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This article focuses on a specific aspect of Yu Hua’s satiric criticism of Mao-era rhetoric through the use of double-voiced discourse in his full-length novel Cries in the Drizzle. I analyse how this double-voiced discourse is achieved through the contrast between the focalizers’ unreflective and matter-of-fact use of Maoist rhetoric and the public narrator’s clear awareness of the shabby realities behind this rhetoric. The varied understandings of Maoist rhetoric within a variety of narrative voices give rise to sarcasm, irony, and parody. Four episodes in Cries in the Drizzle will be analysed in detail. In each of these, Mao-era rhetoric is projected and embedded in the daily conversations and language of some characters who hail from villages in the countryside. These episodes invite readers to reflect upon just how much of the daily discourse of the Chinese people alludes to, or incorporates, the words of Mao and the Party, and also to appreciate the varied forms of double-voiced discourse brought about by differentiated perspectives of the public narrator versus the focalizers in Yu Hua’s story. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The construction of large dams continues apace in many developing countries. This is no more evident than in China, where half of the world’s large dams are now located. A decade ago the World Commission on Dams released its review of large dams around the world. The report provided a framework for the decision-making of governments, donors, policymakers, planners, and dam builders across seven strategic priorities: to gain acceptance; assess options; address existing dams; sustain rivers and livelihoods; recognize entitlements and secure benefits; ensure compliance; and share rivers across boundaries. Using the strategic priorities as a frame for analysis, this article reviews the progress made by the Chinese government over the last 10 years with respect to addressing the human casualties of large dam construction. It identifies specific frailties and strengths in Chinese policy and practice. It suggests that a stakeholder satisfaction model that places the affected population at the centre of the accountability structure would ensure that those who are tasked with the administration of resettlement policies are answerable to the affected people. In this way, resettlement from large dams can become truly people-centred. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]