LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims at teaching students how to apply the linguistic skills in specific communicative situations connected, in particular, to commercial and touristic contexts, as well as to understand correctly intermediate level economic, politics and social texts, thus acquiring an instrument to deepen their knowledge of contemporary Chinese society.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

On completion of this module the students will:

1) improve their linguistic, translation and communication skills in the field of Chinese for special purposes, with specific reference to promotional and communication phenomena, such as advertising, branding and marketing;

2) be able to read, analyse and translate a variety of Chinese-language materials;

3) demonstrate knowledge and mastery of secondary sources, which are necessary for an in-depth critical analysis of the themes and contents addressed during the module (for example, cross-cultural advertising);

4) manage to contextualise the contents of the module in the specific realm of contemporary China, taking into account factors related to economy, politics and society.

PREREQUISITES

The module is conceived for third-year students who gained the linguistic skills necessary in order to understand the syllabus/contents. In order to attend this module, it is advisable that students pass beforehand the exam Chinese Language 1.

TEACHING METHODS

This is a 36-hour module running on the second semester of the academic year 2022/2023. Lectures will be delivered in the classroom, face-to-face. Beyond attending lectures, the students will be required to carry out independent study and activities (translations, online searches, watch audiovisual texts, draft of glossaries, etc.). Attendance to this module is strongly recommended.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The module is intended to address in-depth three main areas related to promotional culture in contemporary China:

- advertising;

- branding;

- marketing.

The module includes reading activities and analyses of Chinese-language texts, an examination of lexicon and structures of promotional languages, translations from Chinese into Italian (and viceversa), as well as critical explorations on translation strategies and choices.

The module contents are the same for both attending and non attending students.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chinese-language materials will be distributed before or during the classes, together with links to have access to online materials as well as additional readings (which are mandatory as well).

Among the essential mandatory readings:

Canigiani, E. 2001. “Introduzione allo studio dei marchi cinesi e delle traduzioni dei nomi dei marchi stranieri in cinese”, Mondo Cinese 106,  41-53 https://www.tuttocina.it/Mondo_cinese/106/106_Cani.htm

Eckhardt, G. M. and Bengtsson, A. (2010). ‘A Brief History of Branding in China’, Journal of Macromarketing 30(3): 210-221.

Puppin, G. 2014. ‘Advertising and China: How Does a Love/hate Relationship Work?’ In The Changing Landscape of China’s Consumerism, edited by Alison Hulme, 177–95. Oxford: Chandos/Elsevier.

Puppin, G. 2020. 'Forty Years of the Return of Advertising in China (1979-2019): A Critical Overview', Jomec (Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies) 15, 1-19, https://jomec.cardiffuniversitypress.org/articles/abstract/10.18573/jomec.201/