Kursöversikt
KI2101 Advanced non-fictional Chinese I, 7.5 credits
Find syllabus and reading list by clicking the link.
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Zoom link for online students: https://gu-se.zoom.us/j/9209849279
Welcome to the course Advanced non-fictional Chinese I!
Välkommen till kursen!
Sedan något år tillbaka ges kursen primärt på engelska för att kunna ingå i vårt masterprogram Language and Intercultural Communication och därför är sidan på engelska. Men naturligtvis använder vi oss av svenska om alla registrerade studenter har svenska som modersmål.
In this course we read, analyse and translate advanced Chinese non-fiction texts ("sakprosa"), and we also discuss (as much as possible in Chinese) subjects related to the texts. Focus is on texts in linguistics, literature, philosophy and other humanities. The course is examined through written and oral assignments. My name is Fredrik Fällman and I will be your teacher for this course, please look at my webpage for more information.
We will have five seminars during this course, and you will find the planning for each session below.
Before each seminar you are expected to read the assigned text and prepare to translate sections of it during the seminar. We will try to read and translate the text from Chinese to English, and in parallell discuss its meaning in Chinese. There will not be time to translate the full texts but we will do parts of it, and you will also be given translation assignments.
1) 5 November
Text: 黄与蓝 by Deng Xiaomang 邓晓芒 and Yi Zhongtian 易中天 (original book scan here)
Comments and explanations to 黄与蓝 (there are many place names and persons in the text)
Deng Xiaomang (b. 1948) is a well-known professor of philosophy, Kant and Hegel expert, who has been working at Wuhan University and Huazhong University of Science & Technology. He is the older brother of well-known author Can Xue 残雪 (Deng Xiaohua 邓小华). Yi Zhongtian (b. 1947) is a professor of literature and a historian, working at Xiamen University but often giving TV lectures. The text is a discussion about similarities and differences between Chinese and Western culture, seen from the perspectives of Earth and Sea, Yellow and Blue.
2) 13 November
Text: 历史的意象与意象的历史 by Jiang Chun 江春
Text from p. 16 in Jiang Chun's text for translation to English
Jiang Chun is a teacher at Qufu Normal University 曲阜师范大学 in Qufu, Shandong province, Confucius' home town. This text is literature oriented and deals with Nobel Prize winner Mo Yan's book Red Sorghum (Det röda fältet) 红高梁家族. Mo Yan is from Gaomi in Shandong, not far from Qufu. Note that this text is written in 1988, long before Mo Yan became world famous. Read and consider the criticism, but also try to think about inconsistencies and subjective comments in the text.
3) 20 November
Text: 文化精英的反省与转变 by Meng Fanhua 孟繁华 (original book scan here)
Comments and explanation to 文化精英的反省与转变 (personal names)
Meng Fanhua is a literature professor at Shenyang Normal University 沈阳师范大学 and director of the Institute of Chinese Culture and Literature 中国文化与文学研究所. The text you are reading is taken from Meng's book 《众神狂欢——世纪之交的中国文化现象》 (Carnival of many gods—Chinese cultural phenomena at the turn of the century). It deals with the turbulence of a society rapidly changing to market economy, turning many things upside down, periphery becoming centre and vice versa. Meng also deals with the situation for intellectuals, which is mostly the topic in the text you are reading. How to survive, and what is acceptable as an intellectual?
4) 27 November
Text: 近十年国内现代汉语语法研究: 总结与反思 by Yan Gang 颜刚
Yan Gang is a young scholar at the School of Linguistics at Beijing Language and Culture University 北京语言大学. In this article he discusses the development of grammar in contemporary Chinese language during the last ten years.
Chinese grammatical expressions and punctuation
5) 3 December
For this session you should all choose an academic article in Chinese that you present orally and with a summary of at least 400 Chinese characters. You will need to use a special VPN to access our Chinese text databases if not on campus and you will be given instructions for that.