Colonial Japanese Literature

Catalog description

This course will explore the development of Japanese and colonial identities in literature produced in and about Japan's colonies during the first half of the 20th century. Throughout the semester, we will read works written during and about the Japanese empire by Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Okinawan, and Taiwanese writers. Looking at the different representations of empire, we will examine concepts such as assimilation, mimicry, hybridity, travel, and transculturation in the context of Japanese colonialism. By bringing together different voices from inside and outside of Japan's empire, students will gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of colonial hegemony and identity. In particular, reading works by Japanese, Okinawan, Korean, Taiwanese and Chinese subjects will enable students to transcend binary notions of colonizer and colonized while also acknowledging the realities of colonial complicity.