Canon and Commentary in China (P02112)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : LLC-P-P02112

Premodern Chinese intellectual history is predominantly based upon the so-called ?classical canon?. This course deals with key issues concerning the evolution, construction and understanding of such a canon. Canonical works represent central norms and values of a group, a culture or a nation for which they are comprehensive, valid and binding. They may therefore be taken as the authoritative expression of a group, a culture or a nation?s identity. Since the 1960s canonicity has come under increasing criticism as a display of power relations. In most canonical traditions it is commentarial interpretation which establishes and defines the orthodox meaning of a canonical text. By constructing sometimes entirely new meanings, norms and values, commentaries often form the basis for legitimizing new cultural and national identities. From a cultural studies perspective, canonical meaning is thus produced and established in a context of permanent exegetical negotiation of different interest groups on different parts of the canon.

Using the premodern Chinese case as an example we will explore and analyse different commentarial assumptions, strategies and the subsequent different modes of constructing meaning within their specific historical contexts. Some general reflections on canon and commentary will serve as an introduction to case studies on major Chinese canonical works and their different exegetical traditions. Through such an analysis of different strategies of commentarial reading and interpretation, core concepts of reading, text and interpretation may be critically reconsidered in the Chinese context.

The course is an additional option for students in Chinese Literature, Language and Culture and will be open to students on the MSc in Cultural Studies and the Master of Chinese Studies. It is also expected that the course will be of interest to MSc students in Translation Studies and students of Theology and Religious Studies.

? Keywords : China, classics, exegesis, hermeneutics, textuality

Entry Requirements

? This course is not available to visting students.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Asian Studies, (School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, Schedule G)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the courses students will be able:
- to situate Chinese canonical works and their main commentaries within their historical, political and social contexts
- to identify main themes and contents associated with Chinese classics
- to understand the relationships between text and
commentary in a broad cultural sense
- to detect and analyse strategies of text interpretation
- to use new interpretation methods to explore multilayered meanings of canonical texts in different historical and cultural settings
- to understand the importance of specific worldviews and cultural assumptions on texts, reading and language for de/reconstructing textual meanings