本課程以「文學再現與現代性知識型構之交涉」為基本問題意識，透過單元主題的安排與代表性文本的選讀，結合歷史與理論的分析視角，帶領學生認識二十世紀華文（短篇）小說的若干重大發展面向。上下學期課程探討的議題包括：異文化遭際與差異、認同問題，從上海到東京的都市摩登初體驗，現代化論述下的鄉土意識，從去國到歸鄉的諸般離散書寫，勾連歷史與個人、理想與現實、中心與邊錘的各種傷痕書寫，以及全球化新浪潮的商品世界與世紀末憂鬱。

Informed by the problematic of the relationship between literary representations and changing epistemological formations of modernity, this course combines historical and theoretical perspectives to engage students in the study of twentieth century Chinese fictive works (mainly short stories). Thematically organized, the course uses selected texts to explore the following topics: cultural encounter and the problems of difference and identity; the spectacles of urban modernity from Shanghai to Tokyo; nativism vis-a-vis the cosmopolitan discourse of modernization; changing modes of writing about diaspora and trauma; and materialism and fin-de-siecle melancholy in the age of new globalization.