Japanese Literature

The course provides a solid grounding in the historical development of Japanese literature from the Yamato era up through the 21st century. Narrative forms examined may include classical forms such as the tale, diary, monogatari, and zuihitsu, and the modern form of short stories, I-novels, graphic novels and serial phone novels. Special focus will be on the social and intellectual milieu that shaped Japanese writers and their literary works as Japan faced political and economic pressures to open itself to Western values and notions of modernity.