Doctor of Philosophy in Creative Writing

Course Description

Compulsory Courses

Creative Writing: Thinking and Textual Presentation

This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the relationship between creative thinking and textual presentation in creative writing. It aims to develop students' imagination and their ability to express ideas accurately and vividly. The course systematically introduces the characteristics and methods of creative thinking, using detailed analyses of literary examples to examine how creative ideas take shape. Through practical exercises, students develop their creative thinking and explore how language gives their ideas written form.

Creative Writing and the Creative Industries of Chinese and Foreign Cultures

This course introduces students to contemporary Western perspectives on the creative industries, the evolution of Chinese perspectives on these industries and the current state of the industries in China. It examines the relationship between creative writing and the creative industries, together with ways of participating in industry practice. The course also explores industrial parks as an operational model, examining the economic principles governing their operation, the need for their development, and future trends. Drawing on theory and practical case studies, students learn to develop concepts and plans for creative writing that respond to the needs of particular places and times, and to contribute to the development of cultural industry projects.

Explorations in Creative Writing Theory

Creative writing theory offers a systematic account of literary creation, focusing on the use of written language to produce literary works. Building on a review of relevant theories, this course analyses and synthesises insights from the four major literary genres: poetry, fiction, drama and prose. It seeks to identify the artistic principles underlying these genres and the approaches to writing specific to each, and to develop a distinctive theoretical framework for creative writing. The course cultivates students' ability to analyse and critically evaluate literary works and encourages them to exercise creative initiative in their own writing.

Creative Writing and the Study of Chinese Literary Classics

This compulsory course in the Ph.D. programme in Chinese Literature, Culture and Creative Writing examines selected classics of Chinese-language literature. Through analysis of the ideas and writing techniques in these works, the course provides a conceptual foundation for students' creative writing. It helps students develop their ideas, integrate writing techniques into their practice and strengthen their skills as creative writers.

Creative Writing and Culture Studies

This compulsory course in the Ph.D. programme in Creative Writing examines theories of cultural studies and the dissemination of popular culture, with a particular focus on the rise of creative culture and its industrialisation. Topics include the resurgence of interest in traditional Chinese studies, the origins, development and characteristics of Sinology outside China, and the cultural characteristics of industries in different regions. The course also explores in depth the reciprocal relationship between cultural resources and creative works.

Writer-in-Residence Creative Writing Workshop

This compulsory workshop in the Ph.D. programme in Creative Writing invites distinguished writers to take up campus residencies. Through engaging, face-to-face teaching, they share their first-hand experience of becoming writers and offer insights into the creative processes that bring literary texts to life. Students work on creative writing projects under the joint supervision of resident writers and university scholars. The workshop integrates learning with project development: students and supervisors discuss texts in depth, reflect critically from multiple perspectives and refine the work through successive revisions. Projects progress through clearly defined stages, with specific goals, priorities and responsibilities, while developing students' creative thinking. Projects include fiction, essay and poetry writing, the adaptation of novels for film and television, multimedia writing and non-fiction writing.

Elective Courses

Research Methods in Social Sciences

This course introduces the research methods used in doctoral study, including qualitative and quantitative analysis, together with methods of data collection and analysis. Teaching consists primarily of lectures, supplemented by discussions and student presentations.

Special Topics in Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature

Through thematic seminars, this course offers a comprehensive study of the transition to modernity and the formal characteristics of twentieth-century Chinese literature from cultural, intellectual, political, historical, gender, regional and media perspectives. It moves beyond a linear account of literary history to organise inquiry around a range of thematic focal points, offering multiple approaches to the modernisation of Chinese literature. The course explores the intellectual tensions and stylistic characteristics of modern and contemporary Chinese literature against the conflicts and continuities between tradition and modernity, and the encounters and exchanges between Chinese and foreign cultures and literatures. Topics include the lyrical tradition and literary modernity; the evolution and critical reassessment of enlightenment discourse; gender consciousness in modern literature; expressions of modernity in urban literature; the search for literary roots and the use of regional cultural resources; changes in linguistic register and experimentation with literary form; the circulation of modern literature across languages; the cross-cultural resources of Sinophone literature; and modern literature and visual media.

Research on Creative Resources in Classical Chinese Literature

This elective course in the Ph.D. programme in Creative Writing offers in-depth study of selected topics in classical Chinese literature. It identifies and interprets the creative resources offered by classical Chinese writers and their works, and examines how these resources can be transformed for contemporary use. With an emphasis on their cultural functions and practical application in writing, the course develops students' creative thinking and strengthens their overall creative writing skills.

Studies of the Cultural and Creative Industries in Theatre, Film and Television

This course explores fundamental theories and practical approaches in theatre, film and television. It develops students' appreciation of works in these fields and their ability to write and analyse scripts. The course also examines the current state and future prospects of the theatre, film and television sectors within the cultural and creative industries.

Script Studies, Adaptation and Transformation

This elective course in the Ph.D. programme in Creative Writing gives equal weight to theory and practice. Students read and study classic Chinese plays, major works of modern and contemporary spoken drama, and film and television scripts, learning methods of critical appreciation and examining principles of composition and artistic techniques. Building on this theoretical foundation, the course uses stage, film and television adaptations of classic dramatic material as case studies to examine successful approaches to adaptation and their limitations. Students develop techniques for adapting and writing scripts, then apply them in creative work that transforms existing dramatic resources into new works. Teaching combines lectures with practical writing projects.

Writing in New Media

This elective course in the Ph.D. programme in Creative Writing examines the development of Chinese-language online writing in the context of China's connection to the global Internet in 1994 and its use of the ".cn" domain. It introduces students to the rapid expansion of Chinese-language websites, Internet-connected computers and online texts, including the proliferation of literary websites and literary sections on web portals. By engaging with writing across online platforms, students explore changes in reading habits and literary appreciation, and forms of interaction that differ from those associated with traditional literature. The course examines the evolution of new media writing and the emergence of its genres. Teaching is interactive: students and teachers jointly select and analyse new media texts, drawing on literary and cultural theory and an understanding of new technologies. Students investigate the characteristics and types of new media writing and gain practical experience in creating and publishing their own work.

Women's Creative Writing

This course examines the historical development of feminism worldwide and offers detailed analysis and critical evaluation of its theoretical traditions. Adopting a dialectical approach, it considers feminist movements and schools of thought in their historical contexts and in relation to women's changing social circumstances. Particular attention is given to the choices women make as creative writers. Through the reading and study of representative works by Chinese and other international women writers, students explore women's creative processes and gain a deeper understanding of the historical origins and development of women's creative writing. The course also examines the significance of this writing for women's emancipation and the advancement of human civilisation.

Children's Literature Writing

This elective course in the Ph.D. programme in Creative Writing examines literary works about children and works written for children in Chinese literature from ancient times to the present. Students analyse the creative elements of these texts, drawing also on relevant works from outside China and scholarship in children's literature and cultural theory. The course provides a conceptual foundation for students' own creative writing for children.

Dissertation

Students are required to complete a dissertation of at least 80,000 characters within 18 months. The dissertation must conform to academic standards and demonstrate substantial scholarly merit.