Mo Yan’s <i>Frog:</i> Rethinking Life as “<i>Wa”</i>
Mo Yan’s 2009 novel <i>Frog</i> (<i>Wā</i> 蛙) traces the dramatic career of a rural obstetrician who saves lives through modern medicine, forces vasectomies and abortions through her implementation of the one-child policy, supports her nephew’s black market surrogacy scheme,...
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2024-12-01
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| author | Todd Foley |
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| description | Mo Yan’s 2009 novel <i>Frog</i> (<i>Wā</i> 蛙) traces the dramatic career of a rural obstetrician who saves lives through modern medicine, forces vasectomies and abortions through her implementation of the one-child policy, supports her nephew’s black market surrogacy scheme, and finally ends up withdrawing into a spiritual state of atonement for her previous deeds. This article examines the relationship between human and animal in the novel, suggesting that the conceptual separation of these categories is intimately related to the various problems the novel depicts throughout Chinese modernity. By focusing on the critical possibilities offered by the novel’s title, <i>Wā</i> 蛙, as a homophone with both “baby” (<i>wá</i> 娃) and the “wa” of the mythical female progenitor Nüwa (娲<i>wā</i>), I suggest that Mo Yan offers a new concept of life, best referred to simply as <i>wa</i>, in response to certain crises of modernity. As an ambiguously generative reconceptualization of life, <i>wa</i> denies conventional and simplistic distinctions between human and animal while incorporating elements of spirituality and unknowability into an otherwise overly rationalized and monetized idea of the human. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b35a89f39b2145faa98d2528f684126e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2410-9789 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Literature |
| spelling | doaj-art-b35a89f39b2145faa98d2528f684126e2024-12-27T14:36:28ZengMDPI AGLiterature2410-97892024-12-014427629510.3390/literature4040020Mo Yan’s <i>Frog:</i> Rethinking Life as “<i>Wa”</i>Todd Foley0Department of East Asian Studies, New York University, New York, NY 10012, USAMo Yan’s 2009 novel <i>Frog</i> (<i>Wā</i> 蛙) traces the dramatic career of a rural obstetrician who saves lives through modern medicine, forces vasectomies and abortions through her implementation of the one-child policy, supports her nephew’s black market surrogacy scheme, and finally ends up withdrawing into a spiritual state of atonement for her previous deeds. This article examines the relationship between human and animal in the novel, suggesting that the conceptual separation of these categories is intimately related to the various problems the novel depicts throughout Chinese modernity. By focusing on the critical possibilities offered by the novel’s title, <i>Wā</i> 蛙, as a homophone with both “baby” (<i>wá</i> 娃) and the “wa” of the mythical female progenitor Nüwa (娲<i>wā</i>), I suggest that Mo Yan offers a new concept of life, best referred to simply as <i>wa</i>, in response to certain crises of modernity. As an ambiguously generative reconceptualization of life, <i>wa</i> denies conventional and simplistic distinctions between human and animal while incorporating elements of spirituality and unknowability into an otherwise overly rationalized and monetized idea of the human.https://www.mdpi.com/2410-9789/4/4/20Mo YanFroghuman and animalpostsocialismposthumanismlife |
| spellingShingle | Todd Foley Mo Yan’s <i>Frog:</i> Rethinking Life as “<i>Wa”</i> Literature Mo Yan Frog human and animal postsocialism posthumanism life |
| title | Mo Yan’s <i>Frog:</i> Rethinking Life as “<i>Wa”</i> |
| title_full | Mo Yan’s <i>Frog:</i> Rethinking Life as “<i>Wa”</i> |
| title_fullStr | Mo Yan’s <i>Frog:</i> Rethinking Life as “<i>Wa”</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mo Yan’s <i>Frog:</i> Rethinking Life as “<i>Wa”</i> |
| title_short | Mo Yan’s <i>Frog:</i> Rethinking Life as “<i>Wa”</i> |
| title_sort | mo yan s i frog i rethinking life as i wa i |
| topic | Mo Yan Frog human and animal postsocialism posthumanism life |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2410-9789/4/4/20 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT toddfoley moyansifrogirethinkinglifeasiwai |