Chinese Modern Literature

On completion of the course, students will be able to:

• explain the historical, social, and cultural contexts represented in literary works from the late Qing dynasty to 1949
• analyse the conflict between tradition and modernity in Chinese literary works, applying Marxist theory and the theory of literary realism
• examine key issues such as gender and minority as represented in literature, from the perspective of feminism and modernism
• explore the relationship between individuals and the Chinese nation during the late Qing dynasty and the early Republican era through the lenses of psychoanalytic theory and Naturalism
• critically review a selection of scholarly research and apply literary theories to analyse Chinese literary texts.

This course introduces Chinese literature and literary theories, focusing on close readings of texts from the late Qing dynasty until 1949. In the course the historical, social and cultural contexts of the literature are studied, with particular attention to themes like the conflict between tradition and modernity, gender and minority representation. To analyse these themes, emphasis is placed on the application of literary theories such as Marxism and psychoanalysis. The course contains the writing of reflective analyses and an essay in which the theories are applied to a selected Chinese literary work.

• Active participation in seminars
• Written assignments
• Academic paper

The grading scale used for the final course grade is U–VG.

For a final course grade of VG (Pass with Credit), students must achieve VG for at least 5 credits, including the module Academic Paper.

Grades are reported as follows:

• The Conflict Between Tradition and Modernity - 2 Credits | U–VG
• Gender and Minority Representation - 2 Credits | U–VG
• The Individual and Nation - 2 Credits | U–VG
• Academic Paper - 1.5 Credits | U–VG

The language of instruction is Chinese, and English serves as a support language.

This course overlaps the previous course code KI2001.