CHIN 056. Travel and Relocation in Sinophone Literature

This course introduces students to different perspectives and approaches that record and reflect upon experiences involving travel and relocation. A journey between leaving and returning is not merely a pause or an escape, but rather it often launches a sequential inquiry that will reshape one's ways of perceiving the world. Relocation, regardless of the reason for doing so, impacts both the migrant and the local residents in the host country. Actions taken to move might stem from a desire to satiate the spirit of adventure, escaping from the banality of one's daily existence, or seeking financial success. On the one hand, the new life and work test individual migrants' will to survive; on the other hand, it also tests if a host society is able to respond to the challenges ensuing from the encounter, reach agreements, and find ways to ensure just treatment of newcomers. Through analysis of and discussion on selected literary works, reportage, documentary films, YouTube clips, as well as following updates on NGO websites, this course leads students to explore how the seemingly personal pursuit of intellectual growth, psychological contentment, and/or material fulfillment intertwines with interrelated global, social, and economic conditions.