CLASSIC JAPANESE LITERATURE

This is one of the characterizing subjects within the "Japan" curriculum of the graduate course in "Lingue e Culture dell'Asia e dell'Africa Mediterranea".
The course contributes to the attainment of the teaching goals of the graduate course in the area of language skills and includes also the more specific goals of the cultural and humanities areas.
The main objectives of the course are: 1) to understand the characteristics of women's premodern Japanese literature produced in the Kamakura period (1185-1333) in relation to the historical and social context; 2) to acquire useful tools to conduct bibliographic research and work independently on different topics of Japanese premodern literature ; 3) to develop the judgement faculty and the skills to produce and communicate, both in oral and in written form, the critical and interpretative discourses on the topics of the course; 4) to learn how to write an academic essay effectively.

Knowledge and understanding:
- to know and understand the main authors and works of women's literature in the Kamakura period
- to know and understand concepts and tools from the fields of literary criticism and historiography
- to deepen the knowledge and understanding of historical contexts through the analysis of literary texts
- to know useful tools to conduct independently bibliographic research

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 to the historical period studied in the course
- to use bibliographic references in different languages (included Japanese)
- to conduct new and interdisciplinary researches

Making judgements:
- to produce critical judgments on the textual and historical-literary phenomena that are part of the program
- to subject various types of sources (academic and creative texts) to critical examination
- to develop original and innovative theories on the topics introduced during the lessons

Communication:
- to express one's opinion in an effective way
- to re-elaborate and express in an effective way the opinions of other people
- to write independently an academic essays on Japanese literature

Lifelong learning skills:
- to know how to conduct bibliographic research
- to know how to critically integrate the study of different materials (notes, slides, manuals, creative texts, academic articles)
- to be able to read and re-elaborate in a synthetic way materials written in different languages
- to refine one's ability to use the online teaching platform
- to know how to write an academic essay in an effective way

A solid knowledge of Japanese political and social history from the XI to XIII century. Good command of Classical and Modern Japanese.

The course aims to develop students translation skills and sharpen their ability to apply philological and critical arguments through the close reading of Nun Abutsu's (1225-1283) works. As a court attendant, mother, nun, scholar, teacher, wife and widow, Abutsu represents many paths taken by medieval aristocratic women. By mapping her career and analyzing the texts she produced, the course tries to reconstruct the life of thirteenth-century Japanese women, their upbringing and aspirations, and the kind of solutions they have if their dreams go unfulfilled.
Students will be expected to learn how to conduct bibliographic research and how to write an academic essay on the topics discussed during the lessons. For this purpose the teacher will explain how to use several databases and websites of national and international libraries. Teacher will also guide students to the gradual process of writing academic essays and to the correct use of editorial rules.

- Atkins, P. A. (2006) "Nijō v. Reizei: Land Rights, Litigation, and Literary Authority in Medieval Japan", Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 66 (2), pp. 495-529. Cambridge, Mass.
- Laffin, C. (2013) Rewriting Medieval Japanese Women. Politics, Personality, and Literary Production in the Life of Nun Abutsu. Honolulu.
- Meeks, L. ( 2010)" Buddhist Renunciation and the female Life Cycle. Understanding Nunhood in Heian and Kamakura Japan", Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 70 (1), 1-59. Cambridge, Mass.
- Negri, C. (2017) "Come diventare una donna di successo nel periodo Kamakura (1185-1333). Consigli utili dalla Lettera di Abutsu", Annali, Sezione Orientale, vol. 77 (1-2), pp. 262-280. Leiden.
- Negri, C. (2018) "Reference Manuals for Young Ladies-in-Waiting. A Comparison of the Murasaki Shikibu Diary and the Letter of Abutsu", RSO, XC, 1-4, 271-284.
- Tabuchi, K. (2000) Abutsu ni to sono jidai. Utatane kara kataru chūsei. Tokyo.
- Tabuchi, K. (2009) Abutsu ni. Tōkyō.
- Tonomura, H. (1990) "Women and Inheritance in Japan's Early Warrior Society", Comparative Studies in Society and History, 32 (3), Cambridge U. P.
- Wakita, H. (1984) Marriage and Property in Premodern Japan from Perspective of Women’s History, The Society for Japanese Studies, 10 (1), 73-99. Seattle.
- Yanase, K. ed. (1984) Abutsu ni zenshū zōhōban. Tokyo.
A selection of texts in classical Japanese will be available for download from the ISA didactic materials.

Students will be expected to develop a brief essay on a specific work of nun Abutsu and support their arguments both through textual references and with regard to critical scholarship in the field.

Frontal Lessons with Power Point presentations.

Italian

written