07:20 pm-10:00 pm, T 227
Instructor: Dr. Aijun Zhu
Office: 234-A Thompson Hall
Office hours: TR 6:40 pm -7:10 pm
Office Phone: 703-993-1631
Email: azhu@gmu.edu (You’re encouraged to contact me via email since I check email messages every day)
Required Textbooks
Eileen Chang. Love
in a Fallen City. (NYRB Classics,
ISBN-10: 1590171780; ISBN-13: 978-1590171783)
Yu, Hua. To Live. (Anchor, ISBN-10: 1400031869; ISBN-13: 978-1400031863)
Mo Yan. Red
Sorghum. Penguin, ISBN-10:
0140168540; ISBN-13: 978-0140168549
Wang Anyi.
Lapse of Time. Foreign Language
Press, ISBN-10: 7119033603; ISBN-13: 978-7119033600
Films
Yellow Earth
Everlasting Regret
Red Sorghum
To Live
Course
Description
Major Chinese Writers introduces some of the most important writers in modern and contemporary Chinese literary history.
In this summer, we will focus on four prominent writers: Eileen Chang (Zhang Ailing), Wang Anyi, Mo Yan, and Yu Hua, while dealing with important literary trends such as the Eileen Chang Phenomenon, Roots Literature, Avant-garde Literature and Popular Literature. We will examine the different representations of human nature and human relationships through investigating such issues as love, family, gender, sexuality, history and memory. Close reading is emphasized.
Grading
Attendance and Discussion: 15%
Quizzes 10%
Responses/Critical Analysis 20%
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 30%
Course Requirements
Attendance is mandatory. 1
unexcused absence—no questions asked; each unexcused absence will drop your
discussion grade by one letter since the success of this class depends much on
it.
An excused absence entitles you to make up for certain missed work. You can earn your participation points by emailing me your understanding of the readings before class the following week. However, there is no makeup for quizzes.
Satisfactory documentation is required for each absence. As soon as
possible after your return, meet with me to set up a schedule for making up any
work you have missed. If you are
seeing doctor at that particular time, unless it is an emergency, a doctor’s
note will not excuse your absence. Simply informing me before class does not
excuse you either.
Class participation is expected
since talking with fellow students is the best way to learn. So earn your good
grade the fun way—start and keep talking in class! Don’t be afraid to make
mistakes, but you do need to show that you are familiar with the readings and
the films and that you have seriously thought about them. Be prepared and
watch/read before class.
Quizzes
A pop quiz will be given on any day, and it will be a couple of simple
questions on the readings. Be prepared.
Response
Journal (typed,
double-spaced, times new roman, size 12)
Students are required to keep a response journal on the readings to be
discussed on that day (every class except 6/5, 6/21, 7/3, 7/24, 7/26), which
will help you articulate your thoughts on the texts and contribute to
successful discussions in class. For example, your journal entry on 6/7 will be
about “Love in a Fallen City” or “Preface.”
A list of questions will be given to you (hardcopy or email) each
week/class. The questions are intended
to guide you through the readings,
help you understand/analyze main characters and themes, and encourage you to
think critically.
Each response should answer at least one question from the list of
questions provided, showing your critical engagement with the texts.
Responses will be shared and collected in class.
Critical Analysis (1,
6 pages, typed, double-spaced, times new roman, size 12, 7/26)
For those of you who love writing, you have the option to write a
critical analysis INSTEAD of response journal. You should inform me during the
first day of class. Fiction (written texts) are to be focused on in your
writing, and film analysis should be limited to no more than 50% of your paper.
You do not have to
do additional research to write this paper although your independent research
will certainly help you shape and sharpen your ideas. A librarian will be happy
to help you do research. You can also do online research, although it takes
time to find high-quality sites.
This paper is a
formal academic paper, in which you must present your thesis statement (your
main argument), supported by well-organized evidences from the text(s) or your
research. We will talk more about the structure of the formal paper later.
You must cite your
sources in the MLA style. Failure to cite will be considered plagiarism
and reported to the University. It will also
result in an F for the course. Refer to this website http://www.aresearchguide.com/5quoting.html for information on citation (how to quote or
paraphrase, how to write a bibliography page, for example) so as to avoid
plagiarism
Things to pay attention to when you write an analysis:
This paper is a critical analysis
of the text(s), characters, etc. Remember Critical analysis is NOT:
Midterm Exam, 90 minutes, 7/3, in class.
Final Exam, 2 hours 40 minutes, 7/26, in class.
Both Midterm and Final exams consist of short essay questions about the
writers, literary trends, and/or specific issues dealt with in the texts. A
sample question might be, how is Eileen Chang’s romantic fiction anti-romantic?
Or how does Mo Yan represent Roots Literature?
Honor Code
The George Mason University Honor Code is in effect throughout the entire duration of the course and applies to all course work carried out inside and outside the classroom.
Class will start on time. Please be respectful by arriving on time and not leaving early. As to classroom climate, respect each other. Racist, sexist, heterosexist or homophobic, anti-Semitic, and discriminatory language regarding any ethnic group, faith or religion, will not be tolerated.
Late paper/responses: Will be accepted with grade deduction, one letter
grade for each class period it is not turned in.
T 6/5 Workshop on Honor Code
Introduction to course
Introduction to cultural-historical backgrounds: Confucianism, Taoism, Communism, Revolution, Consumerism Globalization
Introduction to literary trends (and the writers):
Zhang Ailing Phenomenon, Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies fiction, Shanghai Literature, Roots Literature, New Realism
New Historical Fiction
Eileen Chang (Zhang Ailing):
Anti-romance Romances
R 6/7 Cynical View on Love: Does it even exist?
“Introduction,” ix-xvii
“Preface,” 1-4
“Love in a Fallen City,” 111-165
T 6/12 “Sealed Off,” 237-251
Corruption/Destruction of Innocence
“The Golden Cangue,” 169-234
R 6/14 “Aloeswood Incense, The First Brazier,” 7-76
T 6/19 “Red Rose, White Rose,” 255-312
(and Re-educated
Youth Literature/Roots Literature/Postmodern Literature)
R 6/21 Screening/discussion: Everlasting Regret
T 6/26 “Lapse of Time,” 121-252
R 6/28 “The Destination,” 1-31
“Miaomiao,” 253-318
T 7/3 Midterm
Exam
Screening/Discussion: Yellow Earth
R 7/5 “Red Sorghum,”
Screening/Discussion: Red Sorghum
T 7/10 “Sorghum Wine”
R 7/12 TBA
T 7/17 To Live, 3-161
R 7/19 To Live, 162-235
T 7/24 “Translator’s Afterword,” 237-245
“Author’s Postscript,” 249-250
Screening/Discussion: To Live
R 7/26 Final
Exam