ChinaX Book Club: Five Authors, Five Books, Five Views of China

Last updated on July 22, 2021 2:26 pm

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Introduction

An exploration of the dynamics of contemporary China using the tools of close reading, discussion, and analysis.

About this course

How can literature and literary analysis allow us to understand the dynamics of contemporary China? ****
China’s historical and cultural transformations and its imaginary and actual engagements in everyday life are vividly dramatized by five Chinese authors featured in this course. Taught by Harvard faculty member Professor David Wang, this course will employ the tools of close reading, discussion, and analysis to explore issues that concern the Chinese people, and ponder the power (and limitations) of literature in imagining China anew.

Featured Books and Authors ****

• China in 10 Words by Yu Hua (ISBN: 978-0-307-73979-7)
• Red Sorghum: A Novel of China by Mo Yan (ISBN: 978-0-14-016854-9)
• Lenin’s Kisses by Yan Lianke (ISBN: 978-0-8021-2177-6)
• Waiting by Ha Jin (ISBN: 978-0-375-70641-7)
• The Song of Everlasting Sorrow by Wang Anyi (ISBN: 978-0231143431)

This course features interviews and discussions with the authors. More Information about each of these authors is available in the syllabus.

What you will learn?

• Survey the transformation of contemporary Chinese literature through direct engagement with five books and author interviews
• Explore contemporary China from a range of perspectives including politics, ethics, culture, and gender
• Understand how literature (particularly in the context of China) can become a source of political intervention and articulate tensions between authoritarianism and individual freedom.
• Develop your own approaches to modern literature, culture, and history via close reading, critical discussion, and analysis
• Express ideas more clearly and confidently through the study of primary and secondary sources

Syllabus

Unit 1: Introduction to Contemporary Chinese Literature and Post-Capitalist China

• Introduction to Yu Hua and China in Ten Words
• Close Reading and Annotation Activity
• Book Discussion
• Wrap – Up

Unit 2: Introduction to Chinese Native Soil Literature

• Introduction to Mo Yan and Red Sorghum
• Close Reading and Annotation Activity
• Book Discussion
• Wrap – Up

Unit 3: Introduction to Post-Socialist China

• Introduction to Yan Lianke and Lenin’s Kisses
• Close Reading and Annotation Activity
• Book Discussion
• Wrap – Up

Unit 4: Introduction to Chinese Literature in Diaspora

• Introduction to Ha Jin and Waiting
• Close Reading and Annotation Activity
• Book Discussion
• Wrap – Up

Unit 5: Introduction to Women’s Voice in Chinese Literature

• Introduction to Wang Anyi and Song of Everlasting Sorrow
• Close Reading and Annotation Activity
• Book Discussion
• Wrap – Up

Course Conclusion

• Conclusion to the ChinaX Book Club
• Final Discussion due

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