Τους έχουμε κι εμείς τους κάρφους, απωανατολίτικους πάλι, γιαπωνέζικους όμως: the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
The house that stuck out gets battered down. Το σπίτι που έστεκε στο δρόμο σαν καλαμιά στον κάμπο το γκρέμισε η φαγάνα.
Την ίδια ώρα, στην Κίνα...
- Thread starter Costas
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The house that stuck out gets battered down. Το σπίτι που έστεκε στο δρόμο σαν καλαμιά στον κάμπο το γκρέμισε η φαγάνα.
Μια ενδιαφέρουσα σπονδυλωτή ταινία του 2005 για τον HIV, που στο ένα από τα τρία μέρη της ασχολείται με αυτό ακριβώς το θέμα της αιμοδοσίας επί πληρωμή στην Κίνα μέσω της οποίας μεταδίδεται ο ιός: Three Needles.
Ναι, η πλοκή των τριών ιστοριών παρουσιάζεται κάπως αποσπασματικά και δεν αναπτύσσεται όπως θα μπορούσε, ώστε να δοθεί προτεραιότητα στο θέμα του AIDS και το μήνυμα (όπως λένε οι κριτικές), ωστόσο αυτή η ελλειπτικότητα δεν με ενόχλησε καθόλου και πιστεύω ότι αξίζει μια θέαση, έστω και μόνο για την υπέροχη φωτογραφία - βοηθάνε πολύ και τα απέραντα, μαγευτικά τοπία στην Αφρική και την Κίνα - και τις πολύ καλές ερμηνείες. Πολύ βαρύ το θέμα, η ταινία όμως δεν πλακώνει τον θεατή όπως θα ήταν ίσως αναμενόμενο ούτε γίνεται διδακτική, αλλά τον αφυπνίζει.
Περίληψη της μιας από τις τρεις ιστορίες, της κινεζικής, από τον ιστότοπο της ταινίας:
In CHINA,
When Jin Ping [στδ. Λούσι Λιου] sets up her mobile blood collection service in the tiny village of Tonghu, the local peasants rejoice and prosper. But one farmer, Tong Sam, is barred from selling his blood because he has the flu, so he lies about his little daughter’s age so she can sell blood twice a month in his stead. Sam uses the money to improve his humble farm, to plant more rice and buy an ox for plowing. But by the time his abundant crop is ready for harvesting, his wife and daughter are both mysteriously dead. Sam sets out on a journey across the province to find out why, but receives little interest from the government. He returns to find his entire village overwhelmed with disease, and Jin Ping’s blood collection business disappeared into thin air.
και από τη Wikipedia:
In rural China, a heavily pregnant Jin Ping is caught by Chinese military men with crates of black market blood in her van. The blood is destroyed and she is subsequently gang raped. Jin Ping is then shown visiting a village and convincing the inhabitants to give blood for $5 each. They all agree, except Tong Sam, a rice farmer, as he is unable to give blood as he is sick. However, as Jin Ping's equipment is not safe, most of the people in the village contract HIV and die of AIDS, including Tong Sam's family. The military men led by Xuan arrive in the village to help with the disease, and they help Tong Sam grow rice, which he then gives out to his remaining neighbors. Government officials arrive in the town to test people for AIDS, but the testing is $10 per person, which one neighbor thinks is a scam because it "cost $5 when she gave me the virus."
και το τρέιλερ:
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Ο ανιψιός του Chen Guangcheng, Chen Kegui (βλ. #336), καταδικάστηκε σε 3 χρόνια φυλακή. (BBC)
Επίσης, αίσθηση προκάλεσε η είδηση που δημοσιεύτηκε σε πολλές εφημερίδες, ακόμα και κομματικές, ότι 10 άτομα καταδικάστηκαν για παράνομη σύλληψη και κράτηση αιτούντων θεραπεία σε μιαν από τις λεγόμενες "μαύρες φυλακές" (μαύρες με την έννοια ότι δεν είναι δηλωμένες, άρα δεν ισχύουν οι όποιες εγγυήσεις του Ποινικού Κώδικα). Η είδηση (ΝΥΤ), που θεωρήθηκε ορόσημο από τους αγωνιστές των δικαιωμάτων του πολίτη και τους νομικούς, στη συνέχεια διαψεύστηκε από το δικαστήριο (Global Times). Μυστήριο!
Επίσης, αίσθηση προκάλεσε η είδηση που δημοσιεύτηκε σε πολλές εφημερίδες, ακόμα και κομματικές, ότι 10 άτομα καταδικάστηκαν για παράνομη σύλληψη και κράτηση αιτούντων θεραπεία σε μιαν από τις λεγόμενες "μαύρες φυλακές" (μαύρες με την έννοια ότι δεν είναι δηλωμένες, άρα δεν ισχύουν οι όποιες εγγυήσεις του Ποινικού Κώδικα). Η είδηση (ΝΥΤ), που θεωρήθηκε ορόσημο από τους αγωνιστές των δικαιωμάτων του πολίτη και τους νομικούς, στη συνέχεια διαψεύστηκε από το δικαστήριο (Global Times). Μυστήριο!
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Όπως έλεγε (#375) ο βιογράφος του Λίου Ξ(Σ)ιαομπό Yu Jie (Γιού [προφ. Ÿ] Τζιε): No, China doesn’t have the racial component perhaps quite as much [ΣΣ. όσο το apartheid] but it has fault lines, for example between country and city. The way that rural laborers are treated in the cities is similar to how blacks were treated in South Africa.
Εδώ ένα χαρακτηριστικό παράδειγμα, όπου ο λόγος για το μη δικαίωμα συμμετοχής δεκαπεντάχρονης κοπέλας στο εκπαιδευτικό σύστημα του τόπου οικογενειακής διαμονής της με ίσους όρους και στα ίδια σχολεία και σχολές, επειδή η ταυτότητα διαμονής της είναι σε άλλη επαρχία. Ο αγώνας της, και οι αντιδράσεις, που μιλούν ρατσιστικά για "ακρίδες": (South China Morning Post Blogs)
15-year-old Zhan Haite has sparked something of a national debate online, one which has dyed-in-the-wool Shanghainese natives blasting her - and other out-of-province kids enrolled at schools in the city but lacking a local hukou - as locusts [όρος παρμένος από τους μισόξενους του Χονγκ-Κονγκ] unwelcome in the city or its schools.
Zhan moved to the city with her parents when she was just four years old and went straight into the local education system, thriving academically throughout her nine years of compulsory education.
She hit her first obstacle when the better public junior middle schools in the city began refusing to accept her as a student due tobased on her non-local status.
Not only that, but Zhan's hukou dictates, despite being born in Guangdong, she has to take the gaokao in Jiangxi, her ancestral home province. Doing so, however, means sharply higher test score requirements than would be asked of a Shanghai graduate for entry to the same university.
Instead of putting her into a vocational school or relocating to Jiangxi to let Zhan finish school smoothly but with significantly reduced expectations, the family chose to stay in Shanghai and challenge the system..
(...)
When Zhan tried earlier this year to deliver her demand to be allowed to continue with school in the city, in person, to local education authorities, other parents showed up and blocked her from getting close.
When she followed that up with a call to her young and adult interlocutors to debate her in public, police showed up at Zhan's door with the concern that a larger-than-expected turnout would spin out of control.
She told police that not a single person had signed up for her debate, but when she and several supporters - young and old - showed up on October 25, so too did a number of "local" Shanghainese. There to protest the presence of Zhan and other "locusts" in their city, the crowd dispersed with little incident.
(...)
She has also taken to calling her harshest critics 'skinheads', the neo-nazi sort, which has prompted reactions ranging from constant age-inappropriate harassment online and even at her home, to threats of Rwandan-style 'genocide' on local forums targetting Shanghai residents with origins outside the city, although no incidents of violence have been reported.
"No Shanghainese would want to see the streets flow with locust blood," wrote an editor with one local finance news website yesterday, "and have their filth contaminate our sacred home."
Και μια νότα αισιοδοξίας:
The issue of regional discrimination in assigning gaokao seats has come to a head recently due to the Chinese State Council's decision to begin phasing out the practice in major coastal cities in 2013.
Εδώ ένα χαρακτηριστικό παράδειγμα, όπου ο λόγος για το μη δικαίωμα συμμετοχής δεκαπεντάχρονης κοπέλας στο εκπαιδευτικό σύστημα του τόπου οικογενειακής διαμονής της με ίσους όρους και στα ίδια σχολεία και σχολές, επειδή η ταυτότητα διαμονής της είναι σε άλλη επαρχία. Ο αγώνας της, και οι αντιδράσεις, που μιλούν ρατσιστικά για "ακρίδες": (South China Morning Post Blogs)
15-year-old Zhan Haite has sparked something of a national debate online, one which has dyed-in-the-wool Shanghainese natives blasting her - and other out-of-province kids enrolled at schools in the city but lacking a local hukou - as locusts [όρος παρμένος από τους μισόξενους του Χονγκ-Κονγκ] unwelcome in the city or its schools.
Zhan moved to the city with her parents when she was just four years old and went straight into the local education system, thriving academically throughout her nine years of compulsory education.
She hit her first obstacle when the better public junior middle schools in the city began refusing to accept her as a student due to
Not only that, but Zhan's hukou dictates, despite being born in Guangdong, she has to take the gaokao in Jiangxi, her ancestral home province. Doing so, however, means sharply higher test score requirements than would be asked of a Shanghai graduate for entry to the same university.
Instead of putting her into a vocational school or relocating to Jiangxi to let Zhan finish school smoothly but with significantly reduced expectations, the family chose to stay in Shanghai and challenge the system..
(...)
When Zhan tried earlier this year to deliver her demand to be allowed to continue with school in the city, in person, to local education authorities, other parents showed up and blocked her from getting close.
When she followed that up with a call to her young and adult interlocutors to debate her in public, police showed up at Zhan's door with the concern that a larger-than-expected turnout would spin out of control.
She told police that not a single person had signed up for her debate, but when she and several supporters - young and old - showed up on October 25, so too did a number of "local" Shanghainese. There to protest the presence of Zhan and other "locusts" in their city, the crowd dispersed with little incident.
(...)
She has also taken to calling her harshest critics 'skinheads', the neo-nazi sort, which has prompted reactions ranging from constant age-inappropriate harassment online and even at her home, to threats of Rwandan-style 'genocide' on local forums targetting Shanghai residents with origins outside the city, although no incidents of violence have been reported.
"No Shanghainese would want to see the streets flow with locust blood," wrote an editor with one local finance news website yesterday, "and have their filth contaminate our sacred home."
Και μια νότα αισιοδοξίας:
The issue of regional discrimination in assigning gaokao seats has come to a head recently due to the Chinese State Council's decision to begin phasing out the practice in major coastal cities in 2013.
Ουμλάουτ είναι αυτά; :)
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Γεωπολιτικά Κίνας-Ιαπωνίας-ΗΠΑ με επίκεντρο την πρόσφατη κρίση στα νησιά Diaoyu-Senkaku. (Asia Times Online)
China Daily ran a gloating article on the collapse in Japanese auto sales in China. In a chart it compared the Japanese drop-off in October year-to-year to a rise in sales for some other suppliers:
Mazda: down 45%
Honda: down 54%
Nissan: down 41%
Toyota: down 44%
Contrasted with:
GM: up 14%
Ford: up 48%
The interesting element of this graphic is that the only non-Japanese suppliers listed are both Americans. The largest foreign player in China auto sales - Germany's Volkswagen, whose share is equal to the four Japanese makers combined and experienced a huge jump in sales at Japanese expense in October - was ignored. Also ignored was South Korea's Hyundai, the third-largest in the market, and which also posted a healthy boost in sales.
The implied message here is that Japan's loss can be America's gain, an interesting exercise in wedging that invites the United States to deepen its economic engagement with the rising regional power, while decoupling from the fading regional power that is locked in a zero-sum strategic battle with its local adversary.
(Άλλοι βέβαια διαφωνούν -πάντα από το ίδιο άρθρο:)
... [R]uminations on how to accommodate China's continued rise are predicated on just that: China's continued rise. Despite the glaring examples of the collapse of the Bubble in 1989 and the Great Recession (2008 - continuing), policy wonks are failing to check to see if indeed there is a floor beneath them, relying on an axiomatic faith in China's not hitting a wall.
China's investment-as-a-percentage-of-GDP ratio of 50% is unsustainable, however. In order to preserve the illusion of prosperity in the face a global recession and a once-in-a-decade leadership handover, the government of China has greenlighted an immense extension in credit. The bills will come due, sooner than most big thinkers are willing to admit.
When the Great Reckoning comes for the People's Republic, the governments and economies with the fewest strong ties to China will be the lucky ones.
China Daily ran a gloating article on the collapse in Japanese auto sales in China. In a chart it compared the Japanese drop-off in October year-to-year to a rise in sales for some other suppliers:
Mazda: down 45%
Honda: down 54%
Nissan: down 41%
Toyota: down 44%
Contrasted with:
GM: up 14%
Ford: up 48%
The interesting element of this graphic is that the only non-Japanese suppliers listed are both Americans. The largest foreign player in China auto sales - Germany's Volkswagen, whose share is equal to the four Japanese makers combined and experienced a huge jump in sales at Japanese expense in October - was ignored. Also ignored was South Korea's Hyundai, the third-largest in the market, and which also posted a healthy boost in sales.
The implied message here is that Japan's loss can be America's gain, an interesting exercise in wedging that invites the United States to deepen its economic engagement with the rising regional power, while decoupling from the fading regional power that is locked in a zero-sum strategic battle with its local adversary.
(Άλλοι βέβαια διαφωνούν -πάντα από το ίδιο άρθρο:)
... [R]uminations on how to accommodate China's continued rise are predicated on just that: China's continued rise. Despite the glaring examples of the collapse of the Bubble in 1989 and the Great Recession (2008 - continuing), policy wonks are failing to check to see if indeed there is a floor beneath them, relying on an axiomatic faith in China's not hitting a wall.
China's investment-as-a-percentage-of-GDP ratio of 50% is unsustainable, however. In order to preserve the illusion of prosperity in the face a global recession and a once-in-a-decade leadership handover, the government of China has greenlighted an immense extension in credit. The bills will come due, sooner than most big thinkers are willing to admit.
When the Great Reckoning comes for the People's Republic, the governments and economies with the fewest strong ties to China will be the lucky ones.
Η Ford και η Mazda έχουν γνωστή μακρά συνεργασία (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda#Partnership_with_Ford_Motor_Company) και joint ventures, και ΕΙΔΙΚΑ στην Κίνα έχουν κοινή (κινή!
) παρουσία: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changan_Ford_Mazda
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Όπως φαίνεται από το άρθρο στον ιστότοπό του, τα στοιχεία αυτά ο αρθρογράφος τα παίρνει από ένα άρθρο της China Daily στο οποίο λινκάρει και το οποίο πράγματι υπάρχει στη βάση δεδομένων της, αλλά που βγάζει μήνυμα λάθους όταν πατάς το λινκ. Το αφαίρεσαν; Το μόνο σχετικό που βρήκα στην ίδια ημερομηνία (6 Νοεμ.) αφορά μονάχα τη Mazda. Πάντως, απ' ό,τι είδα στο δικό σου λινκ, Ζαζ, η κοινοπραξία αυτή παράγει κυρίως Ford και πιθανότατα δεν καλύπτει όλη την παρουσία των δύο εταιρειών στη ΛΔΚ. Από κει και πέρα, δεν γνωρίζω.
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Bulgaria, the hometown of yogurt (China Daily)
Originally yogurt was produced only in Bulgaria and...the life [sic] organism in yogurt can survive only in Bulgaria "και εξάγουμε τα βακτήρια καθημερινά στην Ιαπωνία. (...) Σε αγορές ακινήτων ισοδυνάμου 200.000 ευρώ δίνουμε άδεια παραμονής και σε επενδύσεις 2.000.000 ευρώ, ιθαγένεια. Είμαστε μια από τις τρεις μόνο χώρες που πληρούν τα κριτήρια του Μάαστριχτ, έχουμε χαμηλότατους φόρους [για τις επιχειρήσεις], πράγμα για το οποίο είμαστε πολύ περήφανοι, και μπορούν οι Κινέζοι να επενδύσουν σε κατασκευή μερών αυτοκινήτων και σε outsourcing of business operations."
Originally yogurt was produced only in Bulgaria and...the life [sic] organism in yogurt can survive only in Bulgaria "και εξάγουμε τα βακτήρια καθημερινά στην Ιαπωνία. (...) Σε αγορές ακινήτων ισοδυνάμου 200.000 ευρώ δίνουμε άδεια παραμονής και σε επενδύσεις 2.000.000 ευρώ, ιθαγένεια. Είμαστε μια από τις τρεις μόνο χώρες που πληρούν τα κριτήρια του Μάαστριχτ, έχουμε χαμηλότατους φόρους [για τις επιχειρήσεις], πράγμα για το οποίο είμαστε πολύ περήφανοι, και μπορούν οι Κινέζοι να επενδύσουν σε κατασκευή μερών αυτοκινήτων και σε outsourcing of business operations."
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Το 3ο, λέει, Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα Ματζόνγκ διεξάχθηκε στο Τσόνγκτσινγκ. (China Daily)
Mahjong has a checkered history in China. Some sources claim the game was devised thousands of years ago by the sage Confucius, while others date its beginnings to the 1880s and 90s. Either way, the game - in which players attempt to collect suits of tiles, similar to Western card games such as bridge or rummy - provokes strong reactions. While devotees praise it as an intellectual pursuit, opponents vilify it as the basest form of gambling.
The perception of a game for unruly gamblers resulted in mahjong being outlawed when the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, and it wasn't until the 1980s that it was played openly again. Even now, many view the game with suspicion and enthusiasts are sometimes embarrassed to admit their passion for fear of appearing anti-social.
Intrigued, [Russian computer programmer] Pavel Anokhin began playing the game himself. "I don't see much difference between mahjong and chess in terms of the level of mental difficulty.
Meanwhile, members of the British rock band Pink Floyd were so enamored of the game that they even called one of their songs A Pillow of Winds, a reference to a particular scoring combination.
In 1998, the General Administration of Sport of China published the paper Competition Rules of Chinese Mahjong, which prompted many enthusiasts to believe that nationwide leagues might come into existence because an official standard had been established.
However, negative perceptions of the game sparked outrage among the public, many of whom felt the leagues would result in adverse social consequences.
Chairman Mao Zedong once said the game was one of three treasures China had given the world, the others being Chinese traditional medicine and the classic novel A Dream of Red Mansions. [Αυτό πώς συνδυάζεται με την απαγόρευση παραπάνω;]
Mahjong has a checkered history in China. Some sources claim the game was devised thousands of years ago by the sage Confucius, while others date its beginnings to the 1880s and 90s. Either way, the game - in which players attempt to collect suits of tiles, similar to Western card games such as bridge or rummy - provokes strong reactions. While devotees praise it as an intellectual pursuit, opponents vilify it as the basest form of gambling.
The perception of a game for unruly gamblers resulted in mahjong being outlawed when the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, and it wasn't until the 1980s that it was played openly again. Even now, many view the game with suspicion and enthusiasts are sometimes embarrassed to admit their passion for fear of appearing anti-social.
Intrigued, [Russian computer programmer] Pavel Anokhin began playing the game himself. "I don't see much difference between mahjong and chess in terms of the level of mental difficulty.
Meanwhile, members of the British rock band Pink Floyd were so enamored of the game that they even called one of their songs A Pillow of Winds, a reference to a particular scoring combination.
In 1998, the General Administration of Sport of China published the paper Competition Rules of Chinese Mahjong, which prompted many enthusiasts to believe that nationwide leagues might come into existence because an official standard had been established.
However, negative perceptions of the game sparked outrage among the public, many of whom felt the leagues would result in adverse social consequences.
Chairman Mao Zedong once said the game was one of three treasures China had given the world, the others being Chinese traditional medicine and the classic novel A Dream of Red Mansions. [Αυτό πώς συνδυάζεται με την απαγόρευση παραπάνω;]
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Οι ιστορίες μερικών Κινέζων μουσικών που έπεσαν θύματα της "αντιδεξιάς καμπάνιας" του ΚΚΚ. (South China Morning Post)
Instigated by Mao Zedong, the campaign followed seemingly genuine calls by the leadership for criticisms that might help to “rectify the party”. For nearly two months, discussions were organised at work units across the country and criticisms put on record. Then Mao pounced, calling his tactics “an overt conspiracy” that lured “the snakes out of their holes”.
Instigated by Mao Zedong, the campaign followed seemingly genuine calls by the leadership for criticisms that might help to “rectify the party”. For nearly two months, discussions were organised at work units across the country and criticisms put on record. Then Mao pounced, calling his tactics “an overt conspiracy” that lured “the snakes out of their holes”.
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Ανοιχτή επιστολή Κινέζων συγγραφέων (όχι του Μο Γιαν) προς τον νέο ΓΓ του ΠΓ του ΚΚΚ για την απελευθέρωση του Λίου Ξ(Σ)ιαομπό (και της γυναίκας του που τελεί εδώ και χρόνια σε κατ' οίκον φυλάκιση), και συλλογή υπογραφών από τον Ντέσμοντ Τούτου. (South China Morning Post)
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Ο Μο Γιαν, όντας στη Σουηδία για την απονομή του βραβείου Νόμπελ, απαντά σε σχέση με τη λογοκρισία και λέει ότι είναι υπέρ, εφόσον έχει τα υψηλότερα στάνταρ, δηλ. εφόσον είναι ένα είδος αρχής ενάντια στη διασπορά ψευδών ειδήσεων κλπ. Επίσης λέει ότι δεν θα υπογράψει την επιστολή που ανέφερα στο προηγούμενο ποστ, γιατί του αρέσει να διατηρεί την ανεξαρτησία του. Τέλος, όσον αφορά την ταμπακέρα της επιστολής, δηλ. την απελευθέρωση του Λίου Ξ(Σ)ιαομπό που καταδικάστηκε όχι πάντως για διασπορά ψευδών ειδήσεων, παραπέμπει στην παλιά του δήλωση του Οχτωβρίου, όπου είχε ευχηθεί την αποφυλάκιση του συναδέλφου του εν γράμμασι, αλλά με ποιον ακριβώς σκοπό; "ώστε 'να ασχοληθεί ψυχή τε και σώματι με την έρευνα του πολιτικού και κοινωνικού συστήματος' " (βλ. #437); Και πράγματι:
Although Mo has previously said he hopes Liu will be freed soon, he refused to elaborate more on the case. "On the same evening of my winning the prize, I already expressed my opinion, and you can get online to make a search," he said, telling the crowd that he hoped they wouldn't press him on the subject of Liu. Some, however, have interpreted Mo's October comments as if he hoped the release of Liu would make the jailed activist see sense and embrace the Communist Party line. (The Vancouver Sun μέσω The Associated Press)
Σε μεγάλο μπελά μπήκε ο αντιπρόεδρος της Ένωσης Συγγραφέων Μο Γιαν· ούτε ψύλλος στον κόρφο του! Και χωρίς να θέλω να τον υπερασπιστώ, καταλαβαίνω τη δεινή του θέση.
Although Mo has previously said he hopes Liu will be freed soon, he refused to elaborate more on the case. "On the same evening of my winning the prize, I already expressed my opinion, and you can get online to make a search," he said, telling the crowd that he hoped they wouldn't press him on the subject of Liu. Some, however, have interpreted Mo's October comments as if he hoped the release of Liu would make the jailed activist see sense and embrace the Communist Party line. (The Vancouver Sun μέσω The Associated Press)
Σε μεγάλο μπελά μπήκε ο αντιπρόεδρος της Ένωσης Συγγραφέων Μο Γιαν· ούτε ψύλλος στον κόρφο του! Και χωρίς να θέλω να τον υπερασπιστώ, καταλαβαίνω τη δεινή του θέση.
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Η νομπελίστα Ρουμάνα συγγραφέας Χέρτα Μύλλερ είχε προ καιρού δηλώσει ότι η απονομή του βραβείου Νόμπελ στον Μο Γιαν από τη σουηδική επιτροπή αποτέλεσε "καταστροφή". Επίσης, ο συγγραφέας Λιάο Γι-Ού, που κατάφερε φέτος να δραπετεύσει από τα κλειστά γι' αυτόν σύνορα της Κίνας και ζει πια στη Γερμανία (και που ο φίλος του συγγραφέας Λι Μπιφένγκ έφαγε 12 χρόνια, υποτίθεται για απάτη αλλά κατά τον Λιάο επειδή οι αρχές θεώρησαν ότι τον βοήθησε να περάσει τα σύνορα [βλ. #538]), καταδίκασε την απονομή και τη συνέκρινε με την απονομή του 1965 στον Σόλοχοφ. Υπάρχουν ενδείξεις ότι η απονομή εκείνη υπήρξε ο καρπός πολύχρονων πιέσεων από τη μεριά της ΕΣΣΔ και ότι μάλιστα ανέτρεψε προηγούμενες εκτιμήσεις της επιτροπής ότι το έργο του Σόλοχοφ δεν άξιζε την τιμή. Παρακάτω τα σχετικά υλικά, εν αναμονή του αποχαρακτηρισμού των πρακτικών της Επιτροπής, που γίνεται μετά πάροδο 50 ετών. Οι σουηδομαθείς θα μπορέσουν να διαβάσουν και την πλήρη συνέντευξη με την Μύλλερ, καθώς και άρθρο για την υπόθεση Σόλοχοφ. Γίνεται επίσης μνεία ενός βιβλίου με τίτλο Obedient Autonomy, που αφορά το να ζεις ως διανοούμενος στην Κίνα. Το παρακάτω κείμενο του Σουηδού Magnus Fiskesjö αποτελεί στην αρχή σχολιασμό προγενέστερου (ψιλοαρνητικού) σχολιασμού της συνέντευξης της Μύλλερ:
The key point [ΣΣ. of the interview] was what the journalist described fittingly as Müller's "compromiselessness" (a Swedish word, kompromisslöshet, and I don't know if there is an English noun equivalent -- but "integrity" comes close), arising from her life experience of refusing to compromise her writing to government censorship under the Ceaucescu dictatorship, refusing to be a collaborator and spy for its "security" agency, and so on. This fundamental stance is, the interview suggests, what led her to oppose the choice of Mo Yan, because of the situation of government censorship in China, with the continuing imprisonment of Liu Xiaobo and other people who continue to be imprisoned for writing and expressing their views.
So it is definitely about much bigger and more interesting issues than the emotions of one "Rumanian emigré" (woman). As I understand it, Mo Yan represents almost the opposite stance: one of compromise. Reading his pronouncements on censorship I am reminded of the fascinating book _Obedient Autonomy_ which portrays and analyses the professional life of intellectuals in the Chinese system, a life of institutionalized compromising, which is of course very difficult to escape or avoid, as it also would have been in Romania under Ceaucescu. And it would have been more interesting to probe such important matters, including the comparison of the compromiselessness of Herta Müller and other European writers under Communism, which became such a cherished ideal for many (Müller was by no means alone), and, in contrast, why and how, in China, compromising dominates, -- while there are now also challenges to this (there was just on this list a report of 40 writers and intellectuals in China openly calling for Liu's release).
The Dagens Nyheter, the same paper that published the interview with Herta Müller, is today publishing an article by Liao Yiwu ("To Write Without Witnessing is Shameful"), addressed to the "ladies and gentlemen of the Nobel committee for literature", where Liao agrees with Müller on Mo Yan, and compares the prize to Mo Yan to that given to Sholokhov in 1965. [εδώ η αγγλική εκδοχή].
Almost as if presaging the debate over how Mo Yan received the prize after that given to Gao Xingjian which displeased the Chinese government, another Swedish paper back on October 11, 2012 carried a detailed review of internal Swedish Academy papers (which become accessible only after 50 years) revealing persistent Soviet government pressure on the Academy to award the prize to Sholochov, a veritable campaign that started in 1946, building on the increased Soviet prestige after WWII, and motivated by Soviet resentment to the earlier Nobel prizes to the "un-Soviet" writers Ivan Bunin (1933) and to Boris Pasternak (1958). The article reviews how the Academy several times conducted very lengthy internal reviews of Sholokhov's work and found it unworthy, but strangely reversed these judgments in 1965, going for Sholokhov -- apparently over Anna Achmatova, one of the greatest Russian poets also not approved by the Soviet government. Why this was, we shall only know in a couple of more years. The article (in Swedish only) by Magnus Ljunggren, a professor emeritus in Russian literature at Göteborg University, is here.
The DN has now also released the Herta Müller interview (full text only in Swedish) from behind their paywall.
The key point [ΣΣ. of the interview] was what the journalist described fittingly as Müller's "compromiselessness" (a Swedish word, kompromisslöshet, and I don't know if there is an English noun equivalent -- but "integrity" comes close), arising from her life experience of refusing to compromise her writing to government censorship under the Ceaucescu dictatorship, refusing to be a collaborator and spy for its "security" agency, and so on. This fundamental stance is, the interview suggests, what led her to oppose the choice of Mo Yan, because of the situation of government censorship in China, with the continuing imprisonment of Liu Xiaobo and other people who continue to be imprisoned for writing and expressing their views.
So it is definitely about much bigger and more interesting issues than the emotions of one "Rumanian emigré" (woman). As I understand it, Mo Yan represents almost the opposite stance: one of compromise. Reading his pronouncements on censorship I am reminded of the fascinating book _Obedient Autonomy_ which portrays and analyses the professional life of intellectuals in the Chinese system, a life of institutionalized compromising, which is of course very difficult to escape or avoid, as it also would have been in Romania under Ceaucescu. And it would have been more interesting to probe such important matters, including the comparison of the compromiselessness of Herta Müller and other European writers under Communism, which became such a cherished ideal for many (Müller was by no means alone), and, in contrast, why and how, in China, compromising dominates, -- while there are now also challenges to this (there was just on this list a report of 40 writers and intellectuals in China openly calling for Liu's release).
The Dagens Nyheter, the same paper that published the interview with Herta Müller, is today publishing an article by Liao Yiwu ("To Write Without Witnessing is Shameful"), addressed to the "ladies and gentlemen of the Nobel committee for literature", where Liao agrees with Müller on Mo Yan, and compares the prize to Mo Yan to that given to Sholokhov in 1965. [εδώ η αγγλική εκδοχή].
Almost as if presaging the debate over how Mo Yan received the prize after that given to Gao Xingjian which displeased the Chinese government, another Swedish paper back on October 11, 2012 carried a detailed review of internal Swedish Academy papers (which become accessible only after 50 years) revealing persistent Soviet government pressure on the Academy to award the prize to Sholochov, a veritable campaign that started in 1946, building on the increased Soviet prestige after WWII, and motivated by Soviet resentment to the earlier Nobel prizes to the "un-Soviet" writers Ivan Bunin (1933) and to Boris Pasternak (1958). The article reviews how the Academy several times conducted very lengthy internal reviews of Sholokhov's work and found it unworthy, but strangely reversed these judgments in 1965, going for Sholokhov -- apparently over Anna Achmatova, one of the greatest Russian poets also not approved by the Soviet government. Why this was, we shall only know in a couple of more years. The article (in Swedish only) by Magnus Ljunggren, a professor emeritus in Russian literature at Göteborg University, is here.
The DN has now also released the Herta Müller interview (full text only in Swedish) from behind their paywall.
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Ένα όμορφο διαφημιστικό σποτ για το βιβλίο του Μο Γιαν Sandalwood Death, που μόλις κυκλοφόρησε στα αγγλικά από τις εκδόσεις του Πανεπιστημίου της Οκλαχόμας σε μετάφραση Howard Goldblatt.
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Πολύ πλάκα!
“Dear Mr. Mo Yan, I’m a Chinese artist. In March 2011, I shipped a chair from Berlin to Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mr. Liu Xiaobo. Unfortunately it disappeared after entering China. Will you please take this chair back to China and give it to Mr. Liu Xiaobo? Many thanks. — Meng Huang, December 4, 2012, Berlin.”
(Όπως θα θυμάστε, η καρέκλα του Λίου έμεινε άδεια κατά την απονομή, αφού ο ίδιος ήταν φυλακισμένος.) (Seeing Red in China)
“Dear Mr. Mo Yan, I’m a Chinese artist. In March 2011, I shipped a chair from Berlin to Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mr. Liu Xiaobo. Unfortunately it disappeared after entering China. Will you please take this chair back to China and give it to Mr. Liu Xiaobo? Many thanks. — Meng Huang, December 4, 2012, Berlin.”
(Όπως θα θυμάστε, η καρέκλα του Λίου έμεινε άδεια κατά την απονομή, αφού ο ίδιος ήταν φυλακισμένος.) (Seeing Red in China)
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Ο αριθμός δίνεται με επιφύλαξη: Beijing black jail 'releases thousands of petitioners', όπου το thousands σύμφωνα με μια απελευθερωμένη σημαίνει 70.000! Το νούμερο είναι τόσο γιγάντιο ώστε δυσκολεύομαι να το πιστέψω. Ιδού πάντως η είδηση. (South China Morning Post)