Adapting East Asia

In an era of globalization and rapid technological innovation, “adaptations” are becoming increasingly widespread and diverse. In addition to discussions of an adapted work’s fidelity to the prior material, this advanced seminar aims to develop multiple approaches to adaptation by conceptualizing it as a process of negotiating with changes across time, space and medium. By examining a variety of selected media objects including films, TV series, animations, short stories, theater performances and online games from or about East Asia, students will practice analyzing a cultural product’s narrative and form in relation to the sociopolitical contexts of its production, circulation and reception. In the course of the quarter, students will de-Westernize adaptation studies while generating nuanced understandings of Korea, China, and Japan as relational constructs emerging as a result of negotiating with other cultures and wielding various technologies. All required readings will be in English, either originally or in translation, and all viewing materials will be available with English subtitles. This seminar is for advanced undergraduate students and graduate students in East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Cinema and Media Studies, and the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities and the Social Sciences.