Japanese Literature in the Feminine Domain

Catalog description

This course examines both writings of Japanese women and writings about Japanese women. It will challenge the application of current Western feminist standards to Japanese culture through the analysis of Japanese literary works. We will begin with Japanese mythology focusing on the stories of the creator goddess and Amaterasu, the sun goddess, from whom the imperial line was descended. We will consider the great Heian Era women writers and their culture, examining the difference between men’s and women’s writing. From the Heian era we will move to the Meiji Era, when Japan’s isolationist period had ended and centuries’ worth of Western literature was introduced to Japan. We will concentrate on the writings of Higuchi Ichiyo, noting how the position of women had changed by her day and how it affected her literary style. The course will close with a focus on how literature treats Japanese women in our own time.