Syllabus contents:
History 87 Syllabus, Fall 2002
Japanese History Through Art and Literature
Syllabus Page
Instructor: Luke S. Roberts
Office: HSSB 4228
Office Hours: W1-3, F 2-3
e-mail: lukerobt@history.ucsb.edu
Phones:805-893-2556
Teacher's Assistant: Laura Nenzi
Office:HSSB3235
Office Hours: Th 9-10, F 11-12
email: erikessel@hotmail.com
Class Meeting Times and Location:
T TH 12:30-1:45
Psych 1802
Japanese History Through Art
and Literature
History 87
UCSB Fall 2002 Psych 1802
T TH 12:30-1:45
Prof. Luke S. Roberts T A: Erik Esselstrom
4228 HSSB, 893-2556 Room HSSB 3235
Office hrs: Th 2-3, W 1-3 Office hours: M 1-2, Th 11-12
lukerobt@history.ucsb.edu erikessel@hotmail.com
Course description and objectives
We will explore history on the Japanese islands from prehistory to recent times, largely through its art and literature. This is not an art history course, but rather we will think about how such materials as paintings, architecture, poetry, memoirs etc. can be used as historical sources that relate information about society, culture and politics. The readings have been chosen, for the most part, to give you examples of how historians may use these materials. My lectures will balance a history of politics and institutions with social and cultural history. I have also provided in your reader many writings and documents (in translation) created by the people whose history we are studying. Your weekly discussion sections and the essays you will write will give you the chance to express and test understandings which you have learned and created.
We will be exploring many aspects of culture, but I will not be trying to teach you what Japanese cultural identity is. This is because I believe that searches for 'national' cultural identities are merely one aspect of a nationalistic understanding of the world. I do not like to force the varied and rich activities of people in the islands belonging to the state of Japan into the square box of "national culture." I will rather emphasize diversity, and look upon our subject as a history of people in the world. Certain historic individuals you will meet in our class you may like as people, and--though they are dead--you can have a dialogue with them through their writings or paintings. For me this dialogue is the greatest pleasure of history. A sensitivity to people as individuals can help us avoid national stereotyping and let us understand the many historical forces (understood, for example, in terms of issues of class, occupation, geography, politics, beliefs etc.) which we as individuals deal with in our own lives. I hope that we come to perceive contemporary nations not as timeless cultural realities, but as historical phenomena which provide a limited view on our present condition, so that we do not become trapped in myths of nationalism; those fostered in Japan or here.
We create this class together. I highly encourage you to ask questions or give your own comments at any point in the lecture. Just raise your hand. Your attendance at class lectures and discussion sections is essential and required. Much important information will be given only in lecture. Be sure to have finished the readings by the time of your discussion section. If you do not prepare, everyone will suffer.
You will write two essays. The first will be your response to our longest reading; the miscellany of a Kyoto court lady of the eleventh century. The second will be based on the memoirs of a samurai who was on the losing side of the Meiji Restoration. In the essays you should be original and reveal your personal interaction with the readings. The quality of the writing will affect the grade: An essay filled with confusing expressions, incomplete arguments, or which has not been proofread for mistakes will receive a poor grade. If you are unsure of your writing skills, you are welcome to bring to me or the TA a rough draft beforehand, and I encourage you to go to the writing laboratory of the Campus Learning Assistance Services in Building 477 for general assistance on writing papers. Don't miss the great services they provide!
Midterm exam (10/31) 20%; Final exam (12/11) 30% ; Two 4-5 page essays (due 10/22 and 11/26) 15% each for a total of 30%; Map 5% (due 10/3); Discussion section participation 15%. Although the final exam counts for 30% of the grade, I may choose to fail any student who fails the final exam. Because this is a writing requirement course, you must complete the two essays to pass the course.
Conrad Schirokauer, A Brief History of Japanese Civilization, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich (Fort Worth), 1993.
Sei Shônagon (Ivan Morris trans.), The Pillow Book of Sei Shônagon, Columbia U. Press (New York) 1991.
Shiba Gorô (Teruko Craig trans.), Remembering Aizu: The Testament of Shiba Gorô, University of Hawaii Press, 1999.
History 87 Reader of collected articles and other readings.
You should purchase the texts if possible. The books are available at the UCSB bookstore and the Isla Vista bookstore. The Reader is available from Copy Services in the UCSB Main Library second floor (copyservices@library.ucsb.edu). All readings can also be found in the reserve room of the main library. The SLIDE MODULES will be on the second floor of Kerr Hall in the Language and Learning Labs. Each module lasts 30 minutes. Have all readings done for the week they are listed in by the time of your discussion section. Most weeks will be about 100 pages of reading, but in week 4 and week 9 you must finish the longer readings for the papers--so be prepared.
Weekly Readings and Lecture Topics
Week 1 Introduction
Th Sept 26 Introduction and geography
Assignments: Map to be due Th Oct. 3
Readings: Schirokauer, preface and pp. 3-42;
The textbook and the first reading in your reader will introduce you to the basic outlines of the periods of prehistory, protohistory, the foundation of the imperial Yamato state in Japan. The text will emphasize the importance of the Korean peninsula and China in the development of the early imperial state.
Week 2 Prehistory and Early History
T Oct. 1 Paelolithic, Jômon and Yayoi
Th Oct 3 The Yamato and Nara governments 500's-784 MAP DUE
Readings: Reader pp. 1-28: Richard Pearson, Image and Life: 50,000 years of Japanese Prehistory. David Lu, Sources of Japanese History (selection). SLIDE MODULE DS1 module 1, "Ise Shrine".
The Pearson reading will tell you about the first pottery makers of the islands, the Jômon people. The second reading includes some translations of the earliest written references to people on the islands. Some of these are mythic, but scholars see in them information on beliefs, social customs, and early political conflicts in Japan. The Lu reading gives examples of poetry from the Nara period and a story from the Heian period. The slide module (In Kerr Hall) tells about the meanings and origins of the Shinto shrine most closely related to the imperial clan.
Week 3 Heian
T Oct 8 The Heian government 794-1192
Th Oct. 10 Aristocratic social life and the aristocratic arts.
Readings: Schirokauer, pp. 43-72; Reader pp. 29-66: Murasaki Shikibu (Edward Seidensticker, Translator), The Tale of Genji (selection). Ivan Morris, "Women of Ancient Japan: Heian Ladies." Edward Seidensticker, "Early Women Writers of the Court: Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon." Selections from Fujiwara Teika (1162-1241) ed. (Robert Browner and Earl Miner trans.) , Superior Poems of our Time, (Stanford, 1967). Begin reading The Pillow Book of Sei Shônagon at least as far as p. 134. SLIDE MODULE DS1 module 3, "The Genji Scroll."
The textbook gives you a basic description of the Heian period of aristocratic rule. The three chapters are a selection from the very long novel about court life, The Tale of Genji, written by Sei Shônagon's aesthetic rival, Murasaki Shikibu. It will be a bit like dropping into the middle of a soap opera , so to help you, these three chapters are discussed in the slide module. Also be sure to read the Introduction (pp. 23-30 of your reader) and the articles on Heian ladies. Read Seidensticker's comparison of the two rivals, and also think about the slide module on the Tale of Genji Scroll. This slide module is excellent at introducing you to methods of interpreting pictures and documents. Do the generalizations of Ivan Morris and Edward Seidensticker seem appropriate? What different things can you learn about the life of the Heian aristocracy from the Tale and from the Pillow Book? Look at the list of possible paper topics given below for ideas on how to read the book for historical information. Make lists of illustrations of points. The poetry is from a famous anthology composed in the early 1200's by a court noble named Fujiwara Teika. Many of the poems themselves come from the Heian period. Think about how natural imagery and seasons are used to express human emotions. The Pillow Book is the diary-like miscellaney of a court woman known as Sei Shônagon. This will be the main source for your first paper described below..
Assignments: Four-to-five page essay due week 5, Tuesday Oct 22,. To be based on The Pillow Book of Sei Shônagon--perhaps in relation to the chapters from The Tale of Genji and any other materials you find helpful (see week 3 readings). Pick a thematic problem, such as how people's lives are influenced by status consciousness, and then look for relevant information in the text. Relate many incidents from the text as proof of the point, the thesis that you wish to argue. Your paper must have a thesis statement. A thesis is a statement with which your reader may agree or disagree, and which you must therefore prove. If possible, relate your own point to interpretations in your secondary readings. Other possible topics (you'll have to make your own thesis statement!) include: women's relations with women; with men; entertainments of the elite; merit earned by skill in arts and how this might conflict with social hierarchy--i.e. a low ranking person being more highly skilled in poetry than a high ranking person; religious and magical beliefs of the aristocracy; the social uses of poetry, etc. Papers turned in after class or a day late (M-F) will have 1/3 of a letter grade deducted, two days late 2/3rds etc. (for example a B paper one day late will become a B-, two days late a C+ etc.)
Week 4 Heian and early samurai
T Oct 15 The economy of Heian Japan
Th Oct. 17 The rise of the samurai
Readings: Finish The Pillow Book of Sei Shônagon.
Week 5 Kamakura 1185-1333Muromachi (Ashikaga) 1336-1568
T Oct. 22 Kamakura and a dual court/samurai state ESSAY DUE TODAY
Th Oct. 24 Popular Buddhism
Readings: Schirokauer, pp. 73-96: selection from Helen McCullough trans., Yoshitsune (Stanford U. Press); George Sansom, "Religion, Art and Letters [of the Kamakura Period]."
The text will describe the appearance of samurai government in Japanese history. Be sure to note how samurai government does not immediately eliminate effective aristocratic government. The Kamakura period is a period with two simultaneous government systems and centers. They often conflicted, but they often helped each other's interests as well. Although many upwardly mobile samurai tried hard to acquire the arts and elegance of the aristocrats, fundamentally the values of samurai were quite different. The tale Yoshitsune is a piece of literature about the younger brother of Minamoto Yoritomo, the man who founded the Kamakura warrior government. Yoshitsune was a great general but Yoritomo became jealous and fearful and ended up having Yoshitsune hunted down and killed. Yoshitsune's sidekick Benkei is a monk-warrior, and much of the humor in the text comes from the contradictions of such a role. What samurai values are evident in this text? Think of how it is different from the Tale of Genji. At this time of political change and frequent turmoil, religious beliefs and institutions were changing rapidly. The Sansom reading introduces you to the great religious transformation which occurred in the Kamakura period. How does it relate to other transformations?
Week 6 Muromachi (Ashikaga) Japan
T Oct 29 Renaissance or Dark Ages?: Muromachi (Ashikaga) Japan
Th Oct 31 Mid-term examination
Readings: Schirokauer, pp. 96-115; Reader pp. 97-108: H. Paul Varley, "Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and the World of Kitayama: Social Change and Shogunal Patronage in Early Muromachi Japan."
The Muromachi is truly an age of great political turmoil. Court authority declined rapidly and the samurai became ascendant throughout most of the islands, but they were disunited. Warriors were constantly vying for power in various regions of Japan, and the Ashikaga authority structure was very troubled. Despite the conflict, this was the age in which many of Japan's great artistic traditions were born. Artistic development is not dependent upon political glory. Commerce thrived as well in this most lively and unsettled of eras in Japanese history. What links exist between the arts and commerce on the one hand and the samurai elite on the other?
Week 7 Unification and the Edo period
T Nov. 5 First contact with the West and Unification
Th Nov. 7 Tokugawa rule and the changing economy
Readings: Schirokauer, pp. 119-169; Reader pp. 109-156: George Elison, "Hideyoshi, the Bountiful Minister." Michael Cooper, They Came to Japan (selections). William Coaldrake, "Building a New Establishment: Tokugawa Iemitsu's Consolidation of Power and the Taitokuin Mausoleum."
The text will provide the broad outlines of government and society of the Unification era and the Edo period. The reader selection has two articles on art patronage. How do Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Iemitsu use patronage of the arts to enhance their prestige and political power? How do they compare with Ashikaga Yoshimitsu? The Cooper reading provides translations of the writings of Europeans who lived in Japan in the decades before and after 1600. What can you learn about people and politics in the islands from these writings? What can you learn about the preconceptions of the writers themselves? How does the appearance of the Iberians influence the course of history on the islands?
Week 8 Late Edo
T Nov 12 Late Tokugawa arts
Th Nov. 14 Tokugawa Collapse and Meiji Restoration
Readings: Schirokauer, pp. 173-195; Reader pp. 157-2**: Jippensha Ikku (Thomas Satchell trans.), selection from Shanks Mare; Lu, Sources of Japanese History, "The End of Tokugawa Rule;" M. William Steele, "Goemon's New World View: Popular Representations of the Opening of Japan."
SLIDE MODULE DS1 module 7 "Hokusai".
Begin reading Shiba Goro, Remembering Aizu.
Late Edo is my favorite period in Japanese history. Commoners take the lead in the production of the most energetic culture. It is a culture of playfulness and parody; full of earthy tastes. What problems do the rulers have which they cannot overcome? The"Hokusai" Slide Module introduces the field of popular visual arts in the Edo period, and Shank's Mare (Tôkaidôchû hizakurige) is an example of the bestselling fiction of around 1810. How is the production of art different from that under samurai patronage? The cultural foundations of samurai rule and many of their institutions are in decline, as can be seen from the translations in the Lu reading.The Steele reading uses popular art of the 1850's and 60's to understand how Edo city commoners viewed the arrival of Commodore Perry and the aftermath. The Schirokauer reading deals with the collapse of the Tokugawa and the creation of a new state.
Assignments: 4-5 page essay due Tuesday, Nov. 26. To be based on the memoirs of Shiba Gorô, Remembering Aizu. How did the Meiji Restoration look to this man? How does he feel the Restoration has been misremembered or mischaracterized? What did it mean to be a samurai at this time and how did they adjust? Develop a thesis concerning an aspect of Meiji Restoration era society and argue it based on evidence from the novel. Possible topics include answers to the questions above, differing roles for men and women, how people react in times of rapid change, and Westerners in early Meiji Japan. Remember, Your thesis is an historical argument you will have to prove using evidence from your text.
Week 9 Meiji Japan, the 30's Crisis and WWII
T Nov. 19 Meiji State and Society
Th Nov. 21 The crisis of the 1930's and war in Asia
Readings: Schirokauer, pp. 219-263; Reader pp. 2**-2**: Laurel Rasplica Rodd,"Yosano Akiko and the Taishô Debate over the 'New Woman'." Danielle Corey, "Yosano Akiko" a section from her UCSB history honors thesis "Japanese Feminism: A Political and Cultural Perspective."
Finish reading Shiba Goro, Remembering Aizu
The Schirokauer reading will cover the general history of Meiji and the early 20th century and the many reasons why so many countries went to war. Think of late Tokugawa and the Meiji period and list how things had changed in; government, international relations, education, cultural leadership, the economy and people's political behavior. The transition was rapid and in many ways successful. It was also very costly and difficult. Ever since, people have been confronting an industrialized modernity, the immense power of the West, and Western identity within an increasingly important "Japanese" identity. The Rodd article deals with a political (here feminist) side of literature in the modern period. She explores the life of the most highly regarded poet of early 20th century Japan. It highlights some of the struggles, possibilities and limitations of the era. The Corey reading is an example of UCSB student work on this kind of a topic. It is part of an honors thesis which Corey wrote in 1999-2000. Note how she makes arguments about political and social beliefs based on her readings of the poetry . Please also enjoy the excerpts from Yosano Akiko's poetry which are in the Corey reading.
Week 10 Postwar
T Nov. 26 Early Postwar Period SECOND PAPER DUE
Th Nov 28 THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
Readings: Schirokauer, pp. 264-297; Reader pp. 2**-2**: John Dower, "Race, Language and War in Two Cultures."
SLIDE MODULE DS1, module 8 "Tange Kenzô".
The Dower reading touches on how mutual perceptions influenced the conflict in WWII and how we remember it. The war era also created stock interpetations which have resurfaced throughout the postwar period. Western influence on society in Japan has intensified since the end of World War II, and Japanese influence on Western society has increased as well. Although people continually try to distinguish between what is Western and what is Japanese in postwar society, the truth is that together they are integrated within society and state. Many national cultural borders are rhetorical illusions. Is the paper we use "Chinese" because it was invented there? Is the automobile any less Japanese because the prototypes were not invented there? Architecture is one realm expressing the integration of what we think of as Western and Japanese influences. Think about this when viewing the Tange Kenzô slide module.
Week 11 Recent
T Dec. 3 Movie: Hellfire: A Journey from Hiroshima, John Junkerman and John Dower.
Th Dec. 5 Recent society and culture
Readings: Reader pp. 2**-end: Takeshi Kaiko (Tamae Prinde trans.), "Giants and Toys," Frederik Schodt, "A Thousand Million Manga," chapter 1 of his book Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics, Kodansha International 1986, pp. 12-27.
The Kaiko reading is a fictional short story with food for thought about corporate culture and consumer culture. Could a similar story be written with the U.S. as the setting? Schodt introduces us to the enormous and fascinating world of Japanese comics. What we see of Japanese comics in America is "but one drop of the great ocean, but one hair of nine cows."
FINAL EXAMINATION: Wednesday, Dec. 11, 12:00-3:00.
Contact the instructor at: lukerobt@history.ucsb.edu
Last Updated:
26/09/02
