＜概要/Course Content Summary＞
This course will explore how modern Japanese literary texts reflect on the topic of national identity as a cultural, historical and social construct, rather than an ethnic given. Throughout reading and analyzing several pieces of Japanese and world literature, students will become acquainted with the relationship between cultural productions and the construction of representation of national identity, specifically in the Japanese case.
＜到達目標/Goals,Aims＞
The objective of this course is to help students acquire or increase their knowledge about modern Japanese literature, as well as to enable them to understand the historical and social context that has given birth to the works used in class.
It is desirable that students use the knowledge acquired in other (previous or simultaneous) courses in order to produce a deeper, multifaceted analysis of literary texts.
＜授業計画/Schedule＞
（実施回/
Week）
|
（内容/
Contents）
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（授業時間外の学習/
Assignments）
|
|
（実施回/ Week）
Week 1
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（内容/ Contents）
Introduction to the course
Methodological and conceptual guidelines of the course.
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Reading: Lafcadio Hearn, Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan.
|
|
（実施回/ Week）
Week 2
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（内容/ Contents）
The origins of modern national Japanese identity
The birth of Japan as a modern nation in the wake of Meiji period. The matters of identity and otherness.
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Reading: Natsume Soseki, Ten Nights of Dream.
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|
（実施回/ Week）
Week 3
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（内容/ Contents）
The construction of modern subjectivity
The influence of Western thought in the shaping of modern subjectivity.
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Reading: Akutagawa Ryunosuke, In a Grove.
|
|
（実施回/ Week）
Week 4
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（内容/ Contents）
The search for truth, or criticism to modernism
A critical perspective of modernization, and the quest for a universal “human.”
|
（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Reading: Yuasa Katsue, Kannan and Document of Flames.
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|
（実施回/ Week）
Week 5
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（内容/ Contents）
During the war: Expanding the borders of the Empire
Previously censored tales of colonialism during World War II.
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Reading: Mishima Yukio, The Decline and Fall of the Suzaku.
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（実施回/ Week）
Week 6
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（内容/ Contents）
Tales of the Pacific War
Representations of nationalistic identities during the Pacific War.
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Reading: Dazai Osamu, The Setting Sun.
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|
（実施回/ Week）
Week 7
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（内容/ Contents）
Postwar transitions
Transitions brought about by the “rebirth” of the Japanese nation after the defeat: Their silent, traumatic effects on families.
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Reading: Kawabata Yasunari, Japan the Beautiful and Myself.
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（実施回/ Week）
Week 8
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（内容/ Contents）
Internationalizing Japanese literature: The Nobel Prize
Literature's role in the re-positioning of Japan in the international arena: The first Japanese literature Nobel Prize (in 1968).
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Reading: Kenzaburo Oe, Hiroshima Notes.
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|
（実施回/ Week）
Week 9
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（内容/ Contents）
The open wound of Hiroshima
The atomic bombing and contemporary nuclear issues.
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Reading: Nakagami Kenji: The Cape and Other Stories from the Ghetto.
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（実施回/ Week）
Week 10
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（内容/ Contents）
The outsiders within: Burakumin, Zainichi Literature
Outcasts in Japanese society: The roots of a possible diversity?
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Reading: Miri Yu, Tokyo Ueno Station.
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（実施回/ Week）
Week 11
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（内容/ Contents）
Women and letters
Women's literature in Japan: depictions of femininity, sexuality, and inequality.
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Reading: Tawada Yoko, The Emissary.
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（実施回/ Week）
Week 12
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（内容/ Contents）
Japanese in the outside
Japanese descendants in Europe: challenging the myth of a monocultural, monoethnic and monolingual Japanese society.
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Reading: Murakami Haruki: Underground.
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（実施回/ Week）
Week 13
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（内容/ Contents）
New religions in contemporary Japanese society
The rise of cult groups and new religions in the second half of the twentieth century.
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Reading: Sayaka Murata: Convenience Store Woman.
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（実施回/ Week）
Week 14
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（内容/ Contents）
Contemporary social malaise
Contemporary psychological phenomena: affective disorders and social anxiety, and their representation in the arts.
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Preparation for final presentations.
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（実施回/ Week）
Week 15
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（内容/ Contents）
Students’ presentations
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Final Paper
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1) Be aware that changes in the order and content of the syllabus might occur when and if considered necessary.
2) Every week there will be some sort of reading assignment. All students must comply with all reading requirements, and come to class prepared to discuss the assignments.
3) Active involvement and participation is required. Your performance throughout the semester will be evaluated weekly.
4) Students are not allowed to use cellphones in class
＜成績評価基準/Evaluation Criteria＞
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Continuous in-class evaluation
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40%
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Participation in discussion, active involvement in class, mini tests, etc.
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Final presentation
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30%
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|
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Final essay
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30%
|
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＜成績評価結果/Results of assessment＞
成績評価の見方について/Notes for assessment
| 登録者数 |
成績評価（%) |
評点
平均値 |
備考
|
| A |
B |
C |
D |
F |
他 |
| 33 |
42.4 |
33.3 |
6.1 |
3.0 |
15.2 |
0.0 |
2.8 |
* |
＜参考文献/Reference Book＞
＜備考/Remarks＞
Note to students: The ILA will be offering all courses through remote learning over the spring and fall semesters of the 2021 Academic Year. Course lecturers will send DUET messages with details on how to participate in the courses that you have registered for. Be sure to check the DUET system when course registration has been finalized in order to receive further instructions from your course lecturers.
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