Topics in Japanese Political Thought (Japan in the Nation-State Matrix)

UVA David (Center for Japanese Language and Culture)

Objective
  The purpose of this class is to get a better understanding of nationalism and Japanese nation-state ideology.

Lecture Outline
  This course explores Japanese nationalism in a historical context. After a theoretical outline of the political and cultural construct called the �gnation-state�h we will focus on the historical formation of the Japanese state and the Japanese nation. Then we will discuss practical examples and expressions of Japanese nation-state ideology from the Meiji Period to present day. Our topics will concern the following: identity, self-image, ethnicity, integration and assimilation, national character, tradition, language, symbols and culture.

Text books
  Handouts and copies from books on the reference list.

Bibliography
  Anderson Benedict, �gImagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism�h, Verso, 1991
  Smith Anthony D., �gNationalism: Theory, Ideology, History�h, Polity Press, 2001
  Hobsbawm Eric, �gNations and Nationalism since 1780: programme, myth, reality�h, Cambridge University Press, 1991
  Kevin Doak, A History of Nationalism in Modern Japan: Placing the People, Brill, 2007
  Hobsbawm Eric, �gThe Invention of Tradition�h, Cambridge University Press, 1983
  Vlastos Stephen (ed.), �gMirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions of Modern Japan�h, University of California, 1998

Grading
  Class participation 30% and final examination 70%