Nine Chinese Things: Global Technological Encounters in the Modern Age

Catalog description

Poop. Knock-off face cream. Lysol. What do these things tell us about Chinese modernity? The history of Chinese modernity has often been told as a story of Westernization of technology and everyday life. "Traditional" Chinese life was "modernized" as the market flooded with Western technological objects; sewers enabled hygienic living, electricity lengthened working hours, railways and cars shortened walks. Between 1911 and 1949, a kind of Chinese "modernity" started to emerge through the consumption of these "modern" things. But is there more? How did China become "modern," how did it contest this modernity, and how was modernity lived by ordinary men and women? This course examines, through nine objects, how "modern" technologies and objects were adapted as well as adopted, rejected as well valued. We will learn to read the past from novels, advertisements, newspapers, comics, and lots of stuff, ranging from bags of rice to posters to shoes to typewriters. Previous knowledge of Chinese history or language not required: Students will be supported to pursue projects outside of Chinese history.