CHIN 107. Contemporary Chinese Media

(Cross-listed as LITR LITR 071CH)
This seminar analyzes Chinese popular media from the beginning of marketization in the 1980s to the present. Focusing on the broad screen culture- including but not limited to cinema, we will place various media works in the global and national contexts of technological innovation and social reforms. Considering Chinese media as a global model of cultural politics, we will cover a wide range of topics: the Chinese writing system and emoji in the age of the computer, romantic comedy and popular music industry, bullet-titles (danmu) and the challenge to the cinematic apparatus, touchscreen and the performance of gender and sexuality in dating apps, and interactive interfaces and the making of the neoliberal subject. Exposed to different media scholarship, students will acquire critical methodologies in doing research on media culture in and beyond the China proper. Students are also encouraged to integrate critical thinking of media in their creative projects. All readings will be in English.
Can be taken for 1 or 2 credits. BOTH seminar sections required for 2 credits.
Humanities.
2 credits.
Eligible for ASIA, FMST.
Spring 2026. Gao.
Catalog chapter: Modern Languages and Literatures: Chinese
Department website: https://www.swarthmore.edu/chinese

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