The reading class introduces students to the world of social novels of the late Qing period. In their realistic works, the authors (Wu Woyao, Li Boyuan, Liu E and others) reflect the enormous social changes that China underwent during this period. At the same time, they themselves were part of these changes. They participated in a newly emerging book and newspaper market and enriched Chinese literature with numerous innovations even before the Western-influenced New Culture Movement of the 1920s. The reason to combine this reading class with a seminar on élite transformations is the single-minded focus of these novels onto attacking officials. The reason for this obsession, one may argue, is that officials had a special status in the late Qing that goes beyond their function as bureaucrats. Why did the official (guan) have to fall before modernity could happen in China.
This reading class will have two parts. In the first sections, we will explore the methodology of using novels as historical source and learn about their background and characteristics. In the second part, students are free to explore how various social groups stand in relationship to the officials that are the protagonists of the novels. While in the first part, Li Boyuan’s Officialdom Unmasked (官場現形記) will serve as example, students are free to explore other novels from the period in their presentation. The requirement for the reading class is a detailed PPT or essay. If you wish, you may expand this into a term paper for the seminar, which would require a more thorough investigation of research methodology, inclusion of previous research, exploration of historical background and selection of sources.
- Trainer/in: Elisabeth Kaske