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Fall, 2011 EALC 354g: Modern Chinese Literature in Translation
Tues. Thur. 11-12.20 p.m. Classroom: SOS B44
Instructor: Dr. Dominic Cheung
Office: THH356T; Email: dcheung@usc.edu
Office hour: Tu. Th. 12.30-1.30 pm and by appointment
Teaching Assistant: Di Luo
Office: THH361; phone: 213-740-3686; Email: dluo@usc.edu
Office hours: Tu. Wed. 12.30-1.30 pm and by appointment
This course is an analysis of the changing literary and cultural patterns through the
reading of the representative works of modern and contemporary Chinese writers. A
review of the literary background and close analysis of the literary expression of earlier
short stories will present a strong contrast to the changing aspects of the family, society,
religion, philosophy and sexual roles between the old and new China. The course will
trace the various transforming phases in which the influx of western thought and the
inherent mode of expression influence and alter the form and content of modern Chinese
literature, especially in fiction and poetry. The class will cover the socialist process in
China since 1949, and the cultural-political movements, leading to the emergence of
dissident writers. Simultaneously, the class will impose a genuine emphasis on the
continuity of diverging literary practices in Taiwan where modernism is more
conspicuously and actively attended. Films based on literary works and with English
subtitles will be shown occasionally. All works are read in English translations. There
are constant pop-up quizzes to prepare students with knowledge on reading assignments.
Required texts:
1. Lau & Goldblatt, ed. The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature, 2nd
edition, Columbia University Press, 2007. (LG)
2. Eileen Chang, Love in a Fallen City, tr. Karen Kingsbury, NYRB, 2007. (KK)
3. Course Reader (CR) Available at the Magic Machine, University Village
Reference:
Jonathan Spence, The Gate of Heavenly Peace, Penguin, 1981.
Attendance and Readings:
Class attendance is mandatory. Students are expected to finish all reading assignments
before class and be ready to discuss them in class. Every student is asked to participate. If
a student is not present for a quiz or examination, he or she will be given an “F” for that
test. Students are expected to attend all lectures as well as a weekly discussion section.
Those who fail to attend one-third of the semester class sessions will receive a failing
grade.
PLEASE NOTE: Failure to attend discussion section will be taken very seriously. One
unexcused absence will be tolerated, but further unexcused absences will affect the “class
participation” portion of the student’s grade (not the overall grade).
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Term-paper: Each student will write a research-analytical paper with footnotes and
bibliography from 12-15 pages, typewritten and double-spaced, on a topic drawn from
readings or discussions, or from a list of suggested topics attached to this syllabus. The
term-paper will be due 3 weeks before the last class meeting. Late submission of papers
will be penalized by a deduction of three percentage points (1/3 of a letter grade) per day
of lateness from the grade of the paper.
Important dates: One midterm (6th week), one term-paper (due November 3rd), one
final examination (December 13, Tuesday, 8-10 am), and regular quizzes. There is no
makeup midterm examination except for students who submit an authentic medical proof.
Grading: The students’ final grade will be derived from averaging the semester’s
performance in the following ways: 30% midterm, 30%final, 30% term-paper, and 10%
averaging of occasional quizzes and attendance. Students are expected to attend every
class meeting, to read the assignment before class during which that assignment will be
discussed. If a student is not present for a quiz or examination, he or she will be given an
“F” for that test.
Academic Integrity:
All written work must be in a student’s own words and represent original thought. The
ideas of others as well as quotations must be properly attributed; more than six words
copied from another source without proper reference constitute plagiarism (See
SCampus).
Exams cannot be made up, except under rare circumstances when prior permission has
been granted by the instructor. With regard to plagiarism (on papers) and cheating (on
exams), I adhere to the “Academic Dishonesty Sanction Guidelines” on 2002-2003
SCampus, please review these carefully and see me if you have any questions.
Accommodation for Students with Disabilities:
Students who need to request accommodations based on a disability are required to
register each semester with the Disability Services and Programs office (Student Union,
Room 301). In addition, a letter of verification to the course instructor, from the
Disability Services and Programs office is needed for the semester in which you are
enrolled for this course. If you have questions concerning this procedure, please contact
both the instructor of the course, and the Disability Services and Programs office at 213740-0776.
Syllabus: (based on a 14-week semester schedule)
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Modern fiction (1919-1949)
1. Anti-heroes and Nonentities: (2nd and 3rd week)
The Self-awakening of Qiu Jin and Lu Xun (CR, J. Spence, chap.2, 83-93; chap.3,
94-100)
"The Stories II: The Loner and the Crowd" (CR, Leo Lee Ou-fan, Voices from the
Iron House, chapter 4, p.69-88.)
Quiz 1 (on all the stories below including the “Preface”)
Lu Hsun (Lu Xun), “The New Year Sacrifice” (CR, 125-143)
“Preface to the First Collection of Short Stories, Call to Arms” (LG, 3-7) “A
Madman’s Diary” (LG, 8-16) , “Kong Yiji” (LG, 17-21)
Ba Jin, “The General” (CR, 299-302)
Eileen Chang, “Sealed Off” (LG, 174-183)
2. The Confucian Paradox: Traditionalism and Anti-traditionalism (4th, 5th, and 6th
weeks)
CR, J. Spence, chap.4, 145-150, chap.5, 166-168 on Lu Xun
Chap.4, 150-153; chap.5, 154-161, defining the May-Fourth Movement
Quiz 2 (on all Lu Hsun’s stories below)
Lu Hsun, “Medicine” (CR, 25-33)
“My Old Home” (CR, 54-64)
“In the Wine Shop” (CR, 144-155)
“Soap” (CR, 164-175)
Quiz 3 (on all the 5 stories below)
Lao She, “An Old and Established Name” (LG, 74-81)
Yu Dafu, “Sinking” (LG, 31-55)
Zhang Tianyi, “Mid-autumn Festival” (LG, 125-131)
Wu Zuxiang, “Young Master Gets His Tonic” (LG, 147-160)
Ye Shaojun, “A Posthumous Son” (LG, 22-30)
Midterm Examination
3. Women as Old Victims and New Scapegoats: (7th , 8th, 9th weeks)
Quiz 4 (on the following 5 stories)
Rou Shi, “Slave Mother” (CR, 47-67)
CR, J. Spence, chap. 4, 124-128, 139-141, on Shen Congwen.
Shen Congwen, “Three Men and One Woman” (CR.253-265)
“Xiaoxiao” (LG, 82-94)
CR, J. Spence, chap.10, 323-326 on Ding Ling
Ding Ling, “When I Was in Xia Village” (LG, 132-146)
(View film "Nanking Nanking" if time permits, suggest reading Iris Chang, The Rape of
Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II, New York: Basic Books, 1997.)
Xiao Hong, “Hands” (LG, 161-173)
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Quiz 5 (on the following 2 stories by Chang and Zhang, no quiz on Chekov)
Eileen Chang , “The Golden Cangue” (KK. 169-234) (film)
Zhang Jie, “Love Cannot Be Forgotten” (CR, 91-106)
Anton Chekov "The Lady with the Dog" (CR, 132-150)
Quiz 6
“Love in a Fallen City” (KK, 109-165) (film)
"Aloeswood Incense: The First Brazier" (KK, 5-76)
"Jasmine Tea" (KK, 77-108)
"Red Rose, White Rose" (KK, 253-312)
Modern Poetry (1919-1949)
From LG (10th week), pp.499-524
CR, J. Spence, chap.6, 188-200, chap.7, 240-242, on Xu Zhimo
Xu Zhimo
"Second Farewell to Cambridge"
"Chance"
Wen Yiduo "Dead Water"
"One Sentence"
"Prayer"
Feng Zhi
"Sonnets 2, 4, 27"
Dai Wangshyu "Rain Alley"
"With My Injured Hand"
Listen to “The Moldau” from Smetana’s “Ma Vlast” (My Country) See CR.
Bian Zhilin
Ai Qing
He Qifang
"A Round Treasure Box"
"Snow Falls on China's Land"
"Prophecy"
"Autumn"
Contemporary Fiction (1949-1976)
(From LG, 11th week)
Quiz 7 (No quiz on "The Dead")
Chen Yingzhen,
"My Kid Brother Kangxiong" LG, 204
"Night Freight" CR, 102-132
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Quiz 8
Bai Xianyong
"Winter Nights" LG, 210
“Wandering in the Garden, Waking from a Dream” CR 145-171
James Joyce “The Dead” CR 173-220 (view film)
View Opera "Peony Pavilion" DVD (segments)
"The Last Night of Taipan Chin" CR, 50-64
"The Eternal 'Snow Beauty" CR, 1-16
"State Funeral" CR, 189-199
Quiz 9
Huang Chunming
"I Love Mary" CR, 133-174
"The Taste of Apples" CR, 158-184
Sayonara ‧Tsai-chien CR, 217-270
Wang Zhenhe, "An Oxcart for a Dowry" LG, 232
Fiction Since 1976
(From LG, 12th and 13th week)
Quiz 10 (only on Chen, Xi, and Han’s 3 stories)
Chen Ruoxi, "The Tunnel" 289
Xi Xi, "A Woman Like Me" 303
Han Shaogong, "The Leader's Demise" 337
Yu Hua “On the Road at Eighteen” 439
Contemporary Poetry (1949-1976)
(From LG, 14th week)
Ji Xian, "A Wolf" 530
Mu Dan, "Song of Wisdom" 532
Zhou Mengdie, "Kingdom of Solitude" 533
Yu Guangzhong, "Nostalgia" 536
Luo Fu, "City: Saigon, 1967" 541
Ya Xian, "Salt" 543
Zheng Chouyu, "Pagoda" 546
Ye Weilian, "The Pursuit" 551
Yang Mu, "After Snow" 558
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Poetry Since 1976
Zhang Cuo, "Autumn Meditation" 567-569
Luo Qing, "Six Ways of Eating Watermelon" 573
Bei Tao, "Another Legend" 578
Shu Ting, "When You Walk Past My Window" 579
Gu Cheng, "An Ending" 589
Fall semester class end: December 2, 2011
Suggested Topics for a Term-paper:
(All term-papers should be typewritten, double-spaced, 12-15 pages in length with titles,
endnotes, and selected bibliography. These papers should be research-analytical oriented
and the originality of ideas is just as important as outside resources. You should discuss
with your instructor or T.A. prior/after choosing a topic for your paper.)
1. With reference to social and historical documents, discuss how social conventions
could lead to the downfall of the protagonists in early modern Chinese stories.
Discuss these conventions in terms of the milieu, social strata, tradition, gender,
historical and political discourses.
2. Discuss Lu Xun (his life and works) and the significance of the May-Fourth
Movement.
3. Select at least three writers, or a group of stories, e.g. “The Slave Mother,” “A
Posthumous’ Son”, “The Golden Cangue”, “A Night in the Midautumn Festival” in
which the patriarchal family structure has acted as a dominant “mythical force” to
control/manipulate the fate of the heroine. Depict and discuss.
4. Discuss love obsessions and guilt/conscience in Aileen Zhang’s “Love in a Fallen
City” , Zhang Jie’s “Love Cannot Be Forgotten”, and Anton Chekov's "The Lady with
the Dog".
5. Discuss colonialism, semi-colonialism, post-colonialism and quasi-colonialism
dominate and humiliate humanity in the Kwang Chung-ming's Taiwanese stories:
1/ Sayonara Tsai-chien, 2/The Taste of Apples, 3/ I love Mary
6. Discuss the practice of modernism and regionalism that prevailed as a literary style in
Taiwan and China, for example, in the works of Chen Yingzhen, Bai Xianyong,
Huang Chunming, and Han Shaogong.
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7. Reconstruct Bai Xianyong’s “Taipei Man” (a Chinese version of the “Dubliners”) in
terms of age, profession, ambition, and identity. Compare and contrast with other
“mainlanders” or “Taiwanese” you have read from other stories.
8. Discuss stream of consciousness and the theme of Love and Death in James Joyce’s
“The Dead” and Bai Xianyong’s “Wandering in the Garden, Waking from a Dream”.
9. Discuss language and lyrical contents in modern Chinese poetry, for example, the
significance of Xu Zhimo’s poetry and his lyrical pastorals, or other modern poets
from Taiwan and Mainland China.
10. Discuss diaspora and “literature of exile” in modern Chinese literature.
11. Discuss Lu Hsun (Lu Xun) as an anti-traditionalist and a social reformer from the
reading of his short stories.
12. Discuss the use of irony in modern Chinese literature, e.g. Han Shaogong’s “The
Leader’s Demise” or Chen Ruoxi’s “The Tunnel”.
13. Discuss gender and womanhood, manipulation and victimization in the following
stories: “Slave Mother”, “When I Was in Xia Village” and “Hands”.