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COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will trace the formation of modes of visual modernity in China from the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) through the Republican era (1911-1949). Our exploration will focus on visualities produced in architectural and public spaces such as museums, gardens, and the theater, as well as on cultural and imaginary spaces of representation such as printed books, maps, paper currency, and handscrolls. Among the issues for discussion will be the problematic terms "modernity," "modernization," and "Westernization." We will consider structural conditions for the emergence of distinctly Chinese modes of modern visuality in comparison to European modes, including perceptions and discourses of change and newness, the prominence of an urban public visuality of reflexive sociability and spectacle, and the role of the state in promoting certain modern modes of seeing. Further, we will take into account the development and understanding of new technologies of vision such as lithography and photography. Conference. Prerequisite: Art 201, Hum 230, or consent of instructor.
Professor Lisa Claypool
Office hours: Monday 4:45-6 and by appointment.
Office location: Library 321.
Telephone: x7364
Email: claypool@reed.edu
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