Dong Yang

     I primarily work on and write about comparative intellectual history and global avant-garde cinema. As a die-hard comparatist, I am currently interested in how Chinese artists and intellectuals from the twentieth century onward interpret, problematize, and reconfigure western discourse on modernity and postmodernity, especially with respect to questions related to visuality, emotion, and aesthetics. I am also pursuing potential theoretical avenues to interpret and reinterpret Chinese texts and artworks by means of poststructuralist frameworks.

     My other research interest is concerned with how contemporary Chinese-language art films assimilated and adopted the audiovisual and narrative styles exemplified in the French New Wave and Euro-American neo-avant-garde traditions.

     At Grinnell College, in addition to teaching Chinese language classes, I am planning to offer courses on such topics as Chinese-language cinema and history of Chinese thought. I welcome Grinnell students to join me in exploring the perplexing, fascinating, and yet-to-be-discovered ideas and images from a variety of perspectives.

In spring 2025, I am offering three courses:

CHI 102 Beginning Chinese II

Special Topic: FMS/CHI 195 A Comparative Introduction to East Asian Animation: from Analog to AI

CHI 332 Advanced Chinese II

In fall 2024, I am offering two courses:

CHI 101 Beginning Chinese I (with Simplified/Traditional Chinese options)

CHI 461 Classical Chinese (via Zhuangzi)

In spring 2024, I am offering these courses:

CHI 222 Intermediate Chinese II

CHI 230 Chinese Women: Past and Present, under the topic of "Psychoanalysis and Negative Emotions: Modern and Contemporary Female Writers and Filmmakers in Greater China" (in translation)

CHI 230 (Plus 2) Mini-Seminar on Female Identities in Chinese Cinema

In fall 2023, I am offering three courses:

CHI/EAS 195 A Comparative Introduction to East Asian Animation: Technology, Style, and Aesthetics 

CHI 221 Intermediate Chinese I

CHI 331 Advanced Chinese I

In spring 2023, I am offering three courses:

CHI 498 Readings in Chinese Literature, under the topic of "A Crash Course in Chinese Cinema in Chinese!" 

CHI 277 Modern China Through Literature and Film, under the topic of "From Revolutionary Culture to Hypermodernity: Chinese Literary and Screen Cultures in the Twentieth Century and Beyond"

CHI 222 Intermediate Chinese II