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 World@sars.come: 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

About the Author

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

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.”
*The China Quarterly*