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Wang Anyi

ワン・アンイ

Wang Anyi

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1954-03-06 （Nanjing, Jiangsu, China）
Nationality
China
Languages
Chinese
Residence History
Nanjing → Shanghai → Wuhe County, Anhui (sent-down period) → Iowa City, USA (International Writing Program)

Career

Occupations
writer, professor, editor
Active Years
1975-
Affiliations
China Writers Association (vice-chair), Fudan University (Professor of Chinese Literature)
Memberships
China Writers Association
Influenced By
Ru Zhijuan (mother), Chen Yingzhen, Eileen Chang (in the Shanghai literary lineage)
Influenced
contemporary Chinese women writers

Education

Lu Xun Literary Institute
Period: 1980（作家研修）
Country: China
Participated in a writers' training program organized by the China Writers Association

Awards

4th National Short Story Prize
1982
Work: The Destination
Organization: National Short Story Prize (China)
Result: 受賞
2nd National Novella Prize
1983
Work: Lapse of Time
Organization: National Novella Prize (China)
Result: 受賞
4th National Novella Prize
1987
Work: Baotown
Organization: National Novella Prize (China)
Result: 受賞
5th Mao Dun Literature Prize
2000
Work: The Song of Everlasting Sorrow
Organization: China Writers Association
Result: 受賞
3rd Lu Xun Literary Prize
2004
Work: Confidences in a Hair Salon
Organization: Lu Xun Literary Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
4th Dream of the Red Chamber Award
2012
Work: Scent of Heaven
Organization: Dream of the Red Chamber Award Committee
Result: 受賞
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France)
2013
Organization: French Ministry of Culture
Result: 受章
5th Newman Prize for Chinese Literature
2017
Organization: Newman Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
2nd JD Literature Prize
2018
Work: Hongdou Sheng Nangguo
Organization: JD (organizer)
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Song of Everlasting Sorrow

1996 novel (urban fiction)

Traces the life of Wang Qiyao, a Shanghainese woman, from the 1940s through the Cultural Revolution and beyond, using her story to reflect the changes of Shanghai and the fate of its citizens.

urban life in Shanghaitime and memoryfate of women
Adaptations
  • [film] The Song of Everlasting Sorrow (film) (2005)
  • [television series] The Song of Everlasting Sorrow (TV series)
  • [stage play] The Song of Everlasting Sorrow (stage play)
Translations
  • English translation: Michael Berry, Susan Chan Egan, et al.

Lapse of Time

1982 novella

A novella that depicts the flow of time and human psychology through slices of everyday life; a work marking a shift in the author's narrative style.

passage of timeinterior life of characters
Translations
  • English translation: Howard Goldblatt, et al.

Baotown

1985 novella

Set in a rural community, the novella portrays village life, contrasting the benevolent child protagonist with selfish and narrow-minded adults; draws on the author's sent-down experience.

rural societycoming-of-age and cruelty
Translations
  • English translation: Martha Avery, et al.

Bibliography

  • And the Rain Patters On
  • Life in a Small Courtyard
  • Lapse of Time
  • Baotown
  • The Song of Everlasting Sorrow
  • Scent of Heaven

Adaptations

  • The Song of Everlasting Sorrow (film, TV series, stage)
  • Film 'Temptress Moon' (co-written with Chen Kaige and Shu Kei)

Translations by Author

  • Chinese translation of Elizabeth Swados' 'My Depression: A Picture Book' (2007)

Translations of Works

  • Short stories and novellas such as 'Lapse of Time' have been translated into English, German and French

Style & Themes

Literary Style
realist, detailed descriptionmixes history with contemporary factsmicroscopic portrayals of urban daily life
Recurring Motifs
Shanghai urban landscapewomen's interiority and conflictstime and memory

Legacy

Wang Anyi is a leading author of urban literature set in Shanghai, acclaimed for detailed depiction and women's perspectives on civic life. With major awards including the Mao Dun Prize for 'The Song of Everlasting Sorrow', she holds an important place in contemporary Chinese literature.

Academic Societies

  • China Writers Association

In Popular Culture

  • 'The Song of Everlasting Sorrow' has been adapted for film, television and stage and is recognized as a symbolic work of Shanghai's modern history.

Quotes

  • When I left, I left with the feelings of escaping from hell.
    Source: Interview (on sent-down experience) (1988)

Trivia

  • Her mother is the notable novelist Ru Zhijuan.
  • 'The Song of Everlasting Sorrow' won the Mao Dun Literature Prize.
  • Her sent-down experience strongly influenced her early works.