Japanese at William & Mary

Japanese Courses

Japanese Literature and Culture

150 Freshman Seminar

Instructor: Timothy Van Compernolle

Through a variety of literary and non-literary texts, this course explores Japan's shifting relations with the rest of the world, with special emphasis on the turbulent century 1850-1950, but with attention also devoted to pre-modern and contemporary texts. We will accomplish several important goals: to develop the art of reading closely, deeply, cautiously, and critically; to develop concepts important to literary and cultural study in a global context, such as representation, national identity, tradition, empire, and modernism; to use literary texts as a way to gain access to larger historical patterns and important social issues; to expand our skills in critical reading, communication, and thinking in the context of a small intellectual community of first-year students.

280: Asian Cultures Through Film

Instructor: Rachel DiNitto

This is an introduction to Asian cultures and societies through the modern and contemporary film of China, Taiwan and Japan. The class takes a cross-cultural approach by looking at various social, political and cultural themes as they vary across time and across Asian countries. This course examines transitions occurring in cultural, social and political institutions as Asian nations and peoples modernized over the last 200 years. The readings and class lectures will provide a context for the film and give an overview of broader historical issues affecting Asia in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. These introductions will be followed up by a more detailed analysis and reflection in the discussion sections. Students will also write short papers on each unit, incorporating their input on the film, readings and lectures.

Each class unit will revolve around a topic which will be introduced and analyzed through films and readings from a variety of disciplines ranging from the historical to the literary. Topics include transitions occurring in Asian countries in the following areas: family practices, individual vs. society, modernization and conflict with tradition, social customs, politics, war, and women's roles. The cross-cultural approach allows students to compare cultural change in a number of Asian societies and get a broader view of the commonalities and specifics of the region and the ways in which they interact and conflict.

308: Japanese Film as Narrative Art

Instructor: Timothy Van Compernolle

This course will investigate Japanese cinema as a narrative art-that is as a form of storytelling-while also analyzing it as a formal construct and as a participant in larger aesthetic and social contexts. We will survey the full historical scope of Japanese cinema, from the extant silent films of the 1920s through the golden age of Japanese cinema in the 1950s to the worldwide prominence of Japanese animation in the present day. This course will also introduce students to major directors (Kinugasa, Mizoguchi, Ozu, Oshima, Shinoda, Kore'eda, Miyazaki) and representative films, with special emphasis on the fifty-year career of Akira Kurosawa, which will allow us to think about the position of Japanese film within the disciplines of film studies and area studies.

308-01: Topics in Japanese Literature and Culture

Fictions of Desire: The Demimonde in Japan

Instructor: Timothy Van Compernolle

Literature can be a potent bearer of anxiety about the effects of desire on the social order. With this as a premise, this class explores the demimonde-the world of prostitutes, geishas, and hostesses-in Japan from 1600 to the present. Topics include the system of licensed prostitution and its visual culture in the early-modern period, shifting representations of the geisha over time, sexual slavery during WWII, and the contemporary hostess clubs that view themselves as the heirs of the earlier demimonde traditions. Texts are primarily literary, dramatic, and cinematic, but we will also utilize historical scholarship and anthropology. Knowledge of Japanese is not necessary.

309: Classical Japanese Literature in English Translation

Instructor: Timothy Van Compernolle

This course is a survey of classical Japanese literature from the earliest times to the eighteenth century, with special emphasis on the communal production/consumption of literature. The goals for this course are fourfold: a) to learn about significant premodern Japanese writers, texts, and genres in the context of Japanese cultural history; b) to become better readers of Japanese literary texts by bringing to your reading increased alertness and knowledge; c) to gain a comparative perspective on world literature and thus increase your sense of the possibilities of literature; d) to develop critical reading, communication, and thinking skills in the context of an intellectual community.

 

310: Modern and Contemporary Japanese Literature in English Translation

Instructor: Rachel DiNitto

This course provides an introduction to Japanese literature of the early modern and modern periods (1700-present). We will be reading some of the most famous novels, short stories, and plays, as well as the Nobel Prize speeches of Kawabata Yasunari and Oe Kenzaburo. Topics for discussion include: the relationship between the premodern and the modern, modern love and the modern self, East-West relations, 1920s experimentalism, narratives of self-expression, wartime fiction, literature of the outcaste and marginalized, and new trends in contemporary fiction.

The class presupposes no specialized knowledge of Japanese language, literature or history. Over the course of the semester, you will become acquainted with Japanese literature spanning over 300 years. In the course we will also discuss the cultural and historical situations in which these texts were written. Through these discussions and readings, you will develop the critical skills necessary to analyze and write about this literary tradition. The first half of this class covering classical literature will be offered in the fall.

411: Independent Study
Students interested in pursuing language or literature studies beyond the course offerings should contact either Professor DiNitto or one of the Japanese language instructors.

Japanese Language

The Japanese program at William and Mary offers 4 full years of language study using a communicative approach. Students focus on all 4 skills (speaking, reading, writing, listening) in order to maximize their proficiency in the language. There are many opportunities to use Japanese on campus, and students are encouraged to live in the Japan House and to study abroad, either for a semester or on a year-long program.

Our students participate in the annual Japanese Speech Contest held on W&M's campus and then the finalists go on to compete with students from area schools at Duke University.

Language training is an integral component of the East Asian Studies programs, and students interested in a Concentration (major) or Minor are encouraged to begin their language study as early as possible in their academic careers.

Course Descriptions: JAPN 101, 102

JAPN 101 is an introduction to the basic structure of the Japanese language, including grammar, pronunciation, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The second semester, JAPN 102, assumes knowledge of both phonetic alphabets, hiragana and katakana, and approximately 30 kanji, or Chinese characters. By the end of 102 students will know approximately 100 kanji characters, and will be able to order food at a Japanese restaurant, introduce themselves in a professional situation, extend and decline invitations, (and talk about their families and childhood experiences. The textbook for the course is Nakama I. There are three hours in the lecture sessions and two hours in the drill class with assignments including work at the language laboratory.

JAPN 201, 202

This course is designed to extend the student's listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. It especially focuses on strengthening functional ability to communicate in Japanese beyond the survival level. This course also allows the student to be familiar with different styles and levels of speech including formal and informal speech, men's and women's speech, and Keigo or honorifics). In addition, approximately 180 Kanji will be learned.
Text: Nakama II: Japanese Communication, Culture, Context

JAPN 301, 302

This course is designed to further develop listening, speaking, reading and writing skills to acquire more natural use of the Japanese language. Advanced classroom drills, audio and video taped materials, and reading both extensive and intensive texts provide systematic practice in increasingly complex discourses. The course also includes discussions and presentations in the class, and interviews with native Japanese to enhance the students' learning.
Text: Chukyu no Nihongo

JAPN 401, 402

The goal of the course is to become familiar with complex structures of the language so that students acquire the skills to handle different situations both in oral communication and in written communication. The coursework includes readings from the textbook, Authentic Japanese: Progressing from Intermediate to Advanced, discussion on Japanese films, and projects with oral presentations.