Maris Gillette
Roberts 102
610-896-4978 (o), 610-645-5561 (h)
Anthropology 244b
Anthropology of China
Spring 2004
MW 2:30 to 4, Gest 101
Course Description:
This course is a basic introduction to the anthropology of China. We investigate family, religion, and politics, paying particular attention to "the problem of women," as anthropologists and the Chinese Communist Party have termed the study of gender relations and gendered representations. The scope of our inquiry is about one century: we begin with late imperial China and end with the present. Our primary site is the Chinese mainland (rather than Taiwan, Hong Kong, or the Chinese diaspora). Our goals include learning specific information about China, Chinese society, and Chinese culture; examining a range of diverse anthropological approaches to the study of human beings; and exploring the political dimensions of representation. Gender, and particularly women, will be central to our work at every step of the way. Most of our readings are by anthropologists, but we will also read the work of other kinds of social analysts, including Lu Xun, Mao Zedong, a few journalists, and a sociologist (Debbie Davis).
Work for the course includes completing a fairly substantial amount of reading before class discussions, viewing movies (students must watch all movies at least once before class), two take-home exams, two or three quizzes, a visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art on a Sunday, a museum response paper, and in-class presentations (in pairs). The number of quizzes depends on how things go--please remember that I want you to leave this class knowing something about China. Engaging in class discussions is a must. Please be aware that if you choose to take the course you are agreeing to participate in all of these activities. I will not be able to make any exceptions or develop make-up opportunities.
Course Readings:
All readings for this class are available on Blackboard and at Magill Library. There are no books assigned for this course, but Jing Jun’s The temple of memories is on reserve, and I encourage you to read the whole book as well as the two assigned chapters.
The following schedule of readings is subject to change, depending on our needs as a class. The same is true of the assignments: we will make changes as we need them.
Schedule Please read the articles for class on the day listed.
19 Jan (M): Martin Luther King, Jr., Day. Introduction to course. Background on Chinese history.
21 Jan (W): Hugh Baker, chapters on family, kinship, and the state
26 Jan: Xu Dishan, "The merchant’s wife"
28 Jan: Rubie Watson, "The named and the nameless"
2 Feb: Margery Wolf, chapters on marriage, the uterine family, and women’s community
4 Feb: Rubie Watson, "Girls houses and working women" First quiz.
8 Feb: (Sunday) Field trip to East Asian Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art. Reading: Feuchtwang, "Chinese religions"
11 Feb: Arthur Wolf, "Gods, ghosts and ancestors"; Steven Sangren, "Female gender in Chinese religious symbols."
16 Feb: James L. Watson, "Of flesh and bones." Museum response paper due.
18 Feb: Steven Sangren, "Myths, gods, and family relations."
23 Feb: Rubie Watson, "Chinese bridal laments."
25 Feb: Margery Wolf, "The hot spell" and "The woman who didn’t become a shaman."
3 Mar: Exam review. Take home exam distributed.
5 Mar: No class. I will be in San Diego at the Asian Studies meetings. Return your exam to Kathy McGee, in the department office in Roberts, by 4 p.m. Friday 5 March.
[spring break]
15 Mar: Ang Li, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (dvd)
17 Mar: Lu Xun, "Anxious thoughts on natural breasts" and "On the emancipation of women"; Mao Zedong, essays on the suicide of Miss Zhao; Mao, "Letter from Hunan" (skim); Roxane Witke, "Mao Tse-tung, women and suicide."
22 Mar: Jack Belden, "Gold Flower’s Story"
24 Mar: Lisa Rofel, "Liberation stories"
29 Mar: Gao Yuan, chapters from Born Red, CCP propaganda on marriage and family (Du etc.). "White Haired Girl," vcd.
31 Mar: Norma Diamond, "Collectivization, kinship, and the status of rural women in China"
5 Apr: Zhang Yimou, To Live (dvd)
7 Apr: Jing, The temple of memories, chapters 3 and 4
12 Apr: Jing Jun, "Male ancestors and female deities"
14 Apr: Ellen Judd, "Men are more able"; Helen Siu "Reconstituting dowry and brideprice in South China"
19 Apr: Deborah Davis, "My mother’s house"; Jean Robinson, "Of women and washing machines"
21 Apr: Zhang Li, "Reconfigurations of gender, work and household"
26 Apr: Vanessa Fong, "China’s one child policy and the empowerment of urban daughters"
28 Apr: (last day of class): The Story of Qiu Ju (dvd) Take home exam distributed. Due 7 May, 4 p.m., to Kathy McGee.
5 Dec 2003