31335 - Japanese Literature 3

Academic Year 2019/2020

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Foreign Languages and Literature (cod. 0979)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students will have acquired a profound knowledge of problems and trends in the history of Japanese literature. They can read and discuss literary works in original language and will be able to evaluate literary quality, themes and style of the works that have been studied, analyzing the texts according to specific critical methodologies and reading them in historical and cultural context.

Course contents

Transmedia Storytelling in Japan

In the cultural landscape of contemporary Japan, the relationship between literature, cinema, television and new media has played an increasingly important role in the construction of narratives aimed at a heterogeneous, even transnational, public. From the long tradition of film transpositions, which can be interpreted on the basis of the theory of adaptations, to pop cross-contamination in the 1980s literature, from novelization to media mix, the course provides a real journey into contemporary Japanese culture and its impact on global culture. From this point of view, a fundamental role is played by consumers, in particular by fandom, which in different and creative ways appropriates narrative contents and expands them into fan fiction, video, fan film, cosplay, through participatory practices that develop them in new directions, often very distant from the source.

Students will prepare a Powerpoint presentation focused on a topic related to the course contents.

Readings/Bibliography

Bibliography:

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

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


Critical sources:

Rachael Hutchinson e Leith Douglas Morton, Routledge Handbook of Modern Japanese Literature, Routledge, 2016 (una selezione di passi sarà disponibile fra i materiali didattici online all'inizio del corso).

Azuma, Hiroki, Otaku: Japan’s Database Animals, Jonathan E. Abel and Shion Kono (trans.), Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 2009

Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin, Remediation: Understanding New Media, Cambridge, MIT Press, 2000

Henry Jenkins, “Searching for the Origami Unicorn: The Matrix and Transmedia Storytelling”, in Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, New York, New York University Press, 2006, pp. 93-130.

Henry Jenkins, “Transmedia Storytelling 202: Further Reflections”, [http://static1.squarespace.com/static/592880808419c27d193683ef/592e42003f4058439e024f02/592e4e893f4058439e040c33/1496206985107/defining_transmedia_further_re.htm?format=original] Confessions of an Aca-Fan, August 1, 2011.

Derek Johnson, Media Franchises: Creative Licensing and Collaboration in the Creative Industries, New York, New York University Press, 2013.

Andrea Phillips, A Creator’s Guide to Transmedia Storytelling, New York, McGraw-Hill, 2012.

Mark J. P. Wolf, Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory and History of Subcreation, London, Routledge, 2013.

Otsuka Eiji, “World and Variation: The Reproduction and Consumption of Narrative”, Mechademia 5, 2010, pp. 99-116.

Mizuko Ito, “Gender Dynamics of the Japanese Media Mix”, in Yasmin B. Kafai, Carrie Heeter, Jill Denner, and Jennifer Y. Sun (eds.), Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat: New Perspectives on Gender and Gaming, Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, 2008, pp. 97-110.

Alisa Freedman, Train Man and the Gender Politics of Japanese 'Otaku' Culture: The Rise of New Media, Nerd Heroes and Consumer Communities, in Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific, Issue 20, April 2009
[http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue20/freedman.htm]

Kelly Hansen, ‘Authenticity in Japanese Cell Phone Novel Discourse’, U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal, 48 (November), 60–78, 2015.

Ian Condry, The Soul of Anime: Collaborative Creativity and Japan’s Media Success Story, Durham, Duke University Press, 2013.

Marc Steinberg, Anime’s Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 2012.

Jay Rubin, Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words, Vintage, 2005.

 

Primary sources:

Murakami Haruki, Norwegian wood. Tokyo blues, Torino, Einaudi, 2013

Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2014

Murakami Ryu, 69. Sixty-nine, Roma, Atmosphere, 2019

Train Man. Romanzo d'amore collettivo, Isbn Edizioni, Milano 2007

*Edogawa Ranpo, La strana storia dell'Isola Panorama, Marsilio, Venezia 2019.

Suehiro Maruo, La strana storia dell'Isola Panorama, Coconino Press, 2011.

Other materials will be provided by the teacher during the lessons.

 

The Powerpoint files used during the course will be available for students on the course website (see 'Teaching material).

Teaching methods

The course will consist in lectures held by the teacher and seminars. 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 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 course website (see 'Teaching material).

Office hours

See the website of Paola Scrolavezza