EA170 Week 1 Study and Discussion Questions

*****Note: Scroll down for discussion questions!!*********

The following "Study" questions are to help you read for the most important points. YOU DO NOT NEED TO WRITE OUT ANSWERS TO STUDY QUESTIONS, ONLY THE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS.

The more general and comparative "Discussion" questions (scroll down; see also here) will be discussed in class, as well as used to make up paper topics. Your answers to discussion questions should be typed (single-spaced, you should be able to answer in one page but okay to go over a bit).

(See Course Requirements for more on how to answer discussion questions.)

McCullough, "Japanese Marriage Institutions in the Heian Period"

This is a long article with lots of extended examples. Just read for the answers to the following questions and skim over the long historical discussions.

But look for and pay attention to discussions of Kagerô nikki (The Kagerô Diary) and Genji monogatari (The Tale of Genji).

STUDY QUESTIONS:

Useful Terms: polygyny (having multiple wives), class endogamy (restricted to a class), nyôbô (lady-in-waiting), sesshô ("Regent" to child emperor), kampaku ("Chancellor" to adult emperor)

1) [p. 104] What is McCullough's definition of "marriage"? How is it different from our notion of marriage today?

2) Marital Residence [read 105-108; discussion of Kagerô nikki on pp. 107-8; skim 109-113; read 114-118] Make sure you understand the 4 types of marriage residence patterns: virilocal, uxorilocal, neolocal and duolocal. What pattern of marriage residence was NOT commonly practiced in the Heian period? Is this surprising to you?

3) Houses and Property [skim 118-123; read 124-127] Why was it necessary that women inherit property in the Heian period? What political effects did this system of marriage and inheritance have? What emotional effects?

4) Regulation of Marriage [127-141]:  What distinguishes a "main wife" from a man's other relationships? [127-128] What were the restrictions on incest? [135-6] What constituted a divorce? Who was most likely to get divorced? Who was least likely? Why? [139-140]

5) Children and the Family [141-146] Who was responsible for child raising? Was this true after divorce? Who was likely to be closer to children, the paternal or maternal grandparents? Why?

6) What do you think of McCullough's mixture of both literary (i.e. fictional) and historical documents as examples to prove his points? Why does he do this? Why might this be problematic?

DISCUSSSION QUESTIONS WEEK 1

Heian versus American/Western forms of marriage

1. What is McCullough's basic definition of marriage (for marriage anywhere)?

2. What would you consider to be the necessary basic components of "marriage" in the United States?

3. How are Heian period marriages the same or different from American marriages?

4. Would you call them “marriages”? Why or why not?

5. From the reading, why do you think men got married? Why did women get married? How did these reasons change depending on economic background and social status? (McCullough, pp. 124-27)