Introduction to Modern Japanese Literature and Culture (222-0-20)
Topic
The Birth of Modern Japan
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 2-410: Tues, Thurs 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
AY24 This course is an introduction to the literature and culture of Japan's Meiji period (1868-1912). This was a moment of rapid social and cultural transformation as Japan rushed to adopt the institutions of Western modernity, and Japanese writers and readers turned to literature to make sense of the changes taking place around them. In order to understand this moment, we will read a series of major literary works (novels and short stories) that focus on the shifting mores, social opportunities, and moods brought on by Japan's embrace of modernity. The main emphasis of the class is on understanding these works in historical context: on furnishing ourselves with the historical knowledge of Meiji Japan necessary to understand, appreciate, and interpret literary texts. In interpreting these works, we pay particular attention to the feelings they represent or produce, and to what those feelings might tell us about the experience of modernity in Japan and the non-West broadly speaking. All readings are in English; no knowledge of Japanese or prior study of Japan is required or expected.
Learning Objectives
• Describe major genres and works of Japanese literature, as well as major cultural keywords, from the Meiji period (late 19th-early 20th c.).
• Situate literary works in relation to meaningful social and cultural contexts, and interpret how they both reflected and commented creatively upon those contexts.
• Analyze the thematic content and formal structure of literary works as a basis for interpretation and comparison.
• Interpret key conceptual terms like ‘modernity" and ‘the novel' in historical and cultural contexts and in relation to primary texts.
• Communicate and debate humanistic knowledge, including interpretation and critical evaluation of literary works from multiple, possibly conflicting perspectives, both orally and in writing
Teaching Method
Lecture and Discussion
Evaluation Method
Attendance and participation, discussion forum, collective annotation, midterm essay, quizzes, final paper
Class Materials (Required)
All materials will be provided digitally in PDF format.
Class Attributes
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area