87352 - Literary Civilisation of Contemporary Japan (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will have acquired an advanced level of knowledge of contemporary Japanese culture and literature with reference to the original sources. They will be able independently to conduct documentary and bibliographic research, so as to apply their skills in the editorial and publishing field and in the promotion of the cultural heritage.

Course contents

The aim of course is to deepen some significant cultural aspects of Japan through the reading of contemporary literary works for adults and especially books of children’s literature.

Nobel Prize-winning Kawabata Yasunari and Ōe Kenzaburō (1-2)

Origin and development of children's literature (3)

The post-war period (4-5)

1960s the rebirth of children's books (6-8)

The 70s Break the taboo Entertainment (9-10)

80s-90s New fantasy (11-12)

1990s Consolatory literature (13)

XXI century The return of war in children's books (14-15)

Picture books (15)

The syllabus will be provided at the first lecture and will be included among the material available on the 'Teaching resources on Virtuale' platform.

Students who wish to deepen the linguistic aspects are invited for programs suited to their linguistic knowledge.

Lessons are held exclusively in presence and are not registered.

Lessons start on March, 18 2024.

Readings/Bibliography

Bibliography for students attending class

Compulsory Books:

Kawabata, Yasunari, Il paese delle nevi, Torino: Einaudi (qualsiasi edizione)

Kawabata, Yasunari, La bellezza del Giappone e io (Materiale didattico-Virtuale)

Ōe, Kenzaburō, Io e il mio ambiguo Giappone (Materiale didattico-Virtuale)

Ōe, Kenzaburō, L'animale d'allevamento, Milano: Il sole 24 ore, 2012. (qualsiasi edizione)

Inui, Tomiko, I segreti della casa sotto l'albero, Roma: Atmosphere Libri, 2017.

Kashiwaba, Sachiko, Il meraviglioso paese oltre la nebbia, Ferrara: Kappalab, 2014.

Kuroyanagi, Tetsuko,Totto-chan : la bambina alla finestra, Milano: Excelsior, 2008.

Kadono, Eiko, Kiki, consegne a domicilio, Bologna: Kappalab, 2018.

Uehashi, Nahoko, Il guardiano dello spirito, Milano: Salani, 2009.

Kimura, Yuichi, In una notte di temporale: seguendo i ricordi di Gabu e Mei (disegni di Hiroshi Abe), Milano: Salani, 2017, or Kazuki, Kaneshiro, Go: A Coming of Age Novel. Amazon crossing, 2018.

Yumoto, Kazumi, Lettere d'autunno, Roma: Atmosphere, 2018.

Kono, Fumiyo, In questo angolo di mondo, Bologna: Kappalab, 2017. (for those who haven't seen the movie)

Tsujimura, Mizuki, Il castello invisibile, Milano: DeA Planeta, 2019, or Mori, Eto, Colorful. Il giorno che sono diventato te: DeAgostini, 2023.

Compulsory Papers (Materiale didattico-Virtuale):

-Amitrano, Giorgio ‘Kawabata’

-Boscaro, Adriana, ‘Introduzione’ Ōe Premio Nobel 1994, Torino, UTET 1999, pp. IX-XXX.

-Mariotti, Marcella, ‘ll percorso letterario di Matsutani Miyoko dal dopoguerra ai giorni nostri: dal dôwa al jidô bungaku, ll percorso letterario di Matsutani Miyoko dal dopoguerra ai giorni nostri: dal dôwa al jidô bungaku’ in: AISTUGIA, Atti del XXVII Convegno di Studi sul Giappone 2003, Venezia, Cartotecnica Veneziana Editrice, 2004, pp. 205-221.

-Taniguchi, Hideko. ‘Jendā free to igyō ehon no naka no josei-zō’(“Yamamba" as a Heroine in Contemporary Children's Literature in Japan) Studies in languages and cultures 19, 2004, pp. 171-178.

- Taniguchi Hideko. 'To Eat or Not To Eat: Fear and Safety inYuichi Kimura’s One Stormy Night ' Studies in Languages and Cultures, No.28, 2012, pp. 208- 216.

-Tisi, Maria Elena ‘Uehashi Nahoko e il Fantasy giapponese’, Riflessioni sul Giappone antico e moderno III, a cura di Paolo Villani, Naomi Hayashi, Luca Capponcelli, Aracne Editrice, Canterano (RM), 2018, pp. 405-426.

-Tisi, Maria Elena, “L’acqua nella letteratura giapponese per l’infanzia”, in Negri, C.(cura) e Tamburello, G. (cura) L’ acqua non è mai la stessa : Le acque nella tradizione culturale dell’ Asia, Leo S. Olschki editore, Firenze, 2009, pp. 191-199.

- Tisi, Maria Elena, Le letture nelle scuole elementari : Zukkoke sanningumi, una popolarità che continua”, Atti del XXVII Convegno di Studi sul Giappone dell’Associazione Italiana per gli Studi Giapponesi (Aistugia), Arcavacata di Rende 18-20 settembre 2003, Cartotecnica Veneziana Editrice, Venezia, 2004, pp.395-409.

Further reference material will be presented in class and available on Virtual.

Reference:

BIENATI, Luisa (a cura di), Letteratura giapponese, vol. II. Dalla fine dell’Ottocento all’inizio del terzo millennio, Torino: Einaudi, 2005.

Bibliography for students NOT attending class

Compulsory readings

Ōe, Kenzaburō, Io e il mio ambiguo Giappone (Materiale didattico-Virtuale)

Kawabata, Yasunari, La bellezza del Giappone e io (Materiale didattico-Virtuale)

10 opere a scelta(Intoduction included):

Enchi, Fumiko, Maschere di donna, Venezia: Marsilio, 1999.

Ibuse, Masuji, La pioggia nera, Venezia: Marsilio, 1993.

Inui, Tomiko, I segreti della casa sotto l'albero, Roma: Atmosphere Libri, 2017.

Kanehara, Hitomi, Serpenti e piercing, Roma: Fazi, 2006.

Kawabata, Yasunari, Il paese delle nevi, Torino: Einaudi (qualsiasi edizione)

Kirino, Natsuo, Le quattro casalinghe di Tokyo, Vicenza: Neri Pozza, 2008.

Mishima. Yukio, Neve di primavera, Milano: Feltrinelli, 2009.

Murakami Haruki, Norwegian wood : Tokyo blues, Torino : Einaudi, [2006]

Ōe, Kenzaburō, L'animale d'allevamento, Milano: Il sole 24 ore, 2012.

Wataya, Risa, Solo con gli occhi, Torino: Einaudi, 2007

Yoshimoto, Banana, Kitchen, Milano: Feltrinelli, 2014.

Yumoto, Kazumi, Lettere d'autunno, Roma: Atmosphere, 2018.

Compulsory articles:

-Amitrano, Giorgio ‘Kawabata’ (Materiale didattico-Virtuale)

-Boscaro, Adriana, ‘Introduzione’ Ōe Premio Nobel 1994, Torino, UTET 1999, pp. IX-XXX.(Materiale didattico-Virtuale)

-Bienati, Luisa (a cura di), Letteratura giapponese, vol. II. Dalla fine dell’Ottocento all’inizio del terzo millennio, Torino: Einaudi, 2005.

Introduzione+pp.78-93+ pp.104-111.

-Bienati, Luisa- Scrolavezza, Paola (a cura di) La narrativa giapponese moderna e contemporanea, Venezia: Marsilio, 2009. Cap.12-24.

Teaching methods

Frontal lesson: presentation, reading and analysis of selected works

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered attending students.

Not attending students are requested to contact me by the end of April 2024.

The present course (6CFU) is a module of 87350 - JAPANESE LITERARY CIVILIZATION (CI) (LM). If the student has the Integrated Course (12CFU) in the study plan, the final grade will be the arithmetic average of the marks obtained in the two modules (87351 - ANCIENT AND MODERN JAPANESE LITERARY CIVILIZATION (1) (LM) and 87352 - CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE LITERARY CIVILIZATION (1) (LM)).

The exam will be conducted orally and will assess the student's command of the material studied in the course.

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology. → 29-30

Good marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarize them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology. →25-29

Preparation on a limited number of topics covered in the course, albeit expressed in correct language and limited autonomous analysis skills, will lead to average evaluations →20-24 Training gaps and/or inappropriate language – albeit in a context of minimal knowledge of the exam material – will lead to grades that will not exceed the sufficiency →18-19

A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he displays significant errors in his understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

Students enrolled in the course as part of an Integrated Course (I.C.) are required to pass the oral examination of the two parts – Literary Civilisation of Ancient and Modern Japan (1) (LM) and Literary Civilisation of Contemporary Japan (1) (LM) – on the same date (the final grade will result from the arithmetic average of the marks obtained in the two parts).

 

Teaching tools

Power point. Visual and audiovisual materials.

Office hours

See the website of Maria Elena Tisi