Sandy Zhang

Understanding the literary scene in post-Mao China not only requires an investigation of authors and their publishers, but also their editors, especially in the case of print magazines and other periodicals. While some scholars have paved the way for analyzing individual authors, this project includes the dynamic role of editorship, without which any literary scene, but especially nascent reform era Chinese literary culture, could not hope to function. This pathbreaking research emphasizes the editors’ critical role in shaping the post-socialist literary landscape. This work will form the basis of the book, “On the Brink of Modernity: Chinese Literary Venues in the Reform Era (1978-1989).”