30050 - Chinese Literature 1 (2nd cycle)

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes The student will be expected to have a good knowledge of discourse strategies in the Chinese language, and will be able to apply these skills to text-analysis and translation. Through practical exercises, their communicative competencies in all the abilities, active and passive, will reach a C2 level of the European Common Framework which will provide them with sufficient skills to effectively interpret socio-linguistic and cultural codes of people involved in a communicative rapport.

Course contents

CHINESE LANGUAGE: PROGRAMME

First part: TRANSLATING FROM CHINESE SOURCES IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND CHINA

A. The course focuses on strategies of word formation in Chinese. Neologisms are analyzed in relation to the social changes they mirror and as powerful tools for categorizing the world. This year, neologisms in the homosexual literature and among homosexuals will be discussed as a case-study on the impact of social reality on language and vice-versa.

B. Translation and discussion of Chinese texts across disciplines with the aim of understanding China. Rejecting the approaches that stress ‘cultural essentialism' and ‘universality of cultural pathways', the course critically analyses aspects of the Chinese culture in different realms including literature, cinema, figurative arts, sociology, philosophy, and historiography. In particular the following topics will be discussed:

1. Representations of the body: art, cinema and fiction. The body has become overwhelmingly present in different cultural expressions. The course examines the common matrix across different forms of art;

2. The plurality of traditions, expressions, and choices of wording in Chinese classical thought schools, focusing on keywords, and themes in Confucius, Mencius, Laozi and Zhuangzi;

3. The translation of Chinese poetry and works of fiction viewed as production of knowledge and construction of the ‘other’. The first Italian translations of Chinese poetry will be analysed and discussed. Moreover, the students will be guided in the translation of modern and contemporary Chinese texts of poetry and fiction;

4. The documentary sources for the analysis of China’s contemporary history, focusing on the dilemmas in the interpretation and translation of the Chinese communist party and government's documents.

Second part: CHINESE MODERNITY

Reading, analyzing, and translating passages from

√ The Diary of a Madman (Lu Xun)

√ The Diary of Miss Sophia (Ding Ling)

√ Sinking (Yu Dafu)

√ The Husband (Shen Congwen)

√ After the Party (Ling Shuhua)

√ Etiquette and hygiene (Liu Na’ou)

√ Crescent Moon (Lao She)

√ Hands (Xiao Hong)

√ The Shop of the Lin Family (Mao Dun)

 

Specific programme for students attending the CHINESE LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (LM) course

A (15 points): same programme as in the second part of the programme for the Chinese language course 

B (15 points): Reading, analyzing, transcribing, providing a detailed glossary, and translating passages from:

√ The Diary of a Madman (Lu Xun)

√ The Diary of Miss Sophia (Ding Ling)

√ Sinking (Yu Dafu)

√ The Husband (Shen Congwen)

√ After the Party (Ling Shuhua)

 

 

 

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

* Handouts will be provided by the instructor

Teaching methods

√ Lectures

√ Group activities. Students will be asked to work in small groups to develop translation techniques and critical reading skills.

√ Students’ presentations.

Classes with a native speaker of Chinese (professor Hu) are integral part of the course.

Assessment methods

ASSESSMENT METHOD

1. Oral and written examination on the first part of the programme:
Students are required to produce a 10 page written text on one of the topics discussed during the course, and to present their work to the class. Besides, they are required to produce a short text presenting the main points discussed in the lectures.

2. Written examination on the second part of the programme: students will be asked to translate short passages and to locate them in a broader cultural framework

3. An assessment of the Chinese language competencies will take place, based on the classes by the Chinese native speaker (professor Hu).

 

EXAMPLE OF WRITTEN EXAM (Prof Hu Guiping):

期末考试 (lettorato 15 分)

姓名

词汇填空 ： 展 （ ）高飞

选择适合的成语填空： 旅游虽然结束了，还不停议论水乡见闻，似乎（ ）。

选择适合的成语填空： 他们两人的能力和水平差不多，（ ） 。

用以下至少10个成语写一篇150字的短文

Teaching tools

multi-media tools

Office hours

See the website of Antonella Ceccagno