L0606D - CHINESE LITERATURE III

The course aims to provide students with a foundational understanding of the history, themes, genres, forms, authors, texts, and contexts of the classical Chinese literary tradition. This knowledge will be imparted through both theoretical and practical approaches, making use of textbooks on Chinese history and literature, and simultaneously engaging with some of the most significant texts (with a particular emphasis on poetry) from Chinese literature produced between the first millennium BCE and the 10th century CE.
The analysis and translation of texts presented during the lessons will allow students to observe, recognize, and become familiar with the main literary genres, forms, and syntactic-grammatical structures of Classical Chinese. This familiarity will not only strengthen students’ historical and cultural knowledge of China, but also enhance their understanding of modern Chinese through constant comparison between the ancient and modern linguistic systems, thereby sharpening their translation skills.
The study of these texts will also help students acquire a repertoire of several hundred characters still present in modern Chinese, expanding their vocabulary and deepening their awareness—within a diachronic perspective—of the nuances and semantic implications of various characters. Finally, the presentation of texts in traditional (non-simplified) characters will allow students to navigate with greater confidence in linguistic and communicative contexts that continue to use such script today.