Chinese Popular Literature mgfosque@ncsu.edu
Fall 2010 tel. 515-4125

Chinese Popular Literature
Dr. Meredith Fosque


Required Texts:

Anthology of Chinese Literature Vols. 1 and 2. Compiled and edited by Cyril Birch. Grove Press Inc.: New York, 1965. ($17.95 and 14.95)

The Time is Not Yet Ripe. Panda Press; 1991. ($9.95)

Library Reserve Texts as indicated

Films, on Reserve at the Media Center


Course Purpose: In this course you will read translations of a selection of China's best and most well loved works in the written and oral performing arts, from earliest times to the present. At the same time we will also look at the cultural context in which these works were written and performed, including the geography of China, its society and historical changes, language, and philosophy. This will give you a thorough understanding of what has been important in the making and enjoyment of past Chinese literature and so put more modern works in context. The aim is to let you see the literature of China from both a Chinese and a western critical view, and to improve your ability to research and write analytic and creative essays on literature and its cultural contexts.

Students will overall enhance their ability to read critically and analytically, moving from facts to reasoned judgments, recognizing especially the inter-relationships between imaginative works and ideas. At the end of this course students will be able to demonstrate their ability to speak and write about literature in an effective and perceptive way that persuades the listener through critically reasoned interpretation. (Fulfills GEP Literature Requirement and Global Knowledge co req. See Rules and Regs for Objectives, Outcomes and Assessments.)


Requirements:

Response papers: 6% of your grade; presentations up to 4%.

Two quizzes during the semester: 5% each.

Two 1500 + word (minimum 5 pages) papers: 20% each

Midterm 20% and Final 20%


Attendance: Class attendance is necessary and after three absences your grade will be affected. Please see University Rules and Regulations link on this site for details.

Disabilities: Students with disabilities or special needs will be accommodated in accordance with University policy. Please see Rules and Regs link for details.


Assignments in more detail:

Responses: Six short Responses, one for each Unit are due the class after we finish the Unit. The Response is your reaction to any of the texts, Presentations, Films or discussions we have done in class. You can react according to your own experience or to something you have read or seen, as long as it has to do with what we are studying. If you wish, you can use the Study Questions as a guide if you can't think of anything of your own to write. If you use a text, you may choose which one(s) you wish to respond to; I would also suggest that you use these Responses as beginning work on your papers, where you can propose and ask questions. Each Response is worth one point on your final grade.

Papers: Two papers of at least 1500 words (minimum five pages) each are due as indicated on the schedule. Because the topics are probably unfamiliar, you will need to do some research, used critically and properly credited. At the same time think for yourselves! Find a topic that interests you, for which you can argue a convincing thesis or write creatively. The following are a few general ideas you can use to choose your topics and develop a thesis:

· Look at and research the particular cultural context of a work we have read and use the work to clarify a certain aspect of Chinese culture
· Choose an aspect of Chinese culture that interests you and research it, using more than one work we have read to trace its influence
· Concentrate on a single text and research what scholars have said about it, coming to your own conclusions and presenting them
· Two or more works can be compared according to theme, content, character, or whatever will aid in illuminating them both
· Works can be discussed in a directly historical context: the biography of the author, the political situation, economic and social conditions
· A single work can be interpreted; there are many creative ways to do this including presenting it in another form (no formal thesis required for this: your interpretation is it)

Once you have a thesis or an idea, you are welcome to let me see it by e-mail, in your Response, or after class, but before you begin writing.


Presentations are informal and should correspond roughly in topic to what is being done that week. For example, something on Tang Dynasty painting or architecture would be most welcome for Week 4, or music for any period. There will be a sign up sheet, once you have chosen a date, ask and I will happily make suggestions.


Films: You may watch as many films as you wish but you are required to choose one, watch it, and write a short Response on it. This Response can be in place of one of the six Unit Responses, or, you may add a short paragraph about the film onto one of the Responses. See me about other possible films.

Hero for (for Week 3)

Raise the Red Lantern (for week 9)

To Live (for Week 11)

Beijing Bicycle (for Week 13)

Eat Drink Man Woman, In The Remote Place, The Road Home, Stand up Straight and Never Give In (all are further choices for the last two weeks of classes)


Selected Reference and Further Reading from the Library; also see Library link on this site:

The Analects of Confucius. Trans.W.E. Soothill.
The Mencius. Trans. Arthur Waley.
Ballads and Stories from Tun-Huang. Trans. Arthur Waley.
A Treasury of Chinese Literature. Ch'u Chai and Winburg Chai.
Chinese Literature Popular Fiction and Drama. C.T. Hsia.
The Divine Woman. Schaefer.
Stories of the Western Wing. Stephen West and Walt Idema.
Romance of the Western Chamber. Trans. Hsiung.
The Peony Pavillion. Trans. Cyril Birch.
History of Chinese Drama. William Dolby.
Tales of Magistrate Bao. Trans. Susan Blader.
Historian of the Strange. Judith T. Zeitlin.
The Three Kingdoms. Luo Kuan-chung.
Outlaws of the Marsh. Luo Guanzhong and Shi nai'an
The Scholars. Trans. The Yangs.
Monkey. Trans Arthur Waley.
Golden Lotus. Various translations.
The Lioness Roars, Shrew Stories from Late Imperial China. Yenna Wu.
Market Street. Xiao Hong.
Flower Terror. Pu Ning.
Turbulence. Jia Pingwa.
Stubborn Weeds: Popular andControversial Chinese Literature after the CR. ed. Perry Link.
The Chinese Western. Trans Zhu Hong.
Chinese Middlebrow Fiction. ed. Liu Ts'un-yan.
Chinese Avant Guard Fiction. ed. Jin Wang.
I Wish I Were a Wolf: the New Voice in Chinese Women's Literature. Trans. Diana B. Kingsley.
Women and Writing in Modern China. Wendy Larson.
From May Fourth to June Fourth: fiction and film in 20th C China. Ed. Widmer and Wang.