131-146 Inventing Asian Traditions

Formerly available as 110-021 or 158-219/319. Students who have completed 110-021 or 158-219/319 are not eligible to enrol in this subject.

Fifty points of first year from any area of study within the Faculty of Arts.

This is the core subject for the interdepartmental program in Asian studies offering a comparative view of Asian societies through a critical approach to the texts and contexts within which knowledge about these societies is developed and transmitted. The subject will focus on the following themes: the origins of the idea of Asia, Asia in the Australian historical imagination, Orientalism; inventing nations; inventing the family and gender; and inventing religions with a focus on China, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. Students should complete the subject with the foundation for more specialised studies on Asia.

Written work totalling 4000 words.

A subject reader will be available.