"POWER"
AND "AUTHORITY" AS A CULTURAL CONSTRUCT IN JAPAN
The
following topic outline (and associated assignments) will be covered
in the period between
March 28, 2005 and April 29, 2005.
Monday,
March 28, 2005
CONTRASTING CULTURAL CONSTRUCTS:
LEGITIMIZING ‘POWER’ AND ‘AUTHORITY’ IN CHINA
AND JAPAN
A comparative overview consideration of ways in which “culture” both legitimizes and challenges the exercise of “power” and “authority” in China and Japan, examining along the way such questions as “Why do cultures exist?”, “How are cultures characterized, legitimized and differentiated from one another?”, “What relationships exist between ‘culture’ on the one hand and ‘power’ and ‘authority’ on the other?” and “Does ‘culture’ in and of itself possess ‘power’ and ‘authority’?
TASK ASSIGNMENT SEVEN: DIFFERENTIATING CULTURES DUE
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
CONCEPTUALIZING "POPULAR
CULTURE"
Defining “culture” as a concept, examining differences between "popular" and "high" culture and discerning what an examination of the former can tell us about the nature and exercise of “power” and “authority”.
web assignments (optional but highly recommended)
IN-CLASS EXERCISE ONE: DEFINING CULTURE AS A CONCEPT DUE
Friday,
April 1, 2005
WILD IRISES AND THE EIGHT-
FOLD BRIDGE
An illustrated
exploration of the depiction of irises and wooden plank bridges in
literature, poetry, garden design, fashion and art as an introduction
to a consideration of the role of allusion and metaphor in traditional
Japan as sources of “power” and “authority”
influencing manifestations of culture in all these various areas of
aesthetic expression.
web assignment:
web assignment: Some Moonviewing Poetry: An Introduction to Japanese Aesthetics
Monday,
April 4, 2005
TRADITIONAL SOURCES OF "POWER" AND "AUTHORITY"
IN JAPANESE CULTURE I
Using the written results of a completed web assignment as the basis
for our conversation, we will discuss how the realities behind this
exercise demonstrate the "soft power" and "authority" vested in cultural
tradition even in contemporary Japanese social and cultural life.
web assignment: Thinking About 'Meaning' in Traditional Japanese Art
Wednesday,
April 6, 2005
TRADITIONAL SOURCES OF "POWER" AND "AUTHORITY"
IN JAPANESE CULTURE II
A further examination of the ways in which traditional sources of cultural "power" and "authority" influence the reading of Japanese poetry.
reading assignment:
Haruo Shirane's "Lyricism and Intertextuality: An Approach to Shunzei's Poetics", Chapter Four in Charles Wei-Hsun Fu and Steven Heine, editors, Japan in Traditional and Postmodern Perspectives (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995), pages 81 - 94.
TASK ASSIGNMENT NINE: :A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF FUJIWARA NO SHUNZEI'S POETIC DEPTH DUE
Friday,
April 8, 2005
SOURCES OF CULTURAL "POWER" AND "AUTHORITY"
IN THE TALE OF GENJI I
The first in a three - part consideration of the exercise of "power"
and "authority" in Japanese culture through the force and influence
associated with a single work of literature, Murasaki Shikibu's
eleventh century novel The Tale of Genji.
reading assignment:
-
"Evening
Faces", Chapter Four in Edward Sidenstecker's translation of
Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji (New York: Knopf, 1976),
pages 57 - 83.
TASK ASSIGNMENT TEN: AN ANALYSIS OF ARISTOCRATIC CULTURAL STANDARDS AND TRADITIONS DUE
Monday,
April 11, 2005
SOURCES OF CULTURAL "POWER" AND "AUTHORITY"
IN THE TALE OF GENJI II
Continuing our exploration of the ongoing influence exerted by The
Tale of Genji through the ages and how this source of "cultural
legitimacy" has been transformed to reflect changing values and
cultural influences at work over the centuries.
reading assignment:
"Impact, Influence and Reception", Chapter Four in Richard Bowring's Landmarks in World Literature: Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji (Cambridge: Cambridge University press, 1988), pages 81 - 102
IN-CLASS EXERCISE THREE: THE POWER OF GENJI DUE
Wednesday,
April 13, 2005
MITATE IN PRACTICE
Discussion of various other examples of allusion, metaphor and motif at work in Japanese society as a reflection of traditional sources of cultural power and authority.
web assignment: Japanese Popular Culture -- the Traditional in the Modern
[Click on the web assignment title above to be taken to a review exercise covering portions of the material already presented in class; the exercise should take approximately one hour to complete.]
READING and INTERNET ART EXHIBIT:
Isamu Kurita, "Japanese Art and the Japanese View of Nature", an essay prepared as part of the exhibition SETSUGEKKA, "Snow, Moon and Flowers: The Japanese View of Nature" at the MOA Museum of Art in Hakone, Japan
[Click on the reading title above, read the article, then view at least some of the art work featured in the accompanying exhibit. Be prepared to share your insights with your classmates during our class discussion.]
Richard Amero's article, "An Evaluation of the Tale of Genji", investigates the impact, potential and real, of Murasaki Shikibu's novel on the international cultural scene beyond Japan.
Friday,
April 15, 2005
THE EXERCISE OF "POWER" AND "AUTHORITY" IN
THE WORLD OF THE CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE ARTS
Taking a closer look at the way in which a modern woodblock print
artist and a modern poet combine influences drawn from the past with
contemporary issues and influences to produce works of art both provocative
and controversial, illustrations of the exercise of the "authority"
invested in tradition within a contemporary setting.
reading assignment:
"Morning Necktie" and "Afterword" from Machi Tawara's Salad Anniversary (New York: Kodansha International, 1989), pages 47 - 52
web assignment: Contemporary Manifestations of Japanese Popular Culture
[Click on the web assignment title above to be taken to an exercise.]
TASK ASSIGNMENT TWELVE: MODERNIZATION AND WESTERNIZATION MEET TRADITION DUE
Monday,
April
18, 2005
THE FUTURE OF "POWER" AND "AUTHORITY" IN JAPANESE
CULTURE: THE POSTMODERN ALTERNATIVE
An examination of the concept of the "postmodern" as a cultural construct with examples drawn from the Japanese experience.
TASK ASSIGNMENT THIRTEEN: SPECULATIONS ON THE CONCEPT OF THE POSTMODERN DUE
Wednesday,
April 20, 2005
EXPLORATIONS OF THE POSTMODERN IN CONTEMPORARY
JAPANESE POPULAR CULTURE
Examples drawn from the world of Japanese animation (anime) and popular music videos provide evidence of the persuasive presence of the "postmodern" in numerous arenas of today's popular culture in Japan.
reading assignment:
Lee A. Makela, "The Postmodern in Japanese Popular Culture and the Film World of Shunji Iwai" (unpublished manuscript), pages 1 - 13.
TASK ASSIGNMENT FOURTEEN: CONCEPTUAL CHANGES IN PERSONAL DEFINITION OF THE POSTMODERN DUE
Friday,
April 22, 2005
THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN TRADITION AND ITS REJECTION
IN THE JAPANESE POSTMODERN WORLD
A discussion of the subtle interactions between maintained elements of traditional cultural "power" and "authority" and the rejection thereof in the playgrounds of Japanese postmodern popular culture.
Monday,
April 25, 2005
JAPANESE
"SOFT POWER" IN AN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT
An illustrated overview consideration of aspects of current Japanese popular culture as examples of Joseph Nye's "soft power" at work in the contemporary international context.
reading assignment:
Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics [hereafter "Nye, Soft Power"] (New York: Public Affairs, 2004), Chapter One: The Changing Nature of Power, pp. 1 - 32.
Joseph S. Nye, Jr., “Asia’s First Globalizer”, The Washington Quarterly, Autumn 2002. pp. 121 – 124.
Joseph Nye, Soft Power, Chapter Four: Wielding Soft Power, pp. 99 - 126.
Laural Holson, "Gothic Lolitas: Demure vs. Dominatrix", The New York Times, March 13, 2005.
Wednesday,
April 27, 2005
MANIFESTATIONS OF AMERICAN “SOFT POWER"
IN CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE POPULAR CULTURE
A video entitled "The Japanese Version" explores how aspects of American
culture are integrated into contemporary Japanese life and serves
as an example of the nature of (locally-transformed) American cultural
"soft power" at work in modern Japanese life and culture.
TASK ASSIGNMENT SIXTEEN: SPECULATIONS ON AMERICAN "SOFT POWER" INFLUENCES IN JAPAN DUE
Friday,
April 29, 2005
ISSUES OF "POWER" AND "AUTHORITY" IN CONTEMPORARY
JAPANESE POPULAR CULTURE
A directed discussion of examples drawn from earlier considerations
of Japanese “soft power” in the international context
and "The Japanese Version" video as illustrations of the "power" and
"authority" vested in popular culture in Japan today and in the relationship
of “popular culture” in general to the larger global context.
reading assignment:
Douglas McGray, ''Japan's Gross National Cool,'' Foreign Policy, May 2002, pp. 44 - 55.
Keith Giles, "Nut in the Shell: Manga Nation", Slush Factory < http://www.slushfactory.com/ >, November 26, 2002.
Joseph Tobin, "Conclusion" in Pikachu's Great Adventure.