31609 - Japanese Culture and Literature 2

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students should deepen their competence in Japanese literary history, through analysis of general issues (periodization, literary movements and schools). They should also be acquainted with the latest methods and analytical tools they need to understand the works of the main authors, contextualising them within their cultural and historical period.

Course contents

Japanese Interiors: New Narratives for Changing Family Settings/2

During the Nineties, Japan went through a series of deep transformations on a political, economic, social and cultural level. Family is certainly one of the areas in which this is more evident. The drop in the birthrate that has substituted the baby-boom of the postwar period, the quick ageing of the population linked to the considerable growth of life expectancy, the high rate of divorce, the dramatic increase of social problems (domestic violence, juvenile delinquency, suicide, child prostitution): all these factors have determined a growing instability in the traditional family system. The country has witnessed the ultimate decline of the so-called “three generation model” (three generations living under the same roof) that changed in different and differentiated forms of  cohabitation. As a general tendency, Japan has seen a rise in the age of the first marriage for both men and women, as well as a marked trend among young people in remaining single and living with their parents (Rebick and Takenaka, 2009). In the last few years sociologists and researchers have shifted back their focus on the mutable concept of family and have underlined, on one hand, the necessity to distinguish between two new layers: that of ideology (the family as a normative model) and that of the actualization of the model (the real families). On the other hand, they have pointed out the deep link between the evolution of the institution of the family and a new and more active role of the woman within society from Meiji Era to present days (Morimoto, 2011).  In this sense, the representation of family environment in works of some of the most interesting and  original writers on Twentieth Century proves to be particularly interesting. Trough their eyes we can in fact witness the transformations and evolution of contemporary family and society. 

Students who choose  not to attend the course will find all informations under the heading "Recommended reading".   

Readings/Bibliography

Bibliography for attending students: 
Students are expected to show a basic knowledge of the history of Japanese literature from 1868 to present days. Our reference text is:  

L. Bienati, P. Scrolavezza,  La narrativa giapponese moderna e contemporanea , Collana "Elementi", Marsilio, Venezia 2009   

Critical sources (compulsory)

M.R. Novielli, P. Scrolavezza, Lo schermo scritto. Letteratura e cinema in Giappone, Cafoscarina Editrice, Venezia 2012

M. Rebick - A. Takenaka, The Changing Japanese Family , in id. (Edd.), The Changing Japanese Family, London, Routledge  (a selection will be available online by the beginning of the classes)

Morimoto K., Rethinking Ie (A Japanese Traditional Family): Focusing on Relationship between Wife and Her Parent's Home, «Journal of Intimate and Public Spheres», I, 2011, 1, pp. 4-16  (a selection will be available online by the beginning of the classes)  

A. Hashimoto – J. W. Traphagan (eds) ,  Imagined  Families, Lived Families. Culture and Kinship in Contemporary Japan, Albany,  State University of New York Press, 2008 (a selection will be available online by the beginning of the classes)  

Mark McLelland - Romit Dasgupta (eds.), Genders, Transgenders and Sexualities in Japan, New York-London, Routledge, 2005 (a selection will be available online by the beginning of the classes)  

P. Scrolavezza,  Interni giapponesi: nuove narrative per scenari famigliari in trasformazione, in La famiglia nelle culture e nelle società dell'Asia, a cura di Maria Angelillo, Bulzoni Editore, Roma 2013, pp. 147-160 (available online by the beginning of the classes).    

Suggested readings:

Koyama S., Ryōsai Kenbo. The Educational Ideal of 'Good Wife, Wise Mother' in Modern Japan, Leiden – Boston, Brill, 2013   (a selection will be available online by the beginning of the classes) 

P. Scrolavezza,  Donne senza fissa dimora: scrittura e libertà secondo Hayashi Fumiko (1903-1951), in Al di là del cliché: rappresentazioni multiculturali e transgeografiche del femminile, a cura di Marie-Christine Jullion, Clara Bulfoni, Virginia Sica, Franco Angeli Editore, Milano 2012 pp. 71-80 (available online by the beginning of the classes).    

P. Scrolavezza,  Paradisi perduti: disillusione e perdita dell'innocenza nell'ultima produzione di Hayashi Fumiko, in I dieci colori dell'eleganza. Saggi in onore di Maria Teresa Orsi, a cura di Matilde Mastrangelo e Andrea Maurizi, Aracne Editore 2013, pp. 511-525 (available online by the beginning of the classes). 

P. Scrolavezza, Silhouettes in black: l'ombra del giallo nella scrittura femminile del Giappone contemporaneo, in G. Coci (ed), Japan Pop, Roma, Aracne Editore, pp. 189-208 (available online by the beginning of the classes). . 

A. Seaman, Bodies of Evidence: Women, Society, and Detective Fiction in 1990's  Japan, Honolulu, U niversity of Hawaii Press, 2004   (a selection will be available online by the beginning of the classes) 

Mark J. McLelland, Male Homosexuality in Modern Japan. Cultural Myths and Social Realities, Curzon Press, Richmond 2000  (a selection will be available online by the beginning of the classes) 

Primary sources (compulsory):

Higuchi Ichiyō, Due racconti, a cura di A. Fioretti, Vecchiarelli Editore, Roma 2013

Tayama Katai, Il futon, Marsilio, Venezia 2015

Natsume Sōseki,  Sanshirō, Marsilio, Venezia, 1990.

Hayashi Fumiko, Lampi, Marsilio, Venezia, 2011.  

*Hamao Shiro, Il discepolo del demonio, Atmosphere Libri, Roma 2015.

Mishima Yukio, Confessioni di una maschera,  in Romanzi e racconti,  Mondadori, Milano 2004.

Miyamoto Yuriko, Fiori tra le macerie, Pagus, Treviso 1990 (available online by the beginning of the classes). 

Kawabata Yasunari, Il Giappone, la bellezza e io (available online by the beginning of the classes). 

Ōe Kenzaburō, Io e il mio ambiguo Giappone (available online by the beginning of the classes).

Ōe Kenzaburō, Il grido silenzioso, Garzanti, 1999.

Enchi Fumiko, Onnazaka. Il sentiero nell'ombra, Giunti, Firenze 1987.

Tsushima Yuko, Il figlio della fortuna, Giunti, Firenze 1991.

Murakami Haruki, Uomini senza donne, Einaudi, Milano, 2015.

Kirino Natsuo, Real World, Neri Pozza Editore, Vicenza 2009.

Ekuni Kaori, Stella stellina, a cura di P. Scrolavezza, Atmosphere libri, Roma 2013

Kakuta Mitsuyo, La cicala dell'ottavo giorno, Neri Pozza Editore, Vicenza 2014.

Scrivere per Fukushima, Atmosphere Edizioni, Roma, 2013  (a selection will be available online by the beginning of the classes) 

The Powerpoint files that will be used during the course will be available for students by the end of the course on the AMS Campus website. 
  

Bibliography for non attending students:  
Students are expected to show a basic knowledge of the history of Japanese literature from 1868 to present days. Our reference text is:  

L. Bienati, P. Scrolavezza,  La narrativa giapponese moderna e contemporanea , Collana "Elementi", Marsilio, Venezia 2009    

Critical sources (compulsory)

M.R. Novielli, P. Scrolavezza, Lo schermo scritto. Letteratura e cinema in Giappone, Cafoscarina Editrice, Venezia 2012

M. Rebick - A. Takenaka, The Changing Japanese Family , in id. (Edd.), The Changing Japanese Family, London, Routledge  (a selection will be available online by the beginning of the classes)

Morimoto K., Rethinking Ie (A Japanese Traditional Family): Focusing on Relationship between Wife and Her Parent's Home, «Journal of Intimate and Public Spheres», I, 2011, 1, pp. 4-16  (a selection will be available online by the beginning of the classes)  

A. Hashimoto – J. W. Traphagan (eds) ,  Imagined  Families, Lived Families. Culture and Kinship in Contemporary Japan, Albany,  State University of New York Press, 2008 (a selection will be available online by the beginning of the classes)   

Mark McLelland - Romit Dasgupta (eds.), Genders, Transgenders and Sexualities in Japan, New York-London, Routledge, 2005 (a selection will be available online by the beginning of the classes)  

P. Scrolavezza,  Interni giapponesi: nuove narrative per scenari famigliari in trasformazione, in La famiglia nelle culture e nelle società dell'Asia, a cura di Maria Angelillo, Bulzoni Editore, Roma 2013, pp. 147-160 (available online by the beginning of the classes).    

Koyama S., Ryōsai Kenbo. The Educational Ideal of 'Good Wife, Wise Mother' in Modern Japan, Leiden – Boston, Brill, 2013   (a selection will be available online by the beginning of the classes) 

P. Scrolavezza,  Donne senza fissa dimora: scrittura e libertà secondo Hayashi Fumiko (1903-1951), in Al di là del cliché: rappresentazioni multiculturali e transgeografiche del femminile, a cura di Marie-Christine Jullion, Clara Bulfoni, Virginia Sica, Franco Angeli Editore, Milano 2012 pp. 71-80 (available online by the beginning of the classes).    

P. Scrolavezza,  Paradisi perduti: disillusione e perdita dell'innocenza nell'ultima produzione di Hayashi Fumiko, in I dieci colori dell'eleganza. Saggi in onore di Maria Teresa Orsi, a cura di Matilde Mastrangelo e Andrea Maurizi, Aracne Editore 2013, pp. 511-525 (available online by the beginning of the classes). 

P. Scrolavezza, Silhouettes in black: l'ombra del giallo nella scrittura femminile del Giappone contemporaneo, in G. Coci (ed), Japan Pop, Roma, Aracne Editore, pp. 189-208 (available online by the beginning of the classes). . 

A. Seaman, Bodies of Evidence: Women, Society, and Detective Fiction in 1990's  Japan, Honolulu, U niversity of Hawaii Press, 2004   (a selection will be available online by the beginning of the classes) 

Mark J. McLelland, Male Homosexuality in Modern Japan. Cultural Myths and Social Realities, Curzon Press, Richmond 2000  (a selection will be available online by the beginning of the classes) 

Primary sources (compulsory):

Higuchi Ichiyō, La tredicesima notte, in Narratori giapponesi moderni  I, Mondadori, Milano 1986, pp. 55-72 (available online by the beginning of the classes). 

Natsume Sōseki,  E poi, Neri Pozza, Vicenza, 2012.

Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, Neve sottile, Guanda, Parma 2009.

Hayashi Fumiko, Lampi, Marsilio, Venezia, 2011.     

Dazai Osamu, Il sole si spegne, Feltrinelli, Milano 2009

Fukazawa Schichiro, Le canzoni di Narayama, Einaudi, Torino 1961 (available online by the beginning of the classes). 

Mishima Yukio, Confessioni di una maschera,  in Romanzi e racconti,  Mondadori, Milano 2004.

Miyamoto Yuriko, Fiori tra le macerie, Pagus, Treviso 1990 (available online by the beginning of the classes). 

Abe Kobo, La donna di sabbia, Guanda, Parma 2012.

Kawabata Yasunari, Il Giappone, la bellezza e io (available online by the beginning of the classes). 

Ōe Kenzaburō, Io e il mio ambiguo Giappone (available online by the beginning of the classes).  

Ōe Kenzaburō, Un'esperienza personale, Corbaccio, Milano 2005

Enchi Fumiko, Onnazaka. Il sentiero nell'ombra, Giunti, Firenze 1987.

Tsushima Yuko, Il figlio della fortuna, Giunti, Firenze 1991.

Yoshimoto Banana, Kitchen, Feltrinelli, Milano, 2008.

Kirino Natsuo, Le quattro casalinghe di Tokyo, Neri Pozza Editore, Vicenza 2003.

Miyabe Miyuki, Il passato di Shoko, RomaFanucci Editore, Roma 2008.

No geisha. Otto modi di essere donna nel Giappone di oggi. Racconti,  Mondadori, Milano 2008. 

Ekuni Kaori, Stella stellina, a cura di P. Scrolavezza, Atmosphere libri, Roma 2013

Scrivere per Fukushima, Atmosphere Edizioni, Roma, 2013

The Powerpoint files that will be used during the course will be available for students by the end of the course on the AMS Campus website. 
  

Teaching methods

The course will consist mainly in lectures held by the teacher. A strong and active participation in class discussions by the students is warmly encouraged.

Assessment methods

The exam will be oral.  The exam will test the student's ability to elaborate on the topics exposed in class, to show the knowledge acquired thorugh the study of the proposed bibliography, and their capability for critical thinking.  A critical knowledge of the topics will be evaluated as excellent, while an excessive dependence on texts and manuals without any interpretative support will be evaluated with a positive but low score. The proven and repeated difficulty in creating logical and descriptive connections between cultural phenomena and literary contents, as well as a partial reading of the compulsory bibliography will result in an insufficient evaluation. 

Teaching tools

Slides, video, multi-media supports.  A series of films related to the texts in this syllabus will be shown and discussed during classes. The list will be published by the beginning of the lessons.  
In addition to class lectures, a series of seminars held by national as well as international scholars will be organized, whose active involvement is part of the final exam.
   
The Powerpoint files used during the course will be available for students on the AMS Campus website.

Office hours

See the website of Paola Scrolavezza