Cultures and Cinemas in Hongkong film

Description

READ A
Pai Hsien-yong [Pai Hsien-yung], Crystal Boys: A Novel (at least the first
half). Purchase in the bookstore.
Answer the following questions: What is the general plot of this novel? Who
are the most important five characters? What does “family” mean in the novel—
Does it mean blood relatives, or does it mean something else? Be specific in your
answer; give examples that help you understand what counts as “family” in this
novel. Does the novel compare to any other books you have read (doesn’t have to be from Chinese literature—even from American or other literature and films?)?
If so, explain.
B. Read (or view) any one of the following and summarize it in your own words:

1. “From Glass Clique to Tongzhi Nation: Crystal Boys, Identity Formation, and the Politics of Sexual Shame,” by Hans Tao-Ming Huang, in positions: East Asia cultures critique, 2010, vol. 18, no. 2, special issue on “Beyond the Strai(gh)ts:
   Transnationalism and Queer Chinese Politics,” ed. Liu, Petrus and Lisa Rofel:
   373-398.
2. “Nationalism, Reproduction, Homosexuality: Political Critiques of Crystal
   Boys,” by Fran Martin, Situating Sexualities: Queer Representation in Taiwanese
   Fiction, Film, and Public Culture, Hawai’i: University of Hawai’i Press, 2003:
   47-72.
3. Taiwanese public television series based on Crystal Boys:
   http://www.yesasia.com/global/公視文學大戲-孽子-dvd-完-台灣
   版/1003022157-0-0-0-zh_TW/info.html On reserve at Geisel Film
   and Video Library at FVLDV 10619-2.
4. Introduction to Fran Martin’s volume of translated queer fiction from Taiwan,
   called “Taiwan’s Literature of Transgressive Sexuality,” in Angelwings:
   Contemporary Queer Fiction from Taiwan (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i
   Press, 2003).