1 Story of L
1.1 Mo Yan and Justice
The heroin is a female gynaecological doctor in the Shandong province
of China. Her name is Wan Xing, and the characters are named based
on physical sites and organs. The reason for such a custom is to link
them to their mother.
After the formation of new China (1949), childbirth became
regulated. This national policy addresses the population growth rate
exceeding 20% annually. The increasing population eventually slowed
down over 30 years.
Abortion is a related terminology to childbirth. It artificially removes
a preborn child from the mother before natural birth. Moreover, illegal
abortion is a crime which comes into effect through the perpetration of
abortion. However, an artificial termination of pregnancy based on the
Eugenic Protection Act is not criminal. This is when the continuation
of pregnancy is considered dangerous to a mother’s life, or a preborn
child is lost by miscarriage or is born prematurely.
花村嘉英（2022）「莫言の「蛙」でシナジーのメタファーを考える」より translated by Yoshihisa Hanamura