CHINESE LITERATURE 2

Being one of the characterising courses within the "China" curriculum of the BA programme in "Languages, Culture and Society of Asia and North Africa" (LICSAAM), the course of “Chinese Literature 2” contributes to the attainment of the teaching aims in the area of culture and humanities.
The main goal of the course is to provide knowledge on the history of Chinese literature between the Tang dynasty and the contemporary era as well as tools and skills for the analysis and discussion of the literary texts produced within the time span considered.

At the end of the course the students will acquire a thorough knowledge of the main literary genres, the most important works, the most influential authors, and of the cultural context from Tang dynasty to the contemporary era. Students will be able to analyse and interpret literary texts by using concepts and tools from the specific fields of literary criticism and historiography and will be able to produce critical judgments on the textual and historical-literary phenomena covered by the programme. Students will be able to apply their knowledge of historical and literary context and the critical tools acquired to the identification, the translation, and the deep comprehension of literary genres, the main authors and their literary works, using the notions acquired in a conscious and correct way.

It is desirable that the students already possess a good knowledge of classical Chinese literature, acquired after the completion of the course "Chinese Literature 1".

History of Chinese literature from Tang dynasty to the contemporary era. The course will cover the genres, the authors, the literary trends and the works of Chinese literature during the time span considered. Particular attention will be paid to the evolution of poetic genres from Tang dynasty to the Yuan dynasty, to the theatre from Yuan dynasty to the Ming dynasty and to the development of the vernacular literature and fiction from Song dynasty to the contemporary era.

1. Power Point presentations used during the lessons and other teaching materials uploaded each week on the moodle platform of the course.

2. Textbooks:

Idema, Wilt; Haft, Lloyd (2000). "Letteratura cinese". Venezia: Cafoscarina, pp. 141-341.
Bertuccioli, Giuliano (2013). "La letteratura cinese”. Roma: L’asino d’oro.
Denton, Kirk A. (ed.) (2016). "The Columbia Companion to Modern Chinese Literature". New York: Columbia University Press [essays number 3, 11, 15, 24, 28, 34, 37, 38, 39, 41, 45, 50].

3. All of the following texts will be required for the exam (only in the following translations):

a. Wu Ch’êng-ên [Wu Cheng’en] (1971). «Lo scimmiotto», translation by Adriana Motti from the English version by Arthur Waley. Milano: Adelphi.
b. Lu Hsün [Lu Xun] (1973). «Il diario di un pazzo», translation by Primerose Gigliesi. In: "Fuga sulla luna". Milano: Garzanti, pp. 9-22 [the text will be uploaded on the moodle platform]
c. Lu Hsün [Lu Xun] (1973). «La vera storia di Ah Q», translation by Primerose Gigliesi. In: "Fuga sulla luna". Milano: Garzanti, pp. 81-137 [the text will be uploaded on the moodle platform].
d. Shen Congwen (2002). “Città di confine”, translation by Marco Fumian. Viterbo: Stampa alternativa.
e. Ba Jin (2018). “Famiglia”, translation by Lorenzo Andolfatto. Roma: Atmosphere Libri.
f. Mo Yan (1997). “Sorgo rosso”, translation by Rosa Lombardi. Torino: Einaudi.

4. A list of poems chosen among those analysed during the lessons will be provided: these poems are to be studied for the exam in their original Chinese version. All the poems will be provided by the teacher through the moodle platform.

5. Further optional readings will be provided through the moodle platform.

Exam in written form (1 hour and a half) with multiple-choice questions and open questions on the content of the programme, on the books to be read in translation and on the poems selected for the exam.

Frontal instruction, with Power Point presentations. Presentations and further materials will be uploaded on the moodle platform.

Power Point presentations of the lessons (uploaded weekly and integral part of the programme ), further materials, and details on the content of the course will be available for the students on the moodle platform of the course.

For organizational reasons and in order to assure the quality of the teaching, students are recommended to attend the lessons according to their own alphabetical partition (A-L and M-Z). Students should also be aware that they can only sit for the exam within their own alphabetical partition.

This exam (with this syllabus) will be available only for the four rounds of exams of 2018-19 academic year (two in June 2019, one in September 2019 and one in February 2020). Starting from 2019-20, a new syllabus will be in use and students who attended the course during 2018-2019 academic year and who haven’t passed the exam must then follow the new syllabus.

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