CHINESE LITERATURE 2

The course is part of the main teaching activities of the B.A. degree in Language, Culture and Society of Asia and Mediterranean Africa (curriculum China) and it will provide the students with a wider understanding of Chinese culture and literature.

At the end of the course the student will acquire a thorough knowledge of the literary genres, works and authors of Chinese literature, as well as the cultural context, from the late Tang era to the contemporary age.

There are no pre-requirements

The course covers the history of Chinese literature from the late Tang dynasty to the present day, examining its major works, most influential authors and most significant forms and currents. The common thread running through the course is the changing role of the author's relationship to political power and the major social issues in the broad period under examination. The cultural-historical analysis is supplemented by the close reading of excerpts from the texts addressed from lecture to lecture.

- The role of the author/literati through history and the ethical-political principle of wen yi zai dao 文以载道
- Song poetry: styles and main authors between amorous outbursts and cosmic melancholy
- The minor genre: prose and vernacular from huaben 話本 to zhanghui xiaoshuo 章回小說, via the fantastic
- The Ming and Qing novel: political satire, social relations and gender dynamics in four masterpieces of the era
- The literary revolution: the bumpy emergence of the ego and the relationship between the personal and the political in early 20th century writers
- Revolutionary literature: the trajectory of the poets in the shadow of the Yan'an Talks
- Wounds and roots: the literature of the 1980s, the rediscovered self and different strategies of "escape" from history
- From unrealism to reality and back: trends in contemporary literature and the author's uncertain future
- Science fiction between "soft power" and "the poetics of the invisible"

1. NOVELS (INDIVIDUAL READINGS)

The reading of a classic novel is required, to be chosen from the following (please refer to the Italian-language page for Italian-language editions; English-language editions are also accepted in consultation with the instructor):
- Cao Xueqing, The Dream of the Red Chamber
- Jin Ping Mei
- Wu Cheng'en, Journey to the West
- Shi Nai’an, Water Margin

Students are also required to read at least one modern or contemporary work chosen from the following list (English-language editions are also accepted in consultation with the instructor):
- Lu Xun, Grida ed Esitazione (tr. N. Pesaro), Palermo: Sellerio, 2021 e 2022.
- Ba Jin, Famiglia (tr. L. Andolfatto), Roma: Atmosphere, 2019.
- Lao She, Il ragazzo del risciò (tr. A. C. Lavagnino), Milano: Mondadori, 2019.
- Lao She, I due Ma, padre e figlio (tr. M. Gottardo e M. Morzenti), Milano: Mondadori, 2021.
- Lao She, La città dei gatti (tr. E. Masi), Milano: Mondadori, 2024.
- Acheng, La trilogia dei re (tr. M. R. Masci), Roma: Theoria, 2018.
- Mo Yan, Sorgo rosso (tr. R. Lombardi), Torino: Einaudi, 1997.
- Mo Yan, Il paese dell’alcol (tr. S. Calamandrei), Torino: Einaudi, 2015.
- Wang Anyi, La canzone dell’eterno rimpianto (tr. M. R. Masci), Torino: Einaudi, 2011.
- Yu Hua, Vivere! (tr. N. Pesaro), Milano: Feltrinelli, 2009.
- Yan Lianke, Il sogno del villaggio dei Ding (tr. L. Regola), Roma: Nottetempo, 2011.
- Yan Lianke, I quattro libri (tr. L. Regola), Roma: Nottetempo, 2018.
- Chen Qiufan, Marea tossica (tr. Benedetta Tavani), Milano: Mondadori, 2020.
- Liu Cixin, Il problema dei tre corpi (tr. Benedetta Tavani), Milano: Mondadori, 2017.

2. HANDBOOKS

- Cai, Zong-qi (a cura di), How to Read Chinese Poetry, New York: Columbia University Press, 2007 [parte 5 “The Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty”].
- Masi, Edoarda, Storie del bosco letterario, Milano: Scheiwiller, 2002 [cap. “Il singolare e il plurale”, cap. “Il ‘romanzo’”].
- Pesaro, Nicoletta e Melinda Pirazzoli, La narrativa cinese del Novecento. Autori, opere, correnti, Roma: Carocci, 2019 [capp. 1. “Lu Xun e la narrativa sociale”, 5. “Realismo e realismi”, 7. “La ‘ricerca delle radici’ e l’‘avanguardia narrativa’”].

The slides uploaded onto Moodle are part of the examination material.

3. SUPPORTING BIBLIOGRAPHY (OPTIONAL)

- Bertuccioli, Giuliano, La letteratura cinese, Roma: L’asino d’oro, 2013 [cap. 5 “La letteratura dell’epoca delle Cinque Dinastie e della dinastia Song].
- Denton, Kirk A. (a cura di), The Columbia Companion to Modern Chinese Literature, New York: Columbia University Press, 2016.
- Knight, Sabina, Letteratura cinese (tr. F. Casalin), Milano: Hoepli, 2021.
- Masi, Edoarda, Cento trame di capolavori della letteratura cinese, Milano: Rizzoli 1991, oppure Macerata: Quodlibet, 2014.
- Pozzana, Claudia, La poesia pensante. Inchieste sulla poesia cinese contemporanea, Macerata: Quodlibet, 2010.

Written examination with open questions.

The test consists of three questions on specific topics, and a fourth point analysing and commenting on a passage from a novel, contextualising it in relation to the themes of the course and linking it to the individual readings. It will be possible to consult the individual readings during the examination.

In addition to the necessary argumentative ability and the correctness of the answers, efforts to make links to the individual readings in an independent way will be highly valued.

The course will be carried out through frontal lessons that integrate the content of the textbooks, and the close reading of selected short passages to be prepared by the students before each lesson.. Lesson materials and further in-depth materials will then be uploaded to the moodle page of the course, available to both attending and non-attending students. There will be weekly receptions to assist both attending and non-attending students.

Students are recommended to use the moodle platform of the course to download the presentations of the lessons (uploaded on a weekly basis by the teacher and part of the programme to be carried out), further materials and details on the topics of the lessons.

For logistical reasons and to ensure the quality of teaching, it is recommended to respect the alphabetical partitions (A-L and M-Z). Please also note that you can only take the exam within your alphabetical partition.

It will be possible to take the exam with the programme carried out in this course (academic year 2023-24) only for the first four appeals after the delivery of the course (two in June 2024, one in September 2024 and one in February 2025). Once these four appeals have passed, students will have to take the exam with the new programme of the academic year 2024-25.

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