EAST 1270: China Through the Lens: History, Cinema, and ...



EAST 1270: China Through the Lens: History, Cinema, and Critical Discourse

Tuesday and Thursday: 1:00-2:20

Instructor: Lingzhen Wang

Office: 341 Brook St., Room 201

Office Phone: 3-0792

Dept. Box: 1850

Office Hours: Wednesday: 2:00-4:00; or by appointment

Email: Lingzhen_Wang@brown.edu

EAST 1270 is a critical introduction to mainland Chinese films. The subject of this course is, for lack of a better term, “the cinematic China,” which is, on the one hand, heavily embedded in modern China’s political, social, economic, and technological transformations, and on the other hand also open to alternative visions and imaginations, constructing particular aesthetic styles and generating transnational impact.

EAST 1270 focuses on three interrelated dimensions of cinematic practice: local and global contexts of film productions, the specific visual and narrative style of each film, and critical and transnational receptions of Chinese films. Historical and cinematic topics, such as modernity, nation, globalization, revolution, gender, class, hybridity, melodrama, socialist realism, operatic mode of cinema, and commercialism, will be studied across the three dimensions.

This year, EAST 1270 is also tied to Brown’s Year of China Film Series, featuring three major film screenings and lectures that center on early Chinese cinema, Chinese film music, and contemporary Chinese independent filmmaking.

The course is arranged chronologically, but critical writing on films is thematically allocated. No previous knowledge of Chinese is required; all films selected for the course have either English subtitles or printed scripts.

Course Organization:

This course meets twice a week. The first 50 minutes of each class are devoted to lecture, including some visual materials. The remaining 30 minutes are allocated for class discussion, supervised by the instructor.

Requirement and Grading:

1) Two 10-12 page papers (50%)

2) Class participation (20%)

3) Weekly journal for assigned readings and screenings (25%)

4) Others (5%)

Paper Deadlines: For the two short research papers, students can either choose a topic from a list provided by the instructor or create their own.

1) First paper: October 23

2) Second paper: December 7

Students are expected to come to all classes and scheduled screenings and Public Lecturers. More than one unexcused absence will adversely affect the final grade. There will be no incompletes for the course and no extensions for any of the assignments. Exceptions will be made only in the case of illness or emergencies, provided you present adequate documentation.

Required Texts:

Zhang Yingjin, Chinese National Cinema (Routledge, 2004).

Course Packet

Part I: Chinese Films in the Republic Era (1912-1949)

Week One: Introduction

Week One (Sept 7-9)

Th. Course Introduction: History, Modernity, and Chinese Cinema

Documentary: Mei-Juin Chen, “The Worlds of Mei Lanfang, 2005 (In class)

Week Two (Sept. 12-16): Early Chinese Cinema

Tu. Chinese Traditional Opera, Shadow play, and Vernacular Modernity

Reading: ` Zhang Yingjin, “Chapter 1: Introduction” in Chinese National Cinema.

“Chapter 2: Cinema and national traditions 1896-1929”

Film: Ann Hu, Shadow Magic (Xiyang jing), 2000

Th. Chinese Traditional Opera, Shadow play and Vernacular Modernity

Reading: Zhang Zhen, "Teahouse, Shadowplay, Bricolage: 'Laborer's Love' and the Question of Early Chinese Cinema." (Course packet)

Film: Zhang Shichuan, Laborer’s Love (Laogong zhi aiqing), 1922

Week Four (Sept 26-30): Left-wing Movement, Melodrama and the Masses

Tu. Leftist Melodrama and Commercial Cinema

Reading: Zhang Yingjin, “Chapter 3, Cinema and the nation-people, 1930-49”

William Rothman, “The Goddess: Reflections on Melodrama East and West ” (Course packet)

Film: Wu Yonggang: The Goddess (shennü), 1934

Online script:

Th. Leftist Melodrama and Commercial Cinema (continued)

Reading: Ma, Ning, “Textual and Critical Difference of Being Radical”

(E-Reserve)

Film: Yuan Muzhi: Street Angel (Malu tianshi), 1937

Online script:

Part II. Chinese Films in the Socialist Era (1949-1966)

Week Five (Oct. 3-7): Socialist Cinema (I)-- Merge of Different Traditions

Tu. Revolution and Liberation: Yan’an Tradition

Reading: Paul Clark, “Yan’an and Shanghai.” (Course packet)

Film: Wang Bin and Shuihua, White Haired Girl (1950)

Online script:

Th. May Fourth Heritage and Intellectual Adaptations

Reading: Lu Xun, “New Year’s Sacrifice,” 1924 (Handout)

Film: Sang Hu, New Year’s Sacrifice, 1956

Week Six(Oct. 11-14): Socialist Cinema (II) --Constructing a Revolutionary Aesthetic

Tu. Desire and Revolutionary Sublimation

Reading: Paul Clark, “Beyond Shanghai.” (Course packet)

Wang Ban, “Desire and Pleasure in Revolutionary Cinema.”

(Course packet)

Film: Cui Wei, Song of Youth (Qingchun zhige), 1959

Th. Chinese Regional Opera and Socialist Melodrama

Reading: Gina Marchetti: “Two Stage Sisters: The Blossoming of a Revolutionary Aesthetic,” (Course packet)

Internet source:

Film: Xie Jin, Stage Sisters (Wutai jiemei), 1964

Week Seven (Oct. 17-21): Socialist Cinema (III)—Revolutionary Model Operas

Tu. A Revolution in Culture

Reading: Paul Clark, “Modeling a New Culture” (Handout)

“Dancing for the Revolution” (Handout)

Film: The Red Detachment of Women (Hongse niangzi jun), 1970

Tu. Model Operas in Retrospect

Documentary: “Yang Ban Xi: the 8 model works” (In class)

Part III Chinese Films in the Post-socialist Period (1976- )

Week Eight (Oct. 24-28): Gender, Nation, and Post-revolutionary Reflections

Tu. Chinese Women’s Cinema: Subjective Style and Personal Voices

Reading: Zhang Yingjin, “Chapter 7, Cinema and national/regional culture, 1979-89,” in Chinese National Cinema, 225-239

Kaplan, Elizabeth Ann, “Problematizing Cross-Cultural Analysis.”

(E-Reserve)

Film: Hu Mei, Army Nurse (Nüer lou), 1985

Th. New Cinematic Language and Male Root-seeking Movement

Reading: Esther C. M. Yau, "Yellow Earth: Western Analysis and a Non-Western Text," Film Quarterly: (1987-88)41.2: 22-33. (E-Reserve)

Film: Chen Kaige, Yellow Earth (Huang tu di), 1984

Week Ten (Nov. 7-11) : Femininity and Masculinity Re-negotiated

Tu. Gender and Performance

Reading: Dai Jinhua, “Human, Woman, Demon: A Woman’s Predicament.”

(Course packet)

Film: Huang Shuqin, Woman Demon Human (Ren gui qing), 1989

Th. Youth and Fantasy

Reading: Williams, Louise. "Men in the Mirror: Questioning Masculine Identities in In the Heat of the Sun." China Information 17, 1 (2003): 92-106. (E-Reserve)

Film: Jiang Wen, In the Heat of the Sun (Yangguang canlan de rizi), 1995

Week Eleven (Nov. 14-19) Chinese Commercial Films and their Global Impact

Tu. Chinese Martial Arts Film

Reading: Chris Berry and Mary Farquhar, “How Should Chinese Men Act?” (Course packet)

Jenny Kwok Wah Lau, "Hero: China's Response to Hollywood Globalization." Jump Cut 49 (Spring 2007) (E-Reserve)

Film: Zhang Yimou, Hero (Yingxiong), 2002

Ann Lee, Crouching Tigers and Hidden Dragons (Wohu canglong), 2000 (Optional)

Th. Chinese New Year’s Celebration Film

Reading: Jason McGrath, "New Year's Films: Chinese Enterntainment Cinema in a Globalized Cultural Market" (Handout)

Film: Feng Xiaogang, A World without Thieves (Tianxia wuzei, 2004)

Week Twelve (Nov. 21-2): No Class—Thanksgiving Break!

Week Thirteen (Nov. 28-Dec. 2): Urban Cinema, Independent Directors, and Transnational Visuality

Th. No Class.

Week Fourteen (Dec. 5-7): Conclusion

Tu. Chinese Mode of Cinema and Transnational Aesthetics

Reading: Mary Farquhar and Chris Berry, “Shadow Opera: Toward a New Archaeology of the Chinese Cinema” (Course packet)

Film: Chen Kaige, Forever Enthralled (Mei Lanfang), 2008

Second Paper Due: Friday, December 7

-----------------------

Week Nine (Oct. 31-Nov. 4): Ancient History, Visual Arts and Chinese Film Music

Public Film Screenings and Lectures

Time: 6:00-8:00 pm

Location: Martinos Auditorium, Granoff Center

Mon. Film Screening: Chen Kaige, Yellow Earth (Huang Tudi), 1984

Tu. Film Screening: Edward Yang, A One and A Two (Yi Yi), 2000

Tu. No class.

Weds. Nov. 2 Public Lecture: From Mountain Songs to Symphony:  Some Thoughts on Film Music in Chinese Cinema (Jerome Silbergeld)

Th. The Art of Chinese Motion Pictures

Guest Lecture (Jerome Silbergeld): “What Is the ‘Chinese Motion’ in Chinese Motion Pictures”

YouTube: “What Is the ‘Chinese Motion’ in Chinese Motion Pictures”

Public Film Screenings and Lectures

Time: 6:00-8:00 pm

Location: Martinos Auditorium, Granoff Center

Sun. Film Screening: Jia Zhangke, I Wish I Knew (Haishang chuangqi), 2010

Mon. Nov. 28 Public Lecture: Meet Me in Shanghai: Romancing the New Global City on the Eve of the World Expo (Zhang Zhen)

Tu. The Sixth Generation: Urban Sensibility and Experimental Films

Guest Lecture (Zhang Zhen)

Reading: Zhang Yingjin, “Chapter 8, Cinema and the Transnational Imaginary, 1990-2002,” in Chinese National Cinema, 259-60; 281-96

Zhang Zhen, “Urban Dreamscape, Phantom Sisters, and the Identity of an Emergent Art Cinema.” (Course packet)

Film: Lou Ye, The Suzhou River (Suzhou he), 2000

Week Three (Sept. 19-23): Left-wing Movement, Class, and “New Woman”

Public Film Screenings and Lectures

Time: 6:00-8:00 pm

Location: Martinos Auditorium, Granoff Center

Mon. Film Screening:

Shi Dongshan, Two Stars of the Milky Way (Yinhan hsuanxin), 1931

Tu. Film Screening:

Stanley Kwan, Centre Stage (Ruan Lingyu), 1990

Tu: No Class

Reading: Zhang Yingjin, “Chapter 3, Cinema and the nation-people, 1930-49”

Laikwan Pang, “The Left-wing Cinema Movement.” (Course packet)

Weds. Sept. 21 Public Talk: Shanghai Cinema behind the Scenes (Kristine Harris)

Th. Chinese “New Woman” on and off the Screen

Guest Lecture (Kristine Harris): New Women: The Lives and Deaths of Ruan Lingyu

Reading: Kristine Harris, “The New Woman Incident: Cinema, Scandal, and Spectacle in 1935 Shanghai,” (Course packet)

Film: Cai Chusheng, New Woman (Xin nuxing), 1934

Online script:

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