Syllabus
The concept of tianxia (‘All-under-Heaven’)
What is culture, tradition and heritage? How are they constructed and symbolically exploited?
Some longue-durée clichés about Chinese civilization and behaviour
Chinese nation terms (Han, Zhonghua), nation-building and symbolism (flags, anthems, names and synonyms for China)
Myths of origin and endurance
National dress
Chinese Culture in Chinese Science Fiction
New Music and its relation to tradition
Logic and the lack thereof, ancient philosophy or ancient wisdom?
Printing and technical ingeniousness in crafts
Glimpses on the Discourse on Linguistic Relativism in Chinese Studies: Between “Cretinisation” and “Auto-Exoticization”
Construction of Traditional Chinese Medicine
The Four Great Novels on Screen
Sinophone Renditions of an Ancient Utopia (Taohuayuan)
Annotation
This MA course will invite students to critically assess clichés about Chinese ‘culture’, its ‘continuity’ or ‘heritage’. Instructors from the Department of Sinology at Charles University, Prague, and the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies, University of Zurich, will present fresh perspectives on Chinese traditions and ways of thinking about ‘cultural heritage’ in the People’s Republic of China and the larger contemporary sinophone world.
The construction and reinterpretation of ‘cultural heritage’ in modern, especially contemporary China, as well as its reception in the West, will be a central focus of the course. MA students from both institutions will be trained to reflect on the deep roots and dynamic evolution of Western, especially European stereotypes of ‘Chineseness’ in view of the topics discussed.
They will also have a chance to experience a wide array of approaches to the topics by instructors from various (sub)disciplinary backgrounds and to interact across their home institute boundaries.