JAPA 250 - Postwar Literature in Translation: At the Center, From the Margins

This course is designed to explore the richness of postwar and contemporary Japan, and begins with an examination of how Japanese literature came onto the “world scene” after WWII, as the works of Tanizaki, Mishima, and Kawabata appeared in English translation. We’ll read several novels by these authors, and consider what kind of image of Japan developed from and through that literary canon, then we’ll “deconstruct” that image of Japan by reading work by less well-known authors. Although Japanese society is often presented as homogenous and monoracial, there are people of various backgrounds, ethnicities, and language traditions living in the islands of Japan today, as there have been for many centuries. We will read literature and non-fiction about and by Okinawans, residents of other southern islands, Koreans and people of Korean descent in Japan, burakumin (traditional outcasts), and Ainu. We will read work by women that challenges traditional role expectations, and we will read work about and by people who experienced atomic bombing. Every year. (4 Credits)