CAH5737 - Narrative Fiction and Contemporary Chinese Literature | ||||||||
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| * The offering term is subject to change without prior notice | ||||||||
Course Aims | ||||||||
This course aims to offer a critical study of contemporary narrative fiction in Mainland China/Hong Kong/Taiwan as well as other Sinophone 華語語系regions including Malaysia, Singapore, USA and Europe. The key elements/styles/significances of Sinophonic story-telling practice will be explored and discussed. Major writers to be discussed are Mo Yan (莫言), Ha Jin (哈金), Zhang Dachun (張大春), Bi Feiyu (畢飛宇), Yan Geling (嚴歌苓), Li Yongping (李永平), Yan Lianke (閻連科), Li Zishu (黎紫書), Zhu Xining (朱西甯), Huang Biyun (黃碧雲), Xi Xi (西西), Bei Dao (北島), etc. As Hannah Arendt stated, one way to define the human condition is to highlight the symbiosis of action and narrativity, a symbiosis that she identifies as the incipient sign of “natality”. Fiction writing creates an open space in which the public and the personal, as well as the past and the future of a community, are brought into view, allowing the passions and shared historical vision of a community to be contested and interwoven. A vibrant society thrives on its narrative power, since to tell stories is to act out new beginning for the human condition. In this regard, this course will examine not only the literal aesthetics of fiction but also the “dialogues” between story-telling and various historical junctures. | ||||||||
Assessment (Indicative only, please check the detailed course information) | ||||||||
Continuous Assessment: 100% | ||||||||
Detailed Course Information | ||||||||
| CAH5737.pdf | ||||||||
Useful Links | ||||||||
| Department of Chinese and History | ||||||||
