New Books Network: Megan Walsh on "The Subplot: What China Is Reading and Why It Matters"

Episode Date: October 21, 2025
Host: Dr. Miranda Melcher
Guest: Megan Walsh, author and journalist
Book Discussed: The Subplot: What China Is Reading and Why It Matters (Columbia Global Reports, 2022)

Overview

This episode explores the contemporary landscape of Chinese fiction with Megan Walsh, whose book The Subplot examines what China's population is reading, why certain genres thrive, and how trends in publishing connect to broader social, cultural, and political shifts. Walsh and host Miranda Melcher discuss censorship, genre innovation, the explosion of online fiction, and unique challenges and freedoms facing Chinese authors and readers today.

Key Discussion Points

1. Megan Walsh’s Background and Motivation

• [02:28] Megan introduces herself as a writer and journalist based in London, with deep experience writing about Chinese culture, literature, and film, especially following her time living in Beijing and Taipei.
  • “I guess I've been writing about Chinese culture, mainly literature and film, since I moved back to Beijing in about 2013.” —Megan Walsh [02:32]
• Her on-the-ground experience shaped her nuanced perspective and prompted her to write the book.

2. Censorship and Literary Innovation in China

• [03:59] Censorship is “an ongoing consideration for writers in China” and the main Western lens for viewing Chinese literature.
• The degree of censorship (the “weather”) fluctuates over time, prompting authors to adapt creatively.
  • “Writers in China tend to be very innovative and reactive according to what they can sense is possible at the time.” —Megan Walsh [04:13]
• Recent decades have seen significant shifts in both policy and content.

Fiction vs. Nonfiction Under Censorship

• [05:21] Fiction offers a “safer space” for exploring sensitive topics, while nonfiction remains risky.
  • Example: Yan Lianke’s Dream of Ding Village transformed a nonfictional AIDS crisis into a dreamlike novel, navigating censorship but still facing bans.
  • “Nonfiction has always been, I guess, representative of real bravery when people do it. It happens a lot during COVID but it also is what gets people in more trouble.” —Megan Walsh [06:44]

3. What Books Make it to Chinese Shelves?

• [07:32] English-language editions of controversial works (George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Yan Lianke) are often available in bookshops, while their Chinese editions may be banned.
• “The battleground for a lot of writers really is... whether they're able to write their novels in their own language or whether they need to find publishers outside...” —Megan Walsh [08:20]

Shifting Ban Lists

• [08:55] Some works (Mo Yan’s, Yu Hua’s To Live) oscillate between being banned and available depending on political climate.
  • “It really depends on... temperature at the time.” —Megan Walsh [09:43]

4. Themes of Dislocation and Generational Change

• [10:43] Major works often reflect generational divides, profound dislocation, and suspended states—a product of rapid societal transformation and limits on exploring the past.
  • “A lot of these books are about protagonists who are in suspended states and states of limbo. They're sleepwalkers, they're zombies who don't know how to connect the past with the present.” —Megan Walsh [11:38]
• The difficulties in addressing collective memory and history create a “meta-narrative” disconnect.

5. The Rise and Shape of Online Fiction

• [14:00] China’s online fiction market is the world’s largest, with over 42 million titles and 638 million users, mostly under 25.
  • “It's an inconceivably large industry. It's mostly read by people who are under 25.” —Megan Walsh [14:34]
• The dominant model is pay-per-chapter, serialized cliffhangers—echoing Victorian publishing.
• “It became the incarnation of sort of free market fiction… fantasies about survival of the fittest at all cost.” —Megan Walsh [17:06]

Government Response to Online Fiction

• Initially tolerated and nonpolitical, online fiction faced backlash as racy or violent themes grew in popularity.
  • “Xi Jinping said how worried he was about it. He called it a plateau without peaks and that there was something sort of inherently empty about the content...” —Megan Walsh [17:54]
• Increasing regulation now mirrors state censorship elsewhere.

6. Influence and Censorship of Manga and Anime

• [21:21] Japanese manga and anime poured into China during the 1980s, influencing generations—despite ongoing government misgivings.
• Manga remains a potent force, with young people circumventing restrictions via VPNs or imported print.
  • “I actually just read a book by Huan Yen, who is a delivery driver, and he was just talking about how Japanese anime and manga completely changed his life...” —Megan Walsh [22:51]

7. The Allure and Controversy of Danmei (BL) Fiction

• [24:07] Danmei—romantic fiction between men, mainly written by straight young women—thrives, driven by various psychological and social motives.
  • “It's the most popular type of romance in China. So people are very interested in why girls are writing themselves out of their own romances...” —Megan Walsh [24:30]
• Publishing this genre can be risky; harsh penalties have been imposed on some female authors.
  • “A girl called Mr. Deepsey went to prison for 10 years for... her book.” —Megan Walsh [26:22]

8. Crime Fiction/Murder Mysteries: Creative Constraints

• [27:06] Crime fiction is sensitive because it challenges the CCP’s claim to order and control.
  • “Law and order is... one of the pillars of the CCP's... legitimacy. It's not great to have crime fiction that acknowledges... a lot of crime.” —Megan Walsh [27:10]
• Stories often depict police as infallible, and there are official claims that “there were no unsolved murders in China” ([27:46]), shaping narrative boundaries.

9. Cottagecore & Rural Nostalgia

• [29:21] The return-to-pastoral trend stems from both universal and uniquely Chinese longings.
  • “The agrarian or... pastoral is a very, very powerful part of the cultural imagination... so it hasn't taken a lot for people to become very captivated by the idea of returning to these sort of idyls.” —Megan Walsh [30:10]
• Movements like “lying down” (Tang Ping) intertwine with digital-age exhaustion and ancestral nostalgia.

10. Science Fiction as a Space of Freedom and Optimism

• [32:35] Sci-fi is less constrained by censorship since it’s set in the future.
  • “It's been much easier for people to write about the future... not constrained by history or the present day in terms of what can and can't be touched.” —Megan Walsh [32:36]
• Chinese sci-fi is optimistic, embracing technology and national progress rather than dystopia.
  • “It is kind of thrilling to read science fiction that comes [with]... optimism and excitement as well as innovation in the way that we're sort of much more Black Mirror here...” —Megan Walsh [34:34]

11. The Purpose of The Subplot

• [35:04] Walsh’s aim is to offer new, nuanced entry points for engaging with China beyond economics or politics.
  • “It felt like a kind of inside out way of trying to better understand the contradictions that exist within China at the moment.” —Megan Walsh [35:29]
• She hopes readers can find cultural overlaps and learn from China’s literary climate.

12. What’s Next for Megan Walsh?

• [36:20] Walsh has written about delivery drivers prioritizing the humanities and is exploring the role of memoir in intergenerational relationships in China.

Notable Quotes

• “Writers in China tend to be very innovative and reactive according to what they can sense is possible at the time.” —Megan Walsh [04:13]
• “Nonfiction has always been, I guess, representative of real bravery when people do it.” —Megan Walsh [06:44]
• “It became the incarnation of sort of free market fiction... fantasies about survival of the fittest at all cost.” —Megan Walsh [17:06]
• “Xi Jinping said how worried he was about [online fiction]. He called it a plateau without peaks...” —Megan Walsh [17:54]
• “It's the most popular type of romance in China. So people are very interested in why girls are writing themselves out of their own romances...” —Megan Walsh [24:30]
• “Law and order is... one of the pillars of the CCP's... legitimacy. It's not great to have crime fiction that acknowledges... a lot of crime.” —Megan Walsh [27:10]
• “It's been much easier for people to write about the future... not constrained by history or the present day in terms of what can and can't be touched.” —Megan Walsh [32:36]
• “It felt like a kind of inside out way of trying to better understand the contradictions that exist within China at the moment.” —Megan Walsh [35:29]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:28 — Megan Walsh’s background and impetus for the book
• 03:59 — Censorship and literary adaptation in China
• 05:31 — Fiction vs. nonfiction and the mythorealist method
• 07:32 — The peculiar availability of foreign and controversial books
• 10:43 — Themes of dislocation and generational divides
• 14:00 — Overview of the online fiction industry
• 17:54 — Government concerns and regulation of online fiction
• 21:21 — Influence and resilience of manga/anime
• 24:07 — Danmei fiction: its appeal and risks for writers
• 27:06 — The paradoxes of crime fiction/murder mysteries
• 29:21 — Cottagecore and agrarian longing
• 32:35 — Science fiction’s freedom and optimism
• 35:04 — The broader aim of The Subplot
• 36:20 — Walsh’s current projects and focus

Conclusion

Megan Walsh’s The Subplot and this in-depth conversation uncovers complexities and contradictions in China’s reading habits and publishing world, challenging familiar narratives about censorship and conformity by highlighting innovation, genre dynamism, and readers’ desires. By delving into both the forbidden and the fantastical, Walsh reveals a literary ecosystem vastly larger and more varied than many outsiders assume—one in which writers continually test boundaries and readers chase escapism, nostalgia, and new possibilities.

Listeners interested in learning more are encouraged to read Megan Walsh’s book and stay tuned for her future writing on contemporary Chinese life and culture.