Objectives of this course:
• gain information on and understand main elements of the history of Japanese literary culture from the 19th to the 21th Century;
• contextualise literary works and authors within their historical and cultural background;
• analyse the meaning and articulate the importance of literary works within different systems of thought, aesthetic trends, and social transformations that developed in Japan during its history.
Sound knowledge of the history of Japan from the beginning to 2000s is required.
The course is conducted in “lecture style” (use of AV materials is foreseen), with some “workshop style” moments, and students are expected to participate in debates and in activities on the e-learning platform.
The exam consists of a written test: there will be two sections, whereof:
• A quiz (multiple choice questions and open-ended questions with short answers, max 15+ points); Knowledge of the historical context, the history of literature and literary phenomena will be evaluated.
• Two or more open-ended questions (long answers, max 15+ points). Understanding of the literary phenomena and literary texts will be evaluated.
If students agree, they will have the chance to take the quiz (forst part of the exam) at the end of the course.
The course will provide some viewpoints from where to start analysing Japanese literary culture of the Meiji era (1867-1912), and of the Taisho (1912-1925), Showa (1925-1989) and Heisei (1989-2019) eras. A particular focus is dedicated to the following themes: adolescence and the bildungsroman, war in the Twentieth century, and the Japanese family in transition from the Twentieth to the Twenty-first Century.
This syllabus is the ONLY programme regarding Modern and Contemporary Literature: 2021/2022 and 2023/2024 syllabi have expired.
Textbooks regarding the history of Japanese literature:
1. Luisa Bienati, Paola Scrolavezza, La narrativa giapponese moderna e contemporanea, Marsilio 2009;
2. Bonaventura Ruperti, Storia del teatro giapponese. Dall’Ottocento al Duemila, Marsilio 2016, Capitoli 1 (Introduzione), 6 (Incontri con l’Occidente)
3. Pierantonio Zanotti, Introduzione alla storia della poesia giapponese. Dall’Ottocento al Duemila, Marsilio 2012, Capitoli 1 (La preistoria dello shi), 2 (I romantici), 12 (Il tanka moderno), 13 (Lo haiku moderno).
4. Gala Maria Follaco, La cultura letteraria del Giappone, Hoepli 2023 (una selezione di capitoli dal periodo Meiji in avanti)
Texts will be read by students and analysed in class. Students who choose not to attend the course can download a number of articles and essays from the e-learning site and read them in addition.
