Frog (novel)

This article is about the Mo Yan novel. For the Stephen Dixon novel, see Stephen Dixon (author).
Chinese first edition

Frog (Chinese: 蛙; pinyin: Wā) is a novel by Mo Yan, first released in 2009. The novel is about Gugu (姑姑 "paternal aunt"), the aunt of "Tadpole", the novel's narrator. Gugu performs various abortions after the One Child Policy is introduced.[1] The novel discusses both the reasons why the policy was implemented and its consequences.[2]

It was translated into English by Howard Goldblatt (Chinese: 葛浩文), foremost translator of contemporary Chinese literature and former research professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Notre Dame. [3] He served as Mo Yan's longtime English translator.[4]

In Mandarin Chinese the word for frog, 蛙 (wā), sounds similar to the sound made by a baby (娃 wā), and the narrator's name means "tadpole".[5]

Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that the conflicts between the government abortion planners, who believe that they are doing the right thing, and the prospective parents makes Frog a "startlingly dramatic book".[6] Steven Moore of The Washington Post wrote that since the novel includes scenes of anguish, Frog "is no polemic supporting the necessary if heartless one-child policy."[2]

  1. ^ "Mo Yan’s ‘Frog’" (Archive). The New York Times. February 8, 2015. Retrieved on March 5, 2016. Print: February 8, 2015, p. BR14 of the Sunday Book Review, title: "Missing Children".
  2. ^ a b Moore, Steven. "Book review: ‘Frog,’ by Mo Yan" (Archive). Washington Post. March 23, 2015. Retrieved on March 5, 2016.
  3. ^ "Notre Dame’s direct link to Nobel Literature Prize." Notre Dame News. October 11, 2012. Retrieved on April 8, 2017.
  4. ^ "China's Mo Yan wins Nobel in literature." Associated Press at the Houston Chronicle. October 11, 2012. Retrieved on March 5, 2016.
  5. ^ Machart, Bruce (Bridgewater State University). "Review: Mo Yan’s “Frog” is a tale of modern China" (Archive). Houston Chronicle. January 25, 2015. Retrieved on March 5, 2016. Article posted by Maggie Galehouse.
  6. ^ Maslin, Janet. "Review: In Mo Yan’s ‘Frog,’ a Chinese Abortionist Embodies State Power" (Archive). The New York Times. February 26, 2015. Retrieved on March 5, 2016.