What is Mo Yan's concept of 'hallucinatory realism'?
Hallucinatory realism, you ask? It is not about escaping this world, but about seeing it more deeply. Imagine a farmer tilling the same plot of land for generations. He knows the soil, its moods, its secrets. But then, in the twilight, the spirits of his ancestors whisper in the wind, and the garlic plants themselves seem to speak of ancient sorrows. This is the realm I explore. The extraordinary erupts from the ordinary. A man might be struck down by hunger, but his spirit soars with the eagles. History is not just dates and decrees; it is the blood in our veins, the tales passed down in the marrow. It’s in the visceral, the grotesque, the beautiful, all mixed together like the grains in a farmer's hand, each with its own story, its own weight.