CHINESE LITERARY TEXTS AND GENRES

The course aims at offering students a critical knowledge of literary genres and encouraging a comparative, intercultural approach.

Achieve the ability to understand interlinguistic and intercultural dynamics underlying the relations between China and Europe/Italy through a comparative study and analysis of literary genres
1. Knowledge and understanding
• Understand the definion and notion of genre
• Know the main literary genres and subgenres of modern China and the socio-cultural context in which they develop, being able to distinguish differences among them
• Know the linguistic and textual characteristics of Chinese literary texts (novels, short stories, essays and reviews)
• Know and recognising the main literary theories
• Know deeper cultural and social dynamics which lead to the shaping, developement and diffusion of literary genres in specific historical periods and social contexts
2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
• Use the achieved knowledge in order to critically assess the literary trends and phenomena in modern and contemporary China
• Understand and describe from a comparative perspective both the similarities and differences between the Chinese literary system and the European and Italian context
• Analyse literary texts
• Adopt an appropriate methodology to categorise adequately literary genres and subgenres according to their specific features
3. Judgement capacity
• assess the level of one’s knowledge, skills and abilities of textual and literary analysis
4. Communication skills
• Communicate the results of literary analysis using an apprpriate terminology in the final exam or paper;
• Communicate critically and sinthetically the main features of literay genres and their role at a socio-cultural level in the final exam or paper.
5. Learning skills
• Be able to link different literary contexts and to use one's knowledge and acquired abilities in order to face professional challenges effectively with a solid cultural and linguistic foundation and a mediaiton approach.

Good knowledge of Chinese language.
Basic knowledge of the history of Chinese literature.

MODULE'S TITLE: Genre fiction in modern and contemporary China
The study of novels based on genre analysis and comparison helps us observe how can genre fiction be characterised by both a great diversity and great similarities in different epochs and cultures. This course intends to present a variety of authors and texts of modern and contemporary China, analysing the formation and transformation of genre fiction. From genres and sub-genres comparable to the Western ones (such as love stories, sci-fi, fantasy and crime fiction), to those which maintain a specific connection with traditional and local culture (such as xiangtu xiaoshuo, zhuxuanlu novels, anticorrupton novels etc.)
This analysis will contribute to a general reflection on the relationship between literary genres and the socio-cultural environment.

N. Pesaro, M. Pirazzoli, La narrativa cinese del Novecento. Autori, opere e correnti, Roma, Carocci, 2019
K. A. Denton (ed.), The Columbia Companion to Modern Chinese Literature (chapters 12; 15; 20; 22; 30; 35; 36; 40; 49; 51; 56; 57), Columbia University Press, 2016

- Further references will be provided during the course.

For the final exam students who attended the course will be requested to answer to some written questions on the topics covered.
Students not attending the course will be requested to write a short dissertation on a subject agreed upon with the teacher. The paper (of about 10 thousend words) will be handed in at least two weeks before the exam. If necessary, the final exam may be held orally online through teleconference sessions.

Class teaching; class reading and textual analysys (practical); seminars with scholars, writers, translators and publishers.
If necessary, classes and seminars may be held online through teleconference.

Italian

For the final exam students who attended the course will be requested to answer to some written questions on the topics covered.
Students not attending the course will be requested to write a short dissertation on a subject agreed upon with the teacher. The paper will be handed in at least two weeks before the exam.

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