ASCL 60.04 Modern Chinese Literature and Society

What does it mean when literature is entrusted with the task of rescuing, rejuvenating, revolutionizing and modernizing the entire nation as China entered the age of modernization? What does it mean when literature subsequently played a seminal role in almost all social and political movements in modern and contemporary China, from socialist revolutions to contemporary #MeToo movements? How does such a literature speak for collective longings, individual differences, alternative communities, and internal struggles among a vast and diverse population? And moving beyond the boundaries of the political state of People’s Republic of China, how can we approach a body of literature written in Chinese and other languages from various Chinese-speaking communities across the globe?

This course will introduce participants to major works in modern Chinese literature and related media forms, as well as to critical discussions surrounding them. We will closely examine how each work engages with the historical development and contemporary dynamics of modern China and Chinese-speaking communities. From literary and cultural perspectives, this course addresses and problematizes some of the most difficult issues that modern China has been working hard to deal with, including colonial modernity, war memory, revolution and trauma, ethnic minorities, overseas Chinese, gender and sexuality, and so on.

Instructor

Xie

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:LIT; WCult:NW

The Timetable of Class Meetings contains the most up-to-date information about a course. It includes not only the meeting time and instructor, but also its official distributive and/or world culture designation. This information supersedes any information you may see elsewhere, to include what may appear in this ORC/Catalog or on a department/program website. Note that course attributes may change term to term therefore those in effect are those (only) during the term in which you enroll in the course.

Department-Specific Course Categories

counts as DS course for ASCL major and minor