Assignment Schedule

(Subject to revision. Last update January 19, 2005)

Thursday, January 19
Orientation

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Introduction: Reading Pictures, Visualizing Literature

Tuesday, January 24
ABOUT SEEING, I.
"What is Visual Culture?" from Art, Design, and Visual Culture, Malcolm Barnard; "Images and Marks," from What is Painting? Representation and Modern Art, Julian Bell.

Thursday, January 26
ABOUT SEEING, II.
"Introduction," Jonathan Chaves, The Chinese Painter as Poet.

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Part One: Japanese Art Basics

Tuesday, January 31
SURVEY OF JAPANESE ART.
Japanese Art, "Introduction."

Thursday, February 2
SURVEY OF JAPANESE ART.
Japanese Art, "Prehistoric Period."

Tuesday, February 7
SURVEY OF JAPANESE ART.
Japanese Art, "Asuka and Nara."

Thursday, February 9
SURVEY OF JAPANESE ART.
Japanese Art, "Heian."

Tuesday, February 14
SURVEY OF JAPANESE ART.
Japanese Art,"Kamakura and Muromachi."

Thursday, February 16
SURVEY OF JAPANESE ART.
Japanese Art, "Momoyama and Edo."

Tuesday, February 21
SURVEY OF JAPANESE ART.
Discussion. PAPER TOPICS DUE.

Thursday, February 24
ABOUT SEEING III
Excerpt from Kojiki (Record of ancient matters); poems from Manyoshû (Collection of ten thousand leaves); "Preface" to Kokin waka shû (Ancient and modern poems anthology). Handout.

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Part Two: Image and Text in the Classical Period

Tuesday, February 28
POETRY AND PAINTING I.
Ise monogatari (Tales of Ise). Excerpts from Tales of Ise, Helen McCullough, translator. Read Episodes 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 23, 69, 125.

Thursday, March 2
PPOETRY AND PAINTING II.
Hyakunin isshu (One hundred poets, one poem each). Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image, Joshua Mostow, pp. 141-174.

Tuesday, March 7
GENJI MONOGATARI (Tale of Genji) I.
Tale of Genji Chapter 1, "The Paulownia Court," Chapter 10, "The Sacred Tree." Edward Seidensticker, translator. By March 21, view VHS 3060, The Illustrated Handscroll of the Tale of Genji (Run time is 60 mins.).

Thursday, March 9
GENJI MONOGATARI (Tale of Genji) II.
Tale of Genji, Chapter 17, "A Picture Contest," Chapter 25, "Fireflies." PAPER PROPOSALS (THESIS PARAGRAPH, OUTLINE, AND BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY) DUE.

March 14 &16
Class cancelled. Spring Break

Tuesday, March 21
GENJI MONOGATARI (Tale of Genji) III.
Chapter 28, "The Typhoon."

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Part Three: Medieval Aesthetics of Impermanence and Austerity

Thursday, March 23
THE AESTHETICS OF IMPERMANENCE: MEDIEVAL MISCELLANIES
Excerpts from Kamo no Chômei's Hôjôki (Account of my hut) and Yoshida Kenkô's Tsurezuregusa (Essays in idleness), Donald Keene, translator.

Tuesday, March 28
THE AESTHETICS OF IMPERMANENCE: NOH DRAMA
Izutsu (The Well cradle). Royall Tyler, translator.

Thursday, March 30
THE TEA CEREMONY: WABI (austere) TASTE.
Okakura Kakuzô, The Book of Tea. FIRST DRAFT OF PAPER DUE.

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Part Four: Image and Text in the Early Modern and Modern Periods

Tuesday, April 4
CHUUSHINGURA AND ITS IMAGERY I.
Read the first part of the play Chûshingura (The Forty-seven rônin), Donald Keene, translator.

Thursday, April 6
CHUUSHINGURA AND ITS IMAGERY II
Class cancelled. View film, Chûshingura (The Forty-seven rônin), available at the Music and Media Library (DVD 650) or a commercial video rental store. (Run time is 207 minutes.)

Tuesday, April 11
CHUUSHINGURA AND ITS IMAGERY III.
Read the second part of the play.

Thursday, April 13
OKAKURA, FENOLLOSA AND "JAPANISM."
Karatani Kôjin, "Japan as Museum," from Alexandra Munroe, Scream Against the Sky: Japanese Art After 1945.

Tuesday, April 18
"JAPANISM" REVISTED.
Tanizaki Junichirô. In Praise of Shadows (In'ei raisan). SECOND DRAFT OF PAPER DUE (MINIMUM 8 PAGES).

Thursday, April 21
ANIME AND MANGA I.
Evening class, view film.

Tuesday, April 25
ANIME AND MANGA II.
"Introduction: A Short History of Manga" from Sharon Kinsella's Adult Manga: Culture and Power in Contemporary Japanese Society; excerpt from Tale of Genji manga.

Thursday, April 27
Conclusion. PAPER DUE.

Final exam is due May 5.