Lecture Outlines

 

Reading Assignment

Abbreviations:
OL = Online (click on link)
J Tales = Japanese Tales
Trad J Thtr = Traditional Japanese Theater

 

 Reading Questions, Images, Links

Week 1a & b

April 3: Outline

April 5: Outline

Discussion Forum

Week 2a

April 10:
Outline

 

 

1a April 3: Intro to Class and Website

a. Intro to historical periods in Ancient Japan

JAPANESE RELIGIONS

1b April 5: Japanese Shamanism

a.[OL] Carmen Blacker, The Catalpa Bow
"The Bridge" (19-32)
"The Sacred Beings" (34-50)
b. [OL] The Catalpa Bow, "Exorcism" (298-307)
c. Table of Heian/Medieval Japanese Understanding of Ghosts d. [Japanese Tales] Stories about En no Gyoja:
"The Wizard of the Mountain" #88 (127-32)
"The Master" #127 (182-84)

2a April 10: Japanese Buddhism and Yin-Yang Wizardry

a. [OL] Robert Ellwood, Japanese Religion
"Japanese Religion in Historical Perspective" (19-50, 56-58)
b. [OL] Buddhism in Asia (Wikipedia article)
See also: Japanese Buddhism and Glossary of Japanese Buddhism
c.[OL] Onmyodo (Wikipedia article)
d. [Japanese Tales] Stories about Abe no Seimei

"Ying-Yang Lore" (xxix-xxx)
" The Genie" #59 (82-83)
"One Frog Less" #60 (83)
"The Test" #62 (84-85)
"Man's Best Friend" #63 (85-86)

Week 2b

Thurs April 12:

Online lecture 1

Online lecture outline

Class Outline

Discussion Questions

Week 3a

Tues April 17:

Online Lecture 2

Online Lecture Outline

Class Outline


 

ANGRY HEIAN GHOSTS

2b Thursday April 12: Angry Male Ghosts: Sugawara no Michizane

a) [OL] Borgen, Sugawara no Michizane
"Michizane as Tenjin" (307-336)
b) [J Tales] "The God of Fire and Thunder" #101 (144-49)
c) Online lecture (see link at left) on the political and social situation behind the rise of angry ghosts in Heian Japan (20 minutes)
d)Images of Michizane

Further (optional) reading: Neil McMullin, "Placating the Gods"

DISCUSSION SECTION: Bring above readings and answers to discussion questions (see left) to section today!


3a Tuesday April 17: Angry Female Ghosts: Mononoke and Lady Rokujô

a) Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, trans. Ivan Morris
The House Had a Spacious Courtyard" and
Murasaki Shikibu, Her Diary and Poetic Memoirs, trans. Richard Bowring [click here]
b) Poem from Murasaki Shikibu's poetry collection
d) Review: Catalpa Bow, pp. 298-301
e. Online lecture (see link at left) on different forms of possession in the Heian period and why pregnant women are vulnerable

f. [OL] Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji, trans. Edward Seidensticker
"Heartvine [Aoi no Ue]" (146-172)
"The Sacred Tree" [Sakaki] (186-195)

Supplementary [optional] reading: click here for a synopsis of Tale of Genji (to give context for the chapter)
Supplementary [optional] reading: Bowring, Murasaki Shikibu: The Tale of Genji "The Cultural Background" pp. 1-21

Week 3b
Thurs April 19:
Class Outline

Discussion Forum (due by classtime)

MEDIEVAL JAPANESE GHOSTS

Thurs April 19: Hungry Ghosts, Blood Pool Hells, and Demons

a) [Jpn Tales] Introduction, pp. xix-lvi

Mentioned in class lecture:
Tales of Hell:
#46 "The Weight of Tradition" (62-63)
#104 "The Catch" (151-52)
#149 "Incorrigible" ( 211-15)
#180 "The Reprieve" (262-63)
#215 "Be Good to Your Mother and Father" (312-13)

Tales of Demons:
#14 "The Bridge" (19-22)
#98 "The River of Snakes" (138-39)
#125 "A Memorable Empress" (178-80)
#148 "The Voice from the Cave" (209-11)
#172 "The Bottomless Sack" (242-44)

The Hundred Demon Parade
#74 "The Invisible Man" (99-101)
#168 "No Night to be Out Courting" (237-39)
#169 "Lump Off, Lump On" (239-41)
#170 "Take Good Look" (241)

b) Images of Hungry Ghosts and Hell

c) [OL] Review Robert Ellwood, Japanese Religion
"The Kamakura Period" and "The Muromachi Period" (35-42)

Further [optional] reading: William LaFleur, "Hungry Ghosts and Hungry People"

Week 4a

Tues April 24:
Outline

Discussion questions [to be turned in in class]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 4b

Thurs April 26:

Outline

Online lecture 3

Online lecture 3 Outline

Review discussion section (optional)

 

 


 

Tues April 24: Medieval Ghosts and Demons Continued: Becoming Visible

a) [Jpn Tales]
#28 "Very Kind of Him, No Doubt" (38)
#97 "A Model Demon" (137-38)
#216 "Hell in Broad Day" (313-14)

b) [OL] Taiheiki, trans. Helen McCullough
"The Suicide of the Protector of Etchu" (330-333)

c) Wikipedia article on writing about fiction (this article will be used in your take-home midterm exam)

Take-home midterm given out today. Due by dropbox Monday April 30, 8 pm.

 

GHOSTS IN NOH AND KYOGEN

Thurs April 26: Intro to Ghosts and Noh

a)[OL] Synopsis and Translation of Kurozuka/Adachigahara

b)[OL] Aoi no Ue [English only, with introduction to Noh)

See "photo story" for images

Alternate version: [OL] Aoi no Ue [English and Japanese, including detailed stage directions, music, etc.]

c ) [J Trad Thtr] Karen Brazell, "Japanese Theater: A Living Tradition" (3-10, 24-39); "The Noh and Kyogen Theater: Elements of Performance" (115-125)


d) [OL] Review: Blacker, Catalpa Bow (19-20, 31, 38-39)


e) Images: Noh Masks

Videos: "Tradition of Performing Arts in Japan: Noh" and "Aoi no Ue" (full production in Japanese only)

Short youtube history of Japan (trigger warning for language)

 

Week 5a-b

Tues May 1:
Outline

Online lecture 4

Online lecture 4 outline

Thurs May 3:
Outline

Discussion Questions



 

May 1: Rokujo in Noh

a)[OL] Aoi no Ue [English only, with introduction to Noh)

See "photo story" for images

Alternate version: [OL] Aoi no Ue [English and Japanese with stage directions; original text on left, translation on right, interspersed with detail descriptions of music].

b) [OL] Nonomiya, translation by Royall Tyler, Japanese N? Dramas (pp. 205-214)

[Japanese version]

See"photo story" for images

c. [OL] Review: Tale of Genji, "Heartvine" and "The Sacred Tree"

DISCUSSION CLASS: Bring Aoi no Ue, Nonomiya, and Tale of Genji chapters to class and also to section on Thursday!Today you'll also be given a chance to form groups for the group presentation assignment, due 10th week.

May 3: Male Ghosts in Noh

a) [OL] Michele Marra, "The Michizane Legend as Seen in the Noh Drama Raiden" (read intro, but translation by UCI student below is better)

b) [OL] Raiden, trans. Brad Torre

c) [OL] The Taiheiki, trans. Helen McCullough
"The Matter of the Shrine of Sugawara no Michizane" (350-363)

d) Yashima, trans. Royall Tyler

See "photo story" for images

e) Review: [OL] Borgen, Sugawara no Michizane
"Michizane as Tenjin" (307-336)

See images of Michizane story, including Noh

Video: Yashima(15 minute digest in Japanese)


  

Week 6a-b

Tues May 8:
Outline

 

Thurs May 10:
Outline

Discussion Questions

May 8: Kyogen--parodic ghosts, bumbling gods, and ineffectual priests

a) [OL] Asahina
b) [Trad J Thtr] Thunderbolt (Kaminari) (61-67)
c) [Trad J Thtr] The Cicada (Semi) )(284-94)
d) [Trad J Thtr] Mushrooms (Kusabira) (245-254)
e) [OL] Owls (Fukuro Yamabushi)
e) Review: Aoi no Ue for comparison with Mushrooms; Yashima for comparison with The Cicada

Videos: "This is Kyogen"
( includes exerpts from Thunderbolt and Owls)

May 10: Kyogen Continued (plus intro to Yokai)

a) [OL] Neck-pulling (Kubihiki)
b. [OL] Yao

Videos: Mushrooms, Asahina, Neck-pulling, Owls

Week 7a-b

Tues May 15: Outline



Thurs May 17: Outline

Discussion

YOKAI

May 15: Intro to Yokai and Foxes

a) [OL] Blacker, The Catalpa Bow
"Witch Animals" (51-68)
b) [OL] Janet Goff, "Foxes in Japanese Culture" (66-77)
c) [J Tales] Foxes I #80-84; Foxes II #205-209, #124-125
d) Supplementary: [OL] webpage on Foxes, Inari, Dakini, etc.

Video: Section on Foxes from Akira Kurosawa's Dreams

May 17: Foxes in Noh and Kyogen

a) Review: [OL] Janet Goff, "Foxes in Japanese Culture" on Tamamo no Mae and Sesshôseki (The Death Stone)
b) Review: [J Tales] #81, 82, 207, 125
c) [OL] The Death Stone (Sesshôseki), trans. Basil Hall Chamberlin
[For alternative English/Japanese translation, click here]
d) optional: Illustrated Scroll of Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox, Tamamo no Mae
[Also, see images]
e) [OL] Tsurigitsune (The Fox and the Trapper), trans. Richard McKinnon
[Also, see images]

Videos: "Saigo no Kitsune": Nomura Mansaku's last performance of Tsurigitsune; second act of Tsurigitsune Video; video of second act of Death Stone, Tradition of Performing Arts in Japan: Kabuki

Week 8a-b

Tues May 22:
Outline

Online lecture: Edo Period

Thurs May 24:
Outline

Discussion

 

 

EDO PERIOD GHOSTS

May 22: Edo Period Female Ghosts

a) [OL] Brenda Jordan, "Yûrei: Tales of Female Ghosts" pp. 25-33
b ) [Trad J Thtr] Brazell, "The Puppet and Kabuki Theater: Elements of Performance" (303-313)

May 24: Yotsuya Ghost Stories

a) [Trad J Thtr] Yotsuya Ghost Stories (Tôkaidô Yotsuya Kaidan) Act I (pp. 456-483)
b) [OL] The Ghost Stories at Yotsuya on the Tôkaidô (Tôkaidô Yotsuya Kaidan) Acts III and V, pp. 134-163
c) optional: wikipedia on Chushingura (but ignore the part on "religious significance"); see also reading questions for summary of plot.

 

Group Project Proposal DUE 5:00 p.m. TUESDAY May 29 by DROP BOX "Proposal" (For instructions on Drop Box, click here)

Week 9a-b

Tues May 29: Outline

Thurs May 31:

Outline

Discussion forum (due by section)

(No discussion question due this week, only the forum above. In section we will review this week's lectures concentrating on these questions)

EDO PERIOD MALE GHOSTS

May 29: Michizane in Bunraku Puppet Theater
a) [Trad J Thtr] "Mount Tenpai" and "Tumult in the Palace" from Sugawara's Secrets of Calligraphy (95-111)
b) Review: Borgen, Sugawara no Michizane: "Michizane as Tenjin" (307-336)
c) Images of Michizane (scroll down for link to Secrets of Calligraphy)
d) Optional: See full plot summary here

NOTE: See the reading questions for a brief summary of the plot

May 31: The Story of Sakura Sogoro/Transition to the Modern/Review Class

a) [OL] Anne Walthall, "The Sakura Sogoro Story" from Peasant Uprisings in Japan

Week 10a-b

Tues June 5:
presentation list

Thurs June 7:
presentation list

Discussion sections optional (final exam review)

Group Project Presentations (schedule)

June 5: Group Project Presentations

(Upload today's presentations to the GroupProject-PPT dropbox)

June 7: Group Project Presentations

(Upload today's presentations to the GroupProject-PPT dropbox)


(TAKE-HOME FINAL EXAM GIVEN OUT TODAY)

FRIDAY JUNE 8, 8:00 p.m.: Group Project papers due in GroupProject-Paper dropbox.

Take-home Final Exam

THURSDAY JUNE 14, 5:00 p.m.: Take-home Final exam due in EA116-Final dropbox.