31335 - Japanese Literature 3

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

Changing Trends in Japanese Women’s Cultural Productions

The course  follows the history of Japanese culture and literature with a specific focus on women's literature and artistic production, from its origins in the Heian period to the present. After a general introduction to the woman condition in Japan through the centuries, the course, moving from the critical approaches developed within Gender and Queer Studies, will examine the most significant authors and texts of each period, with special attention to the relationship between literature and the socio-cultural environment.

Students are required to participate in extracurricular activities - seminars, conferences and initiatives organised alongside the course.

Students unable to attend must contact the teachers at the beginning of the courses.

Readings/Bibliography

Bibliography:

Students are expected to show a basic knowledge of the history of Japanese literature from Heian period to present days. Our reference texts are:

L. Bienati, A. Boscaro, La narrativa giapponese classica, Collana "Elementi", Marsilio, Venezia 2010

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

 

Primary sources:

Murasaki Shikibu, La Storia di Genji, Einaudi, Torino 2012 (trad. dal giapponese di M. T. Orsi) (capp. 1-2-4-5-9-22-25).

Le memorie della dama di Sarashina, a cura di C. Negri, Marsilio, 2005.

Sei Shonagon, Le note del guanciale, SE, 2014.

Higuchi Ichiyō, La tredicesima notte, in Narratori giapponesi moderni I, Mondadori, Milano 1986, pp. 55-72(disponibile online fra i materiali didattici all'inizio del corso)

Yoshiya Nobuko, Storie di fiori, trad. di Paola Scrolavezza, Atmosphere, 2020

Hayashi Fumiko, Lampi, trad. di Paola Scrolavezza, Marsilio, 2011

Tsushima Yuko, Il figlio della fortuna, trad. di Maria Teresa Orsi, Safarà Editore, 2021

Oba Minako, Yamauba no bisho, (il racconto, nella traduzione inglese dal titolo The Smile of a Mountain Witch, sarà disponibile fra i materiali didattici all'inizio del corso)

Enchi Fumiko, Namamiko. L'inganno delle sciamane, trad. di Paola Scrolavezza, Safarà Editore, 2019

 

Other materials will be provided by the teacher during 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.

Teaching methods

Lectures, where concepts and contexts will be presented and explored, will be accompanied with guided working groups on specific topics and/or texts. Details on the content and organisation of the working groups,will be defined at the beginning of the course.

Assessment methods

The exam consists of two parts:

1) written exam: group work via the Virtuale platform (Collaborative Wiki). For details, please refer to the course's Virtuale platform, where the modalities will be specified.

2) oral exam: requires an in-depth study of a subject from among those covered during the course. The exam will test the student's ability to elaborate on the topics exposed in class, to show the knowledge acquired through 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 materials used during the course will be made available to students on the course website (Virtuale).

Office hours

See the website of Samantha Audoly