The Routledge Companion to Yan Lianke

“Yan Lianke is among the most controversial and sophisticated writers in contemporary China. He has a keen, journalistic sensibility with regard to social events and is capable of turning anything he touches into a dark carnival. This companion introduces Yan’s extraordinary background, kaleidoscopic style, Kafkaesque sense of humor, and his deepest concern about the fate of China. This is a most comprehensive reader, demonstrating not only Yan’s art and politics of fiction but also the construction and deconstruction of the ‘China story’ in our time.”

—David Der-wei Wang, Edward C. Henderson Professor of Chinese Literature at Harvard University, and Academician, Academia Sinica.

“As the first English volume on this prominent, avant-garde, and controversial writer, the Routledge Companion to Yan Lianke is a magnificent pioneering work covering a rich array of literary criticism. With a kaleidoscopical treatment of Yan Lianke’s novels, literary theory and essays, this book is a major achievement in addressing many pivotal themes such as mythorealism, absurdity, spirituality, history, gender, translation and reception.”

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

“Encyclopedic in scope and comprehensive in coverage, the Routledge Companion to Yan Lianke presents a deep critical dive into the oeuvre of one of the most important Chinese writers of the past thirty years. For readers who want a more nuanced understanding of Yan Lianke’s brilliant and twisted literary universe, this is the best place to start.”

—Michael Berry, Director, UCLA Center for Chinese Studies, Professor of Contemporary Chinese Cultural Studies Asian Languages & Cultures/Film, Television and Digital Media UCLA.

“This volume brings together wide-ranging, comprehensive and compelling studies of the major contemporary Chinese fiction writer Yan Lianke, whose innovative writing frequently goes against the grain and persistently transgresses narratological frontiers. The editors are to be congratulated on putting together this tour-de-force. It will stand for many years to come as essential reading for anyone interested in Yan Lianke and the mythorealist mode he promotes.”

—Gregory B. Lee FHKAH, Founding Professor of Chinese Studies, Head of Department of Chinese Studies, Department of Chinese Studies, School of Modern Languages, University of St Andrews.