Why do people in socialist China read and write literary works? Earlier studies in Western Sinology have approached Chinese texts from the socialist era as portraits of society, as keys to the tug-of-war of dissent, or, more recently, as pursuit of "pure art." The Uses of Literature looks broadly and empirically at these and many other "uses" of literature from the points of view of authors, editors, political authorities, and several kinds of readers. Perry Link, author of Ev...

"This book is a manifestation of Perry Link’s deep love for the Chinese people, their humor, struggles, and courage. The Anaconda in the Chandelier is packed with a deep understanding of China, astute observations of Chinese society, and unrelenting criticism of the Communist Party, all stemming from Link’s devotion to one thing: truth. If you want to understand why the West got China wrong and how to get it right in the ongoing rivalry between democracy and autocracy, you...

During the Cultural Revolution, Mao exhorted the Chinese people to “smash the four olds”: old customs, old culture, old habits, and old ideas. Yet when the Red Guards in Tiananmen Square chanted “We want to see Chairman Mao,” they unknowingly used a classical rhythm that dates back to the Han period and is the very embodiment of the four olds. An Anatomy of Chinese reveals how rhythms, conceptual metaphors, and political language convey time-honored meanings of which Chinese speak...

This book presents a view of social life in China and discusses different methods for studying contemporary China as a tool for introducing students to the study of popular culture. Through a diverse set of case studies, it introduces readers to a wide range of issues facing Chinese society.

When the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced it was awarding the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to the Chinese literary critic and human rights activist Liu Xiaobo, it made special note of his role in writing a remarkable political manifesto called Charter 08. In China, that same document has caused officials to throw him in jail with an 11-year sentence that is extraordinary even by Chinese standards, while taking drastic measures to silence any mention of the text.But what is Charter 08 ...

This is a fascinating, insightful collection of essays by some of the world's most renowned China experts, who share personal recollections of their time in China-often beginning in the 1970s, when foreigners were just beginning to navigate the linguistic and cultural terrain of that country-and reflect on what learning Chinese has meant to them in their careers and lives. Ian Johnson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist notes in his essay, it is only by knowing the language that we can ...

人權鬥士‧諾貝爾和平獎得主 劉曉波生平最為出色的傳記「我無罪。歷史會對這判決做出其判決。我會上訴。」「我沒有敵人，也沒有仇恨。所有監控過我，捉捕過我、審訊過我的員警，起訴過我的檢察官，判決過我的法官，都不是我的敵人。」——劉曉波劉曉波（1955.12.28-2017.07.13），中國頭號異議人士、《零八憲章》這份民主宣言的關鍵人物之一。二○○八年十二月某個深夜，警察來到他家，將他帶走。二○○九年遭遇判刑前夕，劉曉波撰文長達五頁的〈我沒有敵人——我的最後陳述〉（二○○九年十二月二十三日），替自己所作所為做最後辯解。二○一○年劉曉波以政治犯身分獲頒諾貝爾和平獎，但無緣前去領獎，此獎於是頒給一張空椅子。在中國國內，中共政權致力於抹除他存在的一切痕跡。二○一七年死於肝癌時，甚至未獲准返家。《我沒有敵人：劉曉波的生平與遺產》被公認是最出色的劉曉波傳記，以鉅細靡遺的研究為本，講述他曲折且不凡的人生。林培瑞（Perry Link）和吳大志（Wu Dazhi）探索劉曉波成長過程的家庭...

Late one night in December 2008, police arrived at the home of Liu Xiaobo—China’s leading dissident, a key figure in the prodemocracy manifesto Charter 08—and took him away. When Liu won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize as a political prisoner, the award was bestowed on an empty chair. Inside China, the regime sought to erase every trace of his existence. Liu died of liver cancer in 2017 without ever having been allowed to return home.I Have No Enemies is the definitive biograph...

Bloomsbury presents China Tripping, read by Paul Pickowicz, Perry Link, Katherine Jackowicz, Jeremy Murray and Song Yuen Eunice Lee.This unique book is the first to bring together a group of influential China experts to reflect on their cultural and social encounters while travelling and living in the People’s Republic. Filling an important gap, it allows scholars, journalists, and businesspeople to reflect on their personal memories of China. Private experiences—vivid and...

Therapeutinnen sind die besten Detektive – das Krimidebüt der internationalen BestsellerautorinMit Toten ist man in Westlinke vertraut; die Seven Sisters, weiße, ziemlich hohe Kalksteinklippen, ein Hotspot für traurige Seelen, die ihrem Leben ein Ende setzen wollen. Ermordete hingegen – die gibt es so gut wie nie in diesem verschlafenen Landstrich an der südenglischen Küste. Für die Polizei ist der Fall Henry Clayton deshalb klar: Selbstmord. Eine Theorie, mit der ...

This compelling book explores the explosive pace of change in China and how its citizens are grappling with a dramatically new world, both in the public and private spheres. China’s stratospheric growth has made it the second largest economy in the world—and one of the most unequal. Marxist ideology and socialist ideals have almost completely collapsed, replaced by a combination of materialism and assertive nationalism. The vast migration of labor from countryside to city has continued apa...

This unique book is the first to bring together a group of influential China experts to reflect on their cultural and social encounters while travelling and living in the People’s Republic. Filling an important gap, it allows scholars, journalists, and businesspeople to reflect on their personal memories of China. Private experiences—vivid and often entirely unanticipated—often teach more about how a society actually works than a planned course of study can. Such experiences can also expos...