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Semester 2

Introduction to Japanese Literature (ASST08053)

Subject

Asian Studies

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

1

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Course Summary

This course is designed to introduce students with little or no prior background in the subject to the study of Japanese literature through a selection of key texts. These will be studied using English translations, which will be the basis for all course assessments. For students enrolled on the MA Honours in Japanese degree or others interested in Japanese language, excerpts from the original texts will be made available for private study and reading practice. The texts that form the focus for the course are all widely known and studied in Japan and are generally considered to be representative works that enhance understanding of Japanese cultural identity.

Course Description

The course will introduce and examine in detail a selection of key texts from both classical and modern Japanese literature which are regarded as significant to Japan's aesthetic and cultural traditions. Students will receive instruction introducing each of the texts, its author, and the historical, social and cultural background from which it emerged, and will have the opportunity to discover some of the ways in which it contributes to Japanese literary and cultural identity. Tutorials and other course activities will concentrate on discussion of set questions about the literary texts and assigned readings (academic articles or book chapters which deal with the week's text). Students will also be encouraged to share their own responses to the literary texts. The course content will normally be covered in chronological order and will introduce selected works in the following areas: early Japanese poetry; writing by women at the Heian court; recluse literature of the Kamakura period; haiku and haibun (haiku-related literature); the Meiji novel; stories of modernity in Taisho and early Showa Japan; Second World War literature; immediate postwar writings; contemporary literature.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

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