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Academic Year 2003/2004

Margins and Masculinity in Chinese Literature
ALIT 241 SP

Until recently, the literature of traditional China was taught with little attention to questions of gender and class privilege. This course explores such questions. We will cover Sima Qian, the remarkable Han Dynasty historian, whose Historical Records was written after he was legally emasculated. Next we will look at some major poets: Qu Yuan and some of the leading figures of the Tang and Song traditions, with their various insight into how class, marginality, and writing are intertwined. Military heroes and ghostly lovers as they emerge in fiction will also be brought in. Finally women as poets and political activists will round out our survey of traditional figures. The course will conclude with an exploration of writers from the twentieth century, where questions of privilege and gender are again of major concern. Overall, we will aim both to survey the traditional and modern "high cultures" of China and to explore the bases on which high culture is defined.

MAJOR READINGS

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: HA AL&L    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2004

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