Discourses of Disease: Representations of Cancer and Viral Infection in Contemporary China

ABSTRACT

Through a discussion of several recent novels by Hu Fayun, Bi Shumin, and Yan Lianke—including Hu's 2005 novel Such Is ThisWorld@SARS.come(Ruyan@SARS.come);Bi's 2003 novel Saving the Breast (Zhengjiu rufang) and her 2012 novel Coronavirus (Huaguan bingdu);and Yan's 1998 novel Streams of Time (Riguang liunian), his 2004 novel Lenin's Kisses (Shouhuo), and his 2006 novel Dream of Ding Village (Dingzhuang meng)—this article examines how these authors a set of disease-inspired metaphors to explore potential responses to the medical concerns in question. More specifically, the article argues that, in each of the works in question, the authors use a set of disease-inspired to propose a productive means by which society might respond to the threat posed by disease itself. © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.