Bamboo & Silk: The Fabric of Chinese Literature, Honors 230G

MWF, 11:30 – 12:20, Conroy Honors Bldg. Room 206

 

Spring Semester, 2008

 

Professor:  Elvira Hammond, Breland 245, 646-1818, ehammond@nmsu.edu

Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 12:30 – 1:30pm, or by appointment.

 

Course Description/Objectives: This course is a comprehensive survey of over 3,000 years of Chinese literature.  We will read English translations of a broad variety of types of literary works; poetry, song lyrics, novels, political essays, letters, drama, historical records and a fair amount of explicative text and Chinese literary theory as well.  Students will acquire extensive knowledge of one of the world’s oldest and richest literary traditions.  Not incidentally, students will also gain some knowledge of China’s history and philosophical traditions.  As this class is based on reading, writing, and discussion, students will hone their interpretive and expressive skills.

 

 

Required Texts:         An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginning to 1911, edited and translated by Stephen Owen.

The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature, Joseph S. M. Lau & Howard Goldblatt, editors.

 

Requirements:            Attendance and Participation ................. 20%

Reading journals .................................... 30%

Presentations .........................................  25%

Brief Paper (8-10 pages)......................... 25%

 

 

Policies: Classroom participation is essential to the process of learning.  I expect you all to be in class, on time, and fully prepared to discuss that day’s reading assignments (see “Course Schedule”).  I also expect our class to be a place of mutual respect and courtesy, with free-flowing exchanges of ideas.  Please turn off all beepers and cell phones.  More than 2 unexcused absences will result in a proportional grade penalty.  If you decide to drop this course, it is up to you to file the necessary paperwork.

 

Late assignments will be penalized one grade unit per day.  No written work, including make-up work, will be accepted beyond one week after the original due date.  I will not accept written work originally submitted for another course.  Please see the Undergraduate Catalog for rules regarding incomplete grades. 

 

Cheating in all forms is prohibited.  Plagiarism as defined in the Student Code of Conduct is “… submitting … material as one’s own work when such work has been prepared by another person or copied from another person,” and is grounds for expulsion.  If you submit work for this class which in any way arouses suspicion you will be asked to submit supporting documentation of your research.  University policies on academic misconduct and the "Student Code of Conduct" will be enforced.  Consult the Student Code of Conduct in the NMSU Student Handbook and http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/plagiarismforstudents.htm  for details. 

 

Reading Journals: You will maintain an informal journal throughout the semester in which you record impressions of the assigned readings.  These will be graded weekly.  I am not looking for summaries of the works, or research, or analytical critiques - simply your subjective responses to the materials.  We will develop guidelines in class as to the scope of your entries and possible lines of inquiry and response.  You will not have to read your journals aloud in class, but they may prove a valuable tool for constructing your classroom discussions.  I encourage you to submit your writings electronically.

 

Presentations: Each student will be required to lead the class in a discussion of roughly 30 minutes during the semester.  Students, in consultation with the instructor, will choose one writer whom they will then introduce to the class; the writer’s personal biography, selections of their work (from the anthologies), and brief interpretations of the writer’s works.  Students may, for example, chose to compare and/or contrast their writer with another author from another time and place, they may present alternative translation of the author’s works, or guide the class in interpreting a work by providing supplemental material on the social/historical context, poetic symbolism and imagery, or artistic motifs.  If you choose to do a theme rather than an author, you will need to follow a similar rubric. 

 

Brief Paper: This paper is the documentation for your presentation, written in conformance with one or another acceptable style manual, and a bibliography with a minimum of five (5) non-Internet/WWW resources.  Papers will be titled and typed (12 point print), doubled spaced, with page numbers and 1" margins all around.  Written presentation proposals and drafts are due as per the Class Schedule.  These drafts are graded and are intended to help you do your best possible work.  Papers are due no later than the last day of class.

                           

Students with Disabilities: If you have or believe you have a disability and would benefit from any accommodations, you may wish to self-identify by contacting Michael Armendariz, Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities, Office for Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD), located at Corbett Center, Room 244 (phone: 575-646-6840).  If you have already registered, please make sure that your instructor receives a copy of the accommodation memorandum from SSD within the first two weeks of classes.  It is your responsibility to inform either your instructor or SSD representative in a timely manner if services or accommodations provided are not meeting your needs.  Call 575-646-6840 with any questions you may have on student issues related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and/or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  All medical information will be treated confidentially.

 

Call Jerry Nevarez, Director of Institutional Equity, at 575-646-3635 with any questions you may have about NMSU's Non-Discrimination Policy and complaints of discrimination, including sexual harassment. 

 

Official communication to you will often come through your NMSU e-mail box. Please access it regularly, or forward it to your current use address, as your success in college may depend on your ability to respond quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Course Schedule:

 

January 16:       Introduction.

 

January 18:       Chinese Language and Writing, Oracle Bones.  (ACL pp. xxxv – xlviii)

 

January 21:       Holiday.

 

January 23:       Thoughts on the art of translation.

 

January 25:       The Book of Songs (ACL^[1] pp. 1-57).

 

January 28:       Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism.  (ACL pp. 58-123.)

 

January 30:       The Chu-ci: “Lyrics of Chu.” (ACL pp. 155-214.)

 

February 1:       Buddhism in China.

 

February 4:     The Chinese “Middle Ages”.  (ACL pp. 221-262, 335-361.)

 

February 6:     The Tang Dynasty; High Tang. (ACL pp. 365-397, 404-411.) 

 

February 8:       Li Bo and Du Fu.  (ACL pp. 397-404, 411-440, 472-475.) Happy New Year!!!

 

February 11:     The Tang Dynasty; The Emperor Xuan-zong and Lady Yang. (ACL pp. 441-458.)

 

February 13:     The Tang Dynasty; Mid- and Late Tang Poetry. (ACL pp. 478-517)

 

February 15:     Painting, calligraphy, and poetry as one.

 

February 18:     Historical overview.

 

February 20:    Guest Speaker

 

February 22:    The Song Dynasty; Lyric Traditions, Classical Prose.  (ACL pp. 553-590)       

 

February 25:     The Song Dynasty continued.  (ACL pp. 591-635)

 

February 27:     The Song Dynasty; “Literati” Culture, (ACL pp. 637-683).

 

February 29:    Song Classical Poetry, (ACL pp. 684-703).  (Happy Leap Day!)

 

March 3:          Chan Buddhism. 

March 5:          The Yuan Dynasty.  (ACL pp. 723-770.) 

March 7:          Yuan Dynasty continued.  Happy Birthday!

 

March 10:        Yuan drama.  (Handout: Autumn in the Han Palace.) 

 

March 12:        The Ming Dynasty.  (ACL pp. 771-879.)

 

March 14:        Tang Xianzi’s Peony Pavilion.  (ACL pp. 880-906.)

 

March 17:       Tang Xianzi’s Peony Pavilion, continued. 

 

March 19:       The Qing Dynasty: Kong Shang-ren’s Peach Blossom Fan.  (ACL pp. 909-972.)