Chinese Literature - Li-hua Ying 2010

SEBO (1956— )
The Dictionary

SEBO (1956— ). Fiction writer. Born in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, Sebo spent his childhood in Fenghuang, Hunan Province. In 1973, he went to the northeastern province of Liaoning to study medicine, and after graduation in 1975 he worked for several years as a medic in various parts of Tibet. Sebo started writing in the early 1980s. His short stories, such as “Yuanxing rizi” (Circular Days) and “Zai zhe shang chuan” (Getting on the Boat Here) portray capricious characters at odds with both Tibetan culture and outside influences. The illusive world created by Sebo reflects the predicament of modern-day Tibet as well as his philosophical views about life. Some critics consider Sebo an existentialist for his pessimistic characters engaged in a perpetual search on a lonely, circular journey. Sebo’s works, firmly anchored in Tibetan culture, explore the clash of civilizations and cultures and what that clash means to the survival of indigenous traditions. His Tibet is full of contradictions and complexities, different from the utopian world portrayed by some of his fellow Tibetan writers. Like many young writers in the post-Mao era, Sebo is influenced by Western literature, such as works by Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, Milan Kundera, and William Faulkner. Sebo currently lives in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.