Modern Chinese Popular Culture II (205-0-20)

Instructors

Sihan Wang

Meeting Info

Locy Hall 214: Tues, Thurs 3:30PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

AY26 Modern Chinese Popular Cultures is a two-quarter series on the popular cultures of Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan from the mid-nineteenth century through the present day. Part II, which takes the 1949 founding of the People's Republic of China as its starting point, explores not only the cultural products that found favor with the public but also a selection of works that engage with the popular and its media broadly construed. Primary sources will range from propaganda posters to films, popular music, and literature. We will consider such works in light of a series of related questions: What is the relationship between pop and consumer cultures? Between high and low cultures? Between entertainment and ideology? What makes a work popular, particularly when cultural production, circulation, and consumption are tightly controlled by the state? Under what conditions and with what effects do cultural forms circulate among (and beyond) Sinophone populations? What role has popular culture played in the creation of a "Chinese" identity constituted across national borders? No previous knowledge of Chinese literature, culture, or history is expected or assumed and all readings will be in English translation.

Teaching Method

Lecture and Discussion

Evaluation Method

Participation and Preparation: 20%
Response Posts: 10%
Close Looking/Reading Exercise: 15%
Film Scene Analysis and Close Reading: 15%
Midterm Essay: 20%
Final Exam: 20%

Class Materials (Required)

All materials will be on Canvas

Class Attributes

Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for students majoring or minoring in Asian Languages & Cultures or International Studies until the end of preregistration, after which time enrollment will be open to everyone who has taken the prerequisites, if applicable.