Chinese Literature

The course covers China’s historical development of literary forms (tales, histories, essays, poems, plays) leading up to fiction (short stories and novels) as a genre, from the earliest dynastic era up through the 21st century. The examination of literary works will be contextualized through the social and intellectual milieu that shaped Chinese writers as they endured successive waves of transformation brought about by violent revolutions: political, philosophical, economic, ideological, cultural, and technological.