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