JPT3121 “Postwar and Contemporary Japanese Literature” (in Translation)
Course Syllabus
Class Meetings: Tuesdays 5-6th, Thursdays 6th at MAT 0015
Instructor: Tsutomu Nagata
Office: Pugh 339
email: tnagata@ufl.edu
Office Hours: 1-2:30 MW, 2-3:30 R, 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 simple dichotomy of tradition versus Western influence as
observed in the Meiji, Taisho and pre-war 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 of such 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 5 th
and 6th on Fridays).
Textbooks:
Ishikawa, Jun. Legend of Gold and Other Stories
Tezuka Osamu. Ayako
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
Ikezawa, Natsuki. The Navidad Incident: The Downfall of Matias Guili
Evaluation:
Three papers (4 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
1/6 Course Overview, Murakami Haruki “Elephant Vanishes”, Yoshimoto Banana “Dream of
Kim-Chee”
1/8 Shimada Masahiko “Desert Dolphin”
Week 2
1/13 Hagio Drunken Dreams: “Bianca” “Girl on Porch with Puppy” “Autumn Journey”
“Iguana Girl”
1/15 Drunken Dreams “Marie, Ten Years Later” “Drunken Dreams” “Willow Tree”
Week 3
1/20 Ishikawa Jun “Mars’ Song” “Moon Gems” “The Legend of Gold”
1/22 Ishikawa “The Jesus of the Ruins”
Week 4
1/27 Ishikawa “The Raptor”
1/29 Tezuka Osamu Ayako (-p250)
Week 5
2/3 Tezuka Osamu Ayako (-end)
2/5 Kawabata Snow Country (-p108)
Week 6
2/10 Snow Country (-end) Presentation Slot #1 (Kawabata)
2/12 Mishima “Death in Midsummer” “Three Million Yen”
2/14 Paper 1 Due (7pm via Sakai)
Week 7
2/17 Mishima Yukio “Thermos Bottles” “The Priest of Shiga Temple and His Love” “The
Seven Bridges”
2/19 Mishima “Patriotism” “Dojoji”
Week 8
2/24 “Onnagata” “The Pearl” “Swaddling Clothes” (Presentation Slot #2, Mishima)
2/26 Oe “Prize Stock”
Week 9
Spring Break: No class
Week 10
3/10 “Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness” (ET) “The Clever Rain Tree”
3/12 “Aghwee The Sky Monster” (Presentation Slot #3, Oe)
3/14 Paper #2 Due (7pm via Sakai)
Week 11
3/17 Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World Sections 1-8
3/19 Sections 9-20
Week 12
3/24 Sections 21-28
3/26 Sections 29-40 (Presentation Slot #4, Murakami)
Week 13
3/31 Miyabe All She Was Worth
4/2 All She Was Worth
Week 14
4/7 Presentation Slot (Miyabe) Ikezawa Natsuki 01
4/9 02-04
Week 15
4/14 05-06
4/16 07-09
4/18 Paper #3 Due (7pm via Sakai)
Week 16
4/21 Course Review