LAS231 Experiencing "Japan" through Literary Texts

Overview

This module enables students to understand the key debates and issues in Japanese culture and society as related in literature, from pre-modern to contemporary times. Taking a chronological and thematic perspective, the module engages with critical approaches to literature and its interpretation, and through these encourages students to develop and acquire critical thinking about concepts of Japan and Japaneseness.

Topics Covered

• Mythology: Kojiko

• Folkore: Peach Boy and Imperialism

• Folklore: Princess Kaguya (animated film)

• Nobvel Prize Winners: Kawabata Yasunari, Kazuo Ishiguro

• Writing Japan as an outsider: Angela Carter

• Reading Contemporary Japanese Women Writers

Skills developed

• Demonstrate an analytical and critical understanding of the key factors shaping Japanese Literature from premodern to contemporary times. 

• Apply theoretical, conceptual and methodological approaches from History, Cultural and Literary Studies and their cognate disciplines to the interpretation of specific case studies about Japanese culture. 

• Recognise key debates in the study of literature in and beyond the Japanese context.

• Demonstrate the ability to contextualise literature with close reading skills. 

• Generate a coherent argument about the role of literature in shaping Japanese society in a particular time period. 

Study Hours

The University recommends that you spend 200 hours working on a 20-credit module. This will include:

• Lectures 10 hours

• Seminars 11 hours

• Independent study 179 hours

Assessment

• 2000 word Essay 100%