CHI 322: Chinese Science Fiction & Our World

The Columbia Companion to Modern Chinese Literature features more than fifty short essays on specific writers and literary trends from the Qing period (1895-1911) to the present. Both a teaching tool and a go-to research companion, this volume is a one-of-a-kind resource for mastering modern literature in the Chinese-speaking world.

Challenging assumptions about science fiction's Western origins, Nathaniel Isaacson traces the development of the genre in China, from the late Qing Dynasty through the New Culture Movement.

The Boom & The Boom provides a comparative study of the recent science fiction renaissances in the UK and China, known as the British and Chinese SF Booms, which emerged in the late 1980s. It contextualizes the two booms within the transformative political and cultural histories of both countries.

This volume brings together emerging approaches and addresses shifting paradigms in Chinese science fiction studies, offering a window on fan cultures, internet fiction, gender, eco-criticism, post-humanism and biomedical discourse.

From the beginning of the Qing Dynasty in the middle of the 17th century to the present time, this compact volume guides the reader through the social, political, and economic vicissitudes of the Chinese nation. Two outstanding features of this work are its emphasis on cross-cultural contacts and the attention it pays to men and women from various walks of life, not merely the well-known figures from the military and government. With its generous assortment of illustrations and numerous helpful references, Modern Chinese History is an ideal text for introductory courses that also include a judicious selection of primary sources.

This text, the classic introduction to modern China for students and general readers, emerged from Spence's highly successful introductory course at Yale, in which he traced the beginnings of modern China to internal developments beginning in the early 17th century. Strong on social and political history, as well as Chinese culture and its intersections with politics, this paperback is a longstanding leader in the survey course on modern China.

China today bears little resemblance to the country introduced in the first edition of Understanding Contemporary China, published nearly two decades ago. Even in just the past five years, dramatic changes have occurred under the leadership of President Xi Jinping. This new edition of the book reflects those changes, exploring the impact of new domestic policies; China’s role as a behemoth in the world economy; its rapidly modernizing infrastructure; its expanding military presence in the region; the environmental challenges it confronts; and much more. The result is an accessible, well-grounded look at the most crucial issues affecting China today.