II. Structure, Format, and Procedures The course is divided into four sections:

Transcription

1 Chinese Film and Literature ANS 372 (31885) Fall 2017 Class Time: TTH 11-12:30 Location: CAL 21 Instructor: Sung-sheng Yvonne Chang, Professor Office: WCH Office hours: Th 3:30 6:30 I. Course Description Through analyzing selected literary and cinematic texts from China in the last century, this course explores how the Chinese people encounters modernity and copes with its consequences. Forced onto the stage of the modern world by Western imperial powers in the second-half of the nineteenth century, China has since traveled along a convoluted course of modernization, punctuated by war, revolution, and drastic socioeconomic reforms. During this process, Chinese cultural producers have constantly negotiated between artistic and political imperatives, between tradition and modernity, and between resistance and incorporation of foreign (read Western) influences. To study the outcome of their endeavors, therefore, is not only an exciting adventure in the aesthetic realm, but also an intellectual quest that leads us to comprehend some of the fundamental historical issues that the society has collectively sought to come to terms with in different stages of its modern history. II. Structure, Format, and Procedures The course is divided into four sections: 1). The Republican Period ( ): We will read literary writings by May Fourth intellectuals who rebelled against China s feudalist past, stories by writers of the rightwing/liberal and progressive/leftist bent in the 1920s and 1930s, and works produced in cosmopolitan Shanghai and the Communist base area during the Sino-Japanese war and toward the end of the era. Most of the films we will watch for this period have attained the status of classics in the history of modern Chinese cinema. They are, at the same time, invariably shot through with ideological and political imprints of the particular historical eras in which they were originally produced. 2). The Mao Era ( ): We will discuss the state-monitored literary system that was operative during China s Socialist Period, i.e, the first three decades of the People s Republic. Two lass periods will be devoted to an overview of the history and memory of the Cultural Revolution ( ). 3). The Reform Era (1977- mid-1990s): This section began with China s adoption of the open-door policy under Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s and early 1980s. A special focus will be placed on literary and cinematic representations of the collective trauma of the Cultural Revolution.

2 4). The Contemporary Period (late-1990s - present): In the last two decades, powerful trends of commercialization and globalization have overtaken the Chinese society, and many of its existing cultural institutions have been transformed beyond recognition. Fiction and film of greater artistic sophistication have been produced, and they provide excellent lens for us to achieve a better understanding of what a rising China means to ordinary people living through, and in many cases bearing the brunt of, the unprecedented social changes. III. Course Requirements Students are expected to complete all required reading and film-viewing before coming to class. Everyone is asked to post on Canvas a short comment on the contents of the assignments no later than one hour before the class begins. The comment will serve as the basis for in-class discussions, as well as the evidence of one s timely completion of assignments. A mid-term paper of 4-5 pages will be due after we finish the Republican Period. A short test, consisting of two questions, on an important article that introduces the literary system in the Mao Era will be given in the first class of the second section. A 2-3-page commentary on one or two literary or cinematic texts from the Reform Era of the student s own choice will be due before the Thanksgiving holiday. A final paper, of 6-7 pages, that focuses on the works produced in the Contemporary Period, with mandatory references to materials covered in any previous section(s), will be due during the University s Examination period. IV. Grading Policies Class participation/posted comments: 20% Mid-term paper on the Republican Period: 25% Short test on literary system in the Mao Era: 5% Commentary on selected work(s) from the Reform Era: 15% Final paper: 35% *Plus/minus grades will be assigned for the final grade. **You are allowed three unexcused absences in the entire semester. Please plan ahead. Excessive absences would significantly lower your final grade. V. Course Materials a). Xeroxed course packet can be ordered through the link of Paradigm Books: After you place the order the packet will be mailed to the address you provide. b). Textbook available at the University Co-op: Lau, Joseph S. M., C. T. Hsia, and Leo Ou-fan Lee eds., Modern Chinese Stories and Novellas c). Additional reading materials will be posted on Canvas, or ordered through University Co-op. *Global Cultures This course carries the Global Cultures flag. Global Cultures courses are designed to increase your familiarity with cultural groups outside the United States. 2

3 You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one non-u.s. cultural group, past or present. **Documented Disability Statement Any student with a documented disability who requires academic accommodations should contact Services for Students with Disabilities at (voice) or (Video Phone) as soon as possible to request an official letter outlining authorized accommodations. 3

4 Chang Fall 2017 ANS 372 (31885) Chinese Film and Literature Schedule Abbreviations: CP = Course packet Canvas Co-op = books available at Co-op I. The Republican Period ( ) *Unless specifically marked with (CP), stories for this section can be found in Modern Chinese Stories and Novellas (Co-op). Week 1 Aug. 31 Introduction PBS documentary: China: A Century of Revolution, Part 1 ( ) *Optional background readings for the Republican period: 1. Chapter I, Introduction, from The May Fourth Movement: Intellectual Revolution in Modern China (Chow, Tse-tsung, Stanford University Press, 1967, c1960) (CP) 2. Chapter IX, The Ideological and Political Split, from The May Fourth Movement (Chow, 1967, c1960) (CP) Week 2 Sept. 5 May Fourth rebellion against Chinese tradition Preface to Call to Arms (Lu Hsun or Lu Xun, 1923) (CP); "A Madman's Diary" (Lu Hsun, 1918) (CP); "Medicine" (Lu Hsun, 1919); The New Year Sacrifice (Lu Hsun, 1924) 7 Communist rewriting of the May Fourth critique The New Year Sacrifice (Sang Hu, 1956) Week 3 12 The Sino-liberals "Hsiao-hsiao" (Shen Ts ung-wen or Shen Congwen, 1929); "Quiet" (Shen Ts ungwen, 1932) 14 Reform-era appropriation of the May Fourth legacy A Girl from Hunan (Xie Fei) Week 4 19 Marching to the left "Spring Silkworms" (Mao Tun, or Mao Dun, 1934); "Young Master Gets His Tonic" (Wu Tsu-hsiang, or Wu Zuxiang, 1932); "The Fan Village" (Wu Tsu-hsiang, 1935) 21 The leftwing legacy in the early years of the People s Republic The Lin Family Shop (Shui Hua, 1959) Week 5 26 Western-style individualism and budding feminist consciousness 4

5 Miss Sophia s Diary (Ding Ling or Ting Ling, 1927) (CP); Embroidered Pillows (Ling Shu-hua or Ling Shuhua, 1928); Yu Kuan (Hsu Ti-shan or Xu Dishan, 1939) 28 Shanghai: progressive film studios New Women (Cai Chusheng, 1935) The Goddness (Wu Yonggang, 1934) (optional) Week 6 Oct. 3 Shanghai: modernist trends One Evening in the Rainy Season (Shi Zhicun, 1929) (CP); Shanghai Foxtrot (Mu Shiying, 1934) (Canvas); Sealed Off (Eileen Chang or Zhang Ailing, 1943) (CP); Shame, Amah (Eileen Chang, 1944) (Canvas) 5 Poetic lyricism Spring in a Small Town (Fei Mu, 1948) Week 7 *Outline of mid-term paper due 10 Rivaling cultural paradigms The Golden Cangue (Eileen Chang or Zhang Ailing, 1943); The Marriage of Young Blacky (Zhao Shuli, 1943) (Canvas); Lucky (Chao Shu-li or Zhao Shuli, 1946) 12 End of an era, politics overtook ideology Crows and Sparrows (Zheng Junli, 1950) * Mid-term paper, of 4-5 pages, is due. II. The Mao Era ( ) Week 8 Week 9 17 A new literary system A short test will be given on the background reading for the literary system of the People s Republic: "Introduction" to Roses and Thorns: The Second Blooming of the Hundred Flowers in Chinese fiction, (Perry Link; Berkeley: University of California Press, c1984) (CP). 19 The Mao era PBS documentary: China: A Century of Revolution, Part 2 ( ) Model play: While Haired Girl (1971) 24 Cultural Revolution: history Morning Sun (a film and website about the Cultural Revolution) 26 Cultural Revolution: memories Remembering Xiao Shan (Ba Jin, 1979) (CP); Foreword, Six Chapters from My Life Downunder (Qian Zhongshu, 1980) (CP); Living Hell (Wen Jieruo, 1990) (CP) 5

6 III. The Reform Era (1977- mid-1990s) Week The Root-seeking School "The King of Chess" (Ahcheng, 1984) (CP); "The King of Trees" (Ahcheng, 1984) (CP) Nov. 2 Popular cultural reflection of the Cultural Revolution Hibiscus Town (Xie Jin, 1986) Week 11 7 Modernist and avant-garde writings Hut on the Hill (Can Xue, 1985) (CP); "Dry River" (Mo Yan, 1985) (CP); Pa Pa Pa (Han Shaogong, 1985) (CP); One Kind of Reality (Yu Hua, 1988) (CP) 9 Popular cultural reflection of the Cultural Revolution Farewell My Concubine (Chen Kaige, 1993) Week Shanghai nostalgia The Song of Everlasting Sorrow, first-half (Wang Anyi, 1996) (Co-op) 16 Urban middle-class caught in revolution The Blue Kite (Tian Zhuangzhuang, 1993) Week Shanghai nostalgia The Song of Everlasting Sorrow, second-half (Wang Anyi, 1996) (Co-op) *Analytical commentary, 2-3 pagers, is due. 23 Thanksgiving IV. The Contemporary Period (late 1990s to the present) Week Burgeoning of commercialized cultural genres Candy: A Novel (Mian Mian, 1999) (Co-op) 30 Maturation of the art film institution Platform (Jia Zhangke, 2000) Week 15 Dec. 5 Identification of new social issues Blind Shaft (Li Yang, 2003) *Outline for Final paper due. 7 Reconciliation with the past Assembly (Feng Xiaogang, 2007); or, 24 City (Jia Zhangke, 2008) *Course Instructor Survey **Final paper (6-7 pages) is due on December 14. 6