Contemporary Chinese Culture through Literature and Film
- Course Code
- CHNS 0012
- Course Type
- Tutorials
- Subject Credit
- Course Availability
The second half of China’s twentieth century and the start of its twenty-first have seen a level of social and economic change that is scarcely rivalled in modern history. Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms during the 1980s facilitated China’s transition from a state-controlled communist economy to a socialist market economy, which set in motion the country’s process to becoming the global economic powerhouse that it is today. This rapid development brought with it vast urbanization and infrastructure projects, which have transformed the physical environment in China. Against this backdrop of tectonic change, on a personal level millions of people throughout this period were – and indeed still are – coming to terms with the chaos of the Mao years, most notably the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.
By examining landmarks in Chinese film and literature produced over the last fifty years, students will explore the major tensions inherent in the making of contemporary China, ranging from the ‘Scar Literature’ written in the wake of the Cultural Revolution to films capturing China’s vast urban renewal projects from the start of this century. Students on the course will also gain an in-depth understanding of the cultural environment in contemporary China by becoming familiar with its most well-known writers and filmmakers, understanding the specific environment in which they operate, and learning about the literary and film theories that have been used to understand their work.
Literary texts and films can be made available in the original Chinese or in English translation and with English subtitles for students who have not studied Chinese language.
Sample Topics
- Scar Literature and the Cultural Revolution
- Returning to Roots in the Countryside
- Violence and the Avant-garde
- Demolition and Urban Renewal
- Reckoning with Confucianism in Modern China
- Anglophone Diaspora Literature
- Dystopias and Utopias in Chinese Science Fiction