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 Mediterranea 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 contexts through the analysis of literary texts. The historical context may have already been studied in other teachings 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 form, in a concise and effective way

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

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 Japanese literature of the Meiji era (1868-1912). Study and discussion of canonical writers and works.
Lessons 7-12: genres, currents, and practices in Japanese literature of the Taisho era (1912-1926). Study and discussion of canonical writers and works.
Lessons 12-15: genres, currents, and practices in 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:

Remo Ceserani, "Guida breve allo studio della letteratura", Roma ; Bari, Laterza, 2008 (a selection of entries from the "glossary")

P. Zanotti, "Introduzione alla storia della poesia giapponese, vol. 2: Dall’Ottocento al Duemila", Venezia, Marsilio, 2012. (a selection of chapters)

L. Bienati, P. Scrolavezza, "La narrativa giapponese moderna e contemporanea", Venezia, Marsilio, 2009. (a selection of chapters)

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)

Further select articles and papers provided during classes.


Literary works in translation:

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

2) Mori Ogai, "Come se", a cura di P. Cavaliere, Milano, Jouvence, 2015.

3) Natsume Sōseki, "Sanshirō", a cura di M. T. Orsi, Venezia, Marsilio, 2001.

4) Tayama Katai, "Il futon", tr. di I. Ingegneri, Venezia, Marsilio, 2015.

5) Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, "Rashōmon e altri racconti", tr. di A. Pastore et al., Torino, Einaudi, 2016. (a selection of stories)

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

7) Edogawa Ranpo, "La strana storia dell'Isola Panorama", a cura di A. Zanonato, Venezia, Marsilio, 2019.

8) Kawabata Yasunari, "La banda di Asakusa", tr. di C. Pes, Torino, Einaudi, 2007. (available on moodle)

9) Kobayashi Takiji, "Il peschereccio di granchi", Rivoli, Neos, 2010. (available on moodle)

Further readings will be provided by the lecturer.

Written test (90 mins):
- 6 open-ended questions;
- 5 multiple-choice questions (no points are subtracted in case of wrong answers).
- 5 identifications of excerpts taken from the compulsory creative texts.

The 6 open questions each receive a score in 30/30. The overall vote for this part is the average of these answers.
The quiz and the 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 2019-20 academic year. Starting from 2020-21, a new syllabus will be in use.

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