01:165:350
01:165:350 Chinese Martial Arts Film and Culture
How did martial arts (wuxia) fantasy arise in Chinese society? Why have almost all major film directors intended to create a chivalric oeuvre by shooting a martial arts film at the crucial stages of their careers? How have these trendsetters balanced and mediated between their disparate reworkings of the popular wuxia genre and their specific avant-garde artistic positions and practices in the cold war and post-cold war eras? Why have martial arts films gained phenomenal popularity not only in Asia but also in the West?
This course explores the local and national contexts of Chinese martial arts cinema and its global dissemination, and introduces early historical writings on assassins, late imperial vernacular fiction about outlaws, the broad variety of martial arts novels published in the twentieth century, and the developments of martial arts cinema in Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China and Hollywood from the postwar era to the present. It explores major film directors including King Hu, Wong Kar-wai, Ang Lee, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Zhang Yimou, and Jia Zhangke (and also Chang Che, Tsui Hark, John Woo, Chen Kaige, Jiang Wen, Xu Haofeng, and Lu Yang, among others), as well as examines key movie stars such as Shi Jun, Cheng Pei-pei, Hsu Feng, Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, and Shu Qi (together with Bruce Lee, and Jackie Chan, among others). Topics include “Spatiality, Visuality, and the Chivalric Mind and Mood, 1960s-2010s,” “King Hu: Diasporic (Re)Location and Obsession with a Chivalric China,” “Wong Kar-wai: Ashes of Time, Traces of Subjectivity,” “Ang Lee: Emotion in Motion,” “Hou Hsiao-hsien: Epiphanies from the Tale, the Marvel, and the Quotidian,” “Zhang Yimou: (De)Coloring Dynastic and Identity Crisis,” and “Jia Zhangke: Crippled Chivalry and Subaltern Psychogeography.”
Since this class emphasizes focused discussions of each week’s readings, it is essential that students come to class having read all of the assigned materials carefully and prepared to engage actively in the discussion. Students should bring a copy of each week’s readings. Regular attendance is thus expected. If an absence is unavoidable, the student must consult with the instructor beforehand and make-up work will be assigned. For each week’s readings, students will be designated to post a reading response (approximately 500-700 words for graduate students; 200-300 words for undergraduate students) by 10:00pm, Monday, two days before each sessions starts. These responses should begin with a summary of the key points of the assigned theoretical and/or critical texts and comment on the relevance or usefulness of reading the literary works within the given theoretical framework. These responses may include ideas, reflections and questions that arise during the reading of the texts. They may also address larger issues or make comparison with other readings. Others are required to have read each week’s postings before class in order to participate in group discussion. Those assigned to oral presentations will also be responsible for presenting on that week’s readings at the beginning of class. The 10-minute oral presentation should summarize and elaborate on the points made in the Canvas posting. To post a response, log into the Canvas site, choose the page for this class, click on “Discussion and Private Messages” and then click on “Class Discussions” for the relevant week.
7-8 pages for graduate students, 4-5 pages for undergraduate students. These papers should be understood as “think papers,” in which students have the opportunity to respond to the readings of a particular week in depth. These “think papers” should demonstrate a good understanding of the ideas and issues in the theoretical and critical texts and show original and careful reflection of these issues. Students are encouraged to consult with the instructor about their topic in advance. Students must retain a copy of each paper.
This course will introduce students to the major issues of Chinese martial arts film and culture; it will teach students to develop critical approaches to literary, historical and cinematic texts, and to formulate their own ideas to produce a solid paper about Chinese martial arts imagination.
The assessment methods for this course are designed to evaluate student mastery of the course goals. The assignments require students to read, interpret and discuss texts related to topics and issues in Chinese martial arts literature, film, and culture, related scholarship, and critical theory. Upon completion of the course, students will have learned analytical and rhetoric skills through weekly discussions of the texts and issues, as well as through individual oral presentation to the class. Students will also be able to construct a thesis argument and build support with examples through one short and one long analytical and research papers.
01:165:351
01:165:351 Before Footbinding: Women in Early And Medieval China
Description: An overview of women (metaphorical or real) in early and medieval china before the practice of footbinding limited their physical and social visibility.
Number of Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
01:165:476 / 16:217:515
01:165:476 / 16:217:515 Women in Premodern China
Description: Women in Pre-Modern China: Students in Women in Premodern China investigate the origins, changes, and continuation of female archetypes (real or mythical, e.g., primordial ancestress, female immortal, sagacious mother, chaste wife, and femme fatale) through texts written by men or by women themselves. Students moreover discern how women perceived their sex and responded to how their sex was perceived, as well as how they negotiated, and sometimes subverted, what was expected of them by adapting these archetypes.
Number of Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
16:217:527
16:217:527 Topics in Classical Chinese Poetry and Poetics
This course introduces the major genres and poets of the Tang dynasty (618-907), generally acknowledged to be the greatest age of shi poetry. It will focus primarily on the art of reading poetry, with attention to relevant historical, biographical, and literary-historical contexts. Emphasis will thus be placed on 1) learning the conventions of particular genres and subgenres, 2) analyzing the stylistic qualities of individual poets and poems through an examination of their manipulation of these conventions, and a comparison with other voices in the tradition, and 3) recognizing the larger stylistic shifts and literary concerns that demarcate the four literary periods (Early, High, Mid and Late Tang). Readings from a selection of modern criticism will be helpful for understanding individual poets, issues and themes. Primary texts and commentaries are in Chinese, so proficiency in reading both modern and classical Chinese is required.
Participation in the translation and analysis of poems in class is mandatory. Students will need to come to class having read and translated all of the assigned poems and critical literature.
Each week 1-2 students will be delegated to present on the weekly secondary readings (highlighted in bold). These brief presentations should briefly summarize and critically analyze the main arguments of the readings and pose questions about them. All other students will read in advance the selected materials and be ready to pose questions about the reading.
Students are required to submit one midterm paper (30%) and one final research paper (50%).
Midterm Paper: 5-7 pages in length. Choose a theme, issue or author and construct an argument based on close reading of two or more texts. Try to be original and careful in your analysis. No research beyond course materials is required.
Final Research Paper: 18-20 pages in length. Discuss a theme, issue or figure based primarily on textual analyses of works by a single author or by different authors. Research beyond course readings is also required. Please see me first to discuss your topic.
Written work for this course must be entirely your own and careful citation of credible sources should conform with The Chicago Manual of Style. For guidelines, see: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html.
16:217:520
16:217:520 History of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1300
Description: This seminar examines major Chinese works from the pre-Qin period to the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). The course will familiarize students with a wide variety of genres and themes as well as their historical contexts and developments. We will pay attention to the concept of “literature,” or wen. Was there a clear-cut definition of “literature” in pre-modern China? What could be considered a literary work at the time? And how do the readings constitute or defy our understanding of “literature” as shaped during the “modern” era? In class, we will tackle these issues. Students are expected to participate actively in class discussions. No background in Chinese language or literature is required. Students with reading ability in classical Chinese can read the texts in the original.
Number of Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Semesters Offered: Fall
Expected Work: weekly responses, class presentations, seminar paper