Advanced Topics in Premodern Japanese Literature and Culture (321-0-20)
Topic
Paying For It: Sex, Money & Lit in Early Modern Ja
Instructors
Thomas Martin Gaubatz
847/491-2766
1880 Campus Drive, Kresge Hall, Office 4-345
Office Hours: varies by quarter, please contact instructor
Meeting Info
Kresge Centennial Hall 2-435: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM
Overview of class
AY22-23
In early modern or Edo-period (1600-1868) Japan, the licensed prostitution quarters of the three main cities (Kyoto, Osaka, Edo) were among the most fertile sites of literary production, and the courtesan was one of the most complex literary figures. This course examines the relationship between prostitution and literature in Japan during this period: how was the commodification of literature, through the emergence of a commercial publishing industry, related to the commodification of sex? Topics addressed include representation and the use of the courtesan as a literary symbol; tensions between literary image, lived experience, and embodied performance; questions of agency and identity politics, and the methodological challenges of reconstructing marginalized historical subjectivities; the role of media in producing sexual desires and norms of gender; ideological functions of the figures of courtesan and "geisha" in modern cultural imaginaries; and more. Our orienting concern is with understanding the logics of commodification in the early modern context: what was the impact of the commodity form on cultural production and social relations in early modern Japan, and how was it shaped by hierarchies of gender, class, and status? All readings are in English; no knowledge of Japanese is required or expected.
Teaching Method
Lecture and Discussion
Evaluation Method
Attendance (10%), participation (10%), forum essays (15%), response comments (5%), working annotation (10%), midterm paper (20%), final paper (30%)
Class Materials (Required)
All materials will be provided in PDF format.
Class Attributes
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area