First Year Reading Initiative 2007
Selected Reading: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie.
In a China still convulsed by Mao's Cultural Revolution, two teenage boys are sent to be "re-educated" in the countryside. But the experience of manual labor proves less transforming than a stash of banned "reactionary" novels and the local tailor's beautiful daughter.
Faculty Presenters
On Tuesday, August 28th, at 9am, the entire incoming class will convene in the Hill Center to hear an interdisciplinary introduction to Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Five distinguished Ithaca College faculty members will offer five different perspectives on the text to which you may refer during your own group discussion beginning at 10:30am.
- Louise Donohue (French) will speak on Balzac and the Bourgeoisie
- Joanne Izbicki (History) on the Cultural Revolution
- Joseph Cheng (Finance) on Real Stories
- Bruce Henderson (Speech Communications) on Orality, Literacy, and Folk Traditions
- James Swafford (English) on Power, Meaning, and Literature
Discussion Questions
1. Why do you suppose the townspeople seem satisfied to listen to the narrator and Luo recount the plots of the movies they have seen, rather than seeing the films themselves? Do you ever enjoy hearing friends tell you the plot of movies, if you haven't seen them?
2. Did the Little Seamstress find fulfillment or emptiness in her relationship with Luo?
3. What changed for the villagers as a result of the Cultural Revolution? Did these changes benefit the peasants or make their lives more difficult?
4. In this novel, how dangerous are books, politically, psychologically, or otherwise (p.154)? To whom were they dangerous? Is there ever any justification for forbidding or burning them? Have you ever read a dangerous book? What was it and how was it dangerous?
5. Luo and the Fiddler are schemers against authority, working cons and tricks involving Mozart, the alarm clock, burglary, forbidden books, smutty ballads, dental torture, the re-education of the seamstress, and the procurement of an abortion. Is this the kind of splendid "free and independent action" (p.110) that the Fiddler learns to value from reading novels?
6. Why do very few of the characters have a name? What does your name say about you and is it important?
7. By the standards of the Cultural Revolution, and probably by modern US standards, you are bourgeois. Are you happy with this label? Why or why not?
8. Why does the narrator think that the preacher who is banned from his faith would be a good accomplice in trying to help the Little Seamstress?
Resources
Provided below are some resources to find out more about Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Dai Sijie, Balzac, and the Cultural Revolution.
Please note that these resources are restricted to IC users--you must either be on campus or have an IC email address and password to view these articles.
Random House Reader's Guide
Reviews: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
- A Suitcase Education (New York Times Book Review) (.pdf)
- Adopting a Country, Then Crashing Its Best-Seller List (New York Times)
- Painful truths / Revolution-era fable explores the consequences of knowledge (San Francisco Chronicle)
- Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (Washington Post)
- A Tale of Teenage Rebellion, Cultural-Revolution Style (Boston Globe)
- Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (Book) (Christian Century)
- Balzac et la petite tailleuse chinoise (French Review) (review in English)
Interview about the Book
Reviews/Interviews about the Movie
- Artistic Odyssey: Film to Fiction to Film (New York Times)
- Stitching a vision of China; Director Dai Sijie's 'Seamstress' looks at life during the Cultural Revolution (Los Angeles Times)
Articles on Relevant Aspects of China's Cultural Revolution
- Cultural Revolution (Britannica Online)
- China's communist revolution: A half-century perspective (Current History) (.pdf)
- Children of the Cultural Revolution: The State and the Life Course in the People's Republic of China (American Sociological Review)
- Whither China? Yang Xiguang, Red Capitalists, and the Social Turmoil of the Cultural Revolution (Modern China)
- Cultural Revolution Conflict in the Villages (China Quarterly)
Articles on Balzac
- Balzac, Honoré de (Britannica Online)
- Balzac: Our contemporary (Modern Age)
First Year Experience Theme: The Power of One
What difference can one idea, one relationship, one community, or one event make in a life? How has one unexpected act of kindness, unnecessary cruelty, or unforeseen circumstance changed the course of a life, a community, or a nation? Each of us holds within the power to change ourselves; each of us has the power to determine the nature and quality of our relationships with others through our actions, the expression of ideas, and the silences we hold. The College's expectations of its graduates - intellect and competence for citizenship and sevice to our global community - frame the power each student has to act for constructive change of self and for the benefit of others. We ask you to reflect on the ideas, values, and codes of behavior that guide your decisions and consider how you plan to cultivate your power within during your years at Ithaca College.
