CHIN 092. Special Topics: Appreciation of Tang-Song Poetry in Chinese


This course will lead students to learn how to read, comprehend, and analyze classical Chinese poetry from the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties in its original language. Our goals will be to discuss and write about some of the landmark works of classical Chinese literature in modern Chinese and to become familiar with English language scholarship on major themes in middle-period literary history. We will explore two key genres of poetry (shi poetry and ci or song lyrics) and the major writers who have had an enduring impact on the Chinese cultural tradition. Students will learn how to read closely and intensively and how to analyze each work in terms of its formal conventions, it cultural and historical context, and its relation to other forms or to other individual pieces. Regular assignments include short papers and presentations in modern Mandarin about classical Chinese poetry, translations of classical Chinese into English, and a final presentation/paper that synthesizes knowledge of a classical Chinese genre, poet, or theme with the English/Chinese language scholarship on that topic.
Prerequisite: Four years of Chinese or the equivalent.
Humanities.
1 credit.
Eligible for ASIA
Catalog chapter: Modern Languages and Literatures: Chinese  
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/chinese


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