Japanese Women Writers

Catalog description

One thousand years ago, women writers, poets, and diarists dominated the Japanese literary world. These women explored themes of love, loss, jealousy, and rivalry in various genres, all of which eschewed dry factualism. The erotic desire of waiting for a lover to return, the profound grief of bereaved consorts, lists of things lovely, tales of idealized romantic encounters, episodes of jealousy and resentment resulting in spirit possession -- these form the foundations of Japanese women's writing. The plot lines begun by these early female writers contributed to the development of modern Japanese women's literature, as these themes continue to expose real experiences of living in Japanese cultures. In this course we will explore Japanese women writers and their multilayered works in the context of the changing socio-political conditions that shaped women's positions in Japanese societies. All material is in English translation. The course is conducted in English. Offered as JAPN 345 , WGST 348 , and WLIT 345 . Counts as a CAS Global & Cultural Diversity course. Counts as a Communication Intensive course. Counts as a Understanding Global Perspectives course. Prereq: Academic Inquiry Seminar (AIQS) or SAGES First Seminar.