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Language of instruction
Duration
LevelIntroduction to Japanese Culture and Society (B-KUL-F0TC8A)
Aims
Thorough introduction into the essential aspects of the Japanese culture.
Previous knowledge
No specific prerequisites.
Content
Studying Japanese is impossible without an encyclopedic knowledge of Things Japanese. An introduction to Japanese Culture is therefore necessary at the beginning of an academic study. Since the first meaning of the Japanese word for culture Bunka is literature, the study of culture implies a survey of Japanese literature from ancient times until today with topics such as tanka, haiku, no, kabuki, Nobel prize winning novellists as Kawabata, Oe and many others. The course presents in a chronological way the major facts of Japanese Civilisation, with a keen eye for the mutual interaction between China and Japan, the West and Japan.
Contents
Japanese Mythology
Prehistoric Times and Archeology
Shinto
The chronicles of Japan
Manyoshu the first anthology of poetry
Introduction of Chinese Civilisation
Invention of the novel and the Genji Monogatari
The new capital: Heiankyo (Kyoto) A cultural highlight
Bushido and epic novels
Zen and Zen gardens
No theatre
Renga linked poetry
Japanese castles
Katsura
The Kano school of painting
Renaissance in Japan
Matsuo Basho and poetry
Ihara Saikaku and prose
Chikamatsu Monzaemon and theatre
The Rimpa and Nanga schools of painting
Yosa Buson
Nikko
Kobayashi Issa
Evolution of Shinto
The only Western nation in Japan during the isolation (sakoku):
the Dutch factory on Deshima
Rangaku: Western = Dutch science
Foundation of Edo (Tokyo) Flourishing of town culture
Ukiyo e (Japanese prints)
Harunobu
Kiyonaga
Sharaku
Utamaro
Hokusai
Hiroshige
Senryu
Modern Prose (Ueda Akinari)
Netsuke & inro
Opening Japan for the West
New Poetic Movement (Shinshisha)
Craze for Japan in the West (Japonism)
Nationalistic reaction
Late ukiyo e Kuniyoshi Yoshitoshi Shin hanga
Modern architecture (around Kenzo Tange)
The Japanese novel in the XXth. Century
Poetry in the XXth. Century
Course material
Text book
Syllabus
Is also included in other courses
- Bachelor of Language and Area Studies: Sinology (Culture Historical Minor) 180 ects.
-
Bachelor of Language and Area Studies: Japanology
180 ects.
Activities
4.0 ects. Introduction to Japanese Culture and Society (B-KUL-F0TC8a)
Content
Despite the fast and radical changes which Japan has undergone since 1868, the century-old autochtone society is still the center from which the country and the people need to be understood. For a thorough study of the language a good knowledge of the Japanese culture is also indispensable. With aid of the highlites from the literary histoy attention is mainly given to those aspects which would be not or not sufficiently discussed in other courses, this way a global insight is promoted.
