In China Daily they have an opinion piece finding Mo Yan's success raises questions on future of Chinese literature.
Yes, it's yet another excuse to bemoan local (lack of) reading habits:
They also think:
Yes, it's yet another excuse to bemoan local (lack of) reading habits:
The grim fact is that reading among Chinese people continues to shrink.(Even if the laureate had been Japanese this year, you know there would have been an opinion piece bemoaning how reading was on the decline in Japan, etc. etc.)
According to statistics, the number of printed books read by Chinese people aged between 18 and 70 is 4.35 per capita, much less than that of 11 books per capita in the Republic Of Korea, 20 books in France, and 40 in Japan.
They also think:
The awarding of the Nobel Prize to Mo should not be over-interpreted, but Mo's success and his speech open up opportunities to the Chinese people to meditate on the pace of life in modern society and promote Chinese literature abroad.Ah, yes ... well, I hope they go out and meditate and promote !