Module CHNS2051: Chinese Literature: Images, Fictions, Worldmaking

Department: Modern Languages and Cultures (Chinese)

CHNS2051: Chinese Literature: Images, Fictions, Worldmaking

Prerequisites

• Chinese Language 1A (CHNS1032) or Chinese Language 1B (CHNS1012)

Corequisites

• Chinese Language 2A (CHNS2052) or Chinese Language 2B (CHNS2012)

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• This module follows up on the very broad introduction to Chinese literature in the first-year Chinese studies course, It is equally addressed to any student at Durham with no background in Chinese literature or culture, but with comparative interests in literature. There is an emphasis on the close reading of passages of literature, in translation, to develop analytical skills and enable students to offer critical insights expressed in appropriate written and spoken forms.
• This will enable students to:
• Explore and analyse themes, problems, genres, and texts in Chinese literature.
• To give students insight into critical debates about the study of Chinese literature.
• To develop transferable skills in close reading and analysis, critical thinking and writing, and engaging with and communicating about Chinese literature and critical debates that inform its study.

Content

• This module introduces students to key writers, questions, genres, and historical moments in Chinese literature. The module will not attempt a survey of Chinese literary history; instead, specific topics will vary from year to year in accordance with research specialisms and interests of the tutor each year. We will pay close attention to what narrative, poetry, and/or drama are and how they work in Chinese literature, and the ways in which literature is a mode of imagining and shaping various worlds, such as cosmic, natural, and domestic spaces; or dreams and utopias; or transcultural and fantastic geographies; or modernity’s uneven rural and urban transformations. All readings and class discussion in English, although students able to consult original texts are encouraged to do so.
• Set texts will also vary from year to year. They might connect texts from either within or across historical periods (e.g. the late Ming-early Qing, or the 20th-21st centuries), or be portions of large-scale classic novels such as Dream of the Red Chamber or Journey to the West.

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of this module, students will:
• Be aware of the breadth, diversity, and experimental adventurousness of Chinese literature
• Have an understanding of the perceived roles of Chinese literature in imagining and shaping multiple worlds
• Have a critical, contextual, and cultural understanding of concepts such as literature, genre, narrative, poetry, image; spaces and worlds; gender and performativity; nature and landscape; modernisms and modernities; colonialism and decolonisation.

• By the end of this module, students are expected to have acquired:
• Enhanced skills in reading and critically examining Chinese literary passages in translation
• The ability to make effective connections and comparisons across texts
• The ability to gather, sift, process, synthesise and critically evaluate information from a variety of sources.

• By the end of this module, students are expected to have enhanced:
• Their ability to formulate arguments coherently on the basis of appropriate and relevant evidence, and, where appropriate, to present them in written or oral form
• Their fluency and expression in written and spoken English
• Their ability to pursue a guided programme of self-directed study, leading to the production at L3 of extended pieces of written work which demonstrate engagement with relevant critical literature.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures will offer background context but also include active student discussion of assigned literary readings.
• Seminars will aid acquisition of the relevant critical tools, and oral presentations by students will help them develop skills in organising arguments and presenting them fluently.
• The module will be taught in English and the literary readings will be in English translation, though original Chinese versions will be provided wherever possible for student reference.
• Students are expected to attend all lectures and seminars, prepare appropriately for classes, and participate actively in discussions.
• Summative assessments are designed to test students' subject-specific knowledge and their ability to use their subject-specific skills in order to evaluate this knowledge: by the middle of the teaching term – a commentary in English of 1,500 words (worth 40% of final grade), analysing an example or examples of writing related to the study of world literatures; secondly– an essay in English of 2,500 words (worth 60%) on key texts and topics studied.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Formative assessment during seminars builds on independent study by students working individually or in pairs or small groups. In the seminars, students are expected to give short oral presentations, based on a set of diversified questions (such as reflecting on theoretical challenges, analysing secondary materials, etc.) and reading materials, and where appropriate accompanied by written handouts and/or other visual aids. Oral feedback is provided regularly in the course of the seminar discussion.

■ Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.