Literature of Modern and Contemporary China (CH 342)
Spring 2009
Tues. & Thurs. 11:30am –1:00pm
Rebstock 215
Prof. Lingchei Letty Chen
Office: x55147
McMillan 251
Email: llchen@artsci
Office Hours: Tue. 1:00pm – 2:00pm and by appointment
Teaching Assistants:
Section 1: Fang-yu Li (fli@artsci)
Section 2: Alex Wille (acwille@artsci)
Section 3: Yinghui Wu (ywub@artsci)
Section 4: Yunjing Xu (yxub@artsci)
Requirements: Active participation in discussion sessions 15%
Regular attendance 10%
Weekly Telesis posting 15%
Mid-term Exam 30%
Final Exam 30%
Required Texts:
1. The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature, ed. by Joseph S. M. Lau
& Howard Goldblatt (Columbia UP, ISBN 0-231-08003-4)
2. Running Wild, ed. by David Der-wei Wang & Jeanne Tai (Columbia UP, ISBN 0231-09649-6)
3. A Bitter Revolution: China’s Struggle with the Modern World, by Rana Mitter
(Oxford UP, ISBN-10: 019280605X, ISBN-13: 978-0192806055)
Reference Book:
1. The Columbia Companion of Modern East Asian Literature ed. by Kirk A.
Denton, Bruce Fulton, Sharalyn Orbaugh, and Joshua S. Mostow
2. Taiwan under Japanese Colonial Rule, 1895-1945: History, Culture, Memory ed.
by Liao Ping-hui and David Der-wei Wang
3. Is Taiwan Chinese? The Impact of Culture, Power, and Migration on Changing
Identities by Melissa J. Brown
4. Witness against History: Literature, Film, and Public Discourse in TwentietyCentury China by Yomi Braester
5. The Subject in Crisis in Contemporary Chinese Literature by Rong Cai
6. Writing Chinese: Reshaping Chinese Identity by Lingchei Letty Chen
SCHEDULE
Week 1 (1/19) 1919-1949: May Fourth Literature in Republican China
“The Dilemma behind Iconoclasm”
Lu Xun: “A Madman’s Diary”
Lao She, “An Old and Established Name”
Ye Shaojun, “A Posthumous Son”
Ba Jin, “Dog”
(Begin reading: A Bitter Revolution)
Week 2 (1/26) “The Function of the Self in Social Engineering”
Yu Dafu, “Sinking”
Shi Zhicun, “One Evening in the Rainy Season”
Wu Zuxiang, “Young Master Gets His Tonic”
(Continue reading: A Bitter Revolution)
Week 3 (2/2) “Engendering „New Women‟ for Nation Building”
Shen Congwen, “Xiaoxiao”
Xiao Hong, “Hands”
(Continue reading: A Bitter Revolution)
Week 4 (2/9) “Engendering „New Women‟ for Nation Building”
Ding Ling, “Diary of Miss Sophia” (JSTOR online & Telesis)
Ling Shuhua, “The Night of Midautumn Festival”
Ailing Chang, “Sealed Off”
(Finish reading: A Bitter Revolution)
Week 5 (2/16) “Going Down the Revolutionary Road: Mao‟s China”
A Bitter Revolution
Mao Dun, “Spring Silkworms”
Ding Ling, “When I Was in Xia Village”
“Colonial Legacy in Taiwan”
Taiwan under Japanese Colonial Rule, 1895-1945, pp.1-15 (Telesis)
Wu Zhuoliu, “A Doctor’s Mother”
Week 6 (2/23) 1950-1980: Literature on the Other Side of the Taiwan Straits
“Sentiments of Displacement”
Bai Xianyong, “Winter Nights”
Yu Guangzhong, “Nostalgia”
Zheng Chouyu, “Pagoda”
Ya Xian, “The Colonel”
Feb. 25
Midterm Exam
Week 7 (3/2) “The Nativist‟s Struggle”
Chen Yingzhen, “My Kid Brother Kangxiong”
Li Ang, “Curvaceous Dolls”
Huang Chunming, “The Fish”
Wang Zhenhe, “An Oxcart for a Dowry”
Is Taiwan Chinese? pp. 1-34 (Telesis)
Week 8 (3/9) Spring Break
Week 9 (3/16) Contemporary Chinese Literature since 1980s:
China: “Living with the Revolutionary Past”
A Cheng, “Festival”
Liu Heng, “Dogshit Food”
Mo Yan, “Iron Child”
Witness against History, pp. 1-27 (Telesis)
Week 10 (3/23) China: “The Subject in Crisis”
Can Xue, “Hut on the Mountain”
Yu Hua, “On the Road at Eighteen”
Su Tong, “Escape”
The Subject in Crisis in Contemporary Chinese Literature, pp. 1-27
Week 11 (3/30) (China)
Tang Min, “I Am Not a Cat”
Gao Xingjian, “The Accident”
Wang Anyi, “Granny”
Writing Chinese, pp. 29-37
Week 12 (4/6) Taiwan: “Materialism as New Transcendence”
Zhu Tianwen, “Fin-de-siècle Splendor”
Yang Zhao, “Our Childhood”
Zhong Ling, “The Isle of Wang’An”
Week 13 (4/13) (Taiwan)
Zhang Dachun, “Lucky Worries about His Country”
S. K. Chang, “The Amateur Cameraman”
Yuan Qiongqiong, “Tales of Taipei”
Week 14 (4/20) Hong Kong: “Neo-colonial or Post-colonial?”
P. K. Leung, “The Story of Hong Kong” (Telesis)
Yu Feng, “Chronicle of a City” (Telesis)
Dung Kai Cheung, “The Atlas: Archaeology of an Imaginary City”
(Telesis)
Wong Bik Wan, “Losing the City” (Telesis)
Writing Chinese, pp. 77-86
Week 15 (4/27) (Hong Kong)
Xi Xi, “A Woman Like Me”
Xi Xi, “Mother Fish”
Ye Si, “Transcendence and the Fax Machine”
May 6
Final Exam