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CULTURA E LETTERATURA GIAPPONESE II

Academic Year 2025/2026 - Teacher: LUCA CAPPONCELLI

Expected Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and understanding: Students will acquire knowledge and understanding of methods and ideas of literary criticism. Through the analysis of Japanese literary texts in translation, they will obtain a thorough overview of the historical, cultural and literary context of modern and contemporary Japan.

Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will be able to understand historical and cultural events of Japanese modern and contemporary civilization, as well as the main literary phenomena related to the above mentioned events. They will be able to analyze and interpret literary texts and cultural phenomena, also through the methods of literary criticism explained and examined during the course.

Making judgement: Students will be able to analyze the main historical, literary and cultural events related to modern and contemporary Japan. They will be able to formulate critical judgements on literary sources based on the methodology acquired during the classes and through the careful study of the bibliographical references.

Communication skills: Students will be able to convey in an articulated way the concepts acquired during the course and through the bibliographical references. They will be able to formulate correct interpretations based on the knowledge of Japanese cultural and literary context obtained during the course. They will also be able to criticize essentialist and stereotypical discourses on Japanese culture.

Learning skills: Students will be able to analyze literary texts in translation in an independent way and they will be able to study and integrate critically a variety of bibliographical references. They will improve their ability to approach critical references in English and they will be introduced to simple literary texts in Japanese language.


Course Structure

Lectures by the instructor. Students' participation in class discussions is very much encouraged.

Required Prerequisites

In order to fully grasp the topics covered in Japanese Culture and Literature 2, students are expected to have a solid understanding of the content covered in Japanese Culture and Literature 1. This means they should be familiar with the major literary genres and important Japanese literature from the Nara period to the Edo period. Additionally, students should have a good understanding of Japanese history and culture spanning from the classical period to the Edo period.

Detailed Course Content

This course is designed to provide students with in-depth knowledge of Japanese history, culture, and literature from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. Throughout the course, students will learn about the development of modern and contemporary Japanese literature, with a focus on authors, literary genres, and movements from the Meiji period to the present. The classes will primarily cover different forms of Japanese fiction and cinema, analyzed from a diachronic perspective.

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

The examination assessment will consider the candidate's mastery of the content and skills acquired, linguistic accuracy and lexical property, and argumentative ability.  

E: Fair 18-21

D: Satisfactory 22-24

C: Good 25-27

B: Very good 28-30

A: Excellent 30 cum laude

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

Topic of the student's choice

Japanese naturalism, distinctive features, primary works, theorisation.

The literary production of Akutagawa Ryunosuke (or other authors covered in the course)

What is eroguro nansensu?

What is genbaku bungaku?

Post-war and contemporary literary dystopias

VERSIONE IN ITALIANO