Sound and Silence
My Experience With China and Literature
Duke University Press · Print & ebook · April 23, 2024
Yan Lianke is a world-renowned author of novels, short stories, and essays whose provocative and nuanced writing explores the reality of everyday life in contemporary China.
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- Who it’s for
- Yan reflects on censorship, suppressed social memories, and American literature’s influence on Chinese writing.
- Themes
- Literary censorship, National memory and social trauma, American influence on Chinese literature
- Genres
- Chinese Literary Criticism, Censorship & Free Speech, Essay Collections
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Start with this bookAbout this book
Yan Lianke is a world-renowned author of novels, short stories, and essays whose provocative and nuanced writing explores the reality of everyday life in contemporary China. In Sound and Silence, Yan compares his literary project to a blind man carrying a flashlight whose role is to help others perceive the darkness that surrounds them. Often described as China’s most censored author, Yan reflects candidly on literary censorship in contemporary China.
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He outlines the Chinese state’s project of national amnesia that suppresses memories of past crises and social traumas. Although being banned in China is often a selling point in foreign markets, Yan argues that there is no requisite correlation between censorship and literary quality. Among other topics, Yan also examines the impact of American literature on Chinese literature in the 1980s and 1990s. Encapsulating his perspectives on life, writing, and literary history, Sound and Silence includes an introduction by translator Carlos Rojas and an afterword by Yan.
Censorship and Memory
Yan reflects on censorship, suppressed social memories, and American literature’s influence on Chinese writing.
Come here for
- Yan’s candid reflections on literary censorship in contemporary China
Expect
- An account of national amnesia and past social traumas
- An examination of American literature’s impact on Chinese literature
Where it sits
| Chinese Literary Criticism | 89% |
|---|---|
| Censorship & Free Speech | 61% |
| Essay Collections | 27% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Chinese Literary Criticism
- 21st Century Literature
- Censorship & Free Speech
- Authors
- Lianke Yan
- Publisher
- Duke University Press
- Published
- April 23, 2024
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Literary censorship · National memory and social trauma · American influence on Chinese literature
- Reading lane
- Chinese Literary Criticism