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CHT3241 – Chinese Film and Media

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CHT3241 – Chinese Film and Media UCC1: New Course Transmittal Form Department Name and Number Recommended SCNS Course Identication Prex Level Course Number Lab Code Course Title (please limit to 21 characters) Eective Term and Year Rotating Topic yes no Amount of Credit Contact Hour: Base or Headcount S/U Only yes no Repeatable Credit yes no If yes, total repeatable credit allowed Variable Credit yes no If yes, minimum and maximum credits per semester Course Description (50 words or less) Prerequisites Co-requisites Degree Type (mark all that apply) Baccalaureate Graduate Professional Other Category of Instruction Introductory Intermediate Advanced Rationale and place in curriculum Department Contact Name Phone Email College Contact Name Phone Email Rev. 10/10 Chinese Film and Media Fall 2011 Instructor: Ying Xiao, [email protected] Class Meeting: Tuesday 8-9 (3:00-4:55pm), Thursday 9 (4:05-4:55pm) screenings Wednesday 9-11 (4:05-7:05pm) Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 1-2:30pm or by appointment Pugh Hall 306, 352-392-6539 Course Description Examination of Chinese cinema and other forms of media such as television, music, print culture in a broad sociopolitical and historical context from an interdisciplinary approach assisted by a wide diversity of readings and multimedia tools. Pedagogical Objective This course is designed as an Undergraduate class that will combine lecture and a considerable proportion of discussion. It will include a general survey on the theories of popular culture and mass media and a historical overview on the history of Chinese cinema and media in particular. While paying close attention to contemporary film practices and various cultural trends in mainland China, it will offer a comprehensive account and critical examination of Chinese film in association with different media (television, music, journalism, and etc) from the early twentieth century to the present. It fits into and will become an important addition to the development of undergraduate curriculum in both East Asian Languages and Literatures and Film and Media Studies. It offers a new yet complementary cross-disciplinary and transcultural approach to the critical studies of national and transnational cinema and other modes of audiovisual arts and screen media. Moreover, in an attempt to question the traditional assumptions or paradigms with origins in the binaries of image/ sound, high/low culture, and experimental/commercial film, this class seeks to formulate a more open-ended perspective on the crossovers and shifting boundaries between visual and aural, classic and popular, alternative and mainstream. The primary goal of this class is to: 1) introduce students the fundamental framework of popular culture and mass media studies and the major authors and genres in the field of Chinese cinema and culture 2) help students gain an in-depth understanding of cinema and media in relation to the historical and geopolitical milieu within which it is situated and intimately engaged with. 3) help students develop a critical thinking on the discourses of “national” cinema and “popular” media 4) place Chinese cinema and media within a larger picture of transnational cultural flow, provide a different yet interconnected non-American vocabulary, and help students cultivate a comparative perspective that links the Chinese practice to the western theoretical frames and historical narratives 1 Methodology This class will start with a brief summary of Chinese film and media history, and introduce the important concepts of popular/mass culture in an attempt to adopt this theoretical framework to better understand the specificity and varieties of Chinese popular culture and media in a broader landscape of global interactions. It will investigate many aspects of Chinese film and media by different themes, and cover their practices in a chronological order. Selected film works and TV episodes will be screened alongside a series of music and visual prints showed during the class. This class will also take advantage of the rich cultural resources in Gainesville. Field trips to the relevant institutions (e.g. the Asian collections in the Harn Museum of Art) and related cultural and screening events may be scheduled depending on the availability and students’ interest. Prior knowledge of Chinese language and culture is not required but recommended. A group presentation that encourages students to work with their fellows to explore areas of Chinese culture and media and relate to their own experiences will be conducted in the middle of the semester. Required Texts There will be a course packet available at Orange & Blue Textbooks (309 NW 13th St.)/352-375-2707. Supplementary readings and additional videos are on reserve at Library West. Course Requirements 1) Attendance and Class Participation—10% 2) Group and Individual Presentation—10% 3) Project Proposal and Presentation—10% 4) Response Papers—28%. Students are required to submit a 2-3 page essay every three weeks. You will be asked to write 4 papers in total, two in film review, whereas the other two should critically address and respond to our readings and supplementary materials. Essays are due before the class on the following dates: 09/15, 10/06, 10/27, 11/24 5) 10-12 page Final Paper—42%. Individual appointment with the instructor to discuss the topic selection and project progress is recommended. Academic Honesty: http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/policies/students.html Counseling and Wellness Center: http://www.counseling.ufl.edu/cwc/ Disability Resource Center: http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/ Grades: http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/policies/regulationgrades.html Honor Code: http://www.dso.ufl.edu/sccr/honorcodes/honorcode.php Grading Scale A=93-100%; A-=90-92%; B+=87-89%; B=83-86%; B-=80-82%; C+=77-79%; C=73- 76%; C-=70-72%; D+=67-69%; D=63-66%; D-=60-62%; E=below 60%. S is equivalent to C or better. 2 Passing Grades and Grade Points According to university guidelines, letter grades will convert to GPA as follows: A = 4.0; A- = 3.67; B+ = 3.33; B= 3; B- = 2.67; C+ = 2.33; C = 2.0; C- = 1.67; D+ = 1.33; D = 1.0; D- = .67; E = 0; WF = 0; I = 0; NG = 0; S-U = 0 The S-U option is not counted toward their major or minor degree, nor General Education requirements. Please note that C minus is not considered a passing grade for major, minor, Gen Ed, Gordon Rule, or basic distribution requirements. Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation. Class Schedule Week 1 (08/23-08/25) Introduction: Study of Popular Media and Chinese Film History Screening: To Live (dir. Zhang Yimou, 1994, 125 min.), China Rises (Discovery Channel, documentary, 2008, excerpts) Reading: --Adorno, Theodor W. and Horkheimer, Max. “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception.” In Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments, trans. Edmund Jephcott, ed. Gunzelin Schmid Noerr. Stanford University Press, 2007, 94- 136. --Liu, Kang. “Popular Culture and the Culture of the Masses in Contemporary China.” Boundary 2, Vol. 24, No. 3, Postmodernism and China (Autumn, 1997): 99-122. Week 2 (08/30-09/01) Invention/ Intervention: “Western Mirror,” National Traditions, and the Emergence of a New Cultural Scene Screening: Laborer’s Love (dir. Zhang Shichuan, 1922, 22 min.), Farewell My Concubine (dir. Chen Kaige, 1993, 171 min.) Reading: --Zhang, Zhen. “Teahouse, Shadowplay, and Laborer’s Love.” In An Amorous History of the Silver Screen: Shanghai Cinema, 1896-1937. University of Chicago Press, 2005, 89-117. --Pang, Laikwan. “Walking Into and Out of the Spectacle: China’s Earliest Film Scene.” Screen 47:1 (Spring 2006): 66-80. Week 3 (09/06-09/08) Modernity/ Urbanity: A Thriving Audiovisual Culture and the Golden Age of Shanghai Cinema 3 Screening: Street Angel (dir. Yuan Muzhi, 1937, 100 min.), Two Stars in the Milky Way (dir. Shi Dongshan, 1931, excerpts), Children of Trouble Time (dir. Xu Xingzhi, 1935, excerpts) Listening: early radio voices and popular songs from the Chinese Jazz Age Viewing: film posters, prints and photographs from early magazines and advertisings Reading: --Lee, Leo Ou-fan. “The Urban Milieu of Shanghai Cinema, 1930-40: Some Explorations Of Film Audience, Film Culture, and Narrative Conventions.” In Cinema and Urban Culture in Shanghai, 1922-1943, ed. Zhang Yingjin. Stanford University Press, 1999, 74-96. --Field, Andrew D. “Selling Souls in Sin City: Shanghai Singing and Dancing Hostesses in Print, Film, and Politics, 1920-49.” In Cinema and Urban Culture in Shanghai, 1922-1943, ed. Zhang Yingjin. Stanford University Press, 1999, 99-127. Week 4 (09/13-09/15) Hollywood/ Shanghai: A Tale of Two Cities, Transnational Imaginaries, and Culture in Transit/ Translation Screening: Song at Midnight (dir. Maxu Weibang, 1937, 100 min.), Shanghai Express (dir. Josef von Sternberg, 1932, excerpts), Daughter of Shanghai (dir. Robert Florey, 1937, excerpts) Reading: --Wang, Yiman. “The Phantom Strikes Back: Triangulating Hollywood, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.” Quarterly Review of Film and Video 21 (2004): 317-326. --Chung, Hye Seung. “Between Yellowphilia and Yellowphobia: Ethnic Stardom and the (Dis)orientalized Romantic Couple in Daughter of Shanghai and King of Chinatown.” In East Main Street: Asian American Popular Culture, eds. Shilpa Davé, LeiLani Nishime, and Tasha G. Oren. New York University Press, 2005. Response Paper #1 Due Week 5 (09/20-09/22) Nation/ Class/ Gender: Cinema, Opera, and Revolutionary Ballet in the Mao’s Era Screening: The Red Detachment of Women (dir. Xie Jin, 1961, 110 min., narrative feature), The Red Detachment of Women (1972, dir. Pan Wenzhan, Fu Jie, ballet, excerpts), The White-Haired Girl (1950/1972, feature/ballet, dir. Wang Bin, Zhang Shuihua, excerpts) Listening: Mao’s talk from broadcasting/public loudspeakers, revolutionary songs Reading: --Cui, Shuqin.
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