HISTORY 707 A & B

Early Modern Japanese Lives

Please note: this is archived course information from 2023 for HISTORY 707.

Description

Overview

This course examines the lives, life stories and life cycles of Tokugawa Japanese. How did people choose to live and what kinds of factors shaped their choices? Readings are structured around the life experiences of Japanese people during this period, with a view to exploring how the patterns and turning points of life — such as birth, work, love, marriage, illness and death— were interpreted in the past and written about by historians.

The course will consider themes in recent history writing with attention to scholarship written both inside and outside Japan. We will read from a variety of historical genres, but a major feature will be biographical studies and primary sources in translation. No knowledge of the Japanese language is necessary.

To complete this course students must enrol in HISTORY 707 A and B.

Availability 2023

Not taught in 2023

Lecturer(s)

TBA

Points

HISTORY 707A: 15 points

HISTORY 707B: 15 points