East Asian Languages & Lits 360 - Seminar: Topics in East Asian Languages and Literatures: Honglou Meng: The Dream of the Red Chamber

Topics course: This seminar is to explore the cultures of traditional China through a 120-chapter novel known variously as The Dream of the Red Chamber (Honglou meng in Chinese). In modern times, the novel has also been frequently transformed into TV drama series, movies, plays, operas, and dance performances. In this seminar, we will study in depth the novel's representations of both popular and high culture, from traditional society, arts, and poetry to garden, clothing, food, and other everyday customs. We will examine the diverse themes and issues displayed in the novel, such as fate and human will, the interplay of illusion (dream) and reality, love and enlightenment. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

Instructor Permission. Not open to first-years, sophomores