Sinners and Seers in Japanese Literature

Exploration of Japanese Buddhist sensibilities as expressed in poetry, popular tales, drama, and fiction. Recurring themes include wrongdoing and its karmic consequences; renunciation; tension between aesthetic and religious commitments; pilgrimage as creative process; the role of nature in the quest for enlightenment. Reading and discussion in a seminar-style format. A previous course in Buddhism or East Asian culture is helpful but not required. Counts for concentration credit in Religious Studies and East Asian Studies.