CHIN 273 Contemporary Chinese Writers in Exile
This seminar examines contemporary Chinese fiction since the 1990's, with a special focus on the growing number of works written in exile and in the author's native or second language. We will explore the works of Nobel laureate Gao Xingjian, writing in Chinese as a French citizen; Dai Sijie, writing in French in France; and Ha Jin and Yiyun Li, writing in English in the U.S. What are the national, transnational, cultural, gendered, and aesthetic contexts and issues surrounding the writing and reading of fiction written "out-of-country" and "out-of-language"? How do the writers, in a variety of languages, genres, and political stances, return to memories of their homeland, in particular to national traumas, such as the Cultural Revolution, and re-write official versions of the nation and remember their selves? All readings and discussions will be in English. Given in alternate years.