This course is an advanced survey of Chinese film from inception to the present day in its historical and cultural contexts. Students explore the national and international conditions of early twentieth-century Chinese society that shaped Chinese cinema. We discuss how traditional Chinese culture, such as fiction and theater, and modern culture, such as drama and theories, helped form a film industry that imported Western ideas and forms for diverse political and cultural agendas.Students also analyze the most influential films by different generations of film makers in the Republican period (1911 to 1949), the first seventeen years of the PRC (1949 to 1966), the Cultural-Revolutionary period (1966 to 1976), and the post-Mao period (1976 to present). Particular attention is given to gender, class, and race, and their complex relationships in the formation of Chinese film. Weekly film viewings and reading assignments aid students to understand lectures and to articulate their critical views in writing assignments.

CHN 101 fulfills the General Education Requirements for three areas: Topical Breadth (Arts & Humanities subject area), Diversity, and Writing. It also counts toward the Chinese major or minor’s requirements. No prior knowledge of Chinese language, culture and history is required.