Redefined Archetypes

Upon learning that the novelist Mo Yan had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2012, Chinese leader Li Changchun penned a jubilant letter that said, according to Xinhua, "Mo's victory reflects the prosperity and progress of Chinese literature, as well as the increasing national strength and influence of China."

Chinese literature is certainly prospering and there are many who would agree with Li's statement that the prize reflects China's power and influence; indeed, it is often argued that the Nobel Prize is awarded for political purposes as much as literary merit.  It is for this reason that I think a clearer reflection of the country's growing influence can be found not in its own literature, or the prizes awarded to it, but in its growing role in the literature of other nations.