Spring 2008
Prof. Xudong Zhang
G29.3610, G33.3610
Subjectivity and
Resistance: Lu Xun and Questions of Non-Western
Modernism
This is a doctoral seminar which continues the critical rethinking of questions of comparison and comparability (conducted in Spring 07 seminar) but from the perspectives of area studies and, in particular, non-Western modernism. The organizing ideas of the seminar begin with the Hegelian-Nietzschean assumption that comparison is an integral part of the tension of modernity, and thus is at its most stressful, substantial, and productive when it reaches a “life-and death” conflict and negotiation between the Self and Other. This assumption is then historically and critically examined through a close reading of Lu Xun, a central figure of modern Chinese literature and thought, in which resistance and guarding of a suspended Chinese tradition, the literary-philosophical formulation of an emergent collective subject-position were to be achieved by recognizing, adopting and negotiating with what is regarded as “normative” or “universal” represented by the modern West. While the general framework of the seminar is theoretical in nature, the discussions will be based on concrete discussions on various issues, images, and ideas embedded in Lu Xun’s texts, from early stories and prose poems to the social-political essays.
The seminar begins with a series of framing lectures by the instructor laying out the historical and theoretical contexts and stakes of rereading Lu Xun. This long introduction will then be followed by a series of student presentations on individual texts or cluster of texts organized around a theme, with the instructor playing the role of a moderator and commentator. Grades will be based on 3-4 bi-weekly response papers (3-5) during the weeks of lecture; and a substantive presentation (45-60 minutes) in the second half of the semester.