JAPANESE LITERATURE 2

This is one of the core courses within the "Japan" curriculum of the Bachelor's Degree Programme in "Language, Culture and Society of Asia and Mediterranean Africa".
The course contributes to the attainment of the teaching goals of the Corso di Laurea in the area of language skills, but it also invests the cultural and humanities areas.
The main goals of the course are: to provide knowledge on the history of Japanese literature between 1868 and 1945; to provide tools for the analysis and discussion of literary phenomena; to make the students acquire the skills to analyze the literary texts covered in the course; to develop the judgement faculty and the skills to produce and communicate a piece of interpretive discourse on the themes of the course.

Knowledge and understanding:
- to know and understand the main aspects (authors, movements, works, etc.) in the history of Japanese literature between 1868 and 1945
- to know and understand concepts and tools from the fields of literary criticism and historiography
- to deepen the knowledge and understanding of historical and cultural contexts through the analysis of literary texts. The historical context may have already been studied in other courses from different points of view (e.g. historical, artistic ...)

Applying knowledge and understanding:
- to analyze and interpret literary texts by using concepts and tools from the fields of literary criticism and historiography
- to critically apply concepts from literary historiography (eg "canon formation") to the historical period studied in the course

Communication:
- to express and re-elaborate the contents of the program in written or oral form, in a concise and effective way

It is desirable that the students possess a good knowledge of premodern Japanese literature, acquired through (however not exclusively) attending the "Japanese Literature 1" class.

It is desirable that the students possess some notions of literary theory and criticism. Those who do not possess it may resort the the following book:
- Chines, Loredana e Varotti, Carlo, "Che cos'è un testo letterario (nuova edizione)", Roma, Carocci, 2015

The course will cover the history of Japanese literature from the 19th century to the beginning of WWII. Special emphasis will be placed on the years between 1905 and 1937.
Lesson 1: "History" of "Japanese" "Literature": a preliminary problematization.
Lessons 2-7: genres, currents, and practices in the Japanese literature of the Meiji era (1868-1912). Study and discussion of canonical writers and works.
Lessons 7-12: genres, currents, and practices in the Japanese literature of the Taisho era (1912-1926). Study and discussion of canonical writers and works.
Lessons 12-15: genres, currents, and practices in the Japanese literature of the Showa era (1926-1945). Study and discussion of canonical writers and works.

The students will refer to the reading list that will be published in the moodle shortly before the beginning of classes.

Reference:

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

J. S. Mostow, et al., "The Columbia Companion to Modern East Asian Literature", New York, Columbia University Press, 2005. (a selection of chapters provided during classes)

Shirane, Haruo, Tomi Suzuki, and David Lurie, "The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature", 2016. (a selection of chapters provided during classes)

Further select articles and papers provided during classes.


Optional further readings:

P. Zanotti, "Introduzione alla storia della poesia giapponese, vol. 2: Dall’Ottocento al Duemila", Venezia, Marsilio, 2012.

Chines, Loredana e Varotti, Carlo, "Che cos'è un testo letterario (nuova edizione)", Roma, Carocci, 2015


Literary works in translation. Suggested editions:

1) L. Bienati, et al. (a cura di), "Letterario, troppo letterario: Antologia della critica giapponese moderna", Venezia, Marsilio, 2016. (selected chapters)

2) Ishikawa Takuboku, "Tristi balocchi", Milano, Ariele, 2021.

3) Natsume Sōseki, "Il cuore delle cose", Vicenza, Beat Bestseller, 2021.

4) Tayama Katai, "Il maestro di campagna", a cura di P. Zanotti, Venezia, Marsilio, 2023 (should be out by the end of 2023; if not, it will be replaced by Tayama Katai, "Il futon", tr. di I. Ingegneri, Venezia, Marsilio, 2015).

5) Hagiwara Sakutarō, “Abbaiare alla luna”, a cura di I. Sagiyama, in "Il Giappone", 23, 1983, pp. 75-124. (disponibile in moodle)

6) Tanizaki Jun'ichirō, "Libro d'ombra", a cura di L. Bienati, Venezia, Marsilio, 2022.

Further readings will be provided by the lecturer.

Written test (70 mins):
- 10 multiple-choice questions (barrier test). 5 right answers are needed to pass the exam.
- 4 open-ended questions.
- 5 identifications of excerpts taken from the compulsory creative texts.
- 5 "fill in the gap" questions

The 4 open questions each receive a score in 30/30. The overall vote for this part is the average of these answers.
The fill-in-the-gap and recognition parts contribute to the final score thus obtained by adding to it a bonus-malus ranging between -1 (all wrong answers) and +1 (all answers are correct)

Conventional, with powerpoint presentations.
Bibliography, presentations and further readings are available on the moodle platform.

See: "moodle" for powerpoint presentations of the lessons, syllabus and further materials.

For organizational reasons and in order to assure the quality of the teaching, the students are recommended to follow the alphabetical partitions.

This exam (with this syllabus) will be available only for the 4 "appelli" of the 2023-24 academic year. Starting from 2024-25, a new syllabus will be in use.

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