Japanese culture

https://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/black_ships_and_samurai/bss_essay01.html

Literary Reviews

Select two literary works produced during two different historical time periods. This is not book report. It is a review, written for an audience who have not viewed the material you are reviewing.Please do not give out plot details to spoil their enjoyment if your review inspire your classmates to read/watch the given work.

Your literature reviews will be used to evaluate your abilities to identify and define expressions derived from Japanese culture (e.g. film, music, art, literature) and compare and contrast those expressions with meanings in their own culture and with the dominant culture in the U.S.. Please make an effort to examine how studying Japanese culture influences your view of your own culture and the dominant U.S. culture.

Literature Selection Requirements

· The literature you choose must involve "storytelling", and inform us about aspects of Japanese culture during a certain historical time period.  

· The default choices should be novels, plays or feature-length movies. Collections of essays or poems can be selected if analyzed as a form of "storytelling". Other forms of storytelling/narrative may be acceptable. The length of each piece should be long enough to tell a substantive story that informs you of a certain aspect of Japanese culture.

· In general, manga, anime,  TV shows and games will NOT be acceptable for this assignment. Popular culture materials may be acceptable if you can effectively discuss their cultural significance by referencing specific course contents and effectively justify the selection of the specific literary work. Popularity of popular culture genres alone will not be sufficient for this purpose. You need to effectively argue the merit of the specific piece of literature as coursework.

· Your selection must allow you to experience actual Japanese literature intended for Japanese people at specific historical time periods. The intent of this assignment is to expose you to individualized contexts of the Japanese experience. A lot of the course content revolves around generalized knowledge of Japan, which cannot do justice when you try to understand the depth and width of a culture.  By going through narratives of individual experience, whether it is fictional or based on real people, your understanding of the culture will be more sophisticated. Another purpose of this assignment is to expose you to the Japanese literary "canon" (as in “famous” ‘must-read” titles) as appropriate in the course context. I intentionally leave the specifics of what constitutes the “canon”, and I don’t necessarily require everybody to select only “famous” works that are quoted everywhere.  

Review Content Requirements

· The review must include discussion of cultural significance of the work in the course context.

· Your review must have clear bibliographical information for the works that you review, so that your classmates can access them if your reviews interest them.

· Your review should not have plot summaries beyond a sentence or two. It should mainly consist of your brief analysis of the cultural content/context of the literature. You will communicate to your classmates how your selected works will relate to which specific part of our course content.

· Please include information on the author/creator and the historical context of the work.

· Do not plagiarize in any form. Please review the plagiarism module if not clear.

Format requirements

·

Length should be about 200-300 words per review. It is acceptable to go over or under by a few words. Please try to stay within the word limit.

·

Please include a sentence or two each about:

the time period of the work.

the type of work (e.g. novel, movie)

its themes or other characteristics

the author

relevant cultural content that can be referenced to the coursework.

Your opinion about the work and the reason.

Example

(This example is not about Japan. I chose a non-Japanese example so that I will not deprive you of potential topics for your assignment. You will be writing on Japanese literature, not on literature of any other cultures. This is a famous piece, so the title and the author will suffice as bibliographical  information. If you select an unknown piece, please include more detailed information. The rule of thumb is to provide enough information to reach the correct literature from the search field on Amazon.com).

       I read a 16th century comedy play, The Merchant of Venice, written by William Shakespeare during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The Elizabethan era is the Golden Era of England, when the nation experienced a cultural renaissance and expanded globally with their naval power. Shakespeare is considered to be the best playwright and poet from this time period, and his works have been performed and appreciated throughout the world even to this day. His works influenced the English language so much so that English speakers often use phrases from his play in daily life.

       The Merchant of Venice involves a Jewish moneylender, Shylock, as the villain against good-natured nobles. Women in disguise as men rescue the men in trouble during its climax court scene. The storyline relies on international naval trade as its background, suggesting how common the practice must have been to the audience of the time. Modern readers may be disturbed by the anti-semitic tones present in the play, but aside from such cultural constraints, I find The Merchant of Venice to be a clever and entertaining play. I recommend this work to people who can either set aside the anti-Semitic undertone or enjoy interpreting the story from Shylock’s point of view. (205 words)