WesMaps - Wesleyan University Catalog 2010-2011       Summer Session       Winter Session       Home       Archive       Search
CS92PROD
Romantic Love in China--From the Imperial Past to the Maoist Era
ALIT 231
Fall 2010 not offered
Crosslisting: EAST 231

This course provides a comprehensive examination of the Chinese literary representation of romance across a wide spectrum of genres from the medieval period to the mid-20th century: lyrical and narrative poetry, tales in Classical Chinese, short vernacular stories, the novel, and plays. By studying canonical works in translation, the course will call attention to the sociopolitical, aesthetic, and affective dimensions of the dynamic relationship between the romantic discourse and the orthodox tradition. Questions addressed also include, How do literary genres as social constructions shape the way romance is represented? In what ways does the romantic discourse complicate the boundaries between the private and the public, the spontaneous and the premeditated, the institutionalized and subversive? The course also examines the metamorphosis of the romantic theme with the advent of Chinese modernity, when the literary landscape was dominated by a body of literature that called for enlightenment and revolution.

Essential Capabilities: Intercultural Literacy, Interpretation
Students will read a variety of major works of pre-modern and modern Chinese literature. They will learn to think critically about the convoluted relationship between political, cultural, and literary discourses.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA AL&L
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: None

Last Updated on NOV-04-2024
Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions. Please include a url, course title, faculty name or other page reference in your email ? Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459