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Academic Year 2003/2004

Japanese Film and Japan in Film: Cultural Constructions in Cinema
ALIT 223 SP
Crosslistings:
EAST 238

This course is designed to introduce students to a selection of Japanese films that present particular representations of Japan as a cultural entity, and films made that depict Japan in specific, often conflicting ways. We will compare these representations of Japan within Japan and overseas and will attempt to challege assumptions about culture and identity. In the first 10 weeks of the semester, we will study films made in Japan, that is, those that are written, directed and produced in Japan. We will look at how they present Japanese culture in different ways: as one that is rooted in an exotic past, as a modern nation with modern problems, or as an international player in a postmodern world. In the remaining weeks, we will turn to films made outside of Japan that take Japan as their topic, and trace how different views of the day from Japan as a feminine and submissive nation to Japan as an economic threat--are manifested and manipulated in these films. In each case, we will examine the ways in which specific representations of Japanese culture are invoked and will discuss the reasons behind and implications of such representations.

MAJOR READINGS

Films shown will include: RASHOMON, directed by Akira Kurosawa; TOKYO STORY, directed by Yasujiro Ozu; INSECT WOMAN, directed by Shohei Imamura; GODZILLA, directed by Ishiro Honda.
Japanese animated films: OKOGE, directed by Takehiro Nakajima; MY GEISHA, directed by Jack Cardiff; RISING SUN, directed by Philip Kaufman; PICTURE BRIDE, directed by Kayo Hatta
Accompanying readings will include selections from:
Noel Burch, TO THE DISTANT OBSERVER: FORM AND MEANING IN THE JAPANESE CINEMA; Darrel l W. Davis, PICTURING JAPANESENESS: MONUMENTAL STYLE, NATIONAL IDENTITY, JAPANESE FILM; Gina Marchetti, ROMANCE AND THE YELLOW PERIL: RACE, SEX AND DISCURSIVE STRATEGIES IN HOLLYWOOD FILM.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Two short papers (3-5 pages), in-class midterm exam and take-home final.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Grade breakdown: Class participation 25%, short papers 15% each, midterm exam 20%, final exam 25%.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: HA AL&L    Grading Mode: Student Option   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2004

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