ASIAN 6627

Sinitic Texts in Early Modern East Asia

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2022-2023.

This upper-level seminar focuses on the transnational migrations and interactions of texts, ideas, and objects via a close reading of Sinitic texts in East Asia before the twentieth century. The recent interest in the Sinitic in premodern East Asia rejects the centrality of Sinitic texts and their one-directional impact. Instead, it reconstructs the thriving diversity of the translingual practices attuned to local specificities, redefining the so-called Sinosphere as much more multidirectional than a political and diplomatic hierarchy would permit. Reexamining the perception of the Sinitic as the unifying force that coalesced the various countries and cultures of East Asia into a single Sinographic zone, we will delve into the ways in which uneven assemblages of local production and circulation unfolded in various regions brought into contact with one another. The major topics include the transborder movement of books and objects; appropriation of Confucian themes and ideas; translations, adaptations, and intertextuality; multilingual texts and reading practices; the formation and dissemination of knowledge; and transoceanic exchanges.

When Offered Spring.

Prerequisites/Corequisites Prerequisite: At least two years of classical Chinese is necessary.

Course Subfield (LL)

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