Chinese 311 – Modern Chinese Literature in Translation, Fall 2007
TR 1:30-2:45 p.m. Robinson Hall
B103
Instructor: Dr. Esther Lee
Office: Thompson Hall 234-A
Phone: (703) 993-1631
E-mail: tleeo@gmu.edu
Office Hours: TR 1:00 – 1:30 or by appointment
Course
Description/Objectives: This course is an overview of Chinese
Literature from 1918 to the last decades of the century. China in the 20th
century had witnessed a history of unprecedented upheaval and her literature in
this period had been a battleground for political, cultural, and aesthetic
issues. In this course, students will read English translations of
representative works by major writers such as Lu Xun, Ding Ling, Xu Zhimo from
May Fourth Movement and the intellectual radicalization of the 1930s, Ba Jin,
Wang Meng, Bai Dao through and out of cultural revolution and the
liberalization of the post-Mao era, as well as women and native writers from
Taiwan and Hong Kong , and some avant-garde writers in China. In addition to
reading that covers the primary literary genres – fiction, poetry, and essay,
students will enrich their reading by selected documentaries and feature films.
Through close reading of these texts, we will approach these works for what
they can tell us about the experience of living in a world of radical changes,
but also to understand and appreciate their artistry and diversity as works of
literature.
Required
Books (available at the GMU Bookstore)
The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature. Eds.
Joseph S.M. Lau and Howard Goldblatt. Modern Asian Literature
Series. New York: Columbia University Press, 1995.
The Literature of China in the Twentieth Century. Eds. Bonnie
S. McDougall, and Kam Louie. New York: Columbia University Press,
1997.
Grades
Attendance/Participation
20%
Quizzes 10%
Presentation (1) 15% (10% oral report, 5% written)
Mid-term Exam 10%
Final Exam
25%
Term
Paper
20%
Course Requirements
1.
Attendance
is Mandatory.
Attendance is
mandatory. Each unexcused
absence will drop your attendance/participation grade by 2 points. Only
emergencies which are informed to the instructor in a timely fashion can be
treated as excused absences.
2. Actively
Participation in Classroom Discussion is required.
Your
preparation and contribution to the discussion is vital to make this course effective
learning experiences for all. To achieve this goal, you are required to read
the texts carefully and critically – following the questions given to you from
the instructor, considering some literary elements present in the texts, such
as narrative voice, narrative strategy, themes, styles, and so on. It is required that you are prepared to
share your thoughts and questions about the texts we read.
3. Presentations (10-minute oral report and 3
pages of written report)
The presentation
can be scheduled throughout the semester. Each student should consider the
topic and time of his/her presentation and sign up with the instructor by the
end of the 2nd week. We will try not to schedule more than 2
presentations in one class.
Possible topics for the presentations are studies of themes, subject
matters, such as gender issues, social injustice, patriotisms, and so on to analyze how they are represented in the
text. You can also study the characterization in the stories, or examine the
characters in the context of historical and sociopolitical changes. Other
elements of literature, such as narrative voice, style, etc can be the focus of
your presentation, too. In all, you need to make a clear argument/present a
reasonable opinion, supported by details from the text and/or your research.
Your presentation should inform your audience your thoughts, questions, and
insights about the texts.
4. Term Paper (6 pages, typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman,
12)
The paper is due on Dec. 11. This 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. More instruction
to writing a critical essay will be given in the class.
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. It is the responsibility of each student to be familiar
with the GMU Honor System and Code as laid out in the Student Handbook.
5. Quizzes, Mid-term Exam, Final Exam, and Extra
Credits
Throughout the semester there will be ten quizzes with questions to
evaluate students’ grasp of simple factual information of the readings
scheduled for the day (such as identification of authors/works,
names/relationships of major characters, sequence or brief description of important narrated events, and so on). No
make-up quiz will be offered. There will be one in-class mid-term exam and one
take-home final exam. One or two Extra Credit reports will be offered to any
one who would like to go extra miles to learn in more depth about modern
Chinese culture, Art, or literature .
Session
Schedule *
*Required
reading is listed in bold print.
Week 1:
8/28
T: Syllabus, Introduction, What is “modern” literature? What is “Chinese”
literature?
Screening:
China
in Revolution 1911-1949
8/30
R: Screening: China
in Revolution 1911-1949 (continued)
--Discussion
of the film
--The
“Literary Revolution” and May Fourth period(1915-1925)
--Lu Xun
and the beginning of modern Chinese literature
Lu
Xun, “Preface to Call to Arms”
3-6; “Medicine”
(McDougall & Louie, “Towards a New
Culture,” 13-30, 82-99)
Week 2:
9/4
T: Lu Xun, “A Madman’s Diary”, “Kong Yiji”, 7-20
--the
traditional Chinese social system
--Lu Xun’s realist style
-- human
portrayal and social satire
9/6
R: Lu Xun, "the New Year’s Sacrifice "
Ye Shaojun,
“A Posthumous Son” 35-43
--Women in
traditional Chinese society
Week 3:
9/11
T: Yu
Dafu, “Sinking,” 44-69
Poetry
1918 – 1949
Xu Zhimo, “Second Farewell,” “Love’s
Inspiration,” “Chance,” 503-05
Dai Wangshu, “Rainy
Alley,” “Written on a Prison Wall,” 513-514
Wen Yiduo, “Dead Water,”
“One Sentence,” 506
Li Jinfa, “Woman
Abandoned,” 509
Ai Qing, “Snow Falls on
China’s Land,” “The North,” 519-23
(McDougall
& Louie, Yu Dafu,” 105-109 ;“Poetry,” 31-42; “Xu Zhimo,” 51-54; “Wen
Yiduo,” 54-59; Dai Wangshu, 68-69)
--Literary
groups and societies in the May Fourth period
--Romanticism; Decadence
--Patriotism
in poems by AiQing, Dai Wangshu
9/13 R: Xu Dishan, “The Merchants Wife,” 21-34
Ling
Shuhua, “The Night of Midautumn Festival,” 111-119
McDougall & Louie,
“Xu Dishan,” 100-102 ; “Ling
Shuhua,” 121-123
Week 4:
9/18 T:
Screening, Girl from Hunan
9/20 R: Screening, Girl from Hunan (continued and discussion)
Shen
Congwen, “Xiaoxiao,” 97-110
Ding Ling, “When I Was in Xia Village,” 143-158
(McDougall & Louie, “Shen Congwen,”
125-128, 211;
McDougall & Louie,
“Ding Ling,” 130-134, 212-215;
McDougall & Louie, “Return to Tradition,”
189-207)
--Shen Cong wen and regionalism
--women
in the changing social-historical China
Week 5:
9/25 T: Ding Ling, “Miss Sophia’s Diary”
9/27
R: Mao Dun, Spring Silkworm,” 70-88
Wu
Tsu-hsiang, “Young Master Gets His Tonic,” 159-173
(McDougall & Louie, “Mao Dun,” 109-114, 209-210)
--Critique of
traditional China
Week 6:
10/2 T:
Lao She, “An Old and Established Name,” 89-96
(McDougall & Louie, “Lao She, ” 115-119 )
--Foreign
Aggression, Competition, Internal strife
10/2
T: Lu Xun, “The Evolution of the Male Sex,” 598-600
Zhou Zuoren,
“Reading on the Toilet,” 611-615
Lin Yutang,
“My Turn at Quitting Smoking,” 616-620
Liang
Shiqiu, “Haircut,” 643-646
Zhu Ziqing, “Spring,” The Silhouette,”
“Moonlit Lotus Pond,” 625-632
-- Essays: 1918-1949
10/4
R: Midterm Exam
Week 7:
10/9 T: (Columbus Day—Monday; No Class for Today )
10/11 R: Topics of term paper, writing
critical essays
Week 8:
10/16 T:
Zhang Ailing, “Sealed
Off,” 188-198
Xiao Hong, “Hands,”
174-187
(McDougall & Louie, “Zhang Ailing,”
249-251)
--women
writers and female experiences
--narrative
techniques and sensibility
10/18
R: Topics
of gender and class in modern Chinese literature
Week 9:
10/23 T: Screening: To Live
10/25 R: Screening: To
Live (continued)
--discussion:
historical impact on people and lives in China
Week10:
10/30
T Chen
Ruoxi, “The Tunnel,” 301-314
Wen Jieruo, “Living
Hell,” 703-709
Ba Jin, “Remembering
Xiao San,” 691-702
Wang Meng, “Tale of New
Cathay,” 296-300
(McDougall
& Louie 128-130, 215-217, 368-371, 379-381)
--Hundred
Flowers Movement, Anti-Rightist Campaign (1957-58)
--The
Cultural Revolution
--Post-Mao
Literature: Scars literature
11/1 R: Bei Dao, “Declaration,” “Resume,”
Another Legend,” 569-571
Shu Ting, “When You Walk Past My Window,” “A
Roadside
Encounter,”
“Assembly Line,’
Gu Cheng, “An
Ending,” “Curriculum Vitae,” 580
Anonymous,
“Mad Woman,” 582
(McDougall
& Louie, “Poetry,” 421-431; Bei Dao, 432-435; Shu
Ting, 435-436;
Gu Cheng, 436-438)
--“Obscure”
Poetry
Week 11:
11/6
T: Yu Guanzhong, “If There’s War Raging Afar,” “Nostalgia,” 537-58
Bai Xianyong, “Winter Nights,” 221-234
Zhu Xining, “Molten
Iron,” 201-214
--émigré writers in Taiwan
11/8
R: Chen Yingzhen, “My Kid Brother Kangxiong,” 215-220
Wang Wenxing,
“Flaw,” 235-245
Wu Luqin, “Our very first Telephone,”
672-673
--experience/experiment
with modernity
Week 12:
11/3
T: Wang Zhenhe, “An Oxcart for a Dowry,” 255-274
Huang
Chunmig, “Ringworms,”246-254
--native soil writers
11/15 R: (Zhang Dachun, “Lucky Worries
About His Country,” 468-473
Li
Yong Ping, “At Fortune’s Way,” 326-348)
or Sreening, Good Men, Good Women
Week 13:
11/20
T: Xi Xi, “A Woman Like Me,” 315-325
Yuan
Qiongqiong, “Tales of Taipei,” 349-355
Xhu Tianwen,
“Fin de Siecle Splendor,” 444-467
11/22 R: Thanksgiving Holiday
Week 14:
11/27 T: Mo Yan, “Autumn Waters,”
429-443
Liu Heng, “Dog Shit
Food,” 416-428
11/29
R: Han Shaogong, “The Leader’s Demise,” 387-398
Can Xue, “Hut on the
Mountain, 383-386”
Week 15:
12/4 T: Yu Hua, “On the Road at Eighteen,” 485-490
Su Tong, “Escape,”
491-500
Tie
Ning, “Octday,” 474-484
12/6 R: (last day of class)
Course Wrap up
Week 16:
12/11 T: Paper due via email attachment
by 5:00 p.m. to tleeo@gmu.edu
12/13
R: 1:30-4:15 p.m. Final Exam
Have
a Wonderful Holiday!!!