07f-04
MODERN JAPANESE LITERATURE (PRE-WAR)

Andrew MURAKAMI-SMITH (Graduate School of Language and Culture)

Objective
  In this course, students will read a variety of Japanese short fiction from the period of 1868 to 1945 and gain a deeper understanding of these literary works in their historical context. To appreciate the historical background of modern Japanese literature and society, we will first go back to the pre-modern period and read several works from the canon of classical Japanese literature. We will then proceed to the modern era and read a wide selection of pre-war authors, including the following.
    - Higuchi Ichiyo (whose face is on the \5,000 bill), who continued to be influenced by the classical tradition, and Izumi Kyoka and Akutagawa Ryunosuke, who turned old legends and tales into modern fiction.
    - Meiji experimenters like Kunikida Doppo and Tayama Katai, who forged a new literary style, and later modernist stylists like Yokomitsu Riichi and the early Kawabata Yasunari.
    - Canonical writers like Mori Ogai, Natsume Soseki, Shiga Naoya, and Tanizaki Junichiro.
    - Native Osaka writers like Kamitsukasa Shoken, Kajii Motojiro, Takeda Rintaro, and Oda Sakunosuke.
  Beginning in the middle part of the semester, students will make group presentations on the works and authors read, also referring to relevant literary criticism. Group presentations should stimulate discussions in class. A final paper, the contents of which may be based on your group presentation, will be due at the end of the semester.

Course Schedule
Week 1: Explanation of course. Overview of Japanese history, language and literature before 1868.
Week 2: The Classical Tradition: Excerpts from Tales of Ise (961) and
Sei Shonagon, The Pillow Book (996).
Week 3: The Classical Tradition: Excerpts from Tale of the Heike (1371) and
Ihara Saikaku, Five Women Who Loved Love (1686).
Week 4: The Classical Tradition: Excerpts from Ueda Akinari, Tales of Moonlight and Rain (1776), Jippensha Ikku, Travels on the Eastern Seaboard (1802-22), and Tamenaga Shunsui, Plum Calendar (1832).
Week 5: Classical Echoes: Higuchi Ichiyo, “Fall Wardrobe” (1896) and “Growing Up” (1895-96).
Week 6: Finding a New Literary Voice: Kunikida Doppo, “The Bonfire” (1896) and Tayama Katai, “One Soldier” (1908).
Week 7: Canonical Writers of Meiji: Natsume Soseki, “The Third Night” (1908) and Mori Ogai, “Under Reconstruction” (1910).
Week 8: City Nostalgia: Nagai Kafu, “The Peony Garden” (1909) and “A Strange Tale from East of the River” (1937) and Kamitsukasa Shoken, “The Skin of the Pike Conger” (1914).
*Group Presentation: “Nagai Kafu”
Week 9: The “I-Novel”: Shiga Naoya, “Night Fires” (1920) and “An Incident,” and
Kajii Motojiro, “Lemon” (1924).
*Group Presentation: “The I-Novel”
Week 10: Tales and Legends: Izumi Kyoka, “A Quiet Obsession” (1924) and
Akutagawa Ryunosuke, “In a Grove” (1922).
*Group Presentation: “Classical Influence in Modern Literature”
Week 11: Modernists: Yokomitsu Riichi, “Spring Riding in a Carriage” (1926) and
“Machine” (1930).
*Group Presentation: “Modernist Literature”
Week 12: Tokyo and Osaka: Kawabata Yasunari, “Kid Ume, the Silver Cat” (excerpt from
The Crimson Gang of Asakusa, 1930) and Takeda Rintaro, “Kamagasaki” (1933) and
“The First Day of the Fair” (1935).
*Group Presentation: “Takeda Rintaro and Proletarian Literature”
Week 13: Pre-war Women Writers: Hayashi Fumiko, “The Accordion and the Fish Town” (1931) and
Okamoto Kanoko, “Portrait of an Old Geisha” (1938).
*Group Presentation: “Women Writers”
Week 14: Tanizaki Junichiro, “Aguri” (1922) and The Makioka Sisters (1948) (excerpt).
*Group Presentation: “Tanizaki Junichiro”
Week 15: Oda Sakunosuke, “Hurray for Marriage, or Sweet Beans for Two” (1940) and
“City of Trees” (1944).
*Group Presentation: “Osaka Literature”
**Final paper due.

Textbook
  No textbook will be assigned. Students may purchase a packet of materials from the teacher, or may borrow the materials so they can make their own copies.

Evaluation
  Evaluation will be based on attendance (20%), preparation for and participation in class (20%), the group presentation (30%), and the final paper (30%).