JAPANESE LITERATURE 3

The course "Japanese Literature 3" is an introduction to the major artistic and literary phenomena in Japan from the end of the World War II to the present time.
This course is one of the core educational activities for the Japan-focused curriculum of the Bachelor's Degree Programme in Language, Culture and Society of Asia and Mediterranean Africa. It contributes to the attainment of the teaching goals of the same Bachelor's Degree Programme in language skills, but it also invests the cultural and humanities areas. The study of novels and essays will enhance skills in textual analysis and the understanding of historical and cultural contexts.
Abilities concerning the macroscopic development of modern and contemporary Japanese literature constitute the foundations to pursue literary and cultural studies.

Expected learning outcomes:
The course aims to introduce knowledge and understanding of the main literary, artistic and cultural phenomena of contemporary Japan.
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to

Knowledge and comprehension skills:
- outline the main elements (authors, movements, works, etc.) of the history of Japanese literature from 1945 to the present day;
- identify and distinguish among the concepts and tools of literary criticism and historiography;
- extend, through the analysis of literary texts, their knowledge and understanding of historical contexts, previously encountered in other subjects of the degree course from a different perspective (e.g. historical, artistic...).

Application and analysis skills:
- analyse and interpret literary texts using critical and historiographical concepts and tools;
- relate literary texts using critical and historiographical concepts and tools;
- critically apply concepts of literary historiography to the period under examination.

Evaluation skills:
- appraise textual and historical-literary phenomena that are part of the programme using critically and historiographically sound arguments;
- assess a variety of sources through critical examination;
- criticise essentialist and stereotypical discourses on 'Japanese culture';
- ascertain useful critical material for their learning purposes.

Communication skills:
- concisely and effectively re-elaborate and convey the contents of the programme in written form, without resorting to automatisms and schematics resulted from mnemonic learning strategies;
- concisely and effectively re-elaborate and convey a presentation on a topic of interest in Japanese literature, without having to resort to automatisms and schematics resulted from mnemonic learning strategies;
- debate or present a topic of interest in Japanese literature in accordance to the aforementioned objectives;
- convey a concept effectively with support of a Power Point presentation;
- engage and collaborate in group projects.

Learning skills:
- critically integrate different learning materials (notes, slides, textbooks, creative texts, academic articles);
- autonomously study materials and topics not covered during lectures;
- improve their ability to study materials in English;
- improve their ability to use the online teaching platform Moodle;
- improve their ability to use the online conference platform Zoom;
- improve their ability to use Ca’ Foscari University’s bibliographic research tools;
- perfect the ability to use the virtual noticeboard Padlet in cooperative learning activities.

Good knowledge skills of classical and modern Japanese literature, which are expected to be acquired by attendance to "Japanese Literature 2" course.

The course involves an in-depth analysis of some among the significant texts in Japanese literature dating from the post-war period and by writers of the latest generation. Short video lectures on the topic will be made available in the days preceding each seminar class. Students will take an active part in the seminar classes, debating on the basis of short texts related to syllabus content and suggested by the lecturer. Seminar classes will be held in synchronous teaching (please refer to the Zoom meetings plan published on the course Moodle page).
In addition, students are expected to participate in group activities via the virtual noticeboard Padlet, by posting their own critical contributions monthly (researching academic articles and scientific resources taken from websites; producing written or audio-video feedback on covered topics; other proposals for contributions will be discussed and agreed with the class group). Academic articles presented by the students will form a personalized virtual bibliographical database, which will contribute to students’ progress in autonomous research for bibliographical sources.
Other individual presentations and group discussions on the main literary texts will be agreed directly with the students.

L. Bienati, P. Scrolavezza, La narrativa giapponese moderna e contemporanea, Marsilio, Venezia 2009.
L. Bienati (a cura di), Letteratura giapponese. Dalla fine dell'Ottocento all'inizio del terzo millennio, Einaudi, 2005.


LITERARY TEXTS (in Italian translation)
Ibuse Masuji, La pioggia nera, a cura di L. Bienati, Marsilio, 2005.
Mishima Yukio, Confessioni di una maschera, in Romanzi e racconti, Mondadori, 2006.
Endo Shusaku, Silenzio, Corbaccio, 2013.
Kawabata Yasunari, La bellezza del Giappone e io, in Romanzi e racconti, Mondadori, 2003.
Oe Kenzaburo, Io e il mio ambiguo Giappone, in Il figlio dell'imperatore, Marsilio, 1997.
Oe Kenzaburo, Note su Hiroshima, Alet, 2008
Abe Kobo, La donna di sabbia, Atmosphere libri, 2016.
Murakami Haruki, a novel of your choice.
Yoshimoto Banana, a novel of your choice.
Enchi Fumiko, Maschere di donna, a cura di M.T. Orsi, Marsilio 1999.
Scrivere per Fukushima (one short story or essay of your choice), Atmosphere Libri, 2013.
Short texts relating to the literary texts and discussed during seminar classes will be made available periodically on the Moodle platform of the course.
Students are also invited to actively participate in the search for critical material to support discussion on these topics.

Self-assessment quizzes will be made available periodically on the Moodle platform of the course.
The final exam will include evaluation of the results of group work carried out through the Padlet platform (30%) and an oral exam (70%), which will include discussion of the topics covered in the syllabus and during the course.

The course will be held in blended mode, composed by
- Synchronous seminar classes, supported by short video lectures made available on a weekly basis on the Moodle platform of the course, and consisting of students’ active debate on both video lectures and the content of short texts which will be available periodically on the Moodle platform of the course;
- Cooperative learning via the virtual noticeboard Padlet.

For the full calendar of seminar classes and the course syllabus, please refer to the Zoom meetings plan and the documents published on the Moodle page of the course.

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "International cooperation" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development