Course Syllabus

Reading Schedule

Required Texts:
Course Wk. 1: John Luther Long, Madame Butterfly
Course Wk. 2: Winnifred Eaton, A Japanese Nightingale
Course Wk. 3: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
Course Wk. 4: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
Course Wk. 5: James Clavell, King Rat
Course Wk. 6: James Clavell, King Rat
Course Wk. 7: Robert Twigger, Angry White Pyjamas
Course Wk. 8: Robert Twigger, Angry White Pyjamas
Course Wk. 9: Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood
Course Wk. 10: Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood
Course Wk. 11: Siku, The Manga Bible
Course Wk. 12: Siku, The Manga Bible
Course Wk. 13: Recapitulation

Recommended Texts
The Davis & Ikeno The Japanese Mind is a useful précis of the aspects of "Japan" that I will be presenting in lecture in support of our growing understanding of the primary texts.

Support material available on Library Reserve.

Assignments

Schedule of Assignment Due Dates
(Assignments coded by colour. See separate assignment sections for details.)

September 10th, Individual Writing Presentations, schedule of due dates, due in lecture.
October 1st, Group Project, proposal due in lecture.
October 6th: Mid-Term Essay topics published.
October 24th Mid-Term Essay due in Lecturer's Dept. Mailbox before ten pm.
December 1st, Group Project, due in lecture.
December 8th, Final Essay due in Dept. Mailbox by three o'clock pm.

Mid-Term Essay
A two-thousand word take-home essay from a choice of three topics querying understanding of the course texts and materials.

Final Essay
Three-thousand words essay in an open topic proving command of course material and lecture information, engaging with any three of the primary course texts.

Group Project
A project that uses a creative form to elaborate and emphasise one or both sides of the question, central to lecture, of civilisation exclusivity: the position that at the civilisation level, cultures have exclusive first principles, or foundational values. The recommended course text, The Japanese Mind, gives some specifically unique Japanese concepts. Groups of five classfellows will be set in week one, and the due dates for the proposal and project are listed above. For specific proposal criteria, this hot link is in the Pertinent & Impertinent list to the right here.

The form of the project can be a booklet, a blog, an integrated set of Wikipedia entries, a filmed dramatisation, or the like. Size is not a salient requirement for the project: effort is. To wit, the project assumes 20% of the course effort per group member.

Three Short Writing Presentations
Three written analyses, in essay form no more than two and a half double-spaced pages long, that each present a brief passage from a primary course text as an example of an identifiably Japanese mode of writing. Your essay will quote the passage being treated, declare the Japanese form present, and justify the declaration using close analysis of textual elements.

You will present the due dates for the three assignments to the Course Instructor in class week 2, September 11th.

Approach.

The course looks at how Japan is represented in World Literatures written in English through a study of five primary texts of the type and one primary text of a translated modern Japanese novel about English sensibility in a Japanese setting. The course explains and assumes civilisation exclusivity: the position that one's own culture is not a valid standard for understanding another's. Accordingly, Japanese cultural concepts are presented and explained, and used to arrive at a comparative understanding of the primary texts. While lecture assumes civilisation exclusivity, the principle will be presented as an assumption, and students are free to hold their own individual position in seminar discussion and course assignments.

Late Assignments.
There is a five percent per day late penalty for all assignments. An assignment is late if it is not handed in in class on the due date.

Documentation for a bereavement exemption requires a published notification and verifiable proof of relation. To document a claim for medical exemption, provide a formal letter on a Physician's or Surgeon's letterhead in which he or she declares his or her medical judgement that illness or injury prevented work on the assignment. The letter must cover the entire period over which the assignment was scheduled, and may be verified by telephone.

Class Absences.
10% of the course grade is for "productive participation." Productive participation assumes full attendance and punctuality.

Do not e-mail the Course Instructor to explain or announce absences. The attendance requirement may be waived only in cases of documented bereavement or illness and incapacity.

Documentation for a bereavement exemption for attendance requires a published notification and verifiable proof of relation. To document a claim for medical exemption, provide a formal letter on a Physician's or Surgeon's letterhead in which he or she declares his or her medical judgement that illness or injury prevented attendance. The letter must cover the entire period over which the assignment was scheduled, and may be verified by telephone.

Support material available on Library Reserve.

Instructor Contact:
Office: AQ 6094, 778-782-5820, e-mail address is ogden@sfu.ca. Casual, drop-in chat: look for me at Renaissance Coffee at the AQ Concourse (3rd floor) Level, North-East corner, Monday to Thursday, two thirty to three o'clock. Regular Office Hours on Monday two-thirty to four-thirty, Wednesday ten o'clock to noon, and Friday nine thirty to eleven o'clock. Also, on Tuesday & Thursday I am available from ten-thirty to three o'clock by appointment.