Chinese American Fiction and Memoir
华裔美国文学与回忆录
Instructor: King-Kok Cheung 张敬珏
Professor of English and Asian American studies
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Fudan University, Shanghai
Fall 2015 W 8:55-11:35 AM OH: W 1:30-3 pm
Course Goals:
This course examines texts by contemporary Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans
that cross national, ethnic, and linguistic borders. It aims to provide historical and cultural
perspectives as well as promote skills in literary close reading. Most of the texts are set in
both China (Beijing, Harbin, Hong Kong, Inner Mongolia, Shanghai, Taiwan, Zhejiang)
and North America (Chicago, San Francisco, Queens, Flushing, Los Angeles, Montreal,
Nebraska, San Diego, Vancouver). Questions explored include: How does migration
shape Asian American identities? How does trauma in the country of origin affect
adjustment in the New World? How do geographical displacement, geopolitical
alienation, linguistic and gender crossover complicate cultural or national allegiances?
How do norms regarding gender, race, sexuality, and class fluctuate between countries,
cities, or neighborhoods? Why are some books censored or “ghettoized” in one country
and acclaimed in another? How do migrants and migrant writers diversify their adopted
countries with regard to food, patois, and religion? In short, how are our assumptions
about ourselves and “others”—including sense of (aesthetic) worth and inadequacy,
ability and disability, confidence and diffidence, masculinity and “emasculation,”
independence and interdependence—inflected by our contingent location(s) in the globe?
How does literature both reflect and effect changes in these assumptions? By exploring
these issues, the course seeks to promote different ways of seeing, tolerance of
differences, and reciprocal appreciation.
The writers studied include Canadian-born Pang-Mei Natasha Chang, Hong-Kong-born
Marilyn Chin; US-born Russell Leong; and China-born Ha Jin, Yiyun Li, and Anchee
Min. Classes will be conducted in various formats including lectures, group
presentations, film screenings, and class discussions. Depending on availability, guest
lecturers might be invited. There is no prerequisite for the course.
Expectations from Students:
 Complete reading assignments by the date listed on the syllabus
 Submit written assignments on time; no late papers will be accepted
 Come to class prepared to participate in class discussions
 Attend all classes; poor attendance will negatively impact on your final grade.
Evaluation / Grading:
 Attendance and participation (20%)
 Oral presentation (2-4 persons) (20%);
 Paper (30%)

Final Exam (30%)
Required Texts:
Pang-Mei Natasha Chang, Bound Feet & Western Dress 幼亿与志摩
ISBN: 978-0385479646
Marilyn Chin, “Song of the Sad Guitar”
---. “Round Eyes”
---. “Parable of Squab”
---. “Three Endings”
---. “Monologue: Grandmother Wong’s New Year Blessings”
---. “Fox Girl”
---. “Ten Views of the Flying Matriarch”
Ha Jin, “Bridegroom”
---. “A Tiger Fighter Is Hard to Find”
---. “An Individual’s Homeland”
---. “The Beauty”
---. “A Good Fall”
Russell Leong, “Phoenix Eyes”
---. “No Bruce Lee”
---. “Where Do People Live Who Never Die”
---. Mothsutra http://calrc.bfsu.edu.cn/content.asp?newsid=1427262726
Yiyun Li, “Gold Boy, Emerald Girl”
---. “Number Three, Garden Road”
---. “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers”
---. “The Princess of Nebraska”
Anchee Min, Pearl of China 3-70, 87-160, 205-275
ISBN: 978-1608193127
Recommended Reading:
Ha Jin, The Writer as Migrant
ISBN: 0226399885
Qiu Xiaolong, Years of Red Dust: Stories of Shanghai
ISBN: 0312609256
Teaching Schedule:
Week 1 (9/9)
Introduction (course requirements, grading policy, attendance and
participation)
TV Series featuring Chinese poet Xu Zhimo: April Rhapsody (人
间四月天)： selected episode
Week 2 (9/16)
Pang-Mei Natasha Chang, Bound Feet and Western Dress 1-127
Discuss Xu Zhimo (1897-1931) and the remarkable career of
Zhang Youyi (1898-1989), his first wife; contrast the points of
view of Youyi and her grandniece—the author
Week 3 (9/23)
Chang (cont), Bound Feet and Western Dress 128-215 (end)
Discuss the changing expectations for Chinese and Chinese
American womanhood
TV Series: April Rhapsody (人间四月天)： selected episode
Week 4 (9/30)
Anchee Min, Pearl Of China Part 1 (3-70)
Discuss the career of Nobel Laureate Pearl Buck, who spent the
first 40 years of her life in China (Zhenjiang and Shanghai) and her
love affair (real or imagined) with Xu Zhimo
TV Series: April Rhapsody (人间四月天)： selected episode
Week 5 (10/7)
Min (Cont.) Pearl of China (87-160, 205-275)
Discuss the Chinese and Western codes of masculinity; why is Xu
Zhimo so irresistible to women (and men) of all stripes? Introduce
the wen-wu dyad of Chinese masculinity
Week 6 (10/14)
Ha Jin, “The Bridegroom”; “A Tiger-Fighter is Hard to Find”
Continue our discussion of the wen-wu dyad; contrast Chinese and
Western gender norms and attitudes toward sexual orientation
Week 7 (10/21)
Ha Jin, “An Individual’s Homeland”; “The Beauty”; “A Good
Fall”; Yiyun Li, “Number Three, Garden Road”
Continue our discussion of gender norms; explore the definitions
of homeland in our globalized age
Week 8 (10/28)
Li (Cont.) “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers”; “The
Princess from Nebraska”; “Gold Boy, Emerald Girl”
Discuss generational differences and heteronormative versus
alternative families; gender and performativity
Week 9 (11/4)
Midterm Exam
Film: The Princess of Nebraska
Week 10 (11/11)
Russell Leong, “Phoenix Eyes”; “No Bruce Lee”; “Where Do
People Live Who Never Die?”
Continue our discussion of alternative families; intersection of
sexuality and spirituality; racial stereotypes and interracial
dynamics in Taiwan and Los Angeles
Week 11 (11/18)
Marilyn Chin, “Fox Girl”; “Round Eyes”; “Parable of
Squab”; “Monologue: Grandmother Wong’s New Year
Blessings”
Continue our discussion of sexuality and spirituality; Chinese
American allusions to Chinese lore; interracial racial dynamics in
California (especially San Diego)
Week 12 (11/25)
Chin & Leong (Cont), “Ten Views of the Flying Matriarch”;
Russell Leong, Mothsutra
Discuss allusions to Chinese classics and Buddhism; contrast
Chinese and Chinese American sensibilities; attitudes toward
laborers
Week 13 (12/2)
Student Presentations
Film: A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
Week 14 (12/9)
Student Presentations
Week 15 (12/14)
Final Exam / Final Paper
Midterm Paper: There is no set topic or format for this essay. You are expected to write
your personal or creative response to any work(s) covered in the course and to project
your own distinctive voice. You can interweave your response with your own narrative.
Final Exam / Final Paper
You will be asked to choose one of the following topics. Your answer must include the
works of three writers:
1. Compare the generational dynamics in the works of three of the following: Pang-Mei
Natasha Chang, Marilyn Chin, Russell Leong, and Yiyun Li (you can pick other authors).
2. Compare the gender code (norms for masculinity or femininity) in the works of three
of the following: Pang-Mei Natasha Chang, Marilyn Chin, Ha Jin, and Russell Leong.
3. Compare the perspectives toward different sexual orientations in the works of three of
the following: Russell Leong, Ha Jin, and Yiyun Li.
4. Compare the interracial/intercultural dynamics in the works of three of the following:
Pang-Mei Natasha Chang, Marilyn Chin, Russell Leong, Yiyun Li, and Anchee Min.
5. Compare the use of literature as social critique in the works of three of the following:
Marilyn Chin, Ha Jin, Yiyun Li, and Anchee Min.
NOTE: Plagiarism, the use of sources without proper acknowledgement, the most blatant
form of which is copying and claiming the copy to be your own work, is illegal. The
penalty for plagiarism will be an automatic “F” in the course; you also risk suspension.