CHINESE LITERATURE I
At the end of the course, the students will have learned the historical features of Chinese literary production from the second half of the 19th to the 21st century. They will master the analysis of related topics, genres and currents; they will also know the most representative authors, mainly through the reading and the analysis of their works. They will therefore be able to highlight the connections between the main historical events and cultural transformations, giving particular attention to texts in this activity, as testimonies, tools and places of change.
The course addresses following subjects:
1) Wenxue and periodization 2) Meeting the Other. Renewing tradition: the heritage of Gongyang and Tongcheng schools. 3) The Movement for Western Affairs and Mediators: Zeng Guofan, Yan Fu and Lin Shu. 4) Liang Qichao and the late-Qing fiction. 5) The "denunciation novel" by Wu Jianren. 6) The Xinhai Revolution and the fall of a millennial Empire. Vision of the film The Last Emperor. 7) "The quest for modernity": from the linguistic reform to literary revolution. Analysis and comment of Lu Xun, Kuanren riji (Diary of a madman). 8) From the literary revolution to the revolutionary literature: writers, debates and literary societies. 9) The “spoken theater”. 10) War literature and the new cultural policy of Mao Zedong: "Serve the people". The Yan'an Speeches. 11) From the foundation of New China to Cultural Revolution. Analysis and commentary of the texts by: Ding Ling, Zhao Shuli, Yang Mo and Hao Ran. 12) The beginning of a new era: “scars literature” and “misty poetry”. 13) From "cultural fever" to Tian'anmen. Cultural re-thinking: roots, avant-garde and experimental literature. 14) Literature and the market: cynicism and individualism: Wang Shuo and Zhu Wen.
Manuals:
Bertuccioli, Giuliano, La Letteratura Cinese, L’Asino d’oro, pp. 305-391
Hu, Ying, “Late Qing Fiction”, in The Columbia Companion of Modern Eastern Literature, pp. 348-353
Pesaro, Nicoletta, “Letteratura cinese moderna e contemporanea”, in Samarani G. e Scarpari M. (a cura di), Verso la modernità, Einaudi, 2010 (volume III di La Cina, a cura di Maurizio Scarpari) (pp. 717-745)
Vogelsang, Kai, Cina. Una storia millenaria, Einaudi, 2014 (dal XIX secolo ai giorni nostri, pp. 400-571).
Mandatory readings:
Wu Woyao (trad. Shih Shun Liu), Vignettes from the late Ch’ing. Bizarre Happenings Eyewitnessed over Two Decades, Hong Kong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong,1975 (Introduzione, From Peasant to Magistrate, Assistant Examiner, An Unfilial Son).
Per l'esame, gli studenti sono tenuti a leggere cinque racconti dell'opera di Wu Woyao e i seguenti racconti di Lu Xun: “Diario di un pazzo”, “Kung I-chi”, “Medicina” e “La vera storia di Ah Q”, in Lu Hsün, Fuga sulla Luna, De Donato Editore, pp. 9-41, 87-144.
Da Pedone e Zuccheri (2015), estratti scelti: Mao Zedong (I Discorsi di Yan'an), Ding Ling (Il sole splende sul fiume Sanggan), Zhao Shuli (Sanliwan), Yang Mo (Il canto della gioventù), Lao She (Casa da Tè), Hao Ran (Giorni Assolati), La presa strategica della Montagna della Tigre, Poesia Oscura, Acheng (Il Re degli scacchi), Can Xue (Bolle di sapone), Su Tong (Mogli e concubine), Gao Xingjian (Fermata d’autobus),Wang Shuo (Metà acqua metà fuoco), Zhu Wen (Dollari la mia passione), Han Han (Le Tre porte).
Students should also read two texts of modern fiction and two of contemporary fiction, to be chosen according to the list provided below. The list is in not exhaustive and students interested in other authors / works are invited to discuss their preference with the Prof.
Students are required to bring the chosen texts with them during the examination.
Modern fiction:
A.A. V.V., Shanghai Suite, Asiasphere, 2014. Ba Jin, Famiglia, Bompiani, 1980;
Lao She, La Città dei Gatti, Garzanti, 1986
Ling Shuhua, Dopo la festa, Sellerio Editore, 1989.
Lu Xun, La falsa libertà, Quodlibet, 2006
Lu Xun, Fuga sulla luna e altre storie antiche rinarrate, ObarraO edizioni, 2014.
Lu Xun, Erbe selvatiche, Quodlibet, 2003.
Mao Dun, Disillusione, Editori riuniti, 1987;
Shen Congwen, La città di confine, Stampa Alternativa, Viterbo, 2008.
Zhang Ailing, Lussuria, Bur Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli, 2007.
Contemporary fiction:
A.A. V.V., Rose di Cina, E/O, 2003
Acheng, Il re dei bambini, Bompiani, 1994.
Acheng, Strade celesti. Antologia personale della narrativa cinese contemporanea, Theoria,1994.
Han Dong, Mettere Radici, ObarraO Edizioni, 2012.
Gao Xingjian, La montagna dell’anima, Rizzoli, 2002.
Mo Yan, Sorgo Rosso, Einaudi, 1997.
Mo Yan, Grande seno, fianchi larghi, Einaudi, 2002.
Su Tong, Mogli e concubine, Feltrinelli,1996.
Wang Anyi, La canzone dell’eterno rimpianto, Einaudi, 2011.
Wang Meng, Vuoi mettere la Zuppa Agro-piccante?, Marsilio Editore, 1999.
Wang Meng, Figure intercambiabili, Garzanti, 1989.
Wang Shuo, Metà fuoco metà acqua, Mondadori, 1992.
Wang Shuo, Scherzando col fuoco, Mondadori, 1998.
Yan Lianke, Servire il popolo, Einaudi, 2006.
Yu Hua, Vivere!, Feltrinelli, 2009
Yu Hua, Cronache di un venditore di sangue, Einaudi, 1999.
Yu Hua, La Cina in dieci parole, Feltrinelli, 2012
Zhu Wen, Dollari la mia passione, Metropoli d’Asia, 2009.
Movies:
Students (not attending students included) will be required to comment on and contextualize the movies viewed during class hours.
Lectures, projection of audio-visual materials, readings, brainstorming and debate
Oral interview in two parts: the first aims at verifying the knowledge of the topics covered in class; the second one is based on the comment and the contextualization of the texts chosen. The total score in thirtieths will be given by the average of the marks obtained in the two respective parts.