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 110-116 Contemporary Japanese Society

Note

Formerly available as 158-246/346. Students who have completed 158-246/346 are not eligible to enrol in this subject.

Credit Points

12.5

HECS Band

1

Coordinator

Dr C Stevens

Semester

2 (view timetable)

Contact

A 1.5-hour lecture and a 1-hour tutorial per week

Subject Description

This subject examines basic themes in contemporary Japanese society, as well as commonly used theoretical models. Students will read classic works of interpretation of Japanese society, which serve as a foundation for the understanding of Japanese social life. Topics for discussion include the tension between individuals and collective society; notions of hierarchy, gender and age-based status identities, community relations, and the effects of social change. Students are expected to think critically about current events in Japan and apply these ideas to their own culture and society.

Assessment

Written work totalling 2000 words, a 2-hour written exam and class participation. Students are required to attend a minimum of 70% of all classes in order to be eligible to submit the final essay.

Prescribed Texts
  • R Benedict, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1977.
  • C Nakane, Japanese Society. University of California Press, 1970.
  • M White, The Material Child: Coming of Age in Japan and America. Macmillan, 1993.
  • M Ivy, Discourses of the Vanishing: Modernity, Phantasm, Japan. University of Chicago Press, 1995.
Search : Index : Faculty of Arts : Japanese studies
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