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Literary Decorum or Carnivalistic Grotesque: Literature in the People's Republic of China after 50 Years*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2009

Bonnie S. McDougall
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Extract

The profound silence that followed immediately after the 4 June massacres in 1989 was short-lived. As it became clear that the regime would stay in power, writers reacted as opportunity and circumstances allowed. Dissident writers associated with the protest movement were in danger of arrest and imprisonment: Duo Duo only just managed to get his flight to London on 4 June, joining those like Bei Dao who were already abroad and had no choice but to remain. Writers in high positions were also vulnerable: Wang Meng was forced to resign as Minister of Culture in 1989 and dropped from the Party's Central Committee at the 1992 Party Congress. Less prominent writers waited for a more propitious time to publish; younger writers barely paused.

Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 159 , September 1999 , pp. 723 - 732
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1999

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References

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