Introduction to Modern Chinese Literature and Culture (202-0-20)

Topic

Taiwanese New Wave Cinema

Instructors

Corey Byrnes
847/467-3314
1880 Campus Drive, Kresge Hall, Office 4-548
Office Hours: Varies quarter to quarter, please check with instructor.

Meeting Info

Block Pick-Laudati Auditorium: Tues 2:00PM - 3:50PM
Block Pick-Laudati Auditorium: Thurs 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

AY27 "New wave" is a ubiquitous but imprecise term that has been applied to various trends in cinema that emerged around the world beginning in the mid-1950s. As an historical term it is used to delineate shared styles, themes, and techniques that define certain national and international film movements. As a descriptive shorthand, it has been applied more broadly to movements that abandoned conventional narrative techniques in favor of experimentation with the cinematic medium, while also confronting social and political problems specific to the context of production. Thus, the inaugural French "nouvelle vague" has been borrowed to label film trends in Britain, Iran, Japan, Hong Kong, and many other locations around the world. This course offers a critical and historical introduction to one of these latter-day new waves, the "New Taiwan Cinema," which emerged in the early 1980s as a reaction against contemporaneous commercial cinema. Through a careful investigation of the work of the three most important representatives of this "new" cinema—Hou Hsiao-hsien 侯孝賢, Tsai Ming-Liang 蔡明亮, and Edward Yang 楊德昌—this course will consider not only the experimental form and social consciousness of the Taiwanese New Wave but also the specific economic, social, and institutional structures—national and transnational—that shaped it. We will also study critical and theoretical writings on this cinema to better understand both the Taiwanese cultural milieu that produced it, and the broader global film culture of which it has become such an important part. Whenever possible, we will place individual Taiwanese films in dialogue with the Asian and European film cultures that influenced them as well as the films and filmmakers that they have influenced. There are no prerequisites for this class and no previous knowledge of Chinese or Taiwanese literature, culture, language, or history is assumed. All required readings are presented in English and all films

Teaching Method

Lecture and discussion

Evaluation Method

1. Participation, attendance and preparation: 20%
3. Scene Analyses: 20%
4. Essay 1: 15%
5. Essay 2: 20%
6. Essay 3: 25%

Class Materials (Required)

Course readings will be provided on Canvas, but should be printed out for discussion sections.

Class Notes

2-4 Tuesday screenings, 2-3:20 Thursday, Friday discussion sessions TBD

Class Attributes

Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline

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.

Associated Classes

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-415: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-415: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM