Spring 2007

Chinese 324 Modern China Through Film and Fiction

            This course provides an overview of the most significant periods of modern Chinese history through the analysis of representative Chinese-language films. You will also familiarize yourself with the most important genres and directors of Chinese cinema. In some cases, we will discuss the relationship between the films and the fictional works to which they are related.  

Our discussion will focus on two major aspects: the artistic features of Chinese cinema, and the political, cultural, and social functions of Chinese cinema. Specifically, we will watch the films in six contexts: 1) the cinematic construction of national identity in early Chinese cinema (1930s-1940s); 2) the politics of gender and class in "socialist realist" films from the Mao Era (1949-1976); 3) the varied forms of memory and representation of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) in the beginning of New Chinese Cinema (1976-1980s); 4) the visual creation of "epic China" by the Fifth Generation directors (since 1984); 5) the alternative reflections of "China in transition" by younger directors (since early 1990s); and 6) the appropriation of the stereotypical image of China by diaspora Chinese filmmakers. You will understand the dynamics of modern Chinese history and acquire basic skills to appreciate Chinese cinema as a formal and social construct.

Instructor: Jie Zhang

Schedule: Wednesday 1:10pm-4pm, Sunday, mandatory film screening, 7pm-9:30pm