Al Oerter
American athlete (1936-2007)
Gao Xingjian
Chinese novelist and playwright (1940- )
Gao Xingjianis a Chinese emigre and later French naturalized novelist, playwright, critic, painter, photographer, film director, and translator who in 2000 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “for an oeuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity.” He is also a noted translator (particularly of Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco), screenwriter, stage director, and a celebrated painter.
Gao’s drama is considered to be fundamentally absurdist in nature and avant-garde in his native China.
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About the Gao Xingjian
Gao Xingjianis a Chinese emigre and later French naturalized novelist, playwright, critic, painter, photographer, film director, and translator who in 2000 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “for an oeuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity.” He is also a noted translatorwas a breakthrough in Chinese experimental theatre. The Bus Stopand The Other Shorehad their productions halted by the Chinese government, with the acclaimed Wild Manthe last work of his to be publicly performed in China. He left the country in 1987 and his plays from The Other Shore onward increasingly centered on universalconcerns, but his 1989 play Exile angered both the government for its depiction of China and the overseas democracy movement for its depiction of intellectuals. In 1997, he was granted French citizenship.
Gao’s influences include classical Chinese opera, folk culture, and 20th century European drama such as Antonin Artaud, and he said in 1987 that as a writer he could be placed at the meeting point between Western and Eastern cultures. He is a very private person, however, and later claimed, “No matter whether it is in politics or literature, I do not believe in or belong to any party or school, and this includes nationalism and patriotism.” His prose works tend to be less celebrated in China but are highly regarded elsewhere in Europe and the West, with Soul Mountain singled out in the Nobel Prize announcement.
5 Quotes by Gao Xingjian
- 1.
Love is so holy, so confusing. It makes a man anxious, tormented. Love, how can I define it?
Gao XingjianChinese novelist and playwright (1940- )
- 2.
In the history of literature there are many great enduring works which were not published in the lifetimes of the authors. If the authors had not achieved self-affirmation while writing, how could they have continued to write?
Gao XingjianChinese novelist and playwright (1940- )
- 3.
As a male writer, women are always what men pursue, and their world is always a mystery. So I always tried to present as many views as possible on women’s worlds.
Gao XingjianChinese novelist and playwright (1940- )
- 4.
When you use words, you’re able to keep your mind alive. Writing is my way of reaffirming my own existence.
Gao XingjianChinese novelist and playwright (1940- )
- 5.
Observing humans and observing oneself yields a clear-minded starting point for literature.
Gao XingjianChinese novelist and playwright (1940- )