東京大学大学院総合文化研究科
言語情報科学専攻
Language and Information Sciences, University of Tokyo
This course is designed to give students an opportunity to acquaint themselves with a range of Japanese novels written between the late 19th century and the present. We will place a particular focus on how the Japanese writers struggled to come to terms with the idea of the modern and explore the nature of the dilemma these writers faced in their attempt to incorporate modernity. Starting with the pioneering writers of the Meiji period, we will move on to the writers of the later periods and will also deal with the new writings of the younger generation in contemporary Japan. Some of the works will be examined in detail, using different critical approaches to analyse their thematic construction, structural characteristics and stylistic features.
Classes will consist of lectures, discussions and student presentations. Both students with and without the background in Japanese literature are welcome. All the works will be read in the English translation.
Course Schedule (TENTATIVE)
Introduction
Shock of the West and the New Individual:
Required reading:
Natsume Soseki, Kokoro
--- What is individualiasm?
--- The struggle of a Meiji intellectual
Recommended reading:
Mori Ogai Wild Geese--- The self-awakening of a woman
Tokyo Cityscape, 1920s: Fascination/Disillusionment
Required reading: Tanizaki Jun’ichiro’s “Aguri”
Recommended reading:
Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, Naomi --- The beautiful enchantress
Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Kappa--- Struggling with the irrational
(Yosano Akiko’s poems of “the new woman”)
Lost in the Modern
Required reading:
Dazai Osamu, No Longer Human --- A confession
Recommended reading: To be announced
Quest for Identity in PostwarJapan
Rediscovering Tradition(1)
Required reading:
Kawabata Yasunari, Snow Country ---nature and tradition
Recommended reading:
Kawabata Yasunari, Thousand Cranes
Rediscovering Tradition(2):
Required reading:
Mishima Yukio, “Patriotism”(short story)---love and death
Recommended reading:
Mishima Yukio, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion
Mishima Yukio, Spring Snow
New Writing after the 1980s
Required reading:
Murakami Haruki, The Wild Sheep Chase, After Dark --- where is reality? freedom and surveillance
Recommended reading:
Murakami Haruki, The End of the World and Hardboiled Wonderland
Murakami Ryu, Coinlocker Babies--- Tokyo in crisis
Yoshimoto Banana, Kitchen --- healing?
Young Writers Today
Kawakami Hiromi, Kawakami Mieko, Kanehara Hitomi and others
Required reading and other details will be announced later.
Concluding Discussion on Contemporary Japanese Culture
Each class will consist of a brief lecture, student presentation and classroom discussion. The lecture will include an introduction to the topic of the week, providing basic factual and conceptual information required for approaching the works to be discussed that week. This will be followed by a short presentation by one of the students, who will raise some points for discussion based on his/her reading of the work(s) concerned. The last part of the class will consist of a classroom discussion. All students are expected to participate in the discussion, exchanging opinions and comments on the text from a variety of viewpoints (and cultural backgrounds).
1) Class participation 50%
2) Assignments and mini tests 20%
3) Semester essay 30%
Some of the required readings will be made available in the Globalization Office (B1 Komcee21). For others, students are expected to do a book search themselves.
