Home › Forums › Summer Institutes › Gender And Generation In East Asia, Summer 2019 › Session 3 - August 6, Lynne Miyake, Pomona College
Differentiated Discourses, Spaces, and Influences: The Gendering of Classical Japan, 794-1868
Please download and read the attachments below in preparation for Professor Lynne Miyake's lecture.
Reading List
I feel that this little excerpt from a diary would be a good piece to do a Shared Reading with my 4th graders and have a group discussion about what is happening in the diary.
Why does the author hide her reading skill from other women?
Why did the auhor avoided writing even the simplest characters?
Why did the author pretend that she does not know how to read?
How come she finally revealed to one person that she knows how to read?
I believe that my students would be able to write some interesting pieces about this short excerpt.
Truly enjoyed this comic strip. Its witty with multiple "in-between the lines" humor that allows for multiple readings. I re-read it a few times and found numerous literary functions (i.e. alliteration) and other comedic hyperbolic innuendos. The content is also suprisingly very applicable to our contemporary times demonstrating that along certain subject lines very little has changed. This allows for the reading to be extremely relatable in its form and function.
Very good ideas for use at that level! And any level... I also think I would use those same questions with my 7th graders.
Our school participates in Poetry Out Loud every January, so I like to introduce Chinese poetry when we return from our winter break as every student in the school has been working over the break to memorize a poem for the competition. Typically, I offer a book of Tang Dynasty poem excerpts and students choose one to interpret and recite. It would be interesting to introduce poems written in Classical Chinese during the Heian period (introducing some Japanese culture and information about language and gender of the time) along with some Tang Dynasty poems. Given some cultural context, students could review several poems and guess whether they are Heian poetry or Tang Dynasty poetry, much like we did during the session today trying to guess whether the translated poems were written by men or women.
Murasaki Shikibu’s Her Diary and Poetic Memoirs echoes the ideas that can be found in Pan Chao: Foremost Woman Scholar of China. In the excerpt, Murasaki Shikibu discusses Saemon no Naishi, a woman who spread “malicious rumors” that made it seem Shikibu was learned or perhaps flaunting her education. Upon hearing this, Shikibu “worried what people would think if people heard such rumors…[she] pretended to be unable to read even the inscriptions on the screens” (139). I think the latter connects to Pan Chao: Foremost Woman Scholar of China. When discussing the qualities a female must exude, the speaker mentions that females must not demonstrate excessive womanly virtues, words, bearings, and work. However, females must also not demonstrate a paucity amount of these qualifications; females must blend in with other females. Perhaps Saemon no Naishi’s comment, and even that of His Majesty who compliments Shikibu (“She seems very learned”), went against the norms and gender expectations that one finds in Pan Chao… I find it very interesting that Her Majesty, upon hearing of Shikibu, had a desire to learn via Shikibu but did so in private. I would love to incorporate this in class to have my 6th graders explore what it reveals about the culture of the time and determine to what extent it has progressed or stagnated, and possibly debate if that progress or stagnation is beneficial or detrimental.
I enjoyed learning about periods of Japanese (Literary) History. So much information! I was particularly fascinated with the Tanka poetry form in the Heian period. I enjoyed deconstructing the pros to attempt to identify gender and believe my students would enjoy both reading and composing works in this style. It would be interesting to post the compilations without names and challenge the students to identify authorship by gender. What a cool intro to Japanese (Literary)History!
Similar to China, the role of women in Japan are significantly inferior to men. They are required to kneel in traditional Japanese homes. In theater, men play women in plays by dressing in masks. Women are considered to unclean with menstruation and childbirth to partake in acting.
We looked at many poems that do not clearly list the authors. Based on the writing and content, we have to guess if the writer is male or female. I would use the poems as an activity for my English class. They use similar patterns and nature is often a theme. The poetry would be great for my students to look at.
Hi Diana,
I LOVE your idea of introducing Japanese culture along with the learning of Chinese. A lot of my students, all Hispanics, somehow are super interested in Japanese cartoon/manga. It'd be very fun to have students "guess" the meaning or authors of the poems from limited amount of classical Chinese characters in it. Actually I got a few students asked me about the meaning of the manga they read before. If I can integrate their interests into our classrom, I see that I'm guiding the students to find the connection between different languages and cultures. Thank you
Professor Miyake referenced the increase in androgynous males in Japan that has been occuring for years. I asked her opinion regarding what the motivations, causes for this might be and followed-up by asking her what Japan's current birthrate showed. She menitioned it was less than 2%. She approached me during break to futher discuss the topic. I mentioned to her that I didn't feel this was a phenomenon exclusive to Japan. In Italy, there has been a negative birthrate for many years. Since gender roles is one of, if not the main, topics surrounding this summit/seminar, it would be of value to examine the psychological effects and shifts regarding gender role identifications/classifications have had on men. Professor Miyake expressed that WWII had much to do with the confidence of the male in Japan citing the sense of shame endured amongst males in Japan for generations. I found this point fascinating and one that I had not thought of. I expressed that studies have shown a lowering of testoterone among males in various countries and wondered if this, coupled with lowering birthrates, might also be a contributing factor to more and more males identifying with androgyny. I'm not suggesting this is the main reason for declining birthrates in certain geographical areas. Obviously, women entering the work force in larger numbers, getting married later (if at all) are contributing factos. However, data has also shown the relativity of the male, or lack thereof, is effecting the biological and, by extension, reproductive capabilities of our species. The idea or notion of uplifting the positivities of being a woman, of which I wholeheartedly support, ought not be derived from the demasculation of the male, something that's been occuring for years, certainly in the US. Most commercials, for example, depict men as oblivious, idiotic, clueless and irrelative. Finding a balance is essential. As teachers, guarding against this trend, along with all forms of indoctrination, is one of our most important tasks. The "collectivism" taking place in the name of diversity, equality has a double-edged sword - the negation and eradication of the "individual" and reduction his/her freedom of expression and the eventual creative spirit - is not something to be ignored. History has shown that throwing the baby out with the bath water has never worked, but has simply created newer longer-lasting problems (i.e. WWI --> Treaty of Versailles --> WWII). This is why moving the needle cautiously is always of paramount importance when invoking and/or advocating for any type of change, unless it associates with crimes against humanity (obviously).
I found the whole lecture fascinating. What really drew my attention was the fact that the gender-differentiated spheres. I didn’t know that women had to wear 24 layers of clothing. I knew that women needed to be modest, but this seems excessive. The whole walking on their knees for the sake of being able to go from one place to the other with their garments seems excessive. Another thing that drew my attention was that women were very sheltered. I can’t even imagine not being able to go out for walks or go hiking. Women were in a way prisoners of their homes.
I am very interested in this session, particularly the Kamakura and Tokugawa periods because I teach 7th grade social studies. For our Japan unit, I have my students compare and contrast Samurai vs European Medieval Knights in order to compare and contrast their armor, codes of honor and training but my students have always been interested in the role of women were as part of the Samurai warrior class. It seems that Japansese civilization has gradually changed throughout different time periods, and that women have also gained more independence and freedom with this change. On the other hand, I find interesting the amount of influence that Japan has inherited from China, especially the use of classical language for the noble classes. Professor Miyake mentioned that the use of Classical Chinese language can be compared with the use of latin in Medieval Europe. One of the things I learned today that I plan to have my students do in class is to create their own kyogen drama play using academic language.
I enjoyed listening to the fact that Haikus were written in vernacular. In academia and formal social settings, people frown upon others who don’t speak standard English. I can identify with this, because growing up in a spanish speaking household I struggled with retaining proper Enlgish, because for a fourth of the day I was influenced by teachers and adults to speak a certain way. Whereas with my friends, I spoke vernacular English or Spanish. At home, I had to speak Spanish. Therefore, in high school and the first couple of years in college I spoke with a heavy accent. When I moved away from home, I spoke English the majority of the time. As a result, I worked towards being able to articulate a formal conversation to take up space in formal settings. Ultimately, I still like speaking in a non-formal way to reject the status quo and conserve my individuality. Going back to the lecture, I admire the rebellious nature of the writers. I can identify with going against the status quo.
This is something I have been trying to look for ways to do more of. My school only offers Spanish and Mandarin, and a lot of students lately have been choosing my class because they are really into anima or manga, video games, or K-pop. They are learning Japanese and Korean on their own time, and have chosen my class because there might be more crossover. I am all about helping them find cultural connections and exploring the wide world as much as possible, even though the main content of my class is Chinese.
Thank you for the resources and ideas for lessons for my middle school students! I am astounded by how the Japanese are super misogynistic .. as a country it seems that the men have been trying to downplay and control the women. Not that this is new... or unusual, but women had to crawl on their knees because their clothes were so heavy!?!?!
i didn’t understand when doing the readings last night as to why the woman would hide that she knew how to read.... it wasn’t that she knew how to read, but rather that she knew how to read Chinese and that was banned. Controlling the women by not letting them know the language of power / government. Diabolical yet typical. It might hurt their little heads :/. Or maybe the men were intimidated by the women! I will think more about this later...