30912 - Chinese Language (LM)

Learning outcomes

The students will be expected to have a good knowledge of discourse strategies 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

The class integrates the acquisition of language skills and the learning of the main methodological problems of translation practice, on the one hand, with the knowledge of the socio-cultural context of texts under survey, on the other, through the analysis and translation of excerpts from a wide range of textual typologies:

• literature;
• newspapers;
• blogs and websites;
• song lyrics and adv or propaganda slogans.
  

Thematically, the course will focus on the contemporary Chinese city, mostly through the literary expressions of new urban subjectivities, the impact of social inequalities, and technology.

Readings/Bibliography

The Chinese texts to be translated and analyzed will be available on the IOL page of the course.

Recommended readings for Chinese Language LM (30912) and Chinese Literature LM (30050):

[Please refer to the main page for additional readings in Italian]

• Pesaro, Nicoletta (ed). 2013. The Ways of Translation: Constraints and Liberties of Translating Chinese. Venezia: Libreria Editrice Cafoscarina.
  
• Visser, Robin. 2010. Cities Surround the Countryside. Durham: Duke University Press.
• Zheng, Yiran. 2016. Writing Beijing. Urban Spaces and Cultural Imaginations in Contemporary Chinese Literature and Film. Lanham etc.: Lexington Books. In particular chapters 6 (Traditional Beijing and Masculine Beijing in Second-Generation Beijing Flavor Literature) and 8 (Beijing Floaters).
  

Exam readings for Chinese Literature LM (30050):

[Please refer to the main page in Italian]

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons and tutorials, with active student participation.

Assessment methods

Oral exam. Here follows detailed instructions for the two classes.

The Chinese Language LM (30912) exam consists of two parts of 30/30 scores each. The final score is the mathematical average of the marks obtained in the two parts:

• Analysis and translation of 3 short extracts of the passages presented during the course; 10 points each (Prof. Picerni).

• Questions in Chinese on the content of the pieces presented during the course (Prof. Hu). Assessment criteria: the ability to read, understand and comment in Chinese the following text: 余秋雨《门孔》， 李娟《清水一般的杨绛》，李娟 《感谢自卑》, 莫言 《卖白菜》， 蔡崇达《阿太》. Further information, as well as the exam texts, are available on the Virtuale page: https://virtuale.unibo.it/course/view.php?id=33701

The Chinese Literature LM (30050) exam also consists of two parts of 30/30 scores each. The final score is the mathematical average of the marks obtained in the two parts:

• Analysis and translation of 3 short extracts of the passages presented during the course; 10 points each (Prof. Picerni).
• A paper focused on one of the readings from the list above, to be framed and discussed according to the socio-cultural context illustrated in class. Other readings (also in English translation) can be proposed by students. In any case, students must discuss their choices with the instructor in advance.

Teaching tools

PowerPoint presentation, multimedia resources and materials.

Office hours

See the website of Federico Picerni