Seminar in Premodern Japanese Literature

Catalog description

This course examines literary practices in early modern Japan, exploring the emergence of a dynamic media ecology characterized by the rise of urban readership, commercial print economies, and a celebrity-driven performing arts industry. We trace the transregional networks of amateur poets and painters, as well as the influential "National Learning" movement's efforts to ground national identity in philology. A central theme is the transformation of the literary heritage of previous centuries through canonization, popularization, pedagogicization, and parody (mitate). From the pulp satire of kibyoshi and the wit of sharebon to kabuki theater and the birth of haiku, we analyze texts with a focus on materiality, circulation, authorship, and censorship. Students will be introduced to fundamental paleographical techniques for reading manuscript and woodblock editions, supplemented by modern editions and English translations. (Note: This seminar forms part of a three-year cycle on classical, medieval, and early modern literatures.)