Admission requirements
None.
Description
This course explores how experiences of colonization and wartime occupation have been remembered and represented in film, literature, museum displays, textbooks and other media in Japan and its former empire, thereby reflecting on intersections of history, memory, politics and social change across time and space. Across Asia and around the world, recent decades have seen the memory of Japan’s colonial rule and aggressive war in Asia haunting Japan’s relations with its Asian neighbors as well as those in the “West.” Such “memory wars” reflect and reveal much about struggles over national identity, nation-building and international relations in a changing and increasingly interdepedent postwar world. This course seeks to reflect upon the mechanisms through which this complex history has been subsequently (mis-)understood, used, and abused in different domestic, regional and international contexts. Media and representation explored include that of Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Themes and issues considered include nation-building, (post-) Cold War regional and global politics and power balances, gender relations, visual and textual analysis and strategies of representation. In readings, in-class discussions, and research, students are encouraged to compare and contrast memory representation among Asian nation-states as well as those of Europe and the wider world. Readings are assembled from a variety of (e-)sources available in the Leiden library catalogue that will be made available on the course Brightspace site.
The in-person seminar sessions in block 3 will equip students with the necessary tools and knowledge to complete their term paper while residing in Japan (the “Japan Project”) in block 4. Students will write a paper proposal beforehand and stay in contact with the instructor while in Japan. Regular contact with the instructor is maintained via emails, webposts and/or online meetings. The purpose of the webposts/online meetings in block 4 is to keep track of students’ progress towards their final project. Students not traveling to Japan will carry out the project in The Netherlands and will work on an activity related to the course, agreed upon in consultation with the instructor.
Course objectives
- To develop awareness and skills in the critical reading and interpretation of various forms of media and representation such as films, literature, museum displays, and textbooks
- To develop a basic awareness of the history of postwar Asia and the place of Japan’s interaction with its Asian neighbors within it, in the context of a wider (post-) Cold War global order
- To acquire a basic conceptual grasp of the relationship between domestic, regional, and international social and political evolution and struggles and changing/diverse media representations of the past
- Development of Improved research skills, presentation skills, composition skills
- To develop basic skills in conducting fieldwork through the use of archives, museums, and other virtual and real-life resources
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar
Assessment method
Assessment
Paper 60% (Proposal 20%/Research Paper 40%)
Participation 40% (Webpostings 20%; active participation/cooperation in class/group, including one in-class presentation 20%)
Weighing
See above.
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
There is a two-deadline policy for the research 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.
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
Readings will be assigned from a variety of (e-) sources available in the Leiden University library catalogue
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 Herta Mohr
Remarks
None.