Type of Credit: Elective
Credit(s)
Number of Students
This course offers an introduction to the concepts of literacy and literature as they apply to various cultures in the Austronesian-speaking world. The Austronesian language family consists of more than 1200 languages which are spoken in Taiwan, islands throughout the Pacific Ocean, Island and Mainland Southeast Asia, and Madagascar. We will look at how a number of Austronesian language communities throughout the Pacific develop traditional and modern literary traditions; what kind of literary and other written genres they develop; how these texts are related to their cultures, moral and religious frameworks, political systems, and social organization; and what their influence is on literacy, language standardization and language politics.
This course does not require any existing knowledge of Austronesian languages or cultures. During the semester, students will participate in a weekend-long fieldwork trip to Tainan. This course is taught in English, in collaboration with Prof. Alexander Adelaar of the University of Melbourne.
能力項目說明
In this course, students will gain:
| 教學週次Course Week | 彈性補充教學週次Flexible Supplemental Instruction Week | 彈性補充教學類別Flexible Supplemental Instruction Type |
|---|---|---|
|
Week |
Course content and required reading |
Course activities, including preparation and homework |
Expected load in hours （incl. teaching） |
|
1 |
The Austronesian world: some background |
Lecture, discussion |
3 |
|
2 |
The concept of literature |
Required reading, lecture, discussion |
5 |
|
3 |
Something about the theory and structure of literature(s) |
Required reading, lecture, discussion |
5 |
|
4 |
Oral literature |
Required reading, lecture, discussion |
5 |
|
5 |
Court (written) literature |
Required reading, lecture, discussion |
5 |
|
6 |
Modern literature |
Required reading, lecture, discussion |
5 |
|
7 |
Writing: various kinds and their structure |
Required reading, lecture, discussion |
5 |
|
8 |
Impact of writing on the mind and on society |
Required reading, lecture, discussion |
5 |
|
9 |
Language standardization |
Required reading, lecture, discussion |
5 |
|
10 |
Language politics |
Required reading, lecture, discussion |
5 |
|
11 |
Language politics and literacy in Taiwan |
Required reading, lecture, discussion |
5 |
|
12 |
History of Siraya language and society before 20th century |
Required reading, lecture, discussion |
5 |
|
13 |
Siraya language revitalization |
Lecture, discussion |
3 |
|
14 |
Fieldwork: |
Fieldwork participation, report |
12 |
|
15 |
|||
|
16 |
|||
|
17 |
Final examination |
Final essay |
10 |
|
18 |
Discussion |
Discussion |
3 |
The fieldwork for this course will be scheduled over a long weekend at the end of the semester. The exact date will be determined in consultation with the students and the language community.
Participation in discussions and fieldtrip: 40%
In-class presentations: 20%
Final essay: 40%
In order to pass your final essay you need to demonstrate that:
Grading scale
|
|
100-90 |
89-85 |
80-84 |
79-70 |
69-60 |
50-59 |
50-0 |
|
|
A+ |
A |
A- |
B |
C |
D |
E |
|
Graduate |
Pass |
Fail |
|
||||
|
Undergrad |
Pass |
Fail |
|||||
Readings will be made available during the semester.
General reference works:
Adelaar, K. Alexander. 2011. Siraya: Retrieving the Phonology, Grammar and Lexicon of a Dormant Formosan Language. Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton.
Adelaar, K. Alexander & Nikolaus P. Himmelmann (eds.). 2005. The Austronesian Languages of Asia and Madagascar. London: Routledge.
Balcom, John & Yingtish Balcom (eds.). 2005. Indigenous Writers of Taiwan: An Anthology of Stories, Essays, and Poems. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Blust, Robert. 2013. The Austronesian Languages, Revised Edition (Asia-Pacific Linguistics Open Access Monographs 008). Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. Downloadable: http://pacling.anu.edu.au/materials/Blust2013Austronesian.pdf
Poiconu, Pasuya (浦忠成) (ed.). 2012. Literary History of Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples (Volume I). Taipei: Le Jin Books.
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