As the character at the heart of the multi-award-winning action RPG Black Myth: Wukong (released in 2024), the literary and religious figure Sun Wukong, AKA ?Monkey King,? AKA ?Great Sage Equal to Heaven,? would seem to need no introduction. And yet?modern portrayals of this cultural superhero leave much untold regarding his place in popular religious cults dating back to the fourteenth-century CE and continuing to the present day. Nor do recent media adaptations capture the full dynamism of Wukong as he appears in the wildly popular novel Journey to the West (1592) or the lesser-known literary gem Supplement to Journey to the West (1617). This course brings you into the world of these two great literary works, both of which exist in excellent English translations. While enjoying the adventure of working through these two narratives, we will also examine their entanglements with religious, political, and social concerns of the culturally fraught late Ming dynasty (1368?1644). We will further consider how modern media adaptations have leveraged the social and aesthetic power of Wukong?s earlier incarnations for political and commercial ends. No prerequisites. Course taught in English with the option of reading materials in Chinese.
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