KSCA606 Constructing Identity in Modern China

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2020

The course is not taught in Spring 2020

Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s) (plus 1 credit for an exam). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. et Mgr. Dušan Vávra, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. et Mgr. Dušan Vávra, Ph.D.
Department of Chinese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. et Mgr. Dušan Vávra, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Chinese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites (in Czech)
TYP_STUDIA ( N )
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Major obligatory course in the Master's programme Chinese Culture Studies. Students gain knowledge on the key discourses of identity in contemporary China (including Taiwan and other overseas Chinese communities). The aim is to understand continuity and durability of these discourses from the end of 19th century up to the present. The Chinese approach the problem of identity basically along the same lines across the whole century, despite the immense economic and geopolitic development China underwent in the past several decades.
The course is divided into 3 blocks. Lectures 1-2 are introductory. Lectures 3-8 introduce the specific discourses on various material (texts and films). Lectures 9-12 introduce selected cases of constructing Chinese identity and the role of the discourses in them.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course the student will be able to:
- identify the typical discourses in any type of document from modern and contemporary China;
- understand the significance of the discourses in Chinese discussions on national identity and modernization;
- explain the origin of these discourses in the period of the first clash and dealing with the Western challenge in the late Qing and in the republican period
Syllabus
  • 1. The problem of Chinese identities: PRC, Taiwan, Honkong and overseas Chinese;
  • 2. The problem of Chinese identity in the 21st century: between China and the West, modernization and tradition (general overview);
  • 3. Discourse of modernization in China in the 2o-21st century; the problem of modernization as westernization; social Darwinism and its role in modern Chinese identity formation;
  • 4. Traditionalism in modern China: the Confucian revival;
  • 5. Chinese exceptionalism in contemporary China: nationalism, racism, and imperial model;
  • 6. Discourse of "self-loathing" in modern China: "cannibalism" as a symbol of Chinese culture;
  • 7. Discourse of Chinese Marxism;
  • 8. Discourse of Chinese identity in relation to ethnic minorities in PRC and Taiwan;
  • 9. A case: religion in China;
  • 10. A case: Chinese medicine, martial arts, and qigong;
  • 11. A case: discourses of identity in wuxia literature, contemporary Chinese science fiction and other genres of popular Chinese culture;
  • 12. A case: discoursive aspects of speeches in Xi Jinping's administration
Literature
    required literature
  • Dirlik, Arif. „The Discourse of ‘Chinese Marxism’”. In: Vincent Goossaert et al. (eds.). Modern Chinese Religion II. 1850-2015. Vol. 1. Leiden: Brill, 2014, str. 302-365.
  • CALLAHAN, William A. China dreams : 20 visions of the future. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, 212 stran. ISBN 9780199896400. info
  • Critical Han studies : the history, representation, and identity of China's majority. Edited by Thomas S. Mullaney. Berkeley: Global, Area, and International Archive, 2012, vii, 410. ISBN 9780984590988. info
  • China orders the world : normative soft power and foreign policy. Edited by William A. Callahan - Elena Barabantseva. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2011, xiv, 280. ISBN 9781421403830. info
  • BARABANTSEVA, Elena. Overseas Chinese, ethnic minorities and nationalism : de-centering China. First published. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011, xviii, 202. ISBN 9780415579506. info
  • Taiwanese identity in the twenty-first century : domestic, regional and global perspectives. Edited by Gunter Schubert - Jens Damm. First published. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011, xii, 291. ISBN 9780415736916. info
  • The Cambridge companion to modern Chinese culture. Edited by Kam Louie. First published. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, xx, 400. ISBN 9780521863223. info
  • DAVIES, Gloria. Worrying about China : the language of Chinese critical inquiry. 1st pbk. ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007, x, 312. ISBN 9780674032255. info
  • BARMÉ, Geremie. In the red : on contemporary Chinese culture. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999, xxii, 512. ISBN 0231106149. info
    recommended literature
  • Makeham, John (ed.). New Confucianism. A Critical Examination. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
  • DIKÖTTER, Frank. The discourse of race in modern China. Fully revised and expanded s. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015, xix, 216. ISBN 9780190231132. info
  • GOSSAERT, Vincent and David A. PALMER. The religious question in modern China. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011, xi, 464. ISBN 9780226304168. info
  • GLADNEY, Dru C. Dislocating China : reflections on Muslims, minorities, and other subaltern subjects. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, xvii, 414. ISBN 0226297756. info
Teaching methods
The course has the form of lectures and it requires intensive preparation for each lecture. There are several readings for every lecture (mostly in English) and also a film or more. Once in the semester the student is required to present a paper on a given topic.
Assessment methods
1) 1 absence allowed during the semester;
2) active participation in the class;
3) a paper presented;
4) if the above conditions are fullfiled, the students is allowed to take part in final oral exam
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Information on completion of the course: Posluchači Kulturních studií Číny povinně ukončují zkouškou.
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2023, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2020, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2020/KSCA606