VISUAL JAPAN: IDENTITY EXPLORATIONS IN CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE CINEMA

Academic year
2025/2026 Syllabus of previous years
Official course title
VISUAL JAPAN: ESPLORAZIONI IDENTITARIE NEL CINEMA GIAPPONESE CONTEMPORANEO
Course code
LT2825 (AF:529783 AR:298106)
Teaching language
Italian
Modality
On campus classes
ECTS credits
6
Degree level
Bachelor's Degree Programme
Academic Discipline
L-OR/22
Period
1st Semester
Course year
2
Where
VENEZIA
This course is one of the related/integrative activities of choice for students in the humanities of the Japanese curriculum, but is also recommended for students in the other curricula in order to gain an overview of the development of Japanese cinema from the post-World War II period to the present day in relation to the historical developments and political/cultural dynamics that have characterised the country, with a particular focus on identity issues that will naturally place it in dialogue with neighbouring East Asian countries (China and Korea).
The aim of the course is to provide students with basic knowledge and tools to understand communication strategies and figurative and visual languages used in Japan from the post-WWII period to the present day for self representation and to relate themselves to the world. Lessons will include case studies and use of audiovisual materials.
No specific prerequisites in the field of film studies are required; however, it is desirable that students have a basic knowledge of Japanese history, particularly the post-World War II period, acquired through (but not exclusively) the learning objectives of the course "History of Japan 2." It is preferable that students have an intermediate level of English (B2) to be able to explore the topics discussed in class, using the reference texts.
The course aims to offer students some theoretical perspectives for the investigation of Japanese cinema from an identity perspective and identifies the cinematic birth of the contemporary "Japanese identity" in the New Wave revolution of the 1960s and then follows its changes up to the more recent international successes of Koreeda and Hamaguchi. The lectures will take both a diachronic approach, tracing the evolution of the Japanese film industry and its authors from the 1960s to the present day, and a synchronic one, focusing on a series of pivotal themes (zainichi, ethnic minorities and the relationship with the "other", memory of the war and the imperialist period, eco-disasters and the representation of natural disasters) around which the construction and problematisation of contemporary Japanese identity in cinema revolves.
The analysis of cinema in Japan also makes it possible to address, through the immediacy of the image, broader themes. Such themes include the economic dynamics and cultural flows linking China, South Korea and Japan, the different political practices (in some cases close to 'soft power' dynamics) involving the production and distribution of films in Asia but also in the global market, and the transition towards a global aesthetic versus what have long been analysed as national cinemas. In line with the most advanced international studies in the field of cinema in relation to political and social changes such as film festival studies and in direct contact with the practices of audiovisual production and distribution, the course provides students with both a historical-theoretical basis and keys to interpretations more directly related to the practices of cinema, orienting them towards the main moments in which the audiovisual industry is articulated: production, circulation and distribution.
Maria Roberta Novielli, Storia del cinema giapponese, Marsilio, Venezia, 2001 (from page 199)

Other materials will be provided by the teacher during classes and on the MOODLE platform
Written examination consisting of three essay questions

*In case of online exams an oral test will replace the written examination
written
A. Scores in the 18-22 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- sufficient knowledge and applied comprehension skills;
- limited ability to analyze and interpret film texts;
- sufficient communication skills, especially concerning the use of specific language.
B. Scores in the 23-26 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- fair knowledge and applied comprehension skills;
- discrete ability to analyze and interpret film texts;
- fair communication skills, especially concerning the use of specific language.
C. Scores in the 27-30 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- good or very good knowledge and applied comprehension skills;
- good or excellent ability to analyze and interpret film texts;
- fully appropriate communication skills, especially concerning the use of specific language.
D. The "cum laude" mark will be awarded in the presence of excellent knowledge and applied understanding, excellent judgment and excellent communication skills.
Along with textbooks and explanations, a wide range of audivisual material will be employed, in order to complete and enrich oral knowledge.

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

Definitive programme.
Last update of the programme: 24/03/2025