CHUM 258
Spring 2008
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
ALIT 258, EAST 258 |
The course will delve into concepts of translation and travel as complex literary and cultural practices, examining them against the backdrop of cross-cultural exchanges between China and its foreign "others." Some specific topics for discussion would include how translations of Western fiction left a strong imprint on modern Chinese literature and how Western canonical writers were received and reinterpreted in China. Also on the agenda will be discussions on the translation and appropriation of Chinese culture into the Western context. The cases used as examples would include the classical Chinese poetry, creatively "translated" by Ezra Pound, and its relationship with the development of Anglo-American imagist poetry and poetics, Hollywood's representations of Asian bodies and imitations of Hong Kong kung-fu films, and Chinese diasporas' complex ties to their native ethos and the resulting evolution of new cultural forms. Students will be guided to engage in critical thinking on the following issues: whether the commonsensical understanding of translation as a mode of finding conceptual equivalents in different cultural and linguistic contexts is sufficient or misleading; how the cultural encounters between China and the West led to new techniques of translation and forms of cultural representation; how to understand and resolve the issue of (un)translatability and (in)communicability in the present age of globalization. |
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Essential Capabilities:
None |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA AL&L |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Course packet including theories of translation and travel, novels and other multimedia works.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Short response papers, one mid-term paper, one group project and one final paper. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Al literary works are read in English translations. All films have English sub-titles. Some basic knowledge of Chinese characters will be helpful but not required. |
| Instructor(s): Wu,Shengqing Times: ...W... 01:10PM-04:00PM; Location: CFH106; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 20 | | SR major: 2 | JR major: 2 | | |
| Seats Available: 9 | GRAD: 0 | SR non-major: 4 | JR non-major: 4 | SO: 4 | FR: 4 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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