KSCB063 Women in modern and contemporary China and Taiwan

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2020

The course is not taught in Spring 2020

Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Adina Zemanek, Ph.D. (lecturer), doc. Lucie Olivová, MA, Ph.D., DSc. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
doc. Lucie Olivová, MA, Ph.D., DSc.
Department of Chinese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: doc. Lucie Olivová, MA, Ph.D., DSc.
Supplier department: Department of Chinese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
Fluent English
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/50, only registered: 0/50, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/50
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The goal of this course is to introduce changes in the women's role in China and Taiwan since mid 19th century to the present.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course the student will be able to:
- understand the changing role of women in Chinese societies;
- interpret various Chinese realia from the point of view of gender; - understand the development of women movements in the Chinese world
Syllabus
  • 1. The Confucian model: social roles and rules of behaviour as defining womanhood; women, the body and the distinction barbarian/civilized; 內 nei and 外 wai, 才 cai and 德 de Compulsory readings: • Ban Zhao – “Lessons for women”; in Victor H. Mair (ed.) - The shorter Columbia anthology of traditional Chinese literature (320-327). Columbia University Press, 2000 • Li Jing – “The customs of various barbarians”; in Susan Mann, Yu-yin Cheng (eds.) - Under Confucian eyes. Writings on gender in Chinese history (85-100). University of California Press, 2001 Supplementary readings: • Patricia Buckley Ebrey – Women and the family in Chinese history. Routledge, 2002 • Dorothy Ko - Cinderella's sisters: A revisionist history of footbinding. University of California Press, 2005 2. Modern China: changes in women's situation - independence from traditional family, education, work, political activity; persistence of the Confucian discourse – contradictions and double standards Compulsory readings: • Qiu Jin – “Stones of the Jingwei Bird” (fragments); in Amy D. Dooling, Kristina M. Torgeson (eds.) - Writing women in modern China (39-78). Columbia University Press, 1998 • Lu Ying – “After victory”; in Amy D. Dooling, Kristina M. Torgeson (eds.) - Writing women in modern China (143-156). Columbia University Press, 1998 • Chen Ying – “Woman”; in Amy D. Dooling, Kristina M. Torgeson (eds.) - Writing women in modern China (275-298). Columbia University Press, 1998 3. Modern China: women's bodies as discoursive site – modernization, nationalism, globalization and the male gaze Illustrations: • calendar posters (月分牌 yuefenpai) • images of women in the periodical press • film: 新女性 (Xin nüxing, New women), 1934 – screening and discussion Supplementary readings: • Leo Ou-fan Lee – Shanghai modern. The flowering of a new urban culture in China, 1930-1945. Harvard University Press, 1999 • Ellen Johnston Laing – Selling happiness. Calendar posters and visual culture in early twentieth-century China. University of Hawai'i Press, 2004 • Antonia Finnane – Changing clothes in China. Fashion, history, nation. Columbia University Press, 2008 4. Maoist China: abolishment of gender differences, masculinization of women, women's subordination to political aims; socialist morality Compulsory readings and illustrations: • film: 白毛女 (Baimaonü, The white-haired girl), 1950 – screening and discussion • text: “The changing course of courtship”; in Patricia Buckley Ebrey (ed.) - Chinese civilization. A sourcebook (470-477). The Free Press, 1993 • propaganda posters: www.chineseposters.net 5. Post-maoist China: white collars, pink collars, 打工妹 dagongmei and national minorities Illustrations: • women's magazines: 时尚 (Shishang / Cosmopolitan)，瑞丽 (Ruili) • official publications on national minorities Supplementary readings: • Laurie Duthie - “White collars with Chinese characteristics: global capitalism and the formation of a social identity”; in Anthropology of Work Review, 26(13), 1-12, 2005 • Louisa Schein - “Gender and internal orientalism in China”; in Modern China, 23, 1, 69-98, 1997 • Zhang Zhen - “Mediating time: the 'rice bowl of youth' in fin-de-siècle urban China”; in Arjun Appadurai (ed.) - Globalization (131-154). Duke University Press, 2001 6. Modern China and Taiwan: the KMT women-related policy and its continuation in Taiwan Supplementary readings: • Doris T. Chang - Women's movements in twentieth century Taiwan. University of Illinois Press, 2009 • Catherine Farris - “Women's liberation under 'East Asian modernity' in China and Taiwan. Historical, cultural and comparative perspectives”; in Catherine Farris, Anru Lee, Murray Rubinstein (eds.) - Women in the new Taiwan. Gender roles and gender consciousness in a changing society. M. A. Sharpe, 2004 7. Women-related issues in Taiwan, with illustrations from films and TV series Illustrations (screening of fragments): • TV series: 犀利人妻 (Xili renqi, The fierce wife, 2010) • TV series: 含苞欲墜的每一天 (Han bao yu zhui de mei yi tian, Falling, 2013) • TV series: 我可能不會愛你 (Wo keneng bu hui ai ni, In time with you, 2011) • documentary: 拔一條河 (Ba yi tiao he, Bridge over troubled water, 2013) 8. Single women in China and Taiwan Illustrations: • TV series (Taiwan): 敗犬女王 (Baiquan nüwang, My queen, 2009) • TV series (PRC): 好想好想谈恋爱 (Hao xiang hao xian tan lian'ai, I'd like so much to fall in love, 2005) • Magazines: 时尚 (Shishang / Cosmopolitan), 世界时装之苑 (Shijie shizhuang zhi yuan / Elle) (PRC), Cheers, 天下 (Tianxia) (Taiwan) Supplementary readings: • Sandy To - “Understanding sheng nü ('leftover women'): the phenomenon of late marriage among Chinese professional women”; in Symbolic Interaction, 36,1, 1-20, 2013 9. Feminism in post-maoist China and in Taiwan since the 1970s Supplementary readings: • Louise Edwards - “Issue-based politics: feminism with Chinese characteristics or return of bourgeois feminism?”; in The new rich in China. Future rulers, present lives (201-212). Routledge, 2008 • Doris T. Chang - Women's movements in twentieth century Taiwan. University of Illinois Press, 2009 10. LGBT issues in China and Taiwan Supplementary readings: • Loretta Wing Wah Ho – Gay and lesbian subculture in urban China. Routledge, London and New York, 2010 • Lisa Rofel – Desiring China. Experiments in neoliberalism, sexuality, and public culture. Duke University Press, Durham and London, 2007 • Scott Simon - “From hidden kingdom to rainbow community. The making of gay and lesbian identity in Taiwan”; in David K. Jordan, Andrew D. Morris, Marc L. Moskowitz (eds.) - The minor arts of daily life. Popular culture in Taiwan (67-88). University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu, 2004
Literature
  • Literatura je uvedena v sylabu.
Teaching methods
The following topics will be covered as lectures accompanied by class discussions based on lectures, readings, screenings of films and TV series etc. All compulsory readings will be provided in scanned form, as .pdf files.
Assessment methods
1) 100% attendance and preparedness in the class. 2) Final written test.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught: in blocks.
Note related to how often the course is taught: Výuka proběhne blokově v týdnu 14.-18. 3. 2016. 5 dní (po-pá), 2x denně.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2016.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2020, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2020/KSCB063