Course Info

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Course Coordinator:  Dr. Lawrence Marceau, Senior Lecturer in Japanese

Telephone:  (09) 373-7599, ext. 86317

Email:  l.marceau@auckland.ac.nz

Office:  58 Symonds Street, Room 625

Office Hours:  Mondays, 10:00—12:00, and by appointment

 

School of Asian Studies General Office:  58 Symonds Street, Room 523

School Website: http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/departments/index.cfm?S=D_ASIAN

General Office Telephone:  (09) 373-7599, ext. 85889 or 87588

 

Course Meeting Location and Times:

            Room 3438, Engineering Building (ENG 3438)

            Wednesdays:  12:00—13:00; 13:00—14:00; Fridays:  08:00—09:00 or 09:00—10:00

 

Course Readers:  Available between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm on Level 5, 58 Symonds Street.

 

Student Mentors:  SASmentors@gmail.com.  Office Ext:  373 7599 ext 82491

Shirley Ku 021 100 6578, shirleyku002@yahoo.com.tw

Laura Woo 021 525 577, hwoo030@ec.auckland.ac.nz

Claire Tung 021 535 218, ctun013@ec.auckland.ac.nz

 

Course Objectives:

            In this course we shall explore works of Japanese literature from the first records and compilations (to 794), through the Heian (794-1192) period, when women served as the nearly exclusive authors and readers of vernacular narrative fiction, and into the Kamakura (1192-1333), Northern & Southern States (1336-92), Muromachi (1336-1573), Warring States  (1467-1568), Azuchi-Momoyama (1573-1615),  and (briefly) Edo or Tokugawa (1603-1867) periods, when hereditary military elites held political power in the name of the Court.  We shall then continue to explore modern works dating from the Meiji (1868-1912), Taishô (1912-26), Shôwa (1926-89), and contemporary Heisei (1989-today) eras.  Since the time period covered in this course is about 1400 years, and since the kinds of literature produced were extremely rich in variety, this course may do little more than scratch the surface for some authors or genres, but hopefully it will whet your appetites to want to read more, in translation, in modern Japanese, and even in the original.

 

            You will gain three types of knowledge in this course.  First, you will learn facts related to major authors, works, and movements that shaped the course of Japanese literary history.  Second, you will begin to develop an appreciation for the themes and concerns raised by these texts within their socio-cultural contexts.  Third, you will learn something about the nature of your own ethnic literary and cultural background through self-reflection and comparing with other works you have read.

 

            Beyond such knowledge objectives, this course also fulfils important skills objectives.  They include building skills in critical reading, in classroom discussion, and in effective writing.  I put much effort into reading your essays, so when you receive them back from me, please look them over carefully.

 

Tips for doing well in this course:

1.      Attendance (If you are ill or must leave the area in an emergency, call or email and leave a message beforehand; even in lecture sessions, the class dynamics change if you are not in attendance)

2.      Critical and thoughtful reading of primary and secondary materials

3.      Creativity and initiative in classroom discussions (don't let others do all the talking!)

4.      First and final drafts of essays submitted on time (I downgrade late essays; after a week I do not accept them)

 

Grade Breakdown:

            3 short critical essays (750-1000 words) =                                         63%

            1 longer essay (citing at least 3 secondary sources, 1500-

1750 words) =                                                                         27%

            Active participation (especially during group sessions) =                   10%

            Total =                                                                                                 100%

 

            Note:  We may have a few activities such as poetry exchanges or creative writing assignments, that would also count toward your final grade (probably in your participation section).  Please see the Course Schedule.

Course Materials:

Your Course Readers will be available at the School of Asian Studies, the first week of classes.  If you decide to drop the course, please return the course book to the School of Asian Studies General Office.  Please note that if you lose your course book and need a new one, you will have to pay for it.

 

Plagiarism (adapted with permission from the Japanese 150 Course Outline)

 

The School of Asian Studies encourages students to read widely then express their own views and ideas in their written work.  When a student simply copies sentences, phrases, ideas, and even paragraphs from another writer, this is plagiarism and will not be tolerated in the department.  When a student copies her/his own essay submitted for another course, this is also a plagiarism.  Plagiarism is the theft of another person's words or ideas.  The staff will penalise severely any work containing plagiarised portions, ranging from receiving 0 mark to failing the course.

 

The following sites are useful in understanding what constitutes plagiarism:

 

1.      http://www2.auckland.ac.nz/teachingandlearning/  (Students/Plagiarism and Cheating section)

 

2.      http://www.plagiarism.org/

 

To avoid plagiarism:

 

·         You must document ALL quotations and borrowed ideas properly.

 

·         You must clearly differentiate your own ideas and words from the ideas and borrowed words of other writers.  This is done by accurate quoting and paraphrasing. 

 

·         Avoid paraphrases that are similar to the original sources.  (Even if you cite the original source, if your writing borrow the vocabularies and/or the structure of the original, this is considered to be a plagiarism.

 

(Illustration of moon, willow, hare, and bowl of melons in Uri meigetsu [Melon Harvest Moon] a haikai collection published in 1739.  Collection of Aichi Prefectural University Library, Nagakute, Japan.)

http://www.aichi-pu.ac.jp/library/kohaisho/urimeigetsu/5.htm

22 March is the date of the mid-autumn "harvest" full moon for 2008 (8^th lunar month, 2^nd lunar month for the southern hemisphere).