East Asian Literature

This course examines literatures and cultures in different regions of contemporary East Asia (South Korea, Taiwan, China, Japan, etc.). The range of the texts in this course includes fictions, short stories, theatrical performance, and films, and we will discuss these cultural products vis-a-vis the intensive process of globalization in these regions (roughly early 1990s and onwards) as well as in the context of rapidly-growing inter-Asian cultural flows we are facing now. Also, moving beyond the selected texts as part of a literary/art genre, we will envision how these cultural productions are inseparable from our living surroundings and, how these texts shape social memories, traditional Asian values, gender roles, nationalisms, and historical traumas. Readings and media used in this course will be in English translations/subtitles.