Home>Course>[CHES2105/CCSS2030] Modern Chinese Literature>

Critical changes in literature and culture took place across the twentieth century in China. These changes were in response to the self-strengthening demands of young revolutionaries after decades of war and national humiliation. Over several decades, Chinese writers experimented with Western literary genres, including realism, romanticism, imagism, modernism, critical realism, magical realism, postmodernism, and so on. Chinese writers constantly probed the issue of literary modernity and attempted to redefine China and Chineseness by incorporating Western influences into classical Chinese aesthetics.

This class explores Chinese literary tradition in the twentieth century and early twenty first century through fiction (novels, short stories, poetry, etc.) and films from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China. Major themes we will discuss include socio-political reformation, gender relations, urban space, the environment, and individual subjectivity. Creatively engaging with Western influences and classical literary traditions, Chinese writers and filmmakers we examine showcase how the Chinese reconstructed modern literature in relation to China’s nation-building process. All readings are available in English translations of Chinese originals. No prior knowledge of Chinese is assumed or required.

I. The Obsession with China

Course Overview & The Origins of Modern Chinese Literature

May Fourth Movement: Literature and the Nation

May Fourth Movement and the Salvation of Women

New Women on Screen

Iconoclasts of Modern China

The Lyrical Tradition of Modern Chinese Literature

II. The Lure of the Modern

New Sensationism and the Rise of Urban Centers

Constructing the New Woman

Women’s Writing and the Quotidian

III. New China and the Age of Revolution

The Beginning of the New Era and Root-Seeking Literature

IV. The Postmodern in Chinese Literature

Hong Kong and the Post-colonial Identity

Imagining the Post-human: From Science Fantasy to Science Fiction