ASIAN 308
Writing Systems in East Asian Cultures
Please note: this is archived course information from 2016 for ASIAN 308.
Description
The East Asian region contains three scripts that derive from the shared written tradition of ancient China but which operate on quite distinct principles. Chinese characters show clear similarities in their development and use with historical scripts like Egyptian hieroglyphs or Sumerian/Akkadian cuneiform; Japanese shows a complex mixture of Chinese characters used for lexical items and the kana syllabary used for grammatical endings; while the Korean han’gul is a unique example of a featural script whose graphs are modelled on the shape of the articulatory organs. But apart from their sheer linguistic significance, writing systems in these countries have always attracted the interest of scholars and artists, as shown by the high rank given to calligraphy as an artform, as well as being implicated in discourses of nationalism and cultural distinctiveness, particularly in contrast to Western alphabets.
This course examines the development of Chinese characters, their use in Korea and Japan, and the appearance of new scripts to supplement or replace them. It also examines the principles behind each script and the role they play in defining national identity.
No previous knowledge of Asian languages required.
Availability 2016
Semester 2
Lecturer(s)
Coordinator(s) Dr Wayne Lawrence
Assessment
Coursework + exam
Points
ASIAN 308: 15 points
Prerequisites
30 points from ANTHRO 232, 233, ASIAN 200-207, FTVMS 205, 216, HISTORY 212, 213, 221, 222, 226, 246, 248, 249, POLITICS 226, JAPANESE 240, 270, KOREAN 230, PHIL 214
Restrictions
ASIAN 208
