Sound and Silence

Yan Lianke is the author of Discovering Fiction, also published by Duke University Press, as well as Hard Like Water, The Day the Sun Died, The Explosion Chronicles, and many other books. Winner of the Franz Kafka Prize and a two-time finalist for the Man Booker International Prize, Yan teaches at Renmin University in Beijing and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.Carlos Rojas is Professor of Modern Chinese Cultural Studies at Duke University and translator of several of Yan’s novels.

“Yan Lianke is one of the most important figures in contemporary Chinese literature and cultural politics. His sharp and insightful comments on the Chinese lived experience offer firsthand observations of the late-socialist society in transformation, and his cynical, dark humor constitutes the most poignant reflection of the Chinese consciousness in crisis.” - David Der-wei Wang, author of (Why Fiction Matters in Contemporary China) “Sound and Silence contains a dozen informative essays that reveal a fascinating mind and original sensibility. Yan Lianke speaks with candor and penetrating insights. His is a jarring, distinct voice from the vast silent landscape of contemporary Chinese letters.” - Ha Jin, author of (A Song Everlasting: A Novel) "Yan’s insightful essays show how attempts to control history and society can be countered by memory and imagination. A brief but pithy, informative piece of work, representing a unique approach to history writing." (Kirkus) "A tender voice burning with curiosity seeps through this collection. . . . A slow burner with intricate metaphors and impressionable images, Sound and Silence will appeal to those looking for a scholarly read strung together with softhearted reflections on the parts of life worth writing about." - Lillian Liao (Booklist) "Yan Lianke, one of China’s pre-eminent novelists and short story writers, is also an incisive essayist and literary critic, as attested in this collection of his non-fiction over the last decade plus. . . . Yan is at his strongest when writing personally, such as a powerful essay about his journey from army propagandist to fiction writer . . . . His voice as an essayist, precisely rendered in Carlos Rojas’ translation, is more direct than his at times surrealist fiction, and carries with it a sense of mission that we could only read between the lines of his novels." - Alec Ash (China Books Review) "What makes Yan’s Sound and Silence such an extraordinary project is its fearlessness. In his lectures for American university audiences, he speaks with honesty and bravery about the unavoidability of political writing in China." - Gabriel Bump (Indy Week) "I am grateful to have access to his compelling writings. His contributions have enriched my understanding of modern Chinese literature, enhancing my overall experience as a reader. For this, I extend my gratitude to Yan Lianke and other bold Chinese authors who continue to publish today." - B. Freeman (Cha Journal)

• Acknowledgments  viiTranslator’s Introduction / Carlos Rojas  ix1. He Who Has Been Selected by Heaven and Life to Appreciate Darkness  12. National Amnesia and Literary Memory  93. The Abjection of Alt-China and Its Literature  204. The Wild Child That Is American Literature  345. My Thoughts on Literary Censorship and Controversy  486. My Literary Review Book  647. The Distinctiveness of Writing in China  768. Fear and Betrayal Have Accompanied Me throughout My Life  909. Writing under a Sky of Concentrated Power and Relative Laxity  10710. Living without Dignity but Writing with Honor  12111. My Ideal Is Simply to Write a Novel That I Think Is Good  13312. A Village’s China and Literature  148Afterword. Ripping Open the Dreamscape  165Biographies  169Index  171