CHIN 023. Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature

(Cross-listed as LITR 023CH)
Modern and contemporary Chinese literature is not a national enterprise; it is a global network across diverging societies. From the neon-soaked alleyways of semi-colonial Shanghai to the tropical dreams of the Malaysian rainforest, and from Taipei’s queer undergrounds to Beijing’s high-tech dystopian vistas, Chinese literary culture has always been a sprawling, polyphonic, and dangerously fluid machine.

This course invites students to analyze how writers from the early 20th century to the present participated in the making of a global Chinese modernity. We move beyond the “Great Wall” of national history to examine the Chinese script as a trans-border medium used to forge, dispute, and dismantle identities, norms of gender and sexuality, and Sinophobia.
All readings are in English. No prerequisite.
Humanities.
1 credit.
Eligible for ASIA
Fall 2026. Gao.
Catalog chapter: Modern Languages and Literatures: Chinese
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/chinese

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