Trend: Chinese Fiction Writers Opting to Publish First Outside the Mainland

http://bruce-humes.com/archives/8336

Comments

# 1.   

Mmmm... I'd still hesitate to call this a "trend". Three writers, each of whom has published all their other works on the Mainland if at all possible...

Only barely a trend!

Eric Abrahamsen, October 11, 2014, 9:29a.m.

# 2.   

This is also true for Yu Hua, a major writer, for "China in ten words" but more significantly perhaps for the 22 OpEds he has published in the New York Times on corruption, censorship and pollution...Murong Xuecun has also published a few articles with the NYT...

Bertrand Mialaret, October 11, 2014, 4:36p.m.

# 3.   

Interesting comments, Eric and Bertrand.

The larger trend for me is the way that Chinese writers are using publication outside the PRC to make their voices heard without censorship.

I recall heated arguments here on Paper Republic perhaps two years ago when I suggested that Chinese writers such as Han Han should open a blog in English on a server outside China so that they could say what they meant, instead of playing word games to get by the censors. Some Paper Republic regulars argued that this could put those writers at grave risk; yet Yu Hua and Murong Xuecun are now effectively using the NY Times op-eds to do something quite similar.

If you are interested in such things, you might also have noted that Liao Yiwu -- who had been threatened with another jail sentence if his book about life in a Chinese prison was published in Germany -- exited China illegally via Yunnan's porous border in 2011, entered Vietnam, and flew direct to Berlin where his works have since been published in German, and where he regularly speaks on China-related topics.

Eric has a point: three writers do not a trend make. Personally, I'd guess other Chinese writers have also chosen to publish first in Hong Kong, Taiwan or a European language. Busy trying to earn $ and pay my rent, I simply don't have the time to document them systematically, but I do promise to update you when I hear about one.

But I am confident more writers will take this path in 2014-15, for two reasons: to date, writers have not been punished financially or legally for publishing fiction outside China; and more importantly, the crackdown on the arts and social media that has been underway since Xi Jinping came to power is intensifying, and this will doubtless spur writers to look for alternative ways to publish.

Bruce, October 12, 2014, 2:26a.m.

# 4.   

I definitely agree that publishing outside of China is unlikely to have any repercussions on the writers (the censors are also bureaucrats, and if there's anything a bureaucrat hates it's making more work for himself), and that's a very good thing.

When I expressed skepticism about a "trend", I think I was reacting to something more than what Bruce was saying. It is a trend in that it's happening more and more, but I don't see it becoming a trend in the sense that it becomes a viable career alternative for writers. These writers are still focused on their domestic readership (which is very cut off from anything resembling an international readership), and the publication of these few books abroad has little influence on their career development. I think it's great that they are able do it, and even better that they are choosing to do it, but I don't think there's much future in it.

Yu Hua is probably the only exception to this: he's managed to create a real career for himself outside of China, one that exists in parallel to his career inside China. I wouldn't expect many other writers to be able to pull that off, though.

Eric Abrahamsen, October 12, 2014, 3:59a.m.

# 5.   

The mainland magazine Jiangnan 江南 carried Death Fugue 死亡赋格 (in an edited version) in 2011, a year and a half before it came out in Taiwan, so it's clearly not a case of the author opting to publish overseas first.

For at least the past few decades, there's been a smattering of work by mainland writers available only from overseas publishers. Mirror Books, which puts out all those pulpy political biographies, launched in the early 90s with Wang Lixiong's Yellow Peril 黄祸 (although that was under a pseudonym), and there are other traditional and vanity presses that cater to mainland authors. Are we seeing a trend, or just a continuation of existing publishing options?

jdmartinsen, October 12, 2014, 4:13a.m.

# 6.   

Re: Wang Lixiong, he's an example of a bona fide, card-carrying dissident writer; he publishes outside China because no one would even dream of publishing his un-PC books about Xinjiang and Tibet in the PRC. Given he doesn't have the option of publication in China, he's not really an example of what I was talking about above.

But what Eric says is spot on and revealing: it's a rare mainstream Chinese writer -- at this point in time -- who would trade an international readership for one right here in China. And I don't think it's a matter of a "career alternative" either.

I think there's two reasons for that: 1) They perceive themselves as "Chinese" rather than global citizens, and genuinely desire to ensure their writing has an impact on their own society; and 2) They are hesitant about having their writing perceived as somehow "unpatriotic."

Call it the "Ai Weiwei phenomenon." He may be popular abroad, but many Chinese -- and I know a few artists here who feel this way -- despise him as a sell-out to the West because he is popular there.

Bruce, October 12, 2014, 6:11a.m.

# 7.   

Eric, agree with your comments on Yu Hua; he gives the impression of trying to create a real career for himself outside China. He is in Paris for the release of " Le septième jour" translated by Isabelle Rabut and Angel Pino (Alan Barr is translating the English version which should be released around next April). I will meet Yu Hua next Wednesday for an interview and will bring the question...

Bertrand Mialaret, October 12, 2014, 8a.m.

# 8.   

http://mychinesebooks.com/fravec-lcrivain-yu-hua-morts-sans-spulture-version-chinoise/?lang=en

More info on Yu Hua and his "career" outside China. An interview in Paris during the launch of his latest novel "The seven days" in my blog mychinesebooks.com.

Bertrand Mialaret, October 21, 2014, 3:47p.m.

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