Author Description

Reading Contemporary Chinese Migrant Fiction examines the spectrum of Chinese migrant writing about memory since the 1990s and what it tells us about history, memory and trauma in contemporary China. Drawing on a range of interdisciplinary approaches the book casts new light on texts by writers from the Cultural Revolution generation, including Ken Liu, Yiyun Li and Geling Yan among others. Meng Xia demonstrates how these writers construct collective identity in the contexts of transnational experiences of migration and historical trauma. The book delves into the possibilities and problems of transposing memory across borders and engages with debates over the unspeakability and politicization of trauma across public and private lines.