Session 9 - Japanese Literature, 4/22 morning

[Anonymous]

In Japanese literature, women's dress is a symbol of social status as shown in the pictures of a literary work. The woman in the picture dresses in an elegant traditional gown with many beads, which illustrates a lady in a royal family or higher social status. This type of dress is not for working class women. If I teach about Asia, I would select some women characters in ancient Japan, China and Korea to compare the similarities and differences of the women dresses in royal families. I would also compare those dresses with women's dresses today and ask questions such as how dresses and dress ornaments symbolize a women's social status and class systems in ancient Asia.

[Anonymous]

I particularly enjoyed learning about the evolution of Japanese art over time. I never thought about art evolving in terms of literary genres. When Prof. Miyake spoke about how Japanese writing first had drama in the 1500s it made me think about the evolution of art. I didn't have any assumptions about drama and comedy always being around because those things never crossed my mind. It makes sense that poetry in courtship has been around the longest given that courtship has likely been around since the beginning of time. Then again, so has drama and comedy, but I assume courtship is more useful than drama and comedy.

[Anonymous]

One element lacking in the current World History curriculum is an examination of early Japanese literature. As an enrichment, I intend to do a one day examination of both the Tale of Genji and The Pillow Book. I can also have the students create their own lists of adorable things and hateful things, and do a comparative analysis of modern culture and Japanese culture through this lists, as well as a self examination on the students' part of what qualities reflect our modern attitudes.

[Anonymous]

It is interesting that the golden age of Japanese literature comes from the aristocrats. The name of the poet is essential in that it shows their reputation and power. The concept of marriage politics is when women are seen as marriage pawns by marrying women off to emperors and thus claimed their power through descendancy. Women need to be trained in culture to make them viable for marriage. Men must also be highly trained in history, poetry, and oratory skills. The writing of this t ime had a narrow focus and were not politically or socially motivated, but rather focuses on nature. They describe a natural scene but also speak to the human condition.

[Anonymous]

I really enjoyed the readings for this class. The most interesting poem was Elegant Things from the book The Pillow Book. This poem gives insight on what life was like for a middle class Japanese woman. I can have my students write a similar poem and write what life is like today.

[Anonymous]

The Tale of Heike is an example of monogatari, an extended prose narrative tale similar to an epic. It is a fictionalized account of the Genpei War (1180-1185) in which the powerful Taira and Minamoto clans vied for control of Japan. It begins with the rise of the Taira clan under the ruthless social-climber Kiyomori, who succeeds in elevating his family into the supreme leadership of imperial Japan. His arrogance and misdeeds engender a counter rebellion by the Minamoto or Genji clan. The story ends with the final defeat of the Taira clan and the transition from the Heian Period to the Kamakura. In a world history class this could be used alongside the Iliad to demonstrate the role of epic tales to preserve history.

[Anonymous]

Professor Miyake's presentation was informative and fun. I enjoyed her explanation of Japanese literature during the Heian Period and how the poetry and prose was written by and for an elite class for their own consumption. I also enjoyed the fact that it was women who elevated this endeavor to its artistic zenith. As a history student in college one of my professors would always say "cherchez la femme" ("look for the women") —in history that is. Using Murisaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji and Sei Shōnagon's Pillow Book in the classroom is not only useful in demonstrating the pastimes of courtly life in Japan's courtliest period, it also includes the underrepresented perspective of women in history, a paradigm that has been marked too often by exclusion, silence, absence and bias.

[Anonymous]

The "Little One Inch" caught my attention because the title made me think of the European "Thumbelina" & "Tom Thumb." I would like to use them to compare/contrast thinking the way stories are supposed to inspire children - maybe have the students make a story for their current situation. Seventh graders would never admit it, but they kind of miss being little when they were told stories, this could be a lot of fun.

[Anonymous]

Busu is an example of kyogen (comic theater) from Medieval Japan. It is a simple one-act play with just a few characters. Busu translates to "delicious poison" and is about a couple of servants (Taro and Jiro) tasked by their master with safekeeping a cask of "poison" while he is out. Their curiosity gets the best of them and they end up sampling the "poison," which ends up being sugar. Humor is a wonderful tool for engagement in the classroom and the simple structure of Busu makes it easily accessible for all levels of students.

[Anonymous]

It would be a fun activity to have students write a poem from three different perspectives across time periods. The first poem could be written from the perspective of a Heian period aristocrat. This poetry should focus on being "snobby" and about their life as an aristocrat, with a focus on nature and mono no aware. Their sample text could be an excerpt from Sei Shonagon's pillow book. The second perspective can be from a Kamakura period warrior. These poems should focus on warrior culture and should highlight the sabi aesthetic of lonliness and the yugen of depth of sorrow. The third perspective can be from the Muromachi period and can highlight absence and lack. Renga poetry could be brought in here. This would be a good way for students to realize shifts in aesthetic as connected to the historical context.

[Anonymous]

Poetry of the Elitist
The reading this week was created by a particular group of people. In "The Pillowbook" it talks about the things that Sei Shonagon finds interesting and bothersome to her. There are many nuances that she does not elaborate upon. However, in "The Tale of Genji" it is about a story of an emperor and his life. It is interesting to me that both of these readings are widely read by the top members of society. There are many subtleties that required multiple readings and further research.

[Anonymous]

Professor Miyake
Today's lecture was about Japan, the culture of Japan in particular. I liked how Professor Miyake talked about the plays and the importance that women played in the early period of Japanese history. Since students are required to write opinion pieces, I thought that it would be useful if they were to pretend that they are a critic and they can watch a play. After, their job is to write an opinion piece about a no or kyogen play.
edited by ahuynh on 6/18/2017

[Anonymous]

I found this to be one of the most interesting classes, with the most relevance to things that could be introduced to my students. The partitioning of Japanese history into periods of cultural zeitgeist and broad swaths of literary happenings is really helpful, I find, to defining what is is to be "Japanese". I especially like during the Heian period, the creation, from the Nara period of Chinese literature being most common, to a sort of beautification and cultural blossoming of the Japanese people telling their own version of art and literature. It was also interesting that, like the previous poster mentioned, that women played such a critical role in this blossoming literary culture. So much poetry and so many stories had them as central characters, such as the Tale of Genji, who was really just a vehicle for the women in those stories to be able to tell their tales. Fascinating!

[Anonymous]

Oh! I also really liked the introduction of Zen Buddhism and the aesthetic of sabi wabi. I had a sense that this sort of austere, empty look was a part of the Japanese artistic sense, but didn't have an understanding of where it's origins were, so that was very helpful.

[Anonymous]

*Session 9: Japanese Literature
I really enjoyed learning about Japanese Poetry. I like how their poems have various meanings, for example, a poem may be written about nature, but it is really talking about something else, usually speaking about the human condition. It’s a very creative work of art. I also like how most poems describe and draw parallels to a natural scene /nature. It’s interesting how highly poetry is regarded in traditional Japanese culture and that a person well versed in poetry is considered of higher class and/or is more desirable and respectable.

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