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

Jan 7: Outline

Jan 9: Outline

Week 2a

Jan 14:
Outline

 

Prentice Lecture

1a January 7: Intro to Class and Website

a. Intro to historical periods in Ancient Japan

JAPANESE RELIGIONS

1b January 9: 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

2a January 14: Japanese Buddhism

[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) Optional [J Tales]
"The Wizard of the Mountain" #88 (127-32)
"The Master" #127 (182-84)

Week 2b

Online lecture outline

Online lecture

Thurs Jan 16: Outline

Discussion Questions

Week 3a

Tues Jan 21:

Online Lecture

Online Lecture Outline

Class Outline


 

ANGRY HEIAN GHOSTS

2b Thursday Jan 16: 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

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


3a Tuesday Jan 21: 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) Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji, trans. Edward Seidensticker
"Heartvine" (146-172)
f) supplementary reading: click here for a synopsis of Tale of Genji (to give context for the chapter)
g) supplementary reading: Bowring, Murasaki Shikibu: The Tale of Genji "The Cultural Background" pp. 1-21

Week 3b
Jan 23:
Class Outline

Discussion Forum

MEDIEVAL JAPANESE GHOSTS

Thurs Jan 23: Hungry Ghosts, Blood Pool Hells, and Demons

a) [Jpn Tales] Introduction, pp. ix-lvia

Mentioned in class lecture:
Tales of Hell:
#46 "The Weight of Tradition" (62-63)
#104 "The Catch" (104-5)
#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" (19-20)
#98 "The River of Snakes" (138-39)
#125 "A Memorable Empress" (178-89)
#148 "The Voice from the Cave" (209-11)
#172 "The Bottomless Sack" (242-43)

The Hundred Demon Parade
#74 "The Invisible Man" (99-101)
#168 "No Night to be Out Courting" (237-39)
#169 "Lump Off, Lump On" (239-40)
#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)

Week 4a-b

Jan 28:
Outline

Discussion Questions

Jan 30:
Review

 

 


 

Tues Jan 28: Medieval Ghosts Become 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)

DISCUSSION CLASS: Bring Japanese Tales and "The Suicide of the Protector of Etchu" today!

Thurs Jan 30: Review Class
a) 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 Tuesday Feb 4, 10:00 a.m. (For instructions on using Drop Box, click here.)

 

Week 5a-b

Feb 4:
Outline

Online lecture

Feb 6:
Outline

Discussion Questions



GHOSTS IN NOH AND KYOGEN

Feb 4: Intro to Noh

a)[OL] Synopsis and Translation of Kurozuka/Adachigahara
b)[OL] Aoi no Ue [English and Japanese, including stage directions 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

Feb 6: Rokujo in Noh

a)[OL] Aoi no Ue[English and Japanese].
c) [OL] Review: Tale of Genji, "Heartvine"

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

 


  

Week 6

Feb 11:
Outline

 

Feb 13:
Outline

Discussion Questions

Feb 11:Male Ghosts in Noh

a) [OL] Michele Marra, "The Michizane Legend as Seen in the Noh Drama Raiden"
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. The-Noh.com
e) Review: [OL] Borgen, Sugawara no Michizane
"Michizane as Tenjin" (307-336)

Feb 13: Kyogen--parodic ghosts, bumbling gods, and ineffectual priests

a) [OL] Asaina
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) Review: Aoi no Ue for comparison with Mushrooms; Yashimafor comparison with The Cicada

Videos: This is Kyogen; Mushrooms

Discussion class on parody in Kyogen

Week 7

Feb 18: Outline



Feb 20: Outline

Discussion

YOKAI

Feb 18: 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

Feb 20: 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]

Video: Selections from Tsurigitsune

Week 8

Feb 25:
Outline

Online lecture: Edo Period

Feb 27:
Outline

 

 

EDO PERIOD GHOSTS

Feb 25: 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)

Feb 27: 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 Chûshingura (see also reading questions for summary of plot)

 

Group Project Proposal DUE 5:00 p.m. TUESDAY Mar 4 by DROP BOX "Proposal" (For instructions on Drop Box, click here)

Week 9

Mar 4: Outline

Mar 6:

Discussion Forum

EDO PERIOD MALE GHOSTS

Mar 4: 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

 

Mar 6: Review class

Week 10

Mar 11:
presentations

Mar 13:
presentations

Group Project Presentations (schedule)

Mar 11: Group Project Presentations

Mar 13: Group Project Presentations
(TAKE-HOME FINAL EXAM GIVEN OUT TODAY)

FRIDAY MARCH 14, 8:00 p.m.: Group Project papers due by DROP BOX.

Take-home Final Exam

THURSDAY MARCH 20, 5:00 p.m.: Take-home Final exam due by Drop Box.