Admission requirements
This course is only accessible for BA Japanstudies students.
Description
Japan’s rich literary and filmic heritage plays a crucial role in the construction of Japanese cultural identity, both within Japan and the wider world. Classic and contemporary portrayals of samurai, geisha, court poets and Buddhist monks in the literary and filmic canon perpetuate essentialist notions of a Japanese spirit. Yet many of these same works adopt a critical eye toward Japanese culture, suggesting that Japan itself is not so easily understood as the homogenous society some would like to imagine. Through a parallel examination of significant works of Japanese film and literature, this course will attempt to demonstrate how close reading of written and moving-image texts can reveal deeper, more complex insights into the construction of Japan’s literary and cinematic face to the world.
Course objectives
Through a combination of assigned readings, film screenings, in-class discussions and written assignments, students will
Learn how to perform close readings of literary and filmic texts, paying attention to both content and form, and how the two work together to create meaning.
Become familiar with select canonical works of Japanese literature and the techniques involved in their adaptation to the cinematic medium.
Consider the tension between traditional Japanese identity and modernity, and how this tension has been explored in literature and in film.
Critically deconstruct notions of “Japanese-ness” embodied in literary and filmic archetypes such as the samurai and geisha.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar
Assessment method
Assessment
Attendance/Participation 25%
Essay (approximately 2,000 words) 40%
Final Exam (matching or multiple choice, and short answer) 35%
Weighing
The final grade is established by determining the weighted average of all elements. In order to pass the course, all elements must receive a passing grade (6 or higher).
Resit
There is a two-deadline policy for the paper; for those who miss this deadline, this means they have failed on the first attempt. Those who fail on the first attempt—whether by not submitting a paper by the first deadline, or by submitting an inadequate paper—will have one more (second and last) chance to submit their paper by the second deadline.
Resits for a failing grade on the final exam will be determined on a case-by-case basis, and comprise a written essay on a topic related to the course to be determined in consultation with the instructors.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
TBA
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: [Naam Onderwijsadministratie](link naar contactgegevens OA)
Remarks
Not applicable.