Author(s)

Liao Weiqi

Corresponding Author

Liao Weiqi

ABSTRACT

Wine has been an important imagery in Chinese literary works. Mo Yan, a well-known Chinese writer, uses wine as a more dynamic metaphor in his work the Republic of Wine to show the powerful functions of wine and unveil problems in China’s society. This article mainly focuses on power and masculinity while incorporating with wine to depict China’s drinking culture and analyze how alcohol shapes a man but meanwhile causes troubles to a man through close reading of this fiction. It argues that wine is not only a symbol of the author’s satire but also a metaphor that conflates several complicated concepts. More specifically, when people are too crazy about masculinity and power to control themselves, they would be trapped in pain.

KEYWORDS

Wine, drinking culture, masculinity, power