JAPN 309: Japanese Literature (Fall 2012/MLO 2)
Course Description
This course explores early Japanese prose and poetry to detect native motifs that continue into modern literature. Dramatic scripts, I-Novels, surrealistic fiction, and contemporary authors including Yoshimoto Banana and Murakami Haruki will be read and written about in a student-created literary online diary.
Reflective Narrative
Japanese Literature was the first class specifically targeting Japanese culture I had ever taken, and it was by far the most comprehensive introductory course. Starting from the Heian period and on, it was fascinating to see the change in the roles of women, the use of classic Japanese animals such as the fox, etc. Compared to American stories, Japanese literature was completely content to leave endings vague, or would leave the lesson of the story undefined on purpose in order to make the reader think critically about the content they had just consumed.
Within this class we did a weekly reflective paper discussing the stories we had read at home or in class. Furthermore, we also got the chance to write our own Japanese stories (物語), and eventually did a deep analysis on one aspect of Japanese culture through the stories we had read. For instance, my final paper took stories from various periods throughout Japanese history and put them under the lens of social theorist Judith Butler to understand the way the female gender was interpreted in literature. Through the assigned readings as well stories I had read for my own pleasure, I came to understand Japanese history from a literature perspective. Seeing as I took this class in my first semester, it is difficult for me to say exactly how I wish to branch out from the experience I gained seeing as many of the classes I took after this one further developed my understanding of historical Japan.
This course explores early Japanese prose and poetry to detect native motifs that continue into modern literature. Dramatic scripts, I-Novels, surrealistic fiction, and contemporary authors including Yoshimoto Banana and Murakami Haruki will be read and written about in a student-created literary online diary.
Reflective Narrative
Japanese Literature was the first class specifically targeting Japanese culture I had ever taken, and it was by far the most comprehensive introductory course. Starting from the Heian period and on, it was fascinating to see the change in the roles of women, the use of classic Japanese animals such as the fox, etc. Compared to American stories, Japanese literature was completely content to leave endings vague, or would leave the lesson of the story undefined on purpose in order to make the reader think critically about the content they had just consumed.
Within this class we did a weekly reflective paper discussing the stories we had read at home or in class. Furthermore, we also got the chance to write our own Japanese stories (物語), and eventually did a deep analysis on one aspect of Japanese culture through the stories we had read. For instance, my final paper took stories from various periods throughout Japanese history and put them under the lens of social theorist Judith Butler to understand the way the female gender was interpreted in literature. Through the assigned readings as well stories I had read for my own pleasure, I came to understand Japanese history from a literature perspective. Seeing as I took this class in my first semester, it is difficult for me to say exactly how I wish to branch out from the experience I gained seeing as many of the classes I took after this one further developed my understanding of historical Japan.
Shifting Gender Roles in Japan | |
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