Research on Nobel Literature Prize winner Yan Mo’s Transformations of Writing Styles from the Perspective of Magical Realism

Abstract

Yan Mo, China’s first Nobel Prize winner for literature, has largely experienced two transformations of writing styles. However, magical realism has always been the main characteristics of his writing creation. During the first period ( between the year 1981 to the time he studied in PLA Academy of Arts) , he concentrated chiefly on his daily life in the army and his writing style was soft and fresh. Then using bold brushstrokes and unique perspectives, he turned to depict the colorful stories of numerous characters in his hometown with magical realism and rich imagination, leading him all the way to his winning of the Nobel Prize for literature in 2012. After experiencing about five years of creative silence, Yan Mo experienced another creative transformation from novels to dramas with the publication of the drama Crocodile as a representative. Dramas are significant components of Yan Mo’s literary works, but most people only attach great importance to Yan Mo’s researches on magical realism in his novels. Fewer people do researches about his dramas, with even fewer researchers making comparison between Yan Mo’s Transformation of Writing styles. So this article is to use the textual analysis to explore the factors that account for his use of magical realism in the two transformations and analyze the inheritances and developments in his writing Characteristics of magical realism in the two stages. In a word, there are four purposes for this paper : (1) to explore the development of magical realism in Yan Mo’s literary creation and the contributing factors. (2) to explore the transformations of magical realism before Yan Mo won the Nobel Prize for literature and its Unique characteristics. (3) to explore the differences of the use of magical Realism after he won the Noble Prize for literature in 2012. (4) to explore the reasons for Yan Mo’s transformation and conclude the research gap.