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Gender, Literature and Society in East Asia

Code: 101543
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
East Asian Studies OP 4
Spanish and Chinese Studies: Language, Literature and Culture OP 4

Contact lecturer

Name :
Antonio Paoliello Palermo
Email :
antonio.paoliello@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Esther Torres Simon
Jordi Mas Lopez

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

Students enrolling in this course should have passed all the credits corresponding to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd years of the East Asian Studies Bachelor’s Degree.
Students must have the ability to read academic texts and other types of texts in English to pass the course.

Objectives

The objective of this subject is to study the modern and contemporary literature of China, the Sinophone world, Japan and Korea from a gender perspective. The theoretical classes develop these contents on the basis of teacher presentations and practical sessions, by means of the reading and discussion of articles and narrative works, as well as working with other supplementary materials during the course.

Learning outcomes

  1. Understanding the referential universe of written and verbal texts in the languages of East Asia.
  2. Knowing, understanding, describing, analysing, and assessing the history, thought and literature of East Asia.
  3. Knowing, comprehending, describing and analysing the values, beliefs and ideologies of East Asia.
  4. Using the specific terminology of history, literature, linguistics, thought and art.
  5. Recognising the connotations of the specific cultural references in the field of East Asia and assessing the influence in the interlinguistic and intercultural communication.
  6. Applying knowledge of the values, beliefs and ideologies of East Asia in order to comprehend and assess written texts in the languages of East Asia.
  7. Applying the gender perspective to the analysis of the literary production of the modern and late modern East Asia.
  8. Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
  9. Developing self-learning strategies.
  10. Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
  11. Producing innovative and competitive proposals in research and professional activity.
  12. Having interpersonal skills.
  13. Students must be flexible and capable of adapting to new circumstances.
  14. Respecting the gender equality.
  15. Working in teams in an international, multilingual and multicultural context.
  16. Working in interdisciplinary and intercultural groups.
  17. Solving problems of intercultural communication.
  18. Ensuring the quality of one's own work.
  19. Following the characteristic code of ethics of the professional practice.
  20. Develop strategies for autonomous learning.
  21. Identify the need to mobilise cultural knowledge to be able to translate.
  22. Recognise the need to mobilise cultural knowledge to be able to interpret.
  23. Use different tools for specific purposes in the field of history.
  24. Recognise the referential universe of written and spoken texts in the languages of East Asia.
  25. Describe, analyse and evaluate the history, thought and literature of East Asia.
  26. Evaluate the result obtained in the process of searching for documentation and information and to update knowledge of the history, literature, language, thought and art.
  27. Make document searches in the languages of East Asian countries.
  28. Demonstrate a knowledge of literary trends.
  29. Integrate literary knowledge to solve translation problems.

Contents

During this course we will approach the modern and contemporary literary production of China, the Sinophone world, Korea and Japan from a gender perspective. We will study relevant literary authors and genres of different literary periods in said areas from the gender perspective. Literary theories dealing with gender in literature will be used to analyse representative Chinese, Sinophone and Japanese works, with the relevant conceptual and analytical tools to deepen the cultural representation of gender.

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Activities in class (China) 9.5 0.38 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 18, 19
Lectures (Japan) 23.5 0.94 1, 3, 5, 7
Task activities (Korea) 1.1 0.044 5, 7, 8, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24
Essay (Japan) 37 1.48 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 18, 19
Lectures (China) 23.5 0.94 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19
Essay (China) 37 1.48 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 18, 19
Activities in class (Japan) 9.5 0.38 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19
Lectures (Korea) 3 0.12 1, 3, 5, 7
Individual work (Korea) 1 0.04 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 18, 26

The course includes theoretical and practical classes. The use of Campus Virtual is essential, since it hosts the compulsory readings and all kinds of information necessary to follow the course. Importance will be attached to students’ discussion of texts from the bibliography and material used in the practical sessions—documentaries, films, classes taught by specialists, etc. The methodology used promotes working with ICTs, self-learning tools, the development of the student’s individual arguments, practical work and theoretical classes

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Japanese literatura: written exam 30% 1.45 0.058 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 14, 20, 24, 25, 28
Japanese literature: oral presentation 15% 1 0.04 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28
Chinese Literature: oral presentation 15% 0.45 0.018 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 25
Korean Literature: contribution to the virtual forum 10% 1 0.04 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 14, 24, 25
Chinese literature: written exam 30% 1 0.04 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29

Continuous assessment

Students must provide evidence of their progress by completing various tasks and tests.

Gender and Literature in Modern and Contemporary Chinese and Sinophone Society

1) Oral presentation: 15%

2) Written exam

Gender and Literature in Modern and Contemporary Japan Society

1) Oral presentation: 15%

2) Written exam (it includes a part on a reading chosen freely by the student): 30%

Gender and Literature in Modern and Contemporary Korea Society

1) Written assignment to be delived via the Campus Virtual Forum: 10%

Review

When publishing final marks prior to recording them on students' transcripts, the lecturer will provide written notification of a date and time for reviewing assessment activities. Students must arrange reviews in agreement with the lecturer.

Missed/failed assessment activities

Students may retake assessment activities they have failed or compensate for any they have missed, provided that those they have actually performed account for a minimum of 66.6% (two thirds) of the subject's final mark and that they have a weighted average mark of at least 3.5.

The lecturer will inform students of the procedure involved, in writing, when publishing final marks prior to recording them on transcripts. The lecturer may set one assignment per failed or missed assessment activity or a single assignment to coveranumber of such activities. Under nocircumstances may an assessment activity worth 100% of the final mark be retaken or compensated for. In case of retaking, maximum grade will be 5 (Pass).

Classification as \"not assessable\"

In the event of the assessment activitiesastudent has performed accounting for just 25% or less of the subject's final mark, their work willbe classified as \"not assessable\" on their transcript.

Misconduct in assessment activities

Students who engage in misconduct (plagiarism, copying, personation, etc.) in an assessment activity will receive a mark of “0” for the activity in question. In the case of misconduct in more than one assessment activity, the student involved will be given a final mark of “0” for the subject. Assessment activities in which irregularities have occurred (e.g. plagiarism, copying, impersonation) are excluded from recovery.

Use of AI

In this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is not permitted at any stage of the assessment activities. Any work that includes AI-generated content will be considered a breach of academic integrity and will be graded a 0, regardless of any disciplinary proceedings that may be initiated.

Single assessment

This subject may be assessed under the single assessment system in accordance with the terms established in the academic regulations of the UAB and the assessment criteria of the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting.

Students must make an online request within the period established by the faculty and send a copy to the teacher responsible for the subject, for the record.

Single assessment will be carried out in person on one day during week 16 or 17 of the semester. The Academic Management Office will publish the exact date and time on the faculty website.

On the day of the single assessment, teaching staff will ask the student for identification, which should be presented as a valid identification document with a recent photograph (student card, DNI/NIE or passport).

Single assessment activities

The final grade for the subject will be calculated according to the following percentages:

1) Individual essay (overallcourse): 40%

2) Oral or written test in-person (Japan and Korea): 30%

3) Oral or written test in-person (China and Taiwan): 30%

Grade revision and resit procedures for the subject are the same as those for continual assessment. See the section above in this study guide.

Bibliography

References (China and the Sinosphere)*

Fiction

Ding Ling. «Cuando estuve en el pueblo de Xia». Trad. Liljana Arsovska. Estudios de Asia y África, 21 (3): 491-510 (1986).

Ho Sok Fong. Lake like a mirror. Trad. Natascha Bruce. 2019.

Li Ang. Matar el marit. Trad. Mireia Vargas Urpí. Males Herbes, 2021.

Sheng Keyi. Las chicas del norte. Trad. Miguel Sala Montero. Más al Este. 2026

Su Tong. Otra vida para las mujeres / Las tres lámparas. Trad. Rodolfo Lastra. Popular, 2018.

Xinran. Las voces silenciadas. Trad. María Cóndor. Amok Ediciones. 2025.

Xu Dishan. Chuntao. Una mujer china. Trad. Anne-Hélène Suárez y Xianghong Qu. Lamola Press. 2020

General References

Barlow, T. E. (Ed.). Gender Politics in Modern China: Writing and Feminism. Durham: Duke University Press, 1993.

Chang, Kang-I Sun & Saussy, H. (Eds.). Women Writers of Traditional China: An Anthology of Poetry and Criticism. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000.

Yan, H. Chinese Women Writers and the Feminist Imagination, 1905-1948. London & New York: Routledge, 2006.

References (LGBTQIA+ lit in China and Taiwan)*

Fiction

Chi Ta-wei. Membranas. Trad. Alberto Poza. Egales, 2024.

Cui Zi'en. Platinum Bible of the Public Toilet. TenShort Stories. Duke University Press, 2024

DiFer. Llevo tu nombre grabado. Más al este, 2026.

Li Kotomi. Bailando en solitario. Trad. VanesaRobles Gallardo. Kotoba Ediciones, 2025.

Qiu Miaojin. Cartas póstumas desde Montmartre. Trad. Belén Cuadra Mora. Gallo Nero Ediciones, 2018

Qiu Miaojin. Apuntes de un cocodrilo. Trad. Belén Cuadra Mora. Gallo Nero Ediciones, 2020.

General References

Bao Hongwei. Queer China : Lesbian and Gay Literature and Visual Culture under Postsocialism / Hongwei Bao. London ; Routledge, 2020.

Chiang Howard. Queer Taiwanese Literature: A Reader. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press, 2021

Poza Poyatos, Alberto. «El Destiempo De La traducción: Circuitos De Reconocimiento En La Obra De Qiu Miaojin». Theory Now. Journal of Literature, Critique, and Thought 8.1 (2025):237-55. https://doi.org/10.30827/tn.v8i1.31156

Specchio, Anna. \"The Island where Future Possibilities Bloom. Language, gender, and identity issues in Li Kotomi’s Higanbana ga saku shima.\" Bunron–Zeitschrift für literaturwissenschaftliche Japanforschung 11 (2024). https://hasp.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/journals/bunron/article/view/27204

References (Korea sessions)

Fiction

Cho Namjoo (2019). Kim Jiyoung, nacida en 1982. Trad. Joo HasunMadrid: Alfaguara.

Kim Hyejin (2022). Sobre mi hija. Trad. Irma Zyanya Gil Yáñez y Minjeong Jeong. Barcelona: Las Afueras.

Oh Junghee (2023). Río de fuego y otros relatos. Trad. Alvaro Trigo Maldonado. Barcelona: Arde.

Reference works

Fulton, B. (1996). Seeing the Invisible: Women's Fiction in South Korea Today. Manoa, 8(2), 64-68. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4229390

Henry, T. A. (Ed.). (2020). Queer Korea. Duke University Press.

Hyun, T. (2003). Writing Women in Korea: Translation and Feminism in the Early Twentieth Century. University of Hawaii Press.

Koh, H. (2002). Women and Korean Literature. Getting to Know Korea: Resource Book for K-12 Educators, 35-41. https://www.koreasociety.org/images/pdf/KoreanStudies/Monographs_GeneralReading/GettingtoKnowKorea/GTKK%205%20Helen%20Koh%20Women%20and%20Korean%20Literature.pdf

Perry, S. trad. (2023). A century of Queer Korean Fiction. New York: MLA Texts and Translations.

Bibliography (Japan)*

Fiction

Enchi, Fumiko. Máscaras femeninas. Madrid: Alianza editorial, 2012.

Enchi, Fumiko. Los años de espera. Madrid: Alianza editorial, 2011.

Higuchi, Ichiyô. Cerezos en La oscuridad. Gijón: Satori, 2017.

Kanehara, Hitomi. Serps i piercings. 2003. Barcelona: Columna, 2005.

Kawakami, Mieko. Pechos y huevos. Barcelona: Seix Barral, 2021.

Murata, Sayaka. La dependienta 2016. Barcelona: Duomo ediciones, 2019.

Ogawa, Yoko. El embarazo de mi hermana. Madrid: Funambulista, 2019.

Yosano, Akiko. Cabells enredats. Lleida: Pagès, 2014.

Yoshimoto; Banana, Kitchen. Barcelona: Tusquets, 2013.

General references

Heisig, James W. (ed.): La Filosofía japonesa en sus textos, Barcelona: Herder, 2016.

Keene, Donald. A History of Japanese Literature. Vol. III. Dawn to the West. Japanese Literature of modern Era. Fiction. New York: Columbia University, 1984.

Keene, Donald. A History of Japanese Literature. Vol. IV. Dawn to the West. Japanese Literature of modern Era. Poetry,drama, criticism. New York: Columbia University, 1984.

Rubio, Carlos. Mil añosde literatura femenina en Japón. Gijón: Satori, 2021.

Saito, Akemi. Mujeres japonesas entre el liberalismo y el totalitarismo (1868-1945). Málaga: Universidad de Málaga, 2006.

Hendry, Joy. Para entender la Sociedadjaponesa. Trad. Francisco j. Ramos Mena. Barcelona: Edicions Bellaterra, 2018.

Sugimoto, Yoshio (2014). Una introducción a la sociedad japonesa. Bellaterra: Universitat Autònomade Barcelona, 2016.

Saito, Akemi. Mujeres japonesas entre el liberalismo y el totalitarismo (1868-1945). Málaga: Universidad de Málaga, 2006.

Cameron, Deborah. Feminismo. Madrid: Alianza, 2019.

Lipovetsky, Gilles (1983). La era del vacío. Madrid: Anagrama, 2003.

*Further compulsory and complementary references will be specified in the subject’s program at the beginning of the semester.

Software

No software is used in this course.

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Catalan second semester morning-mixed