Japan in Translation: syllabus
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James M. Vardaman, Waseda University
Week 1
A Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki), The Chronicles of Japan (Nihonshoki)
The poetic foundation: The Anthology of Ten Thousand Leaves (Man’yoshu)
Week 2
The poetic foundation: The Anthology of Ten Thousand Leaves (Man’yoshu)
Week 2
Tales of Ise (Tosa Nikki), The Tosa Diary (Tosa Nikki), Kagero Nikki
Sei Shonagon, The Pillow Book (Makura no soshi)
Week 3
Sei Shonagon, The Pillow Book (Makura no soshi)
Week 3
Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari)
Lady Sarashina,As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams (Sarashina Nikki)
Week 4
Lady Sarashina,As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams (Sarashina Nikki)
Week 4
Contemplations: Kamo no Chomei, An Account of My Hut (Hojoki) and Yoshida Kenko, Essays in Idleness (Tsurezuregusa)
Noh Theater and Bunraku Puppet Theater
Week 5
Noh Theater and Bunraku Puppet Theater
Week 5
Ihara Saikaku, Five Women Who Loved Love (Koshoku gonin onna)
Matsuo Basho, The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Oku no hosomichi)
Week 6
Matsuo Basho, The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Oku no hosomichi)
Week 6
Chikamatsu Monzaemon, The Love Suicides at Sonezaki (Sonezaki Shinju); Jippensha Ikku, Shank’s Mare (Hizakurige); Ueda Akinari, Tales of Moonlight and Rain (Ugetsu monogatari)
October 18 Natsume Soseki, My Individualism (Watakushi no kojinshugi), Kokoro
Week 7
October 18 Natsume Soseki, My Individualism (Watakushi no kojinshugi), Kokoro
Week 7
Mori Ogai, The Dancing Girl (Maihime), The Boat on the River Takase (Takasebune), Wild Geese (Gan)
October 25 Mid-term reports due, presentations in class
October 25 Mid-term reports due, presentations in class
Week 8
Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Rashomon, Hell Screen (Jigokuhen)
Wartime and Aftermath: Ooka Shohei, Taken Captive, and Dazai Osamu, No Longer Human
Week 9
Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Rashomon, Hell Screen (Jigokuhen)
Wartime and Aftermath: Ooka Shohei, Taken Captive, and Dazai Osamu, No Longer Human
Week 9
Tanizaki Jun’ichiro
Kawabata Yasunari and Mishima Yukio
Week 10
Kawabata Yasunari and Mishima Yukio
Week 10
Endo Shusaku, Silence (Chinmoku)
Abe Kobo, The Woman in the Dunes (Suna no onna)
Abe Kobo, The Woman in the Dunes (Suna no onna)
Week 11
Universal appeal: Murakami Haruki and Yoshimoto Banana
Heavyweights: Nakagami Kenji and Oe Kenzaburo
Universal appeal: Murakami Haruki and Yoshimoto Banana
Heavyweights: Nakagami Kenji and Oe Kenzaburo
Week 12
Popular literature, with a focus on Ryu Keiichiro, Blade of the Courtesan (Yoshiwara Gomenjo)
Final reports due, presentations in class
Popular literature, with a focus on Ryu Keiichiro, Blade of the Courtesan (Yoshiwara Gomenjo)
Final reports due, presentations in class
