CHLIT 3314 - [Violence, Sex, and Justice in Premodern Chinese Novel]

(GHB) (LA-AS)

Spring. Next Offered: 2019-2020. 4 credits. Student option grading.

Co-meets with CHLIT 6614 .

S. Son.

This course centers on close readings of two of the four great Chinese novels of the sixteenth century, Water Margin and The Plum in the Golden Vase with their various adaptations, such as oral storytelling, commentary, illustration, playing cards, painting albums, and movies. Water Margin is a compilation of the stories of 108 heroes/outlaws from popular legends, historical records, oral storytelling, and several commercial editions. As a spin-off from Water Margin, The Plum in the Golden Vase follows the downfall of Ximen Qing’s household as he engages in corrupt and lustful actions with a number of wives, concubines, and maids. By focusing on the issues of violence and sex, and their tension with cultural and social order, this course deals with these two novels not only as examples of the pinnacle in the development of Chinese narrative but also as cultural entities evolving with the society in which these novels are produced and circulated. (LL)