On Tuesday, the Akutagawa Award for Fiction, generally considered the most prestigious literary prize in Japan, was awarded to Chinese novelist Yang Yi (楊逸, Liu Qiao in Chinese) for her work, “Tokiga nijimu asa” [ja] [時ãŒæ»²ã‚€æœ, or “A Morning When Time Blurs”]. Yang, who was born in Harbin and whose native language is Chinese, came to Japan in 1987 and, after learning Japanese at a language school, studied Geography at Ochanomizu University [ja] in Tokyo. She was earlier nominated for (but did not win) the Akutagawa award in November for her first novel, “Wang-chan” [ja].
Below are some thoughts from blogs, forums and media in both Japanese and Chinese (Chinese links and translations thanks to Meng Zhang, Oiwan Lam and Pipper Lee).
There was a wide range of views on the award in Japan, with forums offering the most critical responses. In a thread at 2channel, one commenter refers to Zainichi Korean Miri Yu who won the Akutagawa Award in 1996:
44 :åç„¡ã—ã•ã‚“ï¼ ä¹å‘¨å¹´ï¼š2008/07/16(æ°´) 08:43:45 ID:kz9a78nd0
ã“ã“最近ã®èŠ¥å·è³žå—賞作å“&作家ã£ã¦ã€ãªã‚“ã‹è©±é¡Œæ€§ã ã‘ã®ãŠã‹ã—ãªé¸è€ƒå¤šãã?
ã‚ã®æŸ³ 美里ã§ã•ãˆå—賞ã—ã¦ã‚‹ã‚“ã ãœï¼Ÿ
Come on, even Miri Yu won that prize!
Another commenter wrote:
57 :åç„¡ã—ã•ã‚“ï¼ ä¹å‘¨å¹´ï¼š2008/07/16(æ°´) 08:47:55 ID:w3Rkufdc0
出æ¥ãƒ¬ãƒ¼ã‚¹ãªã®ã‹ã‚‚ã—れんãŒã€æ—¥æœ¬äººä½œå®¶ãŒå—賞ã§ããªã‹ã£ãŸã®ã¯äº‹å®Ÿã
次ã¯ã©ã‚“ãªæ‰‹ã‚’使ã£ã¦ã‚‚ã„ã„ã‹ã‚‰å—賞ã—ã‚よ
純粋ãªä½œå“ã®è³ªã§ã‚‚è² ã‘ã¦ã‚‹ã‹ã‚‚ã—れんãž
Next time let’s win this award, using whatever means necessary
Even with the quality of a genuine work [of art], we may still bloody lose
Tiananmen came up a lot in comments. One commenter wrote:
68 :åç„¡ã—ã•ã‚“ï¼ ä¹å‘¨å¹´ï¼š2008/07/16(æ°´) 08:51:23 ID:7VuLmnlS0
å体制ã®äººã ã‚ã†ãªã€ã©ã†è€ƒãˆã¦ã‚‚
天安門事件を扱ã£ã¦å°èª¬æ›¸ã„ã¦ä¸å›½ã«å¸°ã‚ã†ã‚‚ã®ãªã‚‰
å³é€®æ•ã ã‚ã‚‚ã†äºŒåº¦ã¨ã§ã¦ã¯ã“ã‚Œãªã„
if you write a novel about the Tiananmen Square Incident, and then try to return to China,
you’ll get arrested right away, no? and never get out again
Bloggers offered generally more encouraging views. Japanese blogger pote741 described how impressed they were at Yang winning the prize:
ç§ã¯ã¾ã èªã‚“ã§ã„ãªã„ã®ã§ä½•ã¨ã‚‚言ãˆãªã„ã®ã ㌅
ã“ã®æ¥Šã•ã‚“。凄ã„ãªã€œã€œã€œã€œã€‚
Yang-san, so impressive 〜〜〜〜
日本語を第一言語ã¨ã—ã¦æ™®æ®µä½¿ã£ã¦ã„る我々ã§ã™ã‚‰
「日本語ã£ã¦é›£ã—ã„ãªã€œã€œã€ã£ã¨æ€ã£ã¦ã„ã‚‹ã®ã«
よããžå¤–国人ãŒæ—¥æœ¬èªžã§å°èª¬ã‚’書ãã€ã—ã‹ã‚‚「芥å·è³žã€ã‚’å—賞ã—ãŸã‚‚ã‚“ã
think to ourselves, “Japanese is so difficult 〜〜”,
so I am amazed that a foreigner has written a book in Japanese, and even managed to win the “Akutagawa” Award!
最近ã€æ—¥æœ¬ã®æ–‡å¦ç•Œã§ã¯
「æºå¸¯å°èª¬ã€ãªã©ã®ã‚ˆã†ã«
èªã¿æ˜“ãã€æ–‡ç¯€ã®çŸã„「詩ã€çš„ãªæ–‡ç« ãŒæµè¡Œã£ã¦ã„ã‚‹
コレã¯å—マスã«è¦å®šãŒã‚ã‚Šã€æ¨ªè¡¨ç¤ºã®æºå¸¯ãªã‚‰ã§ã¯ã®æ–‡ç¯€ãªã®ã ãŒ
ã“ã‚Œã«ã‚ˆã£ã¦ã‚¯ãƒ‰ã‚¯ãƒ‰ã¨æ–‡å—を並ã¹ã‚‹æ–‡ç« ã‹ã‚‰
端的ã§äººã®å¿ƒã‚’打ã¤æ–‡ä½“ãŒå‡ºæ¥ä¸ŠãŒã£ãŸã¨æ€ã†
easy-to-read texts with short “poem”-like paragraphs,
such as “keitai shosetsu”, have become very popular.
This paragraph style is perfect for horizontal-display keitai [mobile phones] with a limit on the number of characters,
but as a result, from long verbose texts,
a literary style has been created that is plain and straightforward, and that targets people’s emotions.
[…]
ã“れらを考ãˆã¦ã¿ã¦ã‚‚「楊ã•ã‚“ã€å‡„ã„ãžã€œã£ã¨æ€ã†ã®ã ㌅
ãã®ä¸€æ–¹ã§ä½•ã ã‹å¯‚ã—ã„æ°—ã‚‚ã™ã‚‹
日本人ã®æ›¸ã„ãŸå°èª¬ã‚ˆã‚Šã‚‚ã€å¤–国人ã®æ›¸ã„ãŸå°èª¬ã®æ–¹ãŒå„ªã‚Œã¦ã„ãŸã®ã‹ã€œã€œ
ã£ã¨ã„ã†ã€Œã‚¬ãƒƒã‚«ãƒªæ„Ÿã€ãŒã‚ã‚‹
On the other hand, I also feel somehow sad.
A kind of feeling of “disappointment”,
that a novel written by non-Japanese is better than novels written by Japanese〜〜
Blogger physicomath was also impressed:
日本人ã§ã‚‚多和田葉åã•ã‚“ã ã‹ãŒãƒ‰ã‚¤ãƒ„語ã§å°èª¬ã‚’書ã„ã¦ãƒ‰ã‚¤ãƒ„語åœã§è©•ä¾¡ã•ã‚Œã¦ä½•ã‹ã®è³žã‚’ã¨ã£ãŸã¨ã„ã†ã®ã§è©•åˆ¤ã«ãªã£ãŸãŒã€ãã‚Œã§ã‚‚æ¯èªžã§ãªã„言葉ã§æ›¸ã„ã¦æ–‡å¦è³žã‚’ã¨ã‚‹ã¨ã„ã†ã®ã¯ã™ã°ã‚‰ã—ã„。
A visiting student in China studying Chinese language, blogger johny_gee searched through Chinese language media coverage of the prize and found some interesting results:
ã•ã¦ã€å—賞作å“『時ãŒæ»²ã‚€æœã€ã¯å†…容ãŒå†…容ã ã‘ã«ä¸å›½ã§ã¯ã©ã†ã„ã†æ‰±ã„ã«ãªã‚‹ã®ã‹ãªãã¨æ€ã£ã¦ã„ã¾ã—ãŸãŒã€æ—¥æœ¬ã§ã‚‚æ—¢ã«å ±é“ã•ã‚Œã¦ã„るよã†ã«ä¸€éƒ¨ãƒ¡ãƒ‡ã‚£ã‚¢ã¯èŠ¥å·è³žå—賞ã¯ä¼ãˆã‚‹ã‚‚ã®ã®ã€ãã®å†…容ã€ç‰¹ã«89å¹´ã®ä»¶ã«é–¢ã—ã¦ã¯å…¨ã触れã¦ãŠã‚Šã¾ã›ã‚“。ã§ã‚‚ã“ã†ã„ã£ãŸå ±é“ã‚‚ã‚ã‚Šã¾ã™ã—ã€ã‚³ã‚³ ã®ã‚ˆã†ã«ï½¢å®‰ï½£ã®å—ã‚’ä¼ã›ã¦å ±é“ã—ã¦ã„ã‚‹ã¨ã“ã‚ã‚„ã€ä¸‰æ–‡å—ã‚’ãã®ã¾ã¾å‡ºã—ã¦ã„るココ ã®ã‚ˆã†ãªã¨ã“ã‚ã‚‚ã‚ã‚Šã¾ã™ã€‚ãã‚Œãžã‚Œã®ã‚µã‚¤ãƒˆãŒã©ã†ã„ã£ãŸæ€§è³ªã®ã‚µã‚¤ãƒˆã ã‹ã¯çŸ¥ã‚Šã¾ã›ã‚“ãŒã€ã„ãšã‚Œã«ã—ã¦ã‚‚ä¸å›½ã§æ™®é€šã«é–‹ã‘るサイトã§ã™ã€‚ã¸ï½žã€æ›¸ã„ã¡ã‚ƒã†ã¨ã“ã‚ã‚‚ã‚ã‚‹ã‚“ã ãªãã£ã¦æ„Ÿã˜ã§ã™ã。
ä¸å›½èªžç‰ˆã‚‚出版ã•ã‚Œã¦ä¸å›½ã§ã‚‚ベストセラーã«!!!!…………ãªã‚“ã¦ã“ã¨ã¯ã‚ã‚Šãˆãªã„ã‚“ã§ã—ょã†ã‘ã©ã€‚
Now turning to the Chinese-language Internet, johny_gee’s observation about media avoiding mention of Tiananmen seems to be the state of affairs, as demonstrated by this description of the book (translation by Meng Zhang):
æ¨é€¸æ¤æ¬¡èŽ·å¥–作å“æ写了农æ‘出生的一åä¸å›½ç”·å东渡日本,他和其他ä¸å›½äººåœ¨æ¤åŽåå‡ å¹´çš„ç”Ÿæ´»ä¸æ‰€ä½“验的ç†æƒ³ä¸ŽçŽ°å®žçš„è½å·®ã€‚
One blogger writes (following translations by Oiwan Lam):
日本人为何将139届芥å·æ–‡å¦å¥–为什么给一个ä¸å¤ªè‘—åçš„ä¸å›½äºº?
æ¥ä¸€ä¸ªé¼“掌就掌声雷鸣,æ¥ä¸€ä¸ªé¼“åŠ±å°±æ¡‚å† åŠ é¡¶ã€‚
这就是日本人惯用的”æ§æ€”手段。日è¯é‡Œæœ‰”Homegoroshi”
的说法,如果用ä¸æ–‡æ¥è¯ 释的è¯æœ‰”ç»™ä½ èµžèª‰,è®©ä½ æ··å¤´,终为我用”çš„æ„æ€ã€‚
Why should Japanese give the Akutagawa Prize to a Chinese person who is not so well known?
Clap one hand and millions follow, give some encouragement and one feels like they have received a crown.
Japanese are used to these ways, in Japanese it is called “homegoroshi” (褒ã‚殺ã—), which means “give you some praise, make you dizzy and become useful to me”.
Blogger warphotographer meanwhile notices that the novel is about the Tiananmen incident [zh] and wonders why foreign countries always focus on the painful experiences of Chinese people. At dongyangjing.com, “Tokyo doctor” (东京åšå£«) wonders if it is necessary for yang to use Tiananmen as background:
说到底大背景是ä¸æ˜¯çœŸçš„有必è¦é‡‡ç”¨å¤©å®‰é—¨äº‹ä»¶æˆ‘也心å˜ç–‘问,作者的åˆè¡·ä¹Ÿè®¸ä¸ä¸€å®šæ˜¯æˆ‘们的å°äººä¹‹å¿ƒï¼Œä½†å®¢è§‚上难以回é¿æœ‰ç‚¹åœ¨æµ·å¤–å“—ä¼—å–å® è¿½é£Žçš„å«Œç–‘
Ning chun long, on the other hand, welcomes the news, reminding readers:
1ã€æ¸…è®°ä½è¿™å¼ 脸,这是一个ä¸å›½äººï¼Œä¸€ä¸ªæ‹¥æœ‰ä¸å›½å›½ç±çš„ä¸å›½äººã€‚
2ã€è¯·è®°ä½å¥¹èŽ·å¾—的是日本最æƒå¨æ–‡å¦å¤§å¥–,日本人也åŒæ ·å€¼å¾—å°Šé‡ã€‚
2. Please remember that she has won the most renowned award in Japan, and we should respect Japanese for that.
Commenter shy snow at this blog post (which quotes the media report) explains why they are concerned about reactions to the work:
我很怕有一些愤é’åœ¨ç½‘ä¸Šéª‚å¥¹å•Šï¼Œå› ä¸º”大å¦ç”ŸãŒ1989å¹´ã®å¤©å®‰é–€äº‹ä»¶ã§æŒ«æŠ˜……”
其他的我ä¸èƒ½è¯„ä»·ä»€ä¹ˆï¼Œå› ä¸ºä¸äº†è§£è¿™ä¸ªä½œå®¶ï¼Œä¹Ÿä¸äº†è§£ä½œå“。就是担心国人的仇日情绪乱å‘泄
As a final note, although mention of Tiananmen was avoided or even blocked out in the Chinese media, the topic was picked up in Taiwanese media that covered the story (see this article at TTV [zh] and this one at Liberty Times [zh]).
Chinese links and translations thanks to Meng Zhang, Oiwan Lam and Pipper Lee