Although George Orwell’s Burmese Days seems to be every tourist’s favorite book, it’s (thankfully) not the country’s favorite book, at least according to Reddit user Backforward24‘s ‘Literature Map of the World’. The map was uploaded about a month ago, but it’s recently gotten more social media traction.
The graphic supposedly charts every country’s favorite book on a global map. While several users have pointed out that there isn’t really any data to back up its claims, it’s still a cool piece of work that highlights authors from lesser-known cultures on an international platform.
For instance, Backforward24 posits Nu Nu Yi’s Smile as They Bow as the most popular book among Myanmar people. Published in 1994, the novel garnered the author a nomination for the 2007 Man Asian Literary Prize.
The story takes place towards the end of the Taungbyon Nat Festival and centers on Daisy Bond, a gay transgender spiritual medium in his fifties, and his assistant and lover Min Min. Conflict ensues when a young beggar girl falls in love with Min Min and threatens to steal his heart.
Publishing the book under the then-military regime was no easy feat for Nu Nu Yi, who had to make compromises with the government censorship board. Certain words were changed and entire passages were deleted.
The book was first translated into English in 2008, but it wasn’t until 2015 that the first uncensored edition of the novel was published. In an interview with the Myanmar Times shortly before the publication of the uncensored version, Nu Nu Yi explained, “The censorship board didn’t like the word ‘gay’ at all. However, they gave permission to publish, though they did insist on removing the word ‘darling’, which Daisy called his boyfriend Min Min, and they asked me to make Min Min his assistant. I did, and it was published, but I think readers understood the real relationship between Daisy Bond and Min Min, however the words were changed.”
Is Smile as They Bow Myanmar’s favorite novel? It’s debatable. Is it a classic worthy of praise and more attention? Hell yes.
Correction: An earlier version of the headline stated that the author’s name is Yu Yu Ni. Shoutout to a watchful Coconut reader for pointing out that, as the rest of the article states, her name is Nu Nu Yi. We apologize for the error.
