Writing by & about non-Han Peoples of China
The desire of the Chinese authorities to control the narrative regarding its borderland peoples has been dealt a blow with the opening of the exhibition, Genghis Khan: Comment les Mongols ont changé le monde at the Chateau des ducs de Bretagne in Nantes, France. In Blockbuster show on Genghis Khan opens in France after row with China, the Guardian reports: … Continue reading France Offers Fresh Look at Genghis Khan and the Mongols
The New York Times reports: In China, don’t question the heroes. 在中国，不要怀疑英雄。 At least seven people over the past week have been threatened, detained or arrested after casting doubt over the government’s account of the deaths of Chinese soldiers during a clash last year with Indian troops. Three of them are being detained for between seven and … Continue reading Crime & Punishment for Online Speech in the People’s Paradise —— 中国文字狱事件
Authorities in the capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region have banned the sale of books by an ethnic Uyghur who served as the region’s first chairman, reports Radio Free Asia (Ban): Observers said the ban — part of an internal party order issued in April last year, but only recently learned of by RFA’s … Continue reading Censorship in Xinjiang: Books by former Chairman of the Region are Banned
The Guardian’s Tom Phillips in Beijing reports that Xi Jinping’s foray into literary criticism is beginning to have some very concrete manifestations in the world of Chinese popular fiction: It was the scrawl of red ink snaking around paragraphs that told novelist Sheng Keyi how much things had changed. Just over a decade ago, Sheng’s … Continue reading Family Planning in Fiction, Rejigging Censorship and Xi Jinping’s Literary Tastes
Back in October 2014 when Xi Jinping delivered his closed-door speech to a gathering of the nation’s artists and scribes in Beijing --- essentially a souped-up, 21st-century rendition of Mao Zedong’s infamous pronouncements at the 1942 Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art --- many wondered just what it signified. It took one year, but the speech … Continue reading NYT on Revival of “The White-Haired Girl”: Chinese Version Deletes Madame Mao & Erstwhile Starring Role of Mrs. Xi Jinping
In the 1950s, many of China’s policies towards its ethnic minorities were inspired by those of the Soviet Union. In the northeast near the Sino-Russian border, for instance, the Oroqen (鄂伦春) found their animistic faith banned and their shamans forced to burn their sacred attire and renounce their “spirit dances” (Last Shaman). Many peoples like … Continue reading Matrilineal Mosuo Cultural Decline: Allure of Modernization, Impact of Tourism and Conveniently Customized History
On Oct 21, the New York Times ran an interesting article entitled China Turns to Online Courses, and Mao, in Pursuit of Soft Power. Sure enough, Xinhua's Cankao Xiaoxi picked it up and translated it for the masses just two days later, with an enhanced title that focuses on capturing foreign eyeballs (中文原文): 中国借网络课程吸引外国受众 … Continue reading China’s Online Courses for the World: Tweaking International Media Coverage for Chinese Eyes
In Censorship and Salesmanship at America’s Biggest Book Fair , Christopher beam argues that categorizing China's community of writers into "dissidents and collaborators misses the nuances of Chinese publishing and politics": “People use the term ‘dissident writer’ in a very confused way,” said Eric Abrahamsen, an American translator and publishing consultant who lives in Beijing, and … Continue reading “Dissident Writers” with Chinese Characteristics
In a global world where the printed book resembles a species under threat, China’s publishing industry is a striking exception. Total revenues exceeded US$16 billion in 2012, and annual growth averages 10 percent. And in that same year, Chinese publishers acquired 16,115 foreign titles. Authors worldwide naturally want to break into this potentially lucrative market. … Continue reading Pro-active Guide for Foreign Scribes: How to Deal with Censorship of Your Writing in Xi Dada’s China
In Travels with My Censor: A Book Tour, author Peter Hessler decides the best way to understand censorship in China is to spend some quality time with the humans --- they aren't machines or faceless apparatchiks --- who practice it. Very educational for him and us, I'd say. This piece in The New Yorker also … Continue reading Peter Hessler on the China Translator and “Defensive Censorship”
Ethnic ChinaLit 