China Mysteries: Crime Novels from China's Others

by Jeffrey Kinkley, Thursday, March 6, 2025, 4:00 pm

Please join us for Jeffrey Kinkley's book talk: China Mysteries: Crime Novels from China's Others.


"China Mysteries" are crime novels set in contemporary China, written by authors outside mainland China, escaping censorship issues.


The genre emerged after the 1989 Tianamen Square protests, during a period of increased openness between China and the West. Authors include writers from various countries, including some ex-PRC nationals. The novels explore China's political and cultural complexities through crime fiction. Kinkley's book examines how these novels portray social and economic changes in China, examines their literary elements, and discusses the role of "information" in popular fiction.


Like the book, the Q & A session will be open to the speaker's and audience's comparative comments regarding twentieth and twenty-first century mystery fiction written in Chinese in the China Mainland and Taiwan.


Click here for more book info.

When: Thursday, March 6, 2025 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Where: Parsons Gallery (2nd floor), Urban Center Building, Portland State University

Address: 506 SW Mill St., Portland, OR 97201

Cost: Free, and open to the public - Please register to give us a headcount


Jeffrey C. Kinkley is Courtesy Professor at Portland State University and Professor Emeritus of Chinese History at St. John’s University. He is known for his translations of the works of Shen Congwen and is the author of Chinese Justice, the Fiction: Law and Literature in Modern China; Corruption and Realism in Late Socialist China: The Return of the Political Novel; and Visions of Dystopia in China’s New Historical Novels.

Sponsored by the PSU Institute for Asian Studies

Established in 1980, the mission of the Northwest China Council is to promote a greater understanding of Chinese history, culture, business, and contemporary affairs.

Northwest China Council | website

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