31563 - Chinese Culture and Literature 1

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the attendants will have acquired a thorough knowledge of Chinese classical literature and its critical debates. They will be able to approach critically the texts (in Chinese when it is possible, or in English/Italian), to identify and classify literary works and to develop analytical investigations of the written sources.

Course contents

The course focuses on the history of Chinese literature from the end of the 19th century to the end of the 20th century, examining major works, the most influential authors, and the most significant forms and movements. In particular, it concentrates on literature's relationship with political power and the most pressing social issues of the period under study.

The proposed method involves investigating how the literary text is not limited to reflecting its own social reality, nor is it independent of it, but constitutes a creative and, at times, critical response.

This will be achieved through close reading of selected excerpts from the texts addressed in each lesson. The passages will be presented in translation and, in part, in the original Chinese.

To this end, the course will include frequent digressions or introductory sessions aimed at strengthening students’ background knowledge or filling gaps regarding Chinese history relevant to the centuries in question. Students who have not taken any Chinese history class are strongly recommended to read a book or manual on the history of 19th- and 20th-century China, that can be agreed upon with the instructor.

The course programme is structured as follows. A more detailed syllabus will be uploaded to the Virtuale platform. 

• The advent of modernity and the new novel
• The May Fourth Movement and the New Culture Movement: the 1910s
• The literary revolution: Romanticism and Realism
• Literature and revolutionary politics in the shadow of the Yan’an Talks
• The immediate post-Mao period: Scar Literature and the avant-garde
• Root-Seeking Literature: recovering the self in the fiction of the 1980s
• Narrating a changing China: the 1990s between memory and market reforms

The programme will be complemented by introductory lessons on research methods for preparing an academic paper in the literary field, useful for writing the term paper.

Readings/Bibliography

Please refer to the main page for the full list of readings. Feel free to contact the instructor for readings in English or Chinese.

Teaching methods

Conventional. Each week begins with a text that students are required to read in advance in order to prepare for in-class discussion and analysis.

Based on this, students will be encouraged to develop their own personal path of study and reading.

Students' active participation is strongly encouraged.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is suggested that they get in touch as soon as possible with the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) and with the lecturer in order to seek together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the examination.

Assessment methods

The exam is oral and does not differ between attending and non-attending students. The interview is structured as follows:

1. Discussion of a short paper (approx. 2,000 words, excluding notes and bibliography) written by the student (50% of the final grade, 15/30 points). In this paper, the student independently analyzes a novel chosen from Group 2 of the bibliography, situating it within its historical context (as outlined in the critical texts listed in the bibliography) and comparing it with one or more academic articles on the chosen novel or author. The topic of the paper and the academic sources must be agreed upon with the instructor.

The paper must be submitted by email at least 7 days before the exam date (i.e., by the deadline for registration via Almaesami). The file name must include the student’s surname.

Additional instructions on how to write the paper will be provided in class. International students may refer to the instructor for further information.

2. Two additional questions, related to the assigned readings, will concern major issues in literary history discussed during the course (50% of the final grade, 15/30 points).

Students may give an in-class presentation focusing on themes related to pre-1949 literature. Presentations, either individual or group-based depending on class size, will take place in late March or early April. The presentation replaces the second part of the exam (the two questions on literary history); its evaluation will be combined with that of the written paper. However, students may request additional questions during the oral exam in order to improve their grade.

Assessment rubrics are available on the Virtuale platform from the beginning of the course.

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support individual study through supplementary explanations, summaries, and self-assessment activities. With regard to assessment, a limited, declared, and non-substantive use of AI is permitted for support tasks such as summarisation and rephrasing. Substantive use of AI for completing parts of the assessed academic work is not permitted. In all cases, the use of AI tools in planning or structuring coursework should preferably be undertaken in consultation with the instructor.

Office hours

See the website of Federico Picerni