Male authors venerating mothers surviving trauma to advocate for peace: a comparative reading of Big Breasts and Wide Hips and To the End of the Land

As works describing the greatness of mothers, Mo Yan’s Big Breasts and Wide Hips (2001) and David Grossman’s To the End of the Land (2008) have much in common: both are written by male authors; both create an image of mothers associated with fortitude, courage, and resolution; both present protagonists in the context of war; and both narrate national-state history through personal and family narratives. Drawing on Ruddick’s contribution on the connection between women and nonviolence and between men and violence, we conclude that by venerating mothers, the two writers are able to effectively express their striving for peace and social stability without directly engaging in political writing. The narratives of selfless mothers enduring traumatic experiences is designed to foster readers’ empathy and, by extension, to advocate harmony among nations; at the same time, the land, like maternal love, is depicted as providing an effective way to avoid violence.