This course offers a comparative introduction to Chinese and Western literary traditions through the theme of love. Taught in English and requiring no prior knowledge of Chinese language, literature, or history, it examines how literary texts imagine love as desire, emotional attachment, moral obligation, social transgression, and cultural ideal. Readings range from Chinese works such as The Butterfly Lovers, Tang tales, The Story of the Western Wing, The White Snake, Jin Ping Mei, and the poetry of Yu Xuanji to Western texts such as Plato's Symposium, the lyrics of Sappho, selections from Homer, medieval courtly love literature, and Romeo and Juliet. More broadly, the course introduces students to comparative literary study by encouraging them to analyze texts across cultures, genres, and historical contexts through close reading, discussion, presentations, and writing. |