Week Three: Modern Chinese Literature Fylde Building, Room 412 Wednesday, 1-1:50 pm Instructor: Gang Sui

A Madmans Diary Lu Xun For the purposes of comparison and/or contrast, discuss satire, unreliable narration, reality/delusion, madness, horror, and cannibalism as manifested in Poes The Tell-tale Heart and Swifts A Modest Proposal. -- a frame story (the madman – an official post?) -- the I (Who is reliable?) -- human characters (male, female, old, young, living, dead) -- animals as characters the Zhaos dog, the steamed fish, the hyena -- setting: The sun has stopped shining…. cf. Macbeth

real men vs. beasts The fierceness of a lion, the timidity of a rabbit, the craftiness of a fox…. -- man-eating history -- questioning tradition, Virtue/Morality, and brotherhood -- self-discovery: I, who will be eaten by others, am the younger brother of an eater of human flesh! -- self-criticism/regret/repentance: I may have eaten several pieces of my sisters flesh unwittingly, and now it is my turn…. -- Save the children….: from being/doing what?