150092 UE Cultural Studies Research Methods in Chinese Studies (2024S)

As designed artefacts realised with multiple stages of efforts, architecture and cities (the built environment) are charged with meanings. On the one hand, they are meant to facilitate human activities and therefore reflect the urban living culture; on the other hand they are often designated to be power enunciations for political and financial authorities – this is even more prominent in the colonised areas. The built environment of the formerly colonised areas is therefore essential lens through which one understands not only the past and the present, but also the different powers involved and their dynamics of interaction over time.
The aim of this seminar is to introduce students methods to understand the once colonised built environment in the Chinese-speaking world. Focusing on the visuals and narratives, we shall investigate the selected cities through learning how to analyse maps, photographs, drawings, films and narrated stories. With topics not limited to urban heritage, post-colonial architecture, public space, housing and so on, we learn about postcolonial cities and entities such as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. We shall explore how, conceptually, cities being readers which narrate the past and define the present of different stakeholders; practically, we shall scrutinise the selected academic literature and materials to collect the tools (such as skills of reading, analysing and writing about visuals and textual materials) for future academic research.