110 First-Year Chinese

Full course for one year. A beginner's course in standard (Mandarin) modern spoken and written Chinese, aimed at building a solid foundation in all its aspects: pronunciation (especially the tones), syntax, and basic vocabulary. Attention is given to a balanced development of all the basic skills of the language: listening and reading comprehension, speaking, and writing. Pinyin is the romanization system used in this and all other Chinese language courses. Both the traditional and simplified characters are taught. Students are expected to read both and write one of the two versions. Lecture-conference.

210 Second-Year Chinese

Full course for one year. This course continues to build students' basic skills and take them to intermediate-level proficiency. Prerequisite: Chinese 110 or acceptance through placement test. Lecture-conference.

311 Third-Year Chinese

Full course for one semester, designed to develop all the four skills to higher levels of proficiency. Particular emphasis is placed on reading and speaking. Greater facility in writing Chinese characters and competence in simple essay writing are the aims of written work in this course. Prerequisite: Chinese 210 or acceptance through placement test. Conference

316 Classical Chinese

Full course for one semester. Intensive introduction to the grammar of classical Chinese through the study of selections from ancient literary, historical, and philosophical texts. Readings include the Analects, Mencius, Zhuangzi, Shiji, and Tang-Song prose essays. Conducted in Chinese. Prerequisite: Chinese 210 or equivalent. Conference. Offered in alternate years.

321 Visions of a Madman: Modern Chinese Fiction in the Republican Period

Full course for one semester. In the turbulent decades of the early twentieth century, Chinese literature went through a dramatic period of change and self-evaluation. Called upon to adapt literature to revolutionary ends, writers of this period struggled not only with formal concerns like new literary idioms and modes of expression, but also with the question of Chinese identity itself. What did it mean to be Chinese in a newly international world? What did it mean to be "modern?" This course will examine the diverse fiction that emerged from this period, focusing in particular on themes of realism and revolution, science and nationalism, gender, problems of "voice," and questions of autobiography. Readings in English. Additional instruction will be arranged for students taking the course for Chinese credit. Conference. Cross-listed as Literature 320.

322 Fallen Angels: Contemporary Chinese Fiction

Full course for one semester. This course surveys Chinese literature of the contemporary period, beginning with a brief look at the literary scene of the 1950s followed by an examination of representations of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). The majority of the course addresses the modernist and formal experiments of the '70s, '80s, and early '90s, and concludes with examples of film and fiction from the present decade. Significant themes include political dissidence vs. nationalist ideology, Chinese identity in diaspora (China, Taiwan, Hong Kong), Chinese postmodernism and the surreal, gay and lesbian literature in contemporary Taiwan, and the problem of the "self" in contemporary Chinese literature. Readings in English. Additional instruction will be arranged for students taking the course for Chinese credit. Conference. Cross-listed as Literature 316.

323 Selected Motifs in Classical Chinese Poetry

Full course for one semester. This course investigates how human experience and attitude toward life are evaluated and presented through poetic means by examining recurring motifs and their expressive modes in classical Chinese poetry. Readings are structured synchronically around selected motifs such as nature and eremitism, war, separation, drinking, death, and reflection on history. Readings in translation. Conference. Cross-listed as Literature 335. Not offered 2002-03.

325 Songs to Lost Music: Readings in Ci-Poetry

Full course for one semester. This course investigates the rise and the development of ci-poetry, a genre related closely to music. The formal features and their emotional qualities, major modes of expression, and different stages of its development from the ninth to thirteenth centuries are the foci in the close reading of selected poems. Prerequisite: sophomore standing. Conference. Cross-listed as Literature 325. Not offered 2002-03.

326 Chinese Narrative Tradition

Full course for one semester. This course surveys the narrative tradition in Chinese literature, including narrative poetry, story-telling, short story, and full-length narrative in the context of the narrative tradition in China. While primary emphasis is on the late imperial period that produced the monumental works, such as Outlaws of the Marsh, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, and the Dream of the Red Chamber, works of the earlier periods are also introduced to show early stages of the development, formation of the source materials, and the continuity of the tradition. Readings in English. Prerequisite: sophomore standing. Conference. Cross-listed as Literature 326. Not offered 2002-03.

327 Representations of the Cultural Revolution

Full course for one semester. The Cultural Revolution (1966-76), the longest single political crisis in recent Chinese history, has been amply represented, even in English, by its victims, critics, and contemporary eulogists in various forms of expression, including official and unofficial historiography, personal memoirs, fiction, cinema, visual arts, and icons turned into memorabilia. Using selected texts and items from these different genres, the course explores representation, memory, reality, genre, sign, and interpretation. Although much of the material is sociopolitically oriented, the focus of the course is within the realm of literary and cultural criticism. Prerequisite: sophomore standing. Lecture-conference. Not offered 2002-03.

334 The Yijing: Text and Tradition of the Book of Changes

Full course for one semester. The Yijing, or Book of Changes, is a text of limitless possibilities. This course explores various strategies of reading the text and examines philosophical, religious, historical, and literary critical implications of the text and the tradition associated with it. The system and the language of the 64 hexagrams and various layers of attached verbalization are the focus of investigation. Readings are in English. Students who take the course for Chinese credit meet for additional tutoring to read parts of the text in the original. Prerequisite: sophomore standing. Conference. Cross-listed as Literature 334. Not offered 2002-03.

341 Twentieth-Century Chinese Poetry

Full course for one semester. A study of vernacular Chinese poetry and poetics in the present century, from its experimental stage in the 1910s down to the post-Mao reblossoming of the '70s and '80s. The texts selected are bilingual; students taking the course in Chinese are expected to read the originals. All critical materials are in English. Prerequisite: two years of Chinese and sophomore standing.Conference. Cross-listed as Literature 343. Not offered 2002-03.

344 Chinese Drama and Theater

Full course for one semester. This course examines two interwoven subjects: the literary values of classical and modern Chinese drama, and the multidimensional forms of Chinese theatrical art. Texts include classics of Yuan and southern drama and representative works of the present century. Both primary and secondary materials are in English. Film adaptations and documentaries on video are also used for close study. Tutoring is available for students taking the course for Chinese credit. Conference. Cross-listed as Literature 345. Not offered 2002-03.

347 Generations of Chinese Cinema

Full course for one semester. The course examines the growth of Chinese cinema in the hands of five "generations" of filmmakers and beyond, focusing on the development of aesthetics of Chinese film and the changing role of film as social commentary and cultural critique. Most of the films on tape have English subtitles. Readings include basic film theories and materials specific to Chinese film. Conference. Cross-listed as Literature 347. Not offered 2002-03.

350 Pulp Fictions: Twentieth-Century Chinese Literature, Music, and Film

Full course for one semester. This course introduces popular culture in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan from the turn of the twentieth century through the present day, with an emphasis on literature, music, and film. Examining topics such as Chinese traditions of martial arts film and fiction, the early years of Chinese jazz, and the problem of popular vs. elite culture in the production of early Chinese pulp fiction, the course emphasizes a core understanding of historical and cultural context as well as theoretical approaches to the phenomenology of popular culture. The course also addresses the introduction of photography to China, Chinese experimental art and the problem of sponsorship, Chinese rock music, and Chinese television, internet culture, and mass media. Readings in English translation. Additional instruction may be arranged for students taking the course for Chinese credit. Conference. Cross-listed as Literature 349.

355 Early Chinese Philosophical Texts

Full course for one semester. This course examines various philosophical discourses in the early period leading to the unification in 221 B.C. It will be a selective discussion of a few major philosophical texts and schools of thought. We will investigate the predominant interest in human nature and cultivation, the epistemological models for understanding such emphases, and the implications of Chinese epistemology. Readings in translation. Students taking the course for Chinese credit will meet for additional hours for the guided reading of selected texts in the original Chinese. Conference. Cross-listed as Literature 355.

 

411 Selected Readings and Essay Writing

Full course for one semester. This is an advanced-level Chinese language course aimed at further developing reading knowledge and writing skills. All reading texts are unadapted originals in twentieth-century Chinese literature. Regular exercises in narrative and expository writing. Conducted in Chinese. Conference. Prerequisite: Chinese 311, 316, or equivalent. Not offered 2002-03.

470 Thesis

One-half or full course for one year.

481 Independent Study

One-half or full course for one semester. Prerequisite: approval of instructor and division.