LTEA 110B - MODERN CHINESE FICTION IN TRANSLATION
Chinese Literature in Dialogue
Instructor: Angie Chau
This course is a survey of modern Chinese literature from the Republican era of the 20th century. We will read essays and stories written by key literary figures of the May Fourth Movement, such as Lu Xun and Yu Dafu, as well as modernist poetry by Ai Qing, Dai Wangshu and Li Jinfa. We will also read the urban short fiction of Zhang Ailing, social satire by Qian Zhongshu, revolutionary commentary by Ba Jin, and philosophy by Lin Yutang. Instead of viewing modern Chinese literature as a monolithic category, we will reflect on the transnational nature of its cultural exchange with other non- Chinese literary traditions. By studying the historical and societal factors surrounding the creation of these works, we can try to evaluate how applicable keywords such as popular culture, modernism, world literature, cosmopolitanism, multiculturalism, and globalization are to the study of modern Chinese literature; in particular, how and why these concepts have persisted in modern Chinese literature well before the current moment.