Yan’s conscious awareness of folklore hasaffected and restricted his novel theory and thinking of creation, and decided thefolk tendency of his novel. In his opinion, folk culture constitutes an importantcomponent of modern novel. As a result, he consciously described large numbers ofregional folk customs, which has endowed the novel profound cultural symbolism.By adopting folklore theories like contextual stratification, archetypal criticism and“symbol–explanation”, the paper intends to expand the research vision on MoYan’s novel from folk culture prospective, and explore the folk culture implicationand aesthetic value of Mo Yan’s novel.To have a deeper insight into the underlying folk aesthetic value and nationalspirit embodied in folk customs, Mo Yan has introduced varieties of folk beliefs andcustoms in his novel, vividly presenting the living conditions and fate of all kinds ofpeople restrained to folk customs. This has triggered us to ponder over traditionalculture, folk ethics and values, and the fate and future of peasants.Firstly, Mo Yan has introduced diversified folk customs on marriage, for example,the traditional view of man superior to woman, marriage exchange, ghost marriageand uxorilocal marriage. These marriage patterns have seriously harmed themajority of women, both physically and mentally. Although Mo Yan has mouldedseveral rebel women, who have broken the restriction of the feudal marriagecustoms and sought for independence and freedom in love and marriage, still themajority of women still failed to break away from the restriction of traditionalmarriage customs and ended up with tragic life.Secondly, Mo Yan’s novel also described fertility customs. On the one hand, MoYan’s description of people’s worship to female breast, male and femalereproductive organs and reproductive totem has revealed human beings’ worship toexuberant fertility and life force; On the other hand, the view of man superior towoman not only has regarded women the tool for procreation, imposing muchphysical and mental suffering to them, also shaped a tragic fate and ending for the women.Thirdly, the mysterious culture of ghosts and gods also appeared in Mo Yan’snovel. By description of human’s worship to all kinds of gods, and their belief insoul infused in body and reincarnations, Mo Yan has achieved his intention ofsatirizing the reality. He described the comparison and conflict between humansand gods, and political reality and supernatural beliefs to display complicatedhuman nature and profound social themes. Red sorghum, Mao Opera, Dai Fenglian,Shangguan Lushi, Sun Bing and other characters created in his novel have giveneternal spiritual impetus to struggling and progress of the people living in NortheastTownship of Gaomi. Lying beneath the surface of culture of ghosts and gods are thetenacious life force of humans and the great human spirit we have sensed from hisnovel.