EALL 2230 - From Harmony to Crisis: Nature and Environment in Chinese Literature and Film

FDR: Literature (HL)
Credits: 3

This course explores environmental consciousness in modern and contemporary Chinese literature and film through the lens of eco-criticism. Beginning with a brief examination of traditional Chinese thought on the harmonious oneness of Heaven and humanity, this course traces shifting conceptions of the human-nature relationship in modern and contemporary China from socialist narrative of labor and “the transformation of nature” to post-socialist literary and cinematic representations of ecological degradation and environmental crisis. Students will engage with eco-criticism and environmental humanities to analyze how literature and film both reflect and critique dominant environmental imaginaries in Chinese history and how ecological ideas intersect with ideology, development, ethnicity, gender, and state power.