Sound and Silence: My Experience with China and Literature

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. He outlines the Chinese state's project...