Fall 2000
Class time: TTh 1:30- 2:45
Classroom: SDL IL3

Professor: William Gardner
Office: Hillcrest annex 51
Office hours: Thusdays 10-12 and by appt
Phone: Ext. 3251
e-mail: wgardner@middlebury.edu

Course description:

In this course we will examine changing ideas about gender and sexuality in Japan from the 10th through the 20th centuries. Through the introduction of a historical perspective, we will seek to overcome stereotypes about gender in Japan (and the West), and to investigate the historical diversity in the operations of gender in social and cultural life.

Our approach will be interdisciplinary, and attention will be given to historical developments and to literary and visual representation. Sources will include literature, social/historical studies, and film.

Students will be expected to maintain a high level of participation through discussion, writing, research, and student presentations. A portion of the class will be devoted to the development of web resources which will serve the class, the campus, and the wider on-line community.

In our survey of gender issues in Japan, we will give special attention to the following topics:

--Women's writing in the 10th and 20th centuries

-- Male-male sexuality, gender performance, and the commercialization of sexuality in the 17th-19th centuries.

--Work and the family in the 17th-20th centuries.

--The feminist movement in the 20th century.

Required readings:
1. Course Reader (CR)
2. Murasaki Shikibu. The Tale of Genji (abridged). Trans. Edward G. Seidensticker. New York: Vintage Books, 1985.
3. Ihara Saikaku. The Great Mirror of Male Love. Trans. Paul Schalow. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1991.
4. Ariyoshi Sawako. The Doctor's Wife. Trans. Ann S. Konstant and Wakako Hironaka. New York: Kodansha, 1992.
5. Recreating Japanese Women, 1600-1945. Ed. Gail Lee Bernstein. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1991.
6. Robert Danly, In the shade of spring leaves: the life and writings of Higuchi Ichiyo, a woman of letters in Meiji Japan
7. Enchi Fumiko. The Waiting Years. Trans. John Bester. New York: Kodansha, 1994.
8. Japanese Women Writers: Twentieth Century Short Fiction. Noriko Mizuta Lippet and Kyoko Iriye Selden, eds. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1991.
9. Yamazaki Tomoko. Sandakan Brothel No. 8: An episode in the history of lower-class Japanese women. Trans. Karen Colligan-Taylor. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1999.
10. Tsushima Yûko. The Shooting Gallery & Other Stories. Geraldine Harcourt, trans. New York: New Directions, 1997.

Films:
Film screenings will be on Tuesdays at 4:30 in Sunderland 110
Mizoguchi Kenji, Chikamatsu monogatari (1954) Tues 10/10
Mizoguchi Kenji, Naniwa Elegy (1936) Tues 10/31
Kumai Kei, Sandakan no. 8 (1974) Tues 11/7
Ozu Yasujiro, Late Spring (1949) Tues 11/14
Imamura Shôhei, The Pornographers (1966) Tues 11/28
Nakajima Takehiro, Okoge (1994) T ues12/5

Guest Lecture: Sachiko SHIBATA SCHIERBECK, "To Marry or Not to Marry"
Thursday10/26 4:30 (location TBA)

Attendance at film screenings and guest lecture is required. Students unable to attend screenings must present a valid excuse to the instructor and view the films at the Media Center on their own time.

Assignments:
8 short papers and discussion questions
These papers should be a brief (1-2 pgs) development of your observations and questions based on the reading assignment for the day. They should focus on one or two observations or issues raised by the reading, rather than being series of disorganized first impressions. The papers should be followed by two or three questions or topics for class discussion. Papers and discussion questions must be submitted to the instructor by e-mail 10:00 AM on the due date. wgardner@middlebury.edu
2 web projects
These projects will focus on the development of bibliographical and factual information which can be posted on the world wide web. These assignments will have several aims: to sharpen students' research abilities, to help them develop topics for their research papers, and to make a contribution to knowledge which will extend beyond the classroom. No familiarity with web-page construction will be expected, and students will not be graded or judged on their facility with technology. More information about these projects will be given later.
1 seminar paper and 1 oral presentation
Students will produce one seminar paper of 12-15 pgs on a topic of their choice. Students will also give an oral presentation on their topic to their class.
1 take-home final

Grading:
Attendance and participation 15%
8 short papers 15%
2 web projects 20%
oral presentation 5%
seminar paper 25%
take-home final 20%

Grade scale:
A 92-100
B 83-91
C 74-82
D 65-73
F 0-64