ASIAN 2233 - Introduction to China: Beyond China

(crosslisted) CAPS 2233
(ALC-AS) (CA-AG, LA-AG)

Fall. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

This class is one of several topical courses in the Department of Asian Studies that serve as introductory courses to important aspects or themes of Chinese civilization (ASIAN 2230, ASIAN 2231, ASIAN 2232, ASIAN 2233) . The course assumes little or no background in the study of China. Students may take more than one of these different courses for credit.

S. Ma

“China” and “Chinese” are no longer adequate terms for the study of Sinitic-language communities and cultures that evince politically tenuous and linguistically polyphonic relations with the People’s Republic of China. This course introduces students to transnational literatures, film, and popular culture from formerly marginalized Chinese voices, and to the field of Sinophone Studies as a critical, interdisciplinary alternative. Students will study fiction and films from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, the United States, and the PRC, along with critical works explaining the ways that diaspora, colonialism, comparative empires, and ethnic or minority studies have informed the rise of global Chinese studies beyond “China” as a homogenous, static entity. (GE)