"Soviet Union Also Collapsed After Receiving Nobel Literature Prize" Displeased China Despite Likely Win

'China's Kafka' Chan Xue's Award Outcome in Focus
Leading Candidate on Overseas Gambling Sites
China: "Nobel Literature Prize Promotes Only Western Values"

As the winner of this year's Nobel Prize in Literature is set to be announced at 8 p.m. (Korean time) on the 5th, attention is focused on whether a regular candidate will make the list announced by the Swedish Academy that day, or if an unexpected figure will be selected, breaking everyone's predictions.

Chinese female writer Chan Xue is a leading candidate for this year's Nobel Prize in Literature.
[Photo by Munhakdongne]

The author considered a strong contender by overseas betting sites is China's Chan Xue (殘雪, 70, real name Deng Xiaohua 鄧小華). Known as the "Kafka of China" for her realistic emotional depictions, Chan Xue's representative works include "Five Fragrances Street" and "The Last Lover." If she wins, she will become the second Chinese author to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature after Mo Yan in 2012, and the first Chinese female author to do so.

However, ahead of the Nobel Prize in Literature announcement, there is a lukewarm reaction within China. First, Weibo, China's largest social networking service (SNS) platform, recently designated search hashtags related to Chan Xue, such as "#Sweden sparks Chan Xue fever (#瑞典?起一波?雪?)" and "Chinese female writer Nobel Prize topic (中?女作家成????)," as banned words. Clicking on these hashtags displays the message, "This topic is not displayed in accordance with relevant laws and policies."

China's Negative Attitude Toward the Nobel Prize Since Liu Xiaobo's Award

The Nobel Prize has been awarded since 1901. Only the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway, while the other prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden. The Prize in Economic Sciences was established by the Swedish National Bank in 1968, and the other five prizes have existed since the beginning.
[Photo by Reuters·Yonhap News]

China's negative stance toward the Nobel Prize stems from the 2010 decision by the Swedish Academy to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese dissident human rights activist Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波). Liu Xiaobo, who was sentenced to 11 years for subversion of state power due to his leadership in signing the "Charter 08" advocating separation of powers in 2008, received the Nobel Peace Prize, which led to conflicts including economic retaliation against Sweden by China.

Chinese netizens also openly express resentment toward the Nobel Prize in Literature. One netizen criticized, "The Soviet Union collapsed after receiving five Nobel Prizes in Literature, and Russia has never won again," adding, "The Nobel Prize in Literature reflects Western values and only awards works that Westerners want to see and promote."

Currently on Weibo, posts downplaying the Nobel Prize in Literature are spreading, including statements by Taiwanese author Liao (李敖) such as "As a Chinese, you cannot win the Nobel Prize in Literature unless you betray your motherland," and French author Jean-Paul Sartre's remark, "The Nobel Prize in Literature is given to Western writers and Eastern traitors (反徒, rebels)."

One reason Chan Xue is coldly received in China is that her novels are philosophical and difficult to understand. Unlike Mo Yan (莫言), the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate who is familiar to the Chinese public, Chan Xue's works are considered hard to comprehend.

On the other hand, Western evaluations differ. The late Ma Weiran (馬悅然), a member of the Swedish Academy and Nobel Literature Prize judge, highly praised Chan Xue, calling her the "Kafka of China." Chan Xue's "New Century Love Stories," published this year in Sweden, sparked a Chan Xue craze there.

Meanwhile, if Chan Xue wins, China will produce its second Nobel Prize in Literature laureate following Mo Yan in 2012. So far, three Nobel laureates in Literature have come from East Asia: Kawabata Yasunari of Japan in 1968, Oe Kenzaburo of Japan in 1994, and Mo Yan of China in 2012. Before Mo Yan, Gao Xingjian was the first Chinese-born author to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, but he had acquired French nationality. Among Korean authors, novelists such as Hwang Sok-yong have been mentioned, but none have ever won the prize.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.