Japanese

Demons, ghosts, and monsters have populated the cultural landscape in Japan for centuries. Appearing in anime, manga, games, and movies, mysterious creatures continue to form the core of contemporary popular culture, and have sparked a global obsession with Japanese monsters. This course explores the cultural history of the strange and supernatural in Japanese literary, visual, and performing arts. Engaging with primary and critical sources from the eighth century to the present, the course considers the social roles that representations of the "weird" have played in Japan.

This course introduces basic grammar of classical Japanese. The class reads a wide range of original Japanese texts from the eighth to mid-twentieth centuries, including poetry, tales, legal writings, etc. 

This course is conducted in English, but since it involves translation from classical Japanese to English, having intermediate Japanese proficiency (2 years of Japanese) is recommended.