This course explores the old and new reincarnations of âthe Yellow Perilâ complex. The 2020 naming of COVID-19 as âthe Chinese virusâ by the U.S. president Donald Trump has provoked much anger, criticism, and concerns for anti-Asian violence and the reagitation of âThe Yellow Perilâ panic. Yet the imaginaries of âthe Yellow Perilâ and their power effects have been engrained in our political modernity, the Enlightenment ideas, and its institutions in a much more complex, far-reaching, and intersecting ways in East Asia and beyond. The course will explore various types of cultural productions, including history, literature, film, news media, etc., to introduce the racial, colonial, capitalist, sexual, militarized, and other dimensions of the âYellow Peril.â Questions to be asked include: what kinds of sound are recognized as music in East Asia? What are the goals and effects of music? When, where, and how is music performed in East Asia? How is music described in East Asian literature and visual art? How does music translate East Asian literature and visual art? How are certain musical elementsâtonality, rhythm, genre, instrumentsârecognized as âEast Asianâ? How is East Asia imagined musically? How are East Asian composers and performers received globally? As an artistic motif, Shan Shui travels between past and present and across various mediums as well as literary and artistic genres. What exactly are we invited to see and contemplate on in the Shan Shui? Are Shan Shui works about ânature,â spirit, Qi, or the human world? The course seeks to inquire into these and other questions through examining the concepts, arts, and transformations of selected Shan Shui works in imperial and contemporary China.
This course explores the old and new reincarnations of âthe Yellow Perilâ complex. The 2020 naming of COVID-19 as âthe Chinese virusâ by the U.S. president Donald Trump has provoked much anger, criticism, and concerns for anti-Asian violence and the reagitation of âThe Yellow Perilâ panic. Yet the imaginaries of âthe Yellow Perilâ and their power effects have been engrained in our political modernity, the Enlightenment ideas, and its institutions in a much more complex, far-reaching, and intersecting ways in East Asia and beyond. The course will explore various types of cultural productions, including history, literature, film, news media, etc., to introduce the racial, colonial, capitalist, sexual, militarized, and other dimensions of the âYellow Peril.â Questions to be asked include: what kinds of sound are recognized as music in East Asia? What are the goals and effects of music? When, where, and how is music performed in East Asia? How is music described in East Asian literature and visual art? How does music translate East Asian literature and visual art? How are certain musical elementsâtonality, rhythm, genre, instrumentsârecognized as âEast Asianâ? How is East Asia imagined musically? How are East Asian composers and performers received globally? As an artistic motif, Shan Shui travels between past and present and across various mediums as well as literary and artistic genres. What exactly are we invited to see and contemplate on in the Shan Shui? Are Shan Shui works about ânature,â spirit, Qi, or the human world? The course seeks to inquire into these and other questions through examining the concepts, arts, and transformations of selected Shan Shui works in imperial and contemporary China.
