This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

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Readings

Required Texts

Buy at Amazon Kirino, Natsuo. Out. Reprint ed. New York, NY: Vintage, 2005. ISBN: 1400078377.

Buy at Amazon Abe, Kobo. The Woman in the Dunes. Reissue ed. New York, NY: Vintage, 1991. ISBN: 0679733787.

Buy at Amazon Murakami, Haruki. Kafka on the Shore. Reprint ed. New York, NY: Vintage, 2006. ISBN: 1400079276.

Weekly Films and Readings

WEEK # TOPICS FILMS READINGS
1 Introduction to the Class No film this week, only shorts in class and the fieldtrip.

Buy at Amazon Keene, Donald. "Japanese Aesthetics." In The Pleasures of Japanese Literature. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1993 [1988]. ISBN: 0231067372.

Keene describes several characteristics of Japanese aesthetics. Please pay attention to the ways he uses concrete examples to make larger generalizations. How does he contrast Japan with the West? Do you agree?

Buy at Amazon Shikibu, Murasaki. The Tale of Genji. Translated by Royall Tyler. Reprint ed. New York, NY: Penguin Classics, 2006. ISBN: 0143039490.

Written by Murasaki Shikibu, this is often regarded as the first novel ever written. Please read the introduction and consider the uses of poetry, writing, and the audiences for both. Why did poetry have political power in addition to being a means to have people fall in love with you?

Fieldtrip: Meet at classroom promptly for a fieldtrip to the Massachusetts College of Art Bakalar and Paine Galleries to see performance/film/art by Miyake Shintarô.
2 Japanese Aesthetics Rashomon. Directed by Akira Kurosawa.

Buy at Amazon Akutagawa, Ryunoskue. "In a Grove." In Rashomon and Other Stories. Reissue ed. New York, NY: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 1999 [1952]. ISBN: 0871401738.

This story forms the basis of Kurosawa Akira's film Rashomon. Please consider perspective, voice, and emotion. How does it appear in the text? How in comparison to the film?

Buy at Amazon Akutagawa, Ryunoskue. "Rashomon." In Rashomon and Other Stories. Reissue ed. New York, NY: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 1999 [1952]. ISBN: 0871401738.

Why do you think Kurosawa used this title of another Akutagawa's short story?
3 Suicide Double Suicide. Directed by Masahiro Shinoda.

Buy at Amazon Chikamatsu, Monzaemon. "The Love Suicides at Amijima (Shinjū Ten no Amijima)." In Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu. Translated by Donald Keene. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1998. ISBN: 0231111010.

This is the story that the film Double Suicide is based upon. Please note the use of the "jyoruri" or narrator, and see how this is managed in the film. Consider how "giri" (obligation) and "ninjo" human feelings come into conflict. As always, consider this tale in relation to the other materials we've touched on so far.
4 The Pressure of Daily Life Paranoia Agent (TV series). Directed by Satoshi Kon. Episodes 1-7.

Buy at Amazon Kirino, Natsuo. Out. Reprint ed. New York, NY: Vintage, 2005. ISBN: 1400078377.

Session 1: Guest lecture: Professor Adam Kern from Harvard will discuss his research on Edo period manga, and the history of comics in Japan
5 Gender and Sexuality Paranoia Agent (TV series). Directed by Satoshi Kon. Episodes 8-13. Buy at Amazon Kirino, Natsuo. Out. Reprint ed. New York, NY: Vintage, 2005. ISBN: 1400078377.
6 Contemporary and Traditional Japan

Twilight Samurai (Tasogare seibei). Directed by Yamamoto (Yôji).

Optional: Watch/ compare The Last Samurai. Directed by Edward Zwick.

Buy at Amazon Finish Kirino, Natsuo. Out. Reprint ed. New York, NY: Vintage, 2005. ISBN: 1400078377.

Session 2: In lieu of class, visit the Museum of Fine Arts exhibit Tradition and Transformation: Japanese Art 1860-1940. Please consider the representative works related to Japan in terms of class themes regarding the representation of gender, class, violence, and traditional vs. modern Japan. You do not need to visit the MFA during class, but you must come prepared to discuss the MFA in Session #1 of Week 7.
7 The Making of Anime Princess Mononoke. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Buy at Amazon Abe, Kobo. The Woman in the Dunes. Reissue ed. New York, NY: Vintage, 1991. ISBN: 0679733787.
8 Surrealism Electric Dragon 80,000 volts. Directed by Sogo Ishii. Buy at Amazon Finish Abe, Kobo. The Woman in the Dunes. Reissue ed. New York, NY: Vintage, 1991. ISBN: 0679733787.
9 False Realism

Woman in the Dunes. Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara.

Optional: Special anime screening related to the two-day symposium "COOL JAPAN: Violence and Desire in Japanese Popular Culture."

 Discuss Woman in the Dunes in relation to the book. Given that the book is largely a psychological study, how does the film deal with the challenge of portraying this aspect of Abe's tale?
10 Uses of the Absurd Mind Game. Directed by Masaaki Yuasa. Buy at Amazon Murakami, Haruki. Kafka on the Shore. Reprint ed. New York, NY: Vintage, 2006. ISBN: 1400079276.
11 Humor Tampopo. Directed by Juzo Itami. Buy at Amazon Finish Murakami, Haruki. Kafka on the Shore. Reprint ed. New York, NY: Vintage, 2006. ISBN: 1400079276.
12 Student Presentations Watch on one's own, related to final paper.

Short stories

Buy at Amazon Kawabata, Yasunari. The Dancing Girl of Izu and Other Stories. Translated by J. Martin Holman. Reprint ed. Washington, DC: Counterpoint, 2002 [1998]. ISBN: 1887178945.

Buy at Amazon Tanizaki, Junichiro. The Gourmet Club: A Sextet. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN: 4770029721.

Buy at Amazon ———. Seven Japanese Tales. Reissue ed. New York, NY: Vintage, 1996. ISBN: 0679761071.
13 Student Presentations (cont.) Watch on one's own, related to final paper.

Short stories

Mishima, Yukio.

Oe, Kenzaburo.
14 Concluding Thoughts / Further Questions No films this week. No readings.