Japn 212: Samurai Spirit
Course Description
This course explores the four periods of the samurai tradition to survey changing roles and philosophy behind its existence. The survey will analyze contemporary images/stereotypes of the samurai. The course employs ancient war tales, historical documents and paintings, maps, articles, literary works, different genres of samurai films, and videos to fully examine one of the most popular Japanese cultural icons.
MLO's
This course meets MLO 2.
Course Narrative
This course looked at samurai and the many misconceptions that the idea of a samurai has acquired over the years. We read many tales about samurai that were written from the initial concept of a samurai through to the Edo period and compared what the stories seemed to value. The course also looked at visual depictions of samurai such as movies, anime, and paintings. Through these varying types of media and historical representations we were able to better understand the importance of samurai in Japanese history and culture. These depictions also allowed for us to discuss how the narratives that people create around a person or history allows for a certain picture to be drawn about a time period regardless of its accuracy. This course also covered a broad history of Japan and what roles the samurai played in the country's history. At the midpoint of the course we wrote an essay that looked at certain stories and tales and what the samurai class valued at that time and how they differed. Examining closer the ways that samurai and their believes have changed as well as how their impacts in society changed as Japan and the country changed showed that the way that samurai are discussed often ignores the changes that occurred. This course was a great introduction to Japanese culture as it also gave me a strong base understanding of Japanese history.
This course explores the four periods of the samurai tradition to survey changing roles and philosophy behind its existence. The survey will analyze contemporary images/stereotypes of the samurai. The course employs ancient war tales, historical documents and paintings, maps, articles, literary works, different genres of samurai films, and videos to fully examine one of the most popular Japanese cultural icons.
MLO's
This course meets MLO 2.
Course Narrative
This course looked at samurai and the many misconceptions that the idea of a samurai has acquired over the years. We read many tales about samurai that were written from the initial concept of a samurai through to the Edo period and compared what the stories seemed to value. The course also looked at visual depictions of samurai such as movies, anime, and paintings. Through these varying types of media and historical representations we were able to better understand the importance of samurai in Japanese history and culture. These depictions also allowed for us to discuss how the narratives that people create around a person or history allows for a certain picture to be drawn about a time period regardless of its accuracy. This course also covered a broad history of Japan and what roles the samurai played in the country's history. At the midpoint of the course we wrote an essay that looked at certain stories and tales and what the samurai class valued at that time and how they differed. Examining closer the ways that samurai and their believes have changed as well as how their impacts in society changed as Japan and the country changed showed that the way that samurai are discussed often ignores the changes that occurred. This course was a great introduction to Japanese culture as it also gave me a strong base understanding of Japanese history.