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CS92PROD
From the Goddess to the Feminist: Women in Chinese Literature and Visual Culture
CEAS 209
Fall 2016 not offered
Crosslisting: FGSS 219

This course examines representations of women in Chinese literature, painting, and music. It is organized around several Chinese cultural tropes of women and their historical contexts: from the goddess, the court lady, the literary gentry woman, the courtesan, and the female knight-errant in premodern Chinese culture, to the modern "new woman" and feminist. It also explores major themes associated with women in Chinese literature and culture: the relationship between gender and political power, self and society, individual and tradition, humans and the numinous realm. Tropes that persist through different periods will be used to chart changes in literary history. Students are encouraged to think about how these feminine tropes are formed in literary and pictorial conventions, as well as how they are reinvented over time. Whenever feasible, we will juxtapose representations of the same subjects by Chinese writers and writers from other traditions to think about the significance of the ways women are represented in different cultural traditions.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA CEAS
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (CEAS-MN)

Last Updated on MAR-28-2024
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