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Avant-Garde and Pop Culture--Two Faces of the Post/Modern in China and Taiwan
ALIT249 FA

Crosslistings: EAST202

1980s and 1990s witnessed in Taiwan and China the blooming of modernist cultures that at once ushered in cultural revamping, political thawing and social democratization and triggered off market economy, commodification and mass/consumer culture. This course browses through literary, journalistic and cinematic works of this era to see how tradition and modernity, high and pop cultures conflict and conflate, what cultural impacts China and Taiwan digested and valorized in coping with crises and changes, and how this dynamic and often disconcerting process of social transformation reflects the dilemma of China's cultured elite in adapting to and co-existing with mass consumption and pop culture.

MAJOR READINGS

LITERATURE:
Wang Wen-hsing, BACKED AGAINST THE SEA
Ching-His Perng & Chiu-Kuei Wang, DEATH IN A CORNFIELD
Jing Wang, ed. CHINA'S AVANT-GARDE FICTION
Yu Hua, THE PAST AND THE PUNISHMENTS
Jianying Zha, CHINA POP

FILMS:
Edward Yang, TERRORIZOR
Tsai, Ming-Ling, VIVE, L'AMOUR
Huang Jianxin, TRANSMIGRATION
Mi Jianshan, TROUBLESHOOTERS

ART:
Gao Minglu, INSIDEOUT: NEW CHINESE ART

MUSIC:
Andrew Jones, LIKE A KNIFE: IDEOLOGY AND GENRE IN CONTEMPORARY CHINESE POPULAR MUSIC

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Regular quizzes, a short response paper (2-3 pages), one term paper (9-10 pages) and a final examination.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Note that this course is closely associated with ALIT230/EASTA243 "Native-Soil Literature from China and Taiwan."

Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

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

Prerequisites: NONE

SECTION 01

Instructor(s): Liu,Xinmin    
Times: ..T.T.. 01:10PM-02:30PM; .M..... 07:30PM-09:45PM;     Location: FISK302
Reserved Seats:    (Total Limit: 25)
SR. major:    Jr. major:
SR. non-major: 7   Jr. non-major: 6   SO: 6   FR: 6

Special Attributes:
Curricular Renewal:    Ethical Reasoning, Focused Inquiry Course

Last Updated on MAR-24-2000


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