JAPANESE LITERATURE 1

This is one of the characterising courses within the "Japan" curriculum of the undergraduate course in "Lingue, Culture e Società dell'Asia e dell'Africa Mediterranea".
The course contributes to the attainment of the teaching goals of the Corso di Laurea 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 diachronic development of Japanese literature from VIII to XVIII century; 2) to develop and integrate literary, cultural, and socio-historical knowledge through the study of some of the major figures, works and genres of Japanese premodern literature; 3) to develop the skills to produce and communicate critical and interpretative discourses on the topics of the course.

Knowledge and understanding:
- to know and understand the main authors and works in the history of Japanese literature from VIII to XVIII century
- to learn about imperial court culture in the VIII through XIV century in Japan, and warrior and urban culture in the XIV through XVIII century
- to learn conventions surrounding romantic love and courtship in premodern Japan
- 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.

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

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 understand the basic differences between Japanese literature and European literature of the historical period studied in the course

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

Lifelong learning skills:
- to learn how to take notes during the lessons
- to learn how to critically integrate the study of different materials (notes, slides, manuals, creative texts, academic articles)
- to refine one's ability to study materials in English
- to refine one's ability to use effectively the online teaching platform

A solid knowledge of Japanese political and social history from VIII to XVIII century.

The course will be taught as a survey of pre-modern Japanese literature from the VIII to XVIII century. This will include a broad range of genres from across a millennium of literary history. Starting from the myths and the oldest poetry anthologies dating back to the VIII century, the course will focus on the tales, diaries and poetry which describe the imperial court and the aristocratic people in the X and the XI century, the golden age of Japanese literature. The subsequent decline of the imperial court by the end of XI century, the samurai rose to the power and the crisis of values in a period of transition will be traced through the military chronicles, poetry anthologies and the anecdotal literature influenced by the spread of Buddhism in the medieval period. Following the political and social transformations and the evolution of a literary production which is no longer confined to the court, the course will finally approach the playful, kaleidoscopic, mass produced literature of the Edo period.

JAPANESE LITERARY HISTORY

- Luisa Bienati, Adriana Boscaro, La narrativa giapponese classica, Venezia, Marsilio, 2010

- Pierantonio Zanotti, Introduzione alla storia della poesia giapponese : Dalle origini all’Ottocento, Venezia, Marsilio, 2012 (selection of chapters)


MAJOR WORKS IN TRANSLATION

- Kojiki: Un racconto di antichi eventi, a cura di P. Villani, Venezia, Marsilio, 2006

- Storia di un tagliabambù [Taketori monogatari], a cura di A. Boscaro, Venezia, Marsilio, 1994

- La Principessa di Sumiyoshi [Sumiyoshi monogatari], a cura di C. Negri, Venezia, Marsilio, 2000

I racconti di Ise [Ise monogatari], a cura di A. Maurizi, Venezia, Marsilio, 2018

- Murasaki Shikibu. Storia di Genji, a cura di M. T. Orsi, Torino, Einaudi, 2012

- Le memorie della Dama di Sarashina [Sarashina nikki], a cura di C. Negri, Venezia, Marsilio, 2005

- Kenkō Hōshi, Ore d’ozio [Tsurezuregusa], a cura di A. Boscaro, Venezia, Marsilio, 2014

- La monaca tuttofare, la donna serpente, il demone beone, a cura di R. Strippoli, Venezia, Marsilio, 2001

- Racconti di pioggia e di luna [Ugetsu monogatari], a cura di M. T. Orsi, Venezia, Marsilio, 2001

The examination is a written test on the main literary works produced in Japan from VIII to XVIII century. The test includes ten questions with multiple choices (1 points for each question) and two open questions (max 10 points for each one). The questions aim to verify students' skill in recognizing the chronological collocation of literary works and historical periods, the content of literary works and the main characteristics of a broad range of genres. The overall vote for this part is the sum of the points obtained for all the answers.

Frontal lessons with powerpoint presentations. Powerpoint presentations and other reference materials can be downloaded from the moodle platform.

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

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