In a few days I will decide the content of a Spring 2014 class the falls under the title J170 — Readings in Premodern Japanese Literature in Translation." If satisfies various requirements. I have several ideas. Below are some of them. I am very interested in your reactions. Do you prefer some more than others? Are none interesting enough? I would greatly appreciate your email, or, if you prefer, I have a simple poll at Doddle poll: Spring 2014 J170 class ideas where you can "vote" for none, some, or all of them (without using your real name). I need to make a decision very soon so, although I know you are busy, I am truly interested in understanding your course interests (or even if you care whether or not you are asked your course interests) so, if you can take a couple minutes now, it would be very instructive to me. You can answer from the perspective of "not me but some students" or "me, even though in truth I have no time to take any of these classes" or "me, weighing in on something I hope you offer next semester".
Option A: "Emotional intelligence" and premodern Japanese literature
Recent research suggests that the reading of "high discourse" literature improves a reader's "emotional intelligence" by enhancing the ability to construct a "Theory of Mind (TOM)" of others, that is, to make a good estimate of what they are thinking and feeling. Premodern Japanese literature was composed with strong "TOM" expectations: readers were to make effort at understanding the deep feelings of the fictional characters based on narrative clues that are slim. "Suggestiveness (yojō)" was a writing technique that relied on these expectations. In this class we deepen our understanding of premodern Japanese literature and the cultures that were its context by exploring emotional intelligence and TOM issue. Due to the approach of this course, we read primarily excerpts of plot-rich prose literature. No prerequisites. All material is in English.
Option B: "Strength" and "weakness" in premodern Japanese literature
Strength, fading strength, illness, and "faintness" are frequent qualities of Japanese literature in a variety of ways: its aesthetics, its ethics, its fictional characters and its plot-lines, to name a few. For example, these qualities are important elements to concepts such as masurao (manliness), makoto (sincerity), Bushidō (warrior code), expressions of Buddhist transience, hie ("chill"), and sabi ("rustic, aged beauty"). Strength and weakness are central concepts in 11th c. story of longing and desire, The Tale of Genji, and the 14th c. military story, the Tale of Heike, the failed lives of lovers in the double suicide plays of 18th c. Japan and in all eras of Japanese poetry. In this class we read from a variety of Japanese time periods and literary genre, to explore how strength and weakness are key to understanding specific literary moments. Due to the approach of this course, we read primarily excerpts, not full works. No prerequisites. All material is in English.
Option C: "Immediacy" in haikai literature
Haiku (hai-poem), haibun (hai-prose), and haiga (hai-painting) all share a sense of having been "written in the moment", casually, and closely related to a specific object or seasonal moment. And yet, at the same time, this literature evokes much more than what it explicitly states. This class looks at the interesting balance between casual presentation and disciplined composition, abbreviated representation and suggestiveness, simplicity and depth. For example, Bashō suggested that a beautiful poem should be like "the clear water of a burbling stream" and yet his interest in the Chinese classics, Zen Buddhism and so forth add an important dimension to his poems. In this class we consider and interpret haiku, haibun and haiga from the Edo period. No prerequisites. All material is in English.
Option D: "Image & text in premodern Japanese literature"
Calligraphy, words and images have been spatially associated with one another for most of Japan's premodern history, a practice that continues today. We look at how words and images suggest interpretations of one another in two specific traditions: illustrated scrolls of Heian and Kamakura Japan and haiga (paintings with haiku) in Edo Japan. No prerequisites. All material is in English.
Option E: "Autobiographical writings by women of premodern Japan"
Aristocratic women wrote in detail about their lives and those around them. Often the tone of the work is personal, vulnerable and impressively sensitive in its observations. The works are better described as "quasi-autobiographical" since fictional elements are often woven into the diary-like entries. We will read Gossamer Years, a woman's description of the gradual failure of her marriage over a twenty-year period, Izumi's Diary, a description of the first ten months of an affair with a prince, Pillow Book, a description of events at the imperial court, and Confessions of Lady Nijō, the description of a woman's service to an emperor, her other love affairs, and, in the end, her life as a nun. Time permitting, we will read Murasaki's Diary, the description of the birth of a prince but including some cutting description of fellow ladies-in-waiting, and Takasue's Daughter's Diary (usually know in English as "As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams"), a wistful remembrance of how she lived her life, written near the end of her life. No prerequisites. All material is in English.
Option F: "The Tale of Heike and its reception by Noh dramas"
The military tale The Tale of Heike is considered one of the outstanding achievements of premodern Japan. It has inspired numerous works of art and literature since its inception. In this course we read The Tale of Heike and consider several Noh dramas devoted to its themes. No prerequisites. All material is in English.