Questioning the Chinese Model: Oppositional Political Novels in Early Twenty-First Century China

by Zhansui Yu

Overview

In the early twenty-first century, the Chinese literary world saw an emergence of fictional works – dubbed as "oppositional political novels" – that took political articulation as their major purpose and questioned the fundamental principles and intrinsic logic of the Chinese model. Based on close readings of five representative oppositional Chinese political novels, Questioning the Chinese Model examines the sociopolitical connotations and epistemological values of these novels in the broad context of modern Chinese intellectual history and contemporary Chinese politics and society.

Zhansui Yu provides a sketch of the social, political, and intellectual landscape of present-day China. He investigates the dialectic relationship between the arts and politics in the Chinese context, the mechanisms and dynamics of censorship in the age of the Internet and commercialization, and the ideological limitations of oppositional Chinese political novels. In the process of textual and social analysis, Yu extensively cites Western political philosophers, such as Hannah Arendt, Antonio Gramsci, Michel Foucault, and references well-regarded studies on Chinese literature, politics, society, and the Chinese intelligentsia. Examining oppositional Chinese political novels from multiple perspectives, Questioning the Chinese Model applies a broad range of knowledge beyond merely the literary field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781487544348
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	03/15/2023
Pages:	266
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.78(d)

About the Author

Zhansui Yu is an associate professor of Chinese in the World Languages and Cultures Department at Nazareth College

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Rise of Oppositional Chinese Political Novels
Chinese Political Fiction in the Twentieth Century
Sociopolitical Crisis and Re-politicization of Society in the New Century
Propitious Circumstances for Political Articulation
Scope, Themes, Methodology, and Structure of the Book

1. Destruction of Communist Myths
Them versus Us: Subversion of the Party-People Myth
From Critics to Servants: Changed Role of Chinese Intellectuals after Tiananmen
Nationalism as State Ideology
Ideologization of Morality, Hedonism, and Political Acquiescence
Summary

2. Wolf Totem: Paradoxical Eulogy to a Culture
Wolf Totem and Mongolian Correlative Cosmology
Social Darwinism, Reverse Chauvinism, and Nationalism
A Wolf Destroyed by the “Wolf Logic”
Ideological Hegemony behind a Literary Sensation
Summary

3. Lenin’s Kisses: Absurdity, Dehumanization, and Dilemma of the Chinese Utopia
Revolution as Nightmare
Contemporary Freak Show: Absurdity and Cruelty of the Biopolitics of a Utopia
“With Money, Anything Is Possible”
Arbitrariness of Power, Sustainability of Dictatorship, and Dead-End Future
Summary

4. Such Is This [e-mail]: Dictatorship as a Fatal Disease
“Lockdown” as Social Reality and Political Allegory
The Terrifying “Old Crone” behind the Screen
The Chinese Intelligentsia after Tiananmen: Cynicism and Division
Two Faces of the Party: Ugliness behind a Lovely Mask
Summary

5. The Fat Years: Social Injustice, Forced Amnesia, Distorted Mentality, and Fascism
Fake Paradise: Darkness behind the Chinese “Miracle”
Falsified History and Forced Amnesia
Mental Distortion and Spiritual Agony
“Fascism? We Are Only in Its Early Stages!”
Summary

6. The Seventh Day: Dystopian Wasteland versus Modern Peach Blossom Spring
Bloody Predation and Deceptive Propaganda
Destruction of Sanctified Human Feelings
Banality of Evil: Callous Indifference and Moral Corruption
Peach Blossom Spring: Utopia of Truth, Love, and Happiness
Summary

Epilogue: Limits of Transgression and Mechanisms of Counter-Censorship
Notes
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Jeffrey C. Kinkley

"Questioning the Chinese Model analyzes influential and provocative novels from early twenty-first century China that strip the political meaning of that nation's developmental model down to its core. The art and ingenuity on display in these works is proof that the traditional mission of the Chinese intellectual to remonstrate with sovereign power lives on, undiminished and unafraid.​"

Michael S. Duke

"Building on previous studies of Chinese political fiction, this well-written and well-researched book offers a detailed and insightful study of five 'oppositional political novels' published from 2004 to 2012. The author shows how these very popular works of fiction employ many literary devices to undermine the official Party line and present a devastating factual critique of the so-called 'Chinese model.' Anyone who wants to understand what the Chinese life feels like for the vast majority of Chinese people should read Questioning the Chinese Model."

Liu Jianmei

"Questioning the Chinese Model is a very absorbing and thought-provoking account of Chinese 'oppositional political novels' in the early twenty-first century. Zhansui Yu has succeeded in demonstrating how powerful storytelling can impact the sociopolitical discourse and the dynamics of the contemporary Chinese intellectual realm. Insightfully written, the book proves that fiction can act as a potent spear penetrating the darkness."

Editorial Reviews

“Yu’s directness in bridging hard-hitting Chinese intellectual poignancy and the country’s increasingly opaque political development is a welcome effort in the mapping of politically engaged intellectual expression in late reform-era China.”—Peng Hai, University of Pittsburgh, The China Quarterly

" Questioning the Chinese Model analyzes influential and provocative novels from early twenty-first century China that strip the political meaning of that nation’s developmental model down to its core. The art and ingenuity on display in these works is proof that the traditional mission of the Chinese intellectual to remonstrate with sovereign power lives on, undiminished and unafraid.​"

—Jeffrey C. Kinkley, Courtesy Professor of History and of World Languages and Literatures, Portland State University

" Questioning the Chinese Model is a very absorbing and thought-provoking account of Chinese ‘oppositional political novels’ in the early twenty-first century. Zhansui Yu has succeeded in demonstrating how powerful storytelling can impact the sociopolitical discourse and the dynamics of the contemporary Chinese intellectual realm. Insightfully written, the book proves that fiction can act as a potent spear penetrating the darkness."

—Liu Jianmei, Professor of Chinese Literature, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

"Building on previous studies of Chinese political fiction, this well-written and well-researched book offers a detailed and insightful study of five ‘oppositional political novels’ published from 2004 to 2012. The author shows how these very popular works of fiction employ many literary devices to undermine the official Party line and present a devastating factual critique of the so-called ‘Chinese model.’ Anyone who wants to understand what the Chinese life feels like for the vast majority of Chinese people should read Questioning the Chinese Model."

—Michael S. Duke, Emeritus Professor of Chinese Literature, University of British Columbia

From the Publisher