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A Cultural Survey of Japan: From Gods to Gadgets - ARTS2633
 Students on quad lawn

   
   
   
 
Campus: Kensington Campus
 
 
Career: Undergraduate
 
 
Units of Credit: 6
 
 
EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)
 
 
Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 3
 
 
Enrolment Requirements:
 
 
Prerequisite: 30 units of credit at Level 1 and either ARTS1631, ARTS2631, ARTS3631 or ARTS3633
 
 
Equivalent: JAPN2500
 
 
Excluded: GENC8001, GENT0412, JAPN3900, MGMT2103
 
 
Fee Band: 1 (more info)
 
 
Further Information: See Class Timetable
 
  

Description

Subject Area: Japanese Studies

This course focuses on key themes in Japanese culture from the pre-modern to the modern periods. It emphasises the relationship between cultural continuity and change and also highlights key areas of debate in Japanese studies. The course is structured thematically and chronologically, with topics including Japanese myths as well as scholarly debates over Japanese mythology; rejection of the “Chinese model” of governance and retention of feudal political structures; the mutual impact of folk and elite culture in religious syncretism; the role of key concepts such as impermanence/insufficiency and the “pity of things” in Japanese intellectual life; the impact of urbanisation, increasing literacy and social satire; the contested meaning of Shinto in relation to “national learning” scholarship of the 17th to 19th centuries and the rise of Japanese nationalism and imperialism; socio-cultural transformation through the implementation of modern education in the 19th century; and the consequences of war from the 19th through the 20th centuries. The course concludes with a critical examination of the malleability of culture as an idea and how this is reflected in scholarship on Japanese culture.

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© The University of New South Wales (CRICOS Provider No.: 00098G), 2004-2011. The information contained in this Handbook is indicative only. While every effort is made to keep this information up-to-date, the University reserves the right to discontinue or vary arrangements, programs and courses at any time without notice and at its discretion. While the University will try to avoid or minimise any inconvenience, changes may also be made to programs, courses and staff after enrolment. The University may also set limits on the number of students in a course.