KSCB002 Modern Chinese Literature

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2021
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Roman Shapiro, PhD (lecturer)
doc. Lucie Olivová, MA, Ph.D., DSc. (alternate examiner)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. et Mgr. Dušan Vávra, Ph.D.
Department of Chinese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. et Mgr. Dušan Vávra, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Chinese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 10:00–11:40 VP
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/50, only registered: 0/50, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/50
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course covers the history of Chinese literature from the end of the Qing dynasty to the beginning of the 21st century. It will focus on the key tendencies and movements in Chinese literature within the historical and political background. It will also introduce to the students the main authors and works of Chinese literature of the period.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
- define basic outline of Chinese literature from the late Qing dynasty to our time. The emphasis is put on key literary genres, the most prominent literary figures and their writings (in translation)
- identify the role of the national tradition and foreign influence in the formation and development of modern Chinese literature
– show the evolution of Chinese literature within the historical and political context of the 19th - 21st centuries
- discuss the reception of modern Chinese literature in the West
- study the regional literary varieties (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Overseas Chinese)
Syllabus
  • 1. Late Qing prose (psychological, martial arts and satirical novels)
  • 2. Tradition and novelty in the late Qing poetry, drama and criticism
  • 3. Late Qing literary translation
  • 4. Literary life in the early 20th century: popular literature, literary journals, emergence of the new baihua literature and the May 4th Movement
  • 5. Literary groups in the 1920s and 1930s
  • 6. New prose
  • 7. New poetry
  • 8. New drama
  • 9. Chinese literature in the World War II and Civil War years
  • 10. Literature in the early People's Republic of China
  • 11. Chinese literature and the Cultural Revolution, the scar literature, the root-seeking literature
  • 12. Chinese literature of the late 20th - early 21st centuries: modernism, experimental and mainstream literature
  • 13. Modern Chinese literature of Taiwan and Hong Kong, and the Overseas Chinese literature
Literature
    required literature
  • CARVER, Ann C. - CHANG, Sung-sheng Yvonne, eds. Bamboo Shoots after the Rain: Contemporary Stories By Women Writers of Taiwan. New York: The Feminist Press at The City University of New York, 1990.
  • SHIH, Shu-mei. The Lure of the Modern: Writing Modernism in Semicolonial China, 1917-1937. University of California Press, 2001.
  • HLADÍKOVÁ, Kamila. Moderní čínská literatura : učební materiál pro studenty sinologie. Illustrated by Veronika Kušniriková. 1. vyd. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, 2013, 189 s. ISBN 9788024438405. info
  • The Cambridge history of Chinese literature. Edited by Kang-i Sun Chang - Stephen Owen. 1st pub. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, xxxi, 793. ISBN 9780521116770. info
  • Chinese literature in the second half of a modern century : a critical survey. Edited by Bangyuan Qi - Dewei Wang. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000, xliii, 332. ISBN 0253337100. info
  • MCDOUGALL, Bonnie S. and Kam LOUIE. The literature of China in the twentieth century. 1st pub. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997, vii, 504. ISBN 0231110847. info
  • From May fourth to june fourth : fiction and film in twentieth-century China. Edited by Ellen Widmer - Dewei Wang. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993, xviii, 435. ISBN 0674325028. info
  • Setkání a proměny : vznik moderní literatury v Asii. Edited by Zlata Černá. Vyd. 1. Praha: Odeon, 1976, 284 s. URL info
Teaching methods
The course is taught online in MS Teams. The course is designed as lectures. Students are required to read literary writings in translation throughout the semester and participate in the discussions. After saying something during a discussion the student should write a summary of the comment in the MS Teams general chat of the course (during the class or on the same day).
Assessment methods
Active participation in class discussions (30%) and a final essay in English (70%, 3 pages, around 8000 characters with spaces) with the student's personal analysis of the content studied in the course.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Teacher's information
The course will be taught by Dr. Roman Shapiro, and conducted in English.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2012, Spring 2017, Autumn 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2021, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2021/KSCB002