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TheLifeofaDeadLanguage–ClassicalChineseinModernChineseDiscourseIntensivecourse,ZhejiangUniversity
Generaloutline
ItisoftenassumedthatClassicalChinese,alsoreferredtoasliteraryChinese,isa“dead”
languageusedonlyasthewrittenmediumofcommunicationanddiscoursestartingwith
earlyChineseliterarytextswrittenfromthe6thcenturyBCandendingwiththebaihua
movementintheearly20thcentury.ModernStandardChinesedidindeedreplaceClassical
Chineseasthemainmeansofwrittencommunicationafterthebaihuamovement.Features
ofClassicalChinesedidnot,however,disappearfromthemodernlanguagewhentheclassical
languagelostitsstatusasthecommonformofwrittencommunication.Manysemanticand
structuralformsandtracesoftheclassicallanguagecanstillbefoundwithindomainsor
genresofthemodernChineselanguage,suchasinformalstyle,fixedphrases,proverbs,
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compoundwords,slogans,quotations,ads,popmusiclyricsetc.Featuresoftheclassical
languageareappliedrhetoricallyandstylisticallyforspecificdiscursivepurposesinwritten
texts.Thiscoursewillcombinetheoriesoftextualanalysistakenfromdiscourseanalysis
(NormanFairclough)andapplythemtothecontemporaryChineselanguageinorderto
identifyandgrasptherhetoricaluseoffeaturesofClassicalChineseincurrentdiscourse.
Topicsthatthecoursewillcoverare:
• Discourseanalysisandlanguage(Fairclough)
• ClassicalChineselanguageasgenre/styleindiscourse(analysisofe.g.XiJinpingtext)
• ThehistoryoftheClassicalChineselanguage,WesternandJapaneseinfluences,and
thebaihualanguagereform(PingChen,JerryNorman,ChristophHarbsmeier,Shen
Guowei)
• ThegrammaticalstructureofClassicalChinese(Barnesetal.2009)
• TheformsofClassicalChineseinthemodernlanguage(Eifringatel.2016)
• ReadingsinClassicalChinesetexts(Barnesetal.2009)
Thecourseisplannedasaone-weekintensivecourseforScandinavianMAstudentsinChina
Studies,andcountsasatotalof5ECTS(135hours).ItwilltakeplaceataChineseuniversity
campusandwillbeco-taughtbyoneteacherfromtheChineseuniversityandoneteacher
fromaScandinavianuniversity.ThelanguagesofinstructionwillbeChineseandEnglish.
PrerequisitesItisassumedthatstudents:
• ReadandspeakModernStandardChinese(Putonghua)atalevelcorrespondingtothe
requirementsforaBAdegreeinChinaStudiesataScandinavianuniversity
• HavecomprehensiveknowledgeofChinesecultureandsociety
• Areabletohandlebothsimplified(jiantizi)andtraditional(fantizi)formsofChinese
characters.
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AimsofthecourseThemainaimsofthecourseareto:
• Understandthemaintheoreticalfeaturesoftextualdiscourseanalysis
• DevelopfamiliaritywithhowdiscourseanalysiscanbeusedonChinesetext–in
particularontherhetoricalfunctionsofClassicalChineseinthemodernwritten
language
• DevelopanunderstandingofthemainclassicalfeaturesinthemodernChinese
language
• Improvethestudents’abilitytoreadandunderstandclassicalelementsinthemodern
language
• HelpstudentsbecomeabletoreadsimpletextswritteninClassicalChinese
Courseoutline
Time Theme/Title Material
DayOneMorningsession
WelcomeandPresentationTopic:Discourseanalysis,genreandstyleThisfirstsessionwillintroducethetheoreticalframeworktobeappliedinthiscoursewithaparticularfocusonhowthiscanbeappliedtoanalysesofClassicalChineseinthemodernChineselanguage.Inaddition,thisfirstsessionwillgiveanoverviewofthemainfeaturesofClassicalChineseandhowthesecanbedistinguishedfromstandardmodernusage.Note:StudentsarerequiredtobringclassicalandmodernChinesedictionariestoallfurtherclasses.
Fairclough2003orlaterBarnesetal.2009Eifringetal.2016
Lunchbreak
Afternoonsession
Topic:AnalysisofChinesetext(speech/textbyPresidentXiJinping)Studentswillbereadingaspeech/textbyPresidentXiJinpingingroups,asanexampleofpoliticalrhetoric,andwillanalysethetextbyapplyingtheoriesandtoolsfromdiscourseanalysisinordertorecogniserhetoricaluseoffeaturesfromClassicalChinese.
Speech/textbyPresidentXiJinping.Eifringetal.2016
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DayTwoMorningsession
Topics:
- HistoryoftheClassicalChineselanguage- Mainclassicalformsofliterature- Oneexampleofaclassical(rhetorical)text(e.g.公孫龍子·白馬論)
ThehistoryoftheChineseclassicallanguageandthemaingenresandtypesofclassicalliteratureinChinawillbeintroducedintheformofalecture.Thiswillbefollowedbythereadingofashortandwell-knownClassicalChineserhetoricaltext(e.g.公孫龍子·白馬論).
Norman1988,pp.83-110HandoutofClassicalChinesetextwithcommentaries.
Lunchbreak
Afternoonsession
Topics:
- TransmissionfromclassicaltomodernlanguageinChina- Readingofafewtextsfromthetransitionperiodanalysed
byuseofdiscourseanalysis
ThefirstpartofthissessionwillfocusuponthetransitionfromclassicaltomodernlanguageinChina.Themainhistoricalfeatureswillbeintroducedthroughalecture.Then,inthesecondpartofthissessionstudentswillworkwithaselectionoftextsfromthetransitionalperiodtorecogniseandgetfamiliarwiththechangesthattookplaceduringthistransitionalperiod.
Chen1999,pp.67-90Harbsmeier2001,pp.373-410Shen2012,pp.265-281Handoutofexcerptsfromtextsbye.g.LiangQichao,ChenDuxiu,HuShiandothers.
DayThree
Morningsession
Topics:
- GrammaticalfeaturesofClassicalChinese1- Examplesfrommodernusage
Inthissession5studentswillworkcloselywithanumberofgrammaticalfeaturesinClassicalChineseandwillidentifyrhetoricalusageofthesefeaturesincontemporarytexts.
Studentswillidentifytheirownselectionofcontemporarytexts.
Eifringetal.2016Barnesetal.2009
Lunchbreak
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Learningactivities
Thecoursecombineslectures,seminarsandgroupdiscussionsheldinEnglishandChinese
withafieldtrip.Studentswillbegivenassignmentstopreparebeforeeachrespectiveclass
session.Basedonthecourseandthefieldtrip,thestudentsarerequiredtopresentideasfor
afinalposterpresentationonthelastdayofthecourse.Attendanceiscompulsoryaccording
totheregulationsoftheChineseuniversityandstudentsareexpectedtocometoclasseswell
prepared.Studentswillreceivethelistofreadingsaboutonemonthbeforethecoursestarts
Afternoonsession
Topics:
- GrammaticalfeaturesofClassicalChinese2- Examplesfrommodernusage
Inthissession6studentswillworkcloselywithanumberofgrammaticalfeaturesinClassicalChineseandwillidentifyrhetoricalusageofthesefeaturesincontemporarytexts.
Eifringetal.2016Barnesetal.2009
DayFourMorningsession
SeminarTopic:
- Readingof2-4textsfromclassicalliterature
Barnesetal.2009
Lunchbreak
Afternoonsession
Preparationsforfieldworkandposterpresentation.
DayFiveMorningsession
Posterpresentations.
Lunchbreak
Afternoonsession
Posterpresentations.Wrapupandevaluationofthecourse.
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andareexpectedtohavereadatleastthemandatorytextsbeforethebeginningofthe
course.
Courserequirements/examination
The students’ performance during the course, including active class attendance, written
assignments, and a final poster presentationwill count towards completion of the course.
Seminaractivitiesincludestudents’presentationswherestudentswillworkinsmallgroupsof
twoorthree,andwillbeaskedtohandinassignmentsbeforeclass.Studentsshouldcollect
theirownempiricalmaterialandpreparemainideasandresearchquestionsanalysedthrough
themethodsandtheoriesdescribedindiscourseanalysis.Eachstudentwillpresentthefindings
andanalysesoftheirindividualprojectsthroughaposterpresentationinthelasttwosessions.
The presentation should last for 10-15 minutes followed by comments and questions,
altogetherupto30minutesperstudent.Thecoursewillbegradedpassed/notpassed.
CourseMaterial
Barnes,Archie,DonStarr,GrahamOrmerod(2009).Du’sHandbookofClassicalChineseGrammar–AnIntroductiontoClassicalChineseGrammar,AlcuinAcademics.Chen,Ping(1999).ModernChinese.HistoryandSociolinguistics.CambridgeUniversityPress,pp.67-90.Eifring,Halvor,IvoSpiraandRuneSvarverud(2016).Handoutdevelopedforthiscourse.Fairclough,Norman(2003orlater).AnalysingDiscourse.Textualanalysisforsocialresearch,Routledge.Harbsmeier,Christoph(2001).“MayFourthLinguisticOrthodoxyandRhetoric:MoreInformalComparativeNotes”.In:NewTermsforNewIdeas:WesternKnowledge&LexicalChangeinLateImperialChina,Brill,pp.373-410.Norman,Jerry(1988).Chinese.CambridgeLanguageUniversityPress,pp.83-110.ShenGuowei沈國威(2012).”Ciyuantanqiuyujindaiguanjianciyanjiu”詞源探求與近代關鍵詞研究.In:Dongyaguannianshijikan東亞觀念史集刊,Vol.2(June2012),pp.265-281.Inaddition,dictionariesofmodernandClassicalChinese(digitalorpaperdictionaryboughtinaChinesebookstore).
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