JPT3121 “Postwar and Contemporary Japanese Literature” (in Translation)
Course Syllabus
Class Meetings: Tuesdays 5th, Thursdays 5-6th at LIT 0201
Instructor: Tsutomu Nagata
Office: Pugh 339
email: tnagata@ufl.edu (Please use this address instead of Sakai's mail system.)
Office Hours: MWF noon-1 and willingly by appointment
Overview:
After WWII, Japanese literature also experienced a death and rebirth. The ensuing social change were
less and less easy to capture with the symple dichotomy of tradition versus Western influence as
observed in the Meiji, Taisho and early Showa periods. The division between pop and high cultures or
mainstream and genre fictions also became blurred over the time. The course intends to cover as many
various aspects as possible within the limited time, while spending sufficient time on each noteworthy
writers and manga artists with an aspiration to capture the unchanging strength of stories among the
relentless changes.
Expectation: Students must have carefully read the assigned texts before each class session.
Your participation is graded for each three class hours of the week (so don't try to sneak out between 5th
and 6th on Fridays).
Textbooks:
Ishikawa, Jun. Legend of Gold and Other Stories
Moto, Hagio. A Drunken Dream and Other Stories
Ikezawa, Natsuki. The Navidad Incident: The Downfall of Matias Guili
Tezuka Osamu. Buddha (vol. 1)
Kawabata, Yasunari. Snow Country (trans. Edward Seidensticker)
Mishima, Yukio. Death in Midsummer and Other Stories
Oe, Kenzaburo. Teach Us to Outgrow our Madness: The Day He Himself Shall Wipe My Tears Away,
Prize Stock Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness, Aghwee the Sky Monster (trans. John Nathan)
Murakami, Haruki. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Miyabe, Miyuki. All She Was Worth
Evaluation:
Three papers (4-5 pages each) 50%
Quizzes & In-class writing 20%
Participation in Discussion 15% (mere attendance never warrants a decent grade)
Presentation 15%
Grading Scale:
A (93-) A- (88-) B+ (83-) B (78-) B- (73-) C+ (70-) C (65-) C- (60-) D (50-)
Class Schedule:
Week 1
1/7 Course Overview
1/9 Shimada Masahiko “Desert Dolphin”, Murakami Haruki “Elephant Vanishes”, Yoshimoto
Banana “Dream of Kim-Chee”
Week 2
1/14 Hagio Drunken Dreams: “Bianca” “Girl on Porch with Puppy” “Autumn Journey”
1/16 Drunken Dreams “Iguana Girl” “Willow Tree” “Marie, Ten Years Later” “Drunken
Dreams”
Week 3
1/21 Ishikawa Jun “Mars’ Song” “The Legends of Gold”
1/23 Ishikawa “The Jesus of the Ruins” “The Raptor” (p97) “On the Raptor” (p222)
Week 4
1/28 Tezuka Buddha “1. Brahmin” - “4. The Announcement”
1/30 Buddha “5. Chapra” - “12. The Wall of Death”
Week 5
2/4 Kawabata Snow Country: Part 1
2/6 Snow Country: Part 2 (Presentation Slot 1)
2/7 Paper 1 Due (7pm via Sakai)
Week 6
2/11 Mishima “Death in Midsummer” “Three Million Yen”
2/13 Mishima “Thermos Bottles” “The Priest of Shiga Temple and His Love” “The Seven
Bridges”
Week 7
2/18 Mishima Yukio “Patriotism” “Dojoji”
2/20 Mishima “Onnagata” “The Pearl” “Swaddling Clothes” (Presentation Slot 2)
Week 8
2/25 Oe “Prize Stock”
2/28 Oe “The Day He Himself Shall Wipe My Tears Away”
Week 9
Spring Break: No class
Week 10
3/11 “Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness”
3/13 “Aghwee The Sky Monster” (Presentation Slot 3)
3/14 Paper 3 Due (7pm via Sakai)
Week 11
3/18 Murakami Sections 1-8
3/20 Sections 9-20
Week 12
3/25 Sections 21-28
3/27 Sections 29-40 (Presentation Slot 4)
Week 13
4/1 Miyabe All She Was Worth
4/3 All She Was Worth
Week 14
4/8 Ikezawa Natsuki 01
4/10 02-04
Week 15
4/15 05-06
4/17 07-09
Week 16
4/22 Final Paper Due (7pm via Sakai)