Cosmopolitan Her: Writing in Late Capitalism

This course introduces students to twenty-first-century Asian women writers (Japan, Korea, China) whose works achieved global popularity through translation in the past two decades. Written by writers living in East Asian countries dealing with capitalist developments, financial crises, and neoliberal free trade agreements, the texts collectively suggest the global interest and transmission of women's rights and LGBTQ movements in Asia and beyond. We explore, firstly, the meaning of "capitalism" as seen by the author in each text, and secondly, a commodified urban-based cosmopolitan culture that depends on the continued orientalism of Asia.