Introduction to Japanese Culture and Literature

The aim of this course is to provide students with a general knowledge of Japanese literature and visual culture from prehistory through the 21st century. The course will track the evolution of literary forms, visual aesthetics, and cultural values, focusing particularly on how tradition and innovation interact across key historical periods. Students will also explore Japan's modern transformation, its postwar cultural shifts, and its global cultural presence today.

Students will gain comprehensive insight into Japanese literary and artistic traditions from their origins to the present.
They will develop a general knowledge of:
Literary genres, worldviews, and forms that shaped Japanese cultural identity;
Key writers, texts, and cultural artifacts spanning ancient to contemporary periods;
Intersections between literature, performance, and visual culture;
Major social and political contexts influencing artistic production;
How modern Japanese authors and creators reinterpret classical forms.
Students will build the critical tools to interpret, contextualize, and compare works across time, with special attention to how cultural continuity and rupture shape Japan's evolving narratives.