Finding Truth in Fictional Japan

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

"The modern period of Japanese history has seen an extreme degree of flux in everything from the Japanese language to technology, government to social roles, individuals’ jobs to the nation’s global prominence. The many and varied changes Japanese people underwent effectively reconstituted reality itself on a regular basis. Living through an ever-changing chaos where the ground seems to be constantly shifting under one’s feet can be both terrifying and exhilarating – emotions that often spur people to think and then communicate their thoughts with others. This course examines how Japanese people negotiated the confusing changes facing them and continually re-defined what it meant to be a (modern) (Japanese?) (male/female) person through their writing. Topics discussed in the course will include conceptions of authority as reflected in evolving notions of imperial and sacred power; the role of fantasy and science in Japanese culture; changing constructions of gender, nationality, and class; the integration of new technologies into mass cultures; the form(s) of literature; and how language shapes literature."