HIST2124 - 01 - Hist Through Fiction: Event and Imagination

(HI) Historical Inquiry (DM) Diversity & Multiculturalism

History, literature, and cinematography all question and illuminate one another as the imagined world of novels is read against and as part of historical events. How do we better understand power relations and human relations in times of crisis and stasis by analyzing works of fiction? Works of Chinese fiction and classic literature will be placed in context and then discussed in terms of perspective, ideology, style, and impact. The themes of the course will be youth engagement in times of change, revolution and tradition, nationalism, and identity (social, political, collective, and individual). The class will start from the late Qing period, with horror stories and will follow the historical changes and development of the empire into a republic and a communist nation, by following the lives and stories of the main characters of the books and movies we will analyze.