LITR 110CH. From the Periphery to the Center: Chinese Popular Culture in the Global World

(Cross-listed with CHIN 110)
This seminar examines Chinese popular culture within a broader global context. Bridging technological evolution and cultural analysis, the course explores how diverse media have fundamentally reconfigured the identity, behavior, and existential conditions of media creators and users. Key topics include the emergence of social media as all-encompassing “super apps” (e.g., WeChat), literary production in the digital age, the algorithmic management of labor across digital interfaces, interactive bullet-titling (danmu) on video-sharing platforms, and the affective economy of emojis. By engaging with contemporary cases in their textual, audiovisual, and haptic forms, students will learn methodologies for cultural analysis. Students will also have opportunities to explore media production for the course assignments.

All readings are in English and available as PDFs on Moodle. No prerequisites.
Can be taken for 1 or 2 credits. BOTH seminar sections required for 2 credits.
Humanities.
2 credits.
Eligible for ASIA, ESCH.
Spring 2027. Gao.
Catalog chapter: Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation
Department website: https://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures

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