Spring 2016 Class: Talbot Seminar Room Time: 1:30-4:00 pm

Transcription

1 FAH 200: SEMINAR: JAPAN S FLOATING WORLD Instructor: Prof. Ikumi Kaminishi Office: Department of Art & Art History, 11 Talbot Ave. Contact: (617) or ikumi.kaminishi@tufts.edu Office hours: Tuesdays, 1:30 4:00 pm or by appointment Spring 2016 Class: Talbot Seminar Room Time: 1:30-4:00 pm Course Description This course explores various art media that surround the idea of the Floating World (ukiyo) in Japan s modern period (17 th -20 th centuries). The Floating World, which sets against an orthodox Buddhist worldview of impermanence, focuses more on hedonistic outlook in life. First we study the literature and film that address question of reality and illusion. Then we examine arts that depict the world of entertainment and pleasure: colorful woodblock prints of courtesans and actors, as well as the performing arts of kabuki and puppet theaters. Close examinations of these arts would reveal sophisticated and dynamic exchange between intellectuals and leading artists. Focusing on visual, literary, and performing arts, we will explore the matrix of Edo culture, especially the ideas of classicism, hedonism, and satire, and also the government s response and censorship against parodies. We will also explore modern theaters, film, and anime, which stem from early modern arts in the Floating World. Learning Objectives: To familiarize with visual arts and cultures of Japan To develop an ability to analyze, interpret, and write on visual works of art To learn to contextualize cultural and historical significance of Japanese art To develop critical thinking ability in response to scholarly literature

2 Expectations: Active participation in class discussions (leading discussants will be assigned) Learn Japanese history, aesthetic concepts, and visual and literary cultures Clear writing skill Academic research skill Time management (Late papers will be downgraded by a third of a full grade each day.) Collaboration toward group work Requirements and Distribution of Grading 1. Weekly class participation and assigned discussion leadership: 30% A pair of students leads discussions based on the assigned articles (4 or 5 times a semester). Post key discussion topics based on comments on readings on the course TRUNK, Forum folder, by Monday night. Include images of interest for discussion. 2. Group project: Make a 4-minute video: 30% (content, teamwork, presentation, Q&A) Prepare a short video (animated slides allowed). Consider you are making an academic Youtube video that introduces idea of floating world. Present your video in class on March 16. Turn in the storyboard script. 3. Seminar paper: 40% (undergraduates, pages; graduates, pages) The topic of the paper must be relevant to the subject and issues discussed in class. On February 24, submit your paper proposal, which states your thesis, objective, method of study, and preliminary bibliography. 4. Mandatory Attendance. Missing a class (except for an emergency) will result in lower grade. If missed more than three times, the student may be asked to withdraw the course. An important note on Plagiarism: Absolutely no plagiary is tolerated. If detected, that portion of the assignment receives 0 point or grade of F, and I report to Academic Judiciary Affairs Officer. For your information, please review Tufts University Academic Integrity. And if you are not sure how to cite your academic sources properly, please consult with me before you hand in papers. Online resources information: JSTOR: Online database of academic articles Art Online: Oxford Art Online, excellent encyclopedia ed_search Manual: Chicago Manual of Style Online: Use it when writing an academic paper 2

3 SCHEDULE (subject for change) Week 1 1/27 Introduction: Floating World What does ukiyo mean? Edo Period ( ) of Japan: samurai, class society, Edo city Floating and fleeting Video: clips from Memoirs of a Secret Empire Week 2 2/3 Buddhism: What does Zen got to do with the Floating World? 1) Hickman, Money. Views of the Floating World. MFA Bulletin, Vol. 76 (1978): [JSTOR] 2) Tokiwa, Gishin. Chan (Zen) View of Suffering. Buddhist-Christian Studies, Vol. 5 (1985): [JSTOR] 3) McFarland, H. Neil. Feminine Motifs in Bodhidharma Symbology in Japan. Asian Folklore Studies, v. 45, n. 2 (1986): [JSTOR] 4) Short scripture: The Heart Sutra (Maha Paramita Sutra) [pdf on TRUNK] What are the concepts of reality, body, mind, world and illusion in Zen? Week 3 2/10 Literature: The World of Ihara Saikaku 1) Lane, Richard. The Beginnings of the Modern Japanese Novel: Kana-zoshi, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 20, No. 3/4 (19577): [JSTOR] 2) Hibbett, Howard. Saikaku and Burlesque Fiction. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 20, No. 1/2 (1957): [JSTOR] Film: Life of Oharu, directed by Mizoguchi Kenji Source: Ihara, Saikaku, The Life of an Amorous Woman (just peruse) What is Saikaku s contribution to the conception of floating world? What makes Life of Oharu a story in the floating world? 3

4 Week 4 2/17 Prints and Books: ukiyo-e 1) Jenkins, Donald. Paintings of the Floating World. The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Vol. 75, No. 7 (1988): [JSTOR] 2) Thompson, Sarah. The World of Japanese Prints. Philadelphia Museum of Arts Bulletin, Vol. 82, no. 349/350 (1986): [JSTOR] 3) Nishimura, Matsunosuke. Chapter 4: Edo Publishing and Ukiyo-e. In Edo Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawai i Press, 1997: [JSTOR] What are ukiyo-e prints? (Difference between ukiyo and ukiyo-e) What are popular ukiyo-e subjects? Patrons, artists, publishers Bring an image of floating world Will form groups; a brief meeting to introduce yourselves in the group. Topics: How do they constitute floating worlds? 1. Sport: Sumo and Shinto 2. Historical hero and event: Ōishi Kuranosuke and 47 ronin 3. Travels: Pilgrimages to Ise Shrines 4. Edo pleasure quarter: Yoshiwara district 5. Famous Kabuki actor: Danjuro 6. Or your own topic? Week 5 2/24 Classical Literature in Edo style 1) Marks, Andrew. A Country Genji: Kunisada s Single-Sheet Genji Series. Impressions, No. 27 (2005-6): [JSTOR] 2) Nakamachi, Keiko, Henry Smith and Miriam Wattles. Ukiyo-e Memories of Ise Monogatari. Impressions, No. 22 (2000): [JSTOR] Know the basics story of The Tale of Genji, and Ise Monogatarai Why did Edo people care about Heian classics? How are classical heroes transformed? Seminar paper proposal w/ preliminary bibliography due in class. 4

5 Week 6 3/2 Double entendre: mitate, fūryū yatsushi 1) Clark, Timothy. Prostitute as Bodhisattva: The Eguchi Theme in Ukiyo-e. Impressions, No. 22 (2000): [JSTOR] 2) Haft, Alfred. Harunobu and the Stylishly Informal: Furyu Yatsuhi as aesthetic Convention. Impressions, No. 28 (2006-7): [JSTOR] 3) Shirane, Haruo. Dressing Up, Dressing Down: Poetry, Image and Transposition in the Eight Views. Impressions, No. 31 (2010): [JSTOR] Read as General background information: Clark, Timothy T. Mitate-e: Some Thoughts, and a Summary of Recent Writings Kaminishi, Ikumi. Skillful Means (upaya) of the Courtesan as Bodhisattva Fugen: Maruyama Okyo s Lady Eguchi. To be published in Visualizing Gender in East Asia. Ashgate Press. What are the concepts of humors and parodies? How do they represent the ukiyo? What makes Harunobu a skillful designer? Week 7 3/9 Humor and Authority 1) Ramseyer, J. Mark. Thrift and Diligence. House Codes of Tokugawa Merchant Families. Monumenta Nipponica, V. 34, N. 2. (Summer, 1979): [JSTOR] 2) Shively, Donald. Sumptuary Regulation and Status in Early Tokugawa Japan. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, v. 25 ( ): [JSTOR] 3) Kornicki, Peter F. Nishiki no Ura. An Instance of Censorship and the Structure of a Sharebon. Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 32, No. 2 (1977): [JSTOR] Recommended: Thompson, Sarah and Harry Harootunian, Undercurrents in the Floating World: Censorship and Japanese Prints. NY: The Asia Society Galleries, [My personal copy in the Pantry. Do not remove it out of the Department] What did governments respond to control people s interest in pleasure? What would the U.S government do in such cases? Find images and bring them to class. Week 8 3/16 Your group video presentations 5

6 Week 9 3/23 No class; Spring recess Week 10 3/30 Kabuki and Jōruri: Double Suicide 1) Heine, Steven. Tragedy and Salvation in the Floating World: Chikamatsu s Double Suicide Drama as Millenarian Discourse. The Journal of Asian Studies, v. 53, no. 2 (1994): [JSTOR] 2) Cornyetz, Nina. Gazing Disinterestedly: Politicized Poetics in Double Suicide. A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, Vol. 12, N. 3 (2001): (MUSE) Recommended: Gerstle, C. Andrew. Flowers of Edo: Eighteenth-Century Kabuki and Its Patrons. Asian Theatre Journal, v. 4, n. 1 (1987): [JSTOR]; and Gerstle, C. Andrew. Hero as Murderer in Chikamatsu. Monumenta Nipponica, v. 51, n. 3 (1996): [JSTOR]; and Alland, Alexander, Jr. The Construction of Reality and Unreality in Japanese Theater. The Drama Review: TDR, vol. 23, n. 2 (1979): 3-10 [JSTOR] Film: Double Suicide, directed by Shinoda Masahiro How does Chikamatsu s Double Suicide relate to the idea of floating world? How does the film director Shinoda Masahiro aesthetically create a floating world? Week 11 4/6 Reality vs. Illusion in film Film 1: Ugetsu (1953), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi Araki, James. A Critical Approach to the Ugetsu Monogatari, Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 22, No. 1/2 (1967): [JSTOR] Film 2: Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi), dir. by Miyazaki Hayao Napier, Susan. Matter out of Place: Carnival, Containment, and Cultural Recovery in Miyazaki s Spirited Away. The Journal of Japanese Studies, Vol. 32, No. 2 (2006): [JSTOR] Week 12 4/13 Mr. Keiji Shinohara s demonstration of woodblock printing Week 13, 14 4/20, 27 Presentations (Paper Due on 4/27 via attachment by 6pm) Late paper policy: Late papers are accepted but downgraded one third of a full grade each day. 6

7 Books on TISCH reserve PL794.K Ihara, Saikaku. The life of an amorous woman N U35 F Sandy Kita, et al. The floating world of Ukiyo-e ND D Timothy Clark, et al. The dawn of the floating world. N7352.J Stephen Addiss. Japanese ghosts & demons NE L Richard Lane, Images from the floating world. DS822.2.N Nishiyama Matsunosuke. Edo Culture N G Christine Guth. Art of Edo Japan NE C Amy R, Newland, ed. Commercial & cultural climate of Japanese printmaking NX584.A1 B Nicole C. Rousmaniere, Births and Rebirths in Japanese Art PN K3 K2358 Samuel Leiter, ed. A Kabuki Reader HN730.T65 S Seigle, Cecilia Segawa YOSHIWARA N S Screech, Timon The Western Scientific Gaze N S Screech, Timon Sex and the floating world Film on TISCH media reserve VC2695 (c. 1, 2) Life of Oharu DV75, VC1684 The Bodyguard DV675, VC2554 Double Suicide DV1232 (c.1, 2) Spirited Away 7