PATRICK CADDEAU
Assistant
Professor of Japanese Language and Literature
Department of Asian Languages
and Civilizations
Amherst
College
Course Website (accessible to registered students)
Asian 21: Religious Traditions of Premodern Japan Through
Literature and Drama
Description and general information:
This course consists of close reading, lecture, and discussion concerning
representative works of literature and drama from ancient to early modern Japan.
Theoretical analysis will be integrated with readings from the sociology and
anthropology of religion; treatises associated with Buddhist, Confucian, Shintô,
and Daoist traditions; and readings on the history of religion in Japan.
Analysis of these materials will allow us to discuss the relationship between
religious belief and artistic practice. Interpretation and discussion will focus
on exploring the impact of ritual on the form and content of literary and
dramatic works. From this examination, we will seek to improve our appreciation
of the process of literary creation and the central position occupied by
religious beliefs and practices in Japanese culture. Readings and discussion are
in English.
Amherst College
Professor Caddeau, Webster 106, x
7928
pwcaddeau@amherst.edu
Course meets: TBA
Office Hours: TBA
Requirements: All assigned
readings are to be completed before class. Short essays are to be submitted to
me at the beginning of class on the day they are due. Short essays should be
approximately 1,000 words (4 pages) in length. Students are expected to lead one
class discussion during the semester. The final paper is due in my office by
5:00 pm on Friday, December 18th. One-half letter grade will be deducted for
each day assignments are submitted beyond the due date.
The following
books have been placed on reserve at Frost Library and can also be purchased at
the Jeffery Amherst College Store:
Japanese Religion:
Unity and Diversity, H. Byron Earhart (BL2202 .E17 1982 )
The
Sacred Canopy, Peter L. Berger (261 B453)
Classical Japanese Prose,
Helen Craig McCullough, ed. (PL777.115 .C57 1990)
Additional readings
are included with the course reading packet available from the Asian Languages
and Civilizations Office, Webster 110. (A fee will be charged to cover
duplication costs.)
Syllabus (dates and readings subject to revision)
- Week I Course introduction
- 9/8 Survival and the cosmos in preliterate society
- Examination of haniwa sculptures from the Kofun
period
- Analysis and discussion of texts and images in
class
Read: Japanese Religion, chapters 1 (introduction) and 2
(persistent themes)
- 9/13 Creation myths in theory and in practice
- Reading: First half of Chapter I: “Religion and
World-Construction” (pp. 3-13) in The Sacred Canopy, Berger;
*Chapters 1-8 (pp. 47-60) in Kojiki; Japanese Religion, chapter 4
(The formation of Shinto)
Analysis and discussionof Kojiki in
class
- Week 2 Myth-History and World-Construction in Ancient
Japan
- 9/14 Reading: Second half of Chapter I: “Religion and
World-Construction” (pp. 14-28) in The Sacred Canopy; *Chapters 9-12
(pp. 61-71) in Kojiki.
- Assignment: As you complete the reading try to identify
aspects of World-Construction in the events depicted in the Kojiki.
Do you find Berger’s discussion helpful in making sense of the
Kojiki? Be prepared to provide examples from assigned readings to
substantiate your views.
- 9/16 Japan’s ancient chronicles, space, time, and the
sacred
- Readings: “Religion and World-Maintenance” (pp. 29-51) in
The Sacred Canopy; *Chapters 12-19 (pp. 71-90) in Kojiki.
- Additional Reading: Ancient Japan and Its Influence on
Modern Times by Richard L. Walker. New York: Franklin Watts,
1975.
- Assignment: As you read Sacred Canopy think of
examples of ritual with which you are directly familiar (examples from
daily life, literature, or drama). Does Berger’s discussion shed new light
on the meaning of these rituals for you? Do you agree or disagree with his
argument? How would you apply his analysis to the acts of divine beings
“recorded” in the Kojiki? Be prepared to discuss these issues in
class.
- Week 3 Ritual elements of traditional arts in Japan
- 9/21 Ritual and theater: folk performing arts (minzoku
geinô)
- Readings: *From “Introduction” to “Before the Nô Theater”
(pp. 1-69) in Audience and Actors, Jacob Raz
- 9/23 Short Essay Due
- In-class video: selections on kagura (Shinto ritual
dance) and gagaku (music of the imperial court); Discussion and
analysis of ritual in class
- Week 4 The introduction of Buddhism to Japan
- 9/28 Readings: “The Problem of Theodicy” (pp. 53-80) in
The Sacred Canopy.
- 9/30 Readings: Japanese Religion, chapter 5 (Early
Japanese Buddhism)
- Lecture and discussion: Prince Shôtoku, Saichô, and
Kûkai
- Week 5 Ritual and the power of words
- 10/5 Lecture: Kotodama (‘word spirits’) and
makurakotoba (‘pillow words’); In class discussion and analysis of
early poetry.
- Presentation and discussion
- 10/7 Reading: The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Taketori
monogatari; pp. 27-37 in Classical Japanese Prose
- Presentation and discussion
- Mid-semester break
- Week 6 From poetry to prose narrative
- 10/14 Elements of religious thought in the construction of
prose literature
- Reading: The Tales of Ise (Ise monogatari; pp.
38-69) in Classical Japanese Prose
- Student presentation and analysis of Ise mg in
class
- Week 7 Creating personal history: Memoirs and diaries
- 10/19 Readings: A Tosa Journal (Tosa Nikki; pp.
70-102) and The Gossamer Journal (Kagerô nikki; pp. 102-155) in
Classical Japanese Prose
- Presentation and discussion
- 10/21 Reading: The Pillow Book (Makura no sôshi; pp.
156-199) in Classical Japanese Prose
- Presentation and discussion
- Week 8 The clash of fictional and sacred world-views
- 10/26 The syncretization of Shinto ritual, folk religion,
and Buddhist thought.
- Readings: Japanese Religion, chapter 7 (folk
religion); Tales of Times Now Past (Konjaku monogatari) and A
Collection of Tales from Uji (Uji shûi monogatari) pp. 271-287.
- Presentation and discussion
- 10/28: Reading,Japanese Religion, chapter 8
(interaction); chapters 1 and 2 in The Tale of Genji (Genji
monogatari)
- Presentation and discussion
- Week 9 Religion and Alienation
- 11/2: Readings: Japanese Religion, chapter 6
(Confucianism and Taoism); chapter 3 in The Tale of
Genji
- Presentation and discussion
- 11/4 Readings: Japanese Religion, chapter 9
(Shingon and Tendai); chapter 8 in The Tale of Genji.
- Close reading of passages concerning poetic allusion and
narrative voice.
- Week 10 Rituals and transformations
- 11/9 Reading: “Religion and Alienation” (pp. 81-90) in
The Sacred Canopy. Application of social theory to chapters 1-7 in
The Tale of Genji. Pictoral representations of Genji
narrative.
- 11/11 Short Essay Due
- In-class video Tale of Genji and overview of the
work.
- Mindfulness and awakening: Kamakura Buddhism
- Readings: Japanese Religion, chapter 10
(Elaboration); An Account of My Hermitage (Hôjôki); Essays in
Idleness (Tsurezuregusa) pp. 377-421 in Classical Japanese
Prose
- Shinto and Buddhist elements of Nô drama
- Reading: *Selections from Nô drama and
criticism
- In-class video on Nô drama: Excerpts from Benkei in the
Boat (Funa Benkei) and The Lady Han (Hanjo)
- Week 11 The spread of Confucian thought: caught between duty
and desire
- 11/16 Reading: Japanese Religion, chapter 14
(Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism, and Restoration Shinto in the Tokugawa Period);
“The Social Environment of Tokugawa Kabuki” (pp. 1-62) by Donald Shively in
Studies in Kabuki.
- 11/17 Film screening: Double Suicide (Shinju ten no
Amijima; 1969) TBA
- 11/18 Reading: *The love suicides at Sonezaki
(Sonezaki shinju) by Chikamatsu
- In-class video: Selections from a bunraku performance of
The love suicides at Sonezaki
- Discussion
- Thanksgiving Break
- Week 12 Performative aspects: Music, costume, effigy, and
ritual
- 11/30 Music, costume, and staging
- Readings: *“Elements of Performance” (pp. 303-13) in
Traditional Japanese Theater.
- In-class video: “The Tradition of Performing Arts in
Japan.”
- 12/2 Readings: *Law, Puppets of nostalgia; Eliade,
Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy; de Coppet, Understanding
Rituals; Blacker, The Catalpa Bow--A Study of Shamanistic Practices
in Japan.
- In-class video: excerpts from “The Music of
Bunraku”
- Week 13
- 12/7 Kabuki
- Readings: *Selections from The Art of Kabuki: Famous
Plays in Performance, Leiter; Traditional Japanese Theater,
Brazell
- 12/8 Film Screening: An Actor’s Revenge (Yukinojo
henge; 1963) TBA
- 12/9 Discussion and analysis of film
- Week 14
- 12/14 Read: Japanese Religion, chapter 19 (Religious life in
Contemporary Japan); Review and discussion of major
themes
- Final Paper due 18 December (2,000 words)
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