This course is divided into three stages. The first explores new scholarship on the role of elite women in traditional China of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. It sets this material in the context of traditional views on the body, on bodilessness (in the form of ghostliness), and on masculinity. It also explores missionary views on Chinese women, which decried their circumstances as a national shame. The second stage of the course takes up the issue of revolution. Partly in response to missionary blandishments, the Communist revolution took emancipation of women as one of its chief rallying cries. On a more symbolic level, revolution worked to "engender" China as masculine, after decades of foreign control. The third stage of the course considers the position of women in contemporary China. Here issues of health and reproduction, work, and the urban/rural dichotomy will be reviewed. Throughout we will make an effort to identify the perspective from which Chinese women are observed and to link this perspective to the way they are described.
COURSE FORMAT: Discussion
Level: UG Credit: 1.00 Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA AL&L
Prerequisites: None
Last Updated on MAR-22-1999
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459