51-2601 Asian Journeys

This course examines texts about or by East Asian travelers with journey as the central motif. Texts include those from ancient times to contemporary period, such as classical poetry of retreat and exile, biography, autobiography, and novellas depicting East Asians? encounters with the West during the transitional period from premodern to modern time, the traveling of classical texts within Asia as well as between Asia and the West, and films and critical essays about Asians in migration. Topics of discussion are formation of cultural traditions and individual selfhood, journeys abroad and their impact on self-identities, cultural appropriations, and finally, issues of migration and immigration.

3 Credits
GA HU