海角大神

Step aside Dickens World, , and Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

If you鈥檙e looking for literary fun of the contrived, manufactured, theme park variety, there鈥檚 a new game in town.

Following the Nobel Prize win of its native son, Mo Yan, China is planning to transform the Nobel winner鈥檚 hometown, the sleepy, rural village of Ping鈥檃n (population: 800), into a $110-million Mo Yan Culture and Experience Zone.

The national, and perhaps international, attraction will center on Mo Yan鈥檚 childhood home, a modest mud structure with newspaper-covered walls.

Also in the works is a Red Sorghum Culture and Experience Zone and a Red Sorghum Film and Television Exhibition Area based on the author鈥檚 1987 work, 鈥淩ed Sorghum.鈥� By government mandate, that attraction would have real peasants cultivating 1,600 acres of real sorghum. (Never mind that the undesirable, unprofitable crop hasn鈥檛 been cultivated in decades.)

As we reported after his Nobel win, Mo Yan is known for his depiction of rural Chinese life, particularly its women, which populate many of his novels, short stories, and essays. His novel 鈥淩ed Sorghum,鈥� about the life of a young woman working in a distillery, was made into a film directed by Zhang Yimou which became one of the most internationally acclaimed Chinese films.

Chinese authorities, it seems, have appropriated Mo Yan鈥檚 house, literary success, and indeed, Mo Yan himself, for the theme park project.

鈥淵our son is no longer your son, and the house is no longer your house,鈥� Fan Hui, a local official told Mo Yan鈥檚 90-year old father, according to the , explaining that he was now China鈥檚 son. 鈥淚t does not really matter if you agree or not.鈥�

Even a few weeks ago, no one could have imagined this poor, rural outpost would become a dazzling $110 million national attraction.

鈥淯ntil last week, the county of Gaomi in the eastern province of Shandong was a poor farming community,鈥� writes the . 鈥溾�滻t was here that Mo ate tree bark and searched for wild vegetables to survive a tough childhood.鈥�

Oddly enough, these days visitors are digging up his family鈥檚 cultivated vegetables as a souvenir.

鈥淥ne visitor dug up a radish [from Mo鈥檚 vegetable patch],鈥� reported the Beijing News. 鈥淗e slipped it into his coat and showed it to villagers afterward, saying: 鈥楳o鈥檚 radish! Mo鈥檚 radish!鈥欌��

鈥淎 visiting mother picked some yams and told her daughter: 鈥業鈥檒l boil them, so you can eat them and win the Nobel Prize, too!鈥欌��

If visitors鈥� zest for Mo鈥檚 family garden patch is any indication, the Mo Yan Culture and Experience Zone will be a hit.

As for Mo and his family鈥檚 thoughts on the attraction, they appear ambivalent.

Asked by whether he was happy about the plans, Mo responded, 鈥淚 do not know.鈥�

His brother Guan was less generous. 鈥淗e [Mo Yan] will oppose any renovations even though he has won the award,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is too public, people should be low key.鈥� (Incidentally, Mo Yan is a pen name meaning 鈥渄on鈥檛 speak.鈥�)

Not, of course, that their opinion really matters.

As the said, 鈥淪ounds like government-mandated fun for the whole family!鈥�

Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.