Modernity, Identity, and Global Culture in Modern East Asia.

Catalog description

This course is an introduction to the intellectual and cultural developments and changes in East Asia since the beginning of the twentieth century. We study representative texts and cultural products in the broader sociopolitical and socioeconomic contexts to see how their intellectual and cultural changes have both been formed by and reflecting the historical transformations in the region. While approaching East Asia as a unity and exploring the intellectual and cultural interconnectedness of China, Japan, and Korea, we also investigate their unique intellectual and cultural discourses in their own national traditions and historical contexts. We will raise issues concerning the conceptualization of East Asian modernity, identity, culture, and the embedded intellectual/cultural tensions in regional and global contexts. We will learn to critically understand, reflect, and analyze East Asian contributions to the global modernity and culture. ( GE1C , GEWE )