330 Middlemarch (with Yang Huang)

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Books, Arts

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 7 June 2021

⏱️ 77 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Yang Huang, author of the new novel My Good Son, joins Jacke for a discussion of her childhood in China, how censorship restricted her ability to imagine stories, and how George Eliot's Middlemarch helped her break free from these limitations. We also discuss her work as a novelist and what it's like to be an Asian American during a period of highly visible anti-Asian sentiment. YANG HUANG grew up in China and has lived in the United States since 1990. Her novel MY GOOD SON won the University of New Orleans Publishing Lab Prize. Her linked story collection, MY OLD FAITHFUL, won the Juniper Prize, and her debut novel, LIVING TREASURES, won the Nautilus Book Award silver medal. She works for the University of California, Berkeley and lives in the Bay Area with her family. To learn more about Yang and her writing, visit www.yanghuang.com or follow her on Twitter: @yangwrites. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. (We appreciate it!) Find out more at historyofliterature.com, jackewilson.com, or by following Jacke and Mike on Twitter at @thejackewilson and @literatureSC. Or send an email to [email protected]. New!!! Looking for an easy to way to buy Jacke a coffee? Now you can at paypal.me/jackewilson. Your generosity is much appreciated! The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. Since you're listening to The History of Literature, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding literature, history, and storytelling like Storybound, Micheaux Mission, and The History of Standup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglomerate Network and LitHub Radio.
0:12.6	And I rely on English actually. Nowadays, if I write a story in Chinese, I have to think
0:18.5	in English and translate into Chinese because I was so kind of my point of view, so fractured
0:25.9	by the censorship. I just cannot conceive a story in Chinese.
0:30.6	Yeah, that's so interesting. It's like you're a computer that had to be reprogrammed.
0:36.9	Yes. Basically, if I think in Chinese, it would get hijacked by censorship.
0:42.6	I do not know where it's going to go. It would go to some place. I don't.
0:46.7	That's not honest. That's not complete. It's not. Yeah, it's just partial truth.
0:55.9	Mmm, that's author Yang Long, who was born in China and immigrated to the United States
1:06.0	when she was in college, talking about the effect that censorship had on her storytelling
1:12.4	mind, reaching all the way into her ability to think in the Chinese language.
1:20.6	Yang's going to talk to us about how she broke free from that restriction and how George
1:25.6	Eliot's classic novel, Middle March, helped her do it. She'll also tell us about her
1:30.8	new novel, My Good Son, and share with us some thoughts on being an Asian American and
1:36.1	an Asian American storyteller in particular during a period when anti-Asian sentiment has
1:43.4	become a highly visible issue. Yang Wang and Middle March, today on The History of Literature.
1:52.2	Oh, hello, everyone. Welcome to the podcast. I'm Jack Wilson. I'm so glad you're here today.
2:13.5	And I am glad to be here just showing up because that is what I do mostly in life. I show up
2:23.0	and I share and sometimes I sit back and listen. There's some of that today with Yang Wang,
2:28.6	our guest who is a wonderful novelist. Her new book, My Good Son, is out now for you to check
2:34.0	out and she is an incredible person with an incredible story. I'm fascinated by her and her story.
2:42.1	China, I've mentioned before that I spent some time in China. I lived in Taiwan way back when
	...

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