HIS
272H,
CULTURAL INTERACTIONS: JAPAN
THE LURE OF PAINTED POETRY -
JAPANESE AND KOREAN ART
Three options are provided below for students interested in earning course credit for attending this featured exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Any ONE (but only one) of the three may be submitted for instructor evaluation. The three assignments are due NO LATER THAN the final class session for the semester on Thursday, May 12, 2011.
NOTE: Having visited the exhibit itself on Friday, April 8, 2011, I have several suggestions concerning how best to approach the objects on display from an in-depth analytical perspective. The items included in the exhibition are, in and of themselves, well worth the effort to view them; all are extraordinary examples of the extremely high quality and beauty of Cleveland Museum of Art holdings in East Asian art.
The entire exhibit occupies just one large gallery and an adjacent alcove (devoted to examples of Japanese and Korean calligraphy). The whole is subdivided into subsections, each focused on a specific piece of Chinese poetry. Look for a translation of each poem on the wall near the center of each section and note its content and primary thematic focus. As you look at the other nearby objects on display, note how the inspiration provided by the poem is reflected / interpreted in that specific work of art. Keep in mind that you're also looking for ways in which Chinese aesthetic expectations and standards are reflected in Japanese (and Korean) works modeled or inspired by Chinese painting -- that is, the exhibit is really about BOTH Chinese painting and poetry as both artistic and literary influences are reflected in other East Asian aesthetic contexts.
To fully appreciate the influences at work and the Japanese (Korean) acceptance / modifications thereof, you'll need to look for both accepted and adapted aspects. In what specific ways do these Japanese and Korean paintings themselves directly mimic their Chinese predecessors? In what ways has the subject matter been affected / altered? What new aspects have been added (indicative of modernization at work)?
Read labels carefully; spend some time with the catalog entry (available at a couple of points within the exhibit) of the specific object (or set of objects) you decide to focus on for your analytical discussion. But also recognize that the assignments outlined below really expect you to bring your own personal and specific analytical skills and conceptualizations to bear on your observations. That's a challenging expectation, believe me!
ASSIGNMENT OPTION ONE: Attend the exhibit and be prepared to discuss during our final class session as part of a group discussion one of the items on display with direct reference to themes developed in our course of study (such as acceptance versus rejection, adoption versus adaptation, imposition versus acquisition, accidental versus purposeful absorption, the nature and effect of the emergent cultural mix; gesellschaft / gemeinschaft, sinification / modernization, soft power / hard power). Successful completion of this assignment will result in a one-third grade improvement added to your lowest recorded grade for either a research essay, book analysis or in-class presentation (upgrading a B to a B+ for instance).
ASSIGNMENT OPTION TWO: Attend the exhibit and compose a multiple page analytical journal entry that addresses several of the items on display in the exhibit with direct reference to themes developed in our course of study (such as acceptance versus rejection, adoption versus adaptation, imposition versus acquisition, accidental versus purposeful absorption, the nature and effect of the emergent cultural mix; gesellschaft / gemeinschaft, sinification / modernization, soft power / hard power). Successful completion of this assignment will result in the replacement of the lowest recorded grade on a prior journal assignment with the grade earned on this assignment. (NOTE that, while an already recorded grade will not be lowered as a result, this does not guarantee an improved grade, only the opportunity to earn an equal or higher grade than earned previously on an earlier assignment.)
ASSIGNMENT OPTION THREE: Attend the exhibit and compose a multiple page analytical essay that addresses several of the items on display in the exhibit with direct reference to themes developed in our course of study (such as acceptance versus rejection, adoption versus adaptation, imposition versus acquisition, accidental versus purposeful absorption, the nature and effect of the emergent cultural mix; gesellschaft / gemeinschaft, sinification / modernization, soft power / hard power). Successful completion of this assignment will result in the replacement of the lowest recorded grade on a prior essay or book analysis assignment with the grade earned on this assignment.(NOTE that, while an already recorded grade will not be lowered as a result, this does not guarantee an improved grade, only the opportunity to earn an equal or higher grade than earned previously on an earlier assignment.)