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Analysis reveals how physiological metaphors explore maternity and history, indicating cultural reflections in China.
Mo Yan's Big Breasts and Wide Hips employs visually striking physiological imagery as the core narrative vehicle, deeply linking bodily physiological symbols such as breasts, hips, childbirth, and breastfeeding with the vicissitudes of China's modern and contemporary history over the past century. The work breaks through the traditional narrative boundaries, constructing a dialogue field between life instincts and historical violence, maternal nature and human alienation, individual survival and national spirit through physiological metaphors. This article conducts the analysis from three dimensions: the metaphorical connotation of core physiological imagery, the historical narrative function of physiological metaphors, and the human nature and cultural reflection behind physiological metaphors, exploring how Mo Yan, through the physiological writing of the body, reshapes maternity, deconstructs history from a folk perspective, and ultimately questions the essence of life.
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Yang et al. (2026) studied this question.
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