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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2017/2018

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures : Asian Studies

Postgraduate Course: Contemporary Chinese Literature (MChS) (ASST11010)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Literatures, Languages and Cultures CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course examines modern and contemporary Chinese literature in translation. Works from the May Fourth Movement until the present day will be studied, but the main focus of this course will be literature from after 1978. The course explores Scar literature as well as the modernist and roots-seeking directions in fiction of the mid-1980s. During the 1990s, there was an explosion of popular literature in different genres and many literary developments started moving online. The course will discuss these trends and take a look at how modern Chinese literature is situated today.
Course description A number of topics will be covered on the course, providing an overview of the main trends in modern Chinese literature:
- May Fourth Movement literature
- 1930s Modernist literature
- Literature under Mao
- Scar literature and Misty Poetry
- Roots-seeking and Avant-Garde Poetry
- Contemporary trends, including popular literature
In addition, lectures will cover a number of literary theories and their application to Chinese literature.

Readings will consist of short stories and novels in English translation. There will also be academic readings for most weeks. Chinese texts will be provided where possible, but reading these is optional.

Classes will consist of a weekly lecture, student presentations, and class discussions and analysis of the texts.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2017/18, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  15
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 11, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 11, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 174 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) One 4,000 word essay
Feedback Students will get written comments on a short assignment written during the semester as well as extensive feedback a longer written essay (4,000 words) upon completion of the course.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. demonstrate familiarity with and understanding of the major developments in Chinese literature since the Cultural Revolution, the major texts and the major authors
  2. analyse representative texts of the period in their literary, historical and social context
Reading List
Joseph S.M. Lau and Howard Goldblatt, eds. The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature. New York: Columbia University Press, 1995
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsCCL
Contacts
Course organiserDr Christopher Rosenmeier
Tel:
Email: christopher.rosenmeier@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Charlotte Mclean
Tel: (0131 6)50 4114
Email: cmclean9@exseed.ed.ac.uk
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