Course unit details:
Bodies, Sex and Gender in Japan
Unit code | JAPA63071 |
---|---|
Credit rating | 15 |
Unit level | FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree |
Teaching period(s) | Semester 1 |
Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
In this course unit, we will examine a number of key issues in modern Japan through the lens of bodies, gender and sexuality. This involves understanding concepts such as nationalism and colonialism as socio-political endeavours and ideologies that shaped particular gender identities and bodily performance. With this approach, we will aim to gain fresh insights into our understanding of Japanese history and society. We will address questions such as: ‘How and why did tolerance towards male homosexuality disappear in Meiji Japan?’; ‘How was an effort to improve women’s hygienic practices informed by nation building in the Meiji period?’; ‘How and why was sterilization justified under fascist Japan?’; or ‘What links the (in)famous Japanese work-ethos to the masculinity of salary-men?’
Pre/co-requisites
Undergraduate degree in Japanese Studies or JLPT N2. Students who have not fulfilled any of the pre-requisite conditions will be subject to a form of language assessment prior to enrolment.
Aims
The principal aims of the course unit are as follows:
- To provide students with an understanding of some of the major issues pertaining to bodies, gender and sexuality in modern Japan.
- To introduce major concepts necessary to develop an understanding of how bodies and gender identities/roles were understood in modern and contemporary Japan.
- To help students develop their teamwork skills.
- To help students develop communication and presentation skills.
- To help students critically analyze primary sources.
To help students develop their translation skills.
Syllabus
Week 1: Erotic bodies
[Shunga in ukiyoe, shudo in late Tokugawa]
Week 2: Bodies for the nation
[The rise of a new medical administration and education system, civilized ‘posture’, infectious diseases and foreign bodies, conscription – predominantly Meiji]
Week 3: Promiscuous bodies
[Birth control, abortion, infanticide, prostitution, venereal disease control and feminism in the 1920s, ero guro nansensu]
Week 4: Healthy bodies and the Japanese state
[Cult of health, eugenics and fascism, healthy soldiers (free of VDs), healthy mothers and healthy babies (the rise of Koseisho)]
On successful completion of this course unit, you will be able to: On successful completion of this course unit, you will be able to: On successful completion of this course unit, you will be able to: On successful completion of this course unit, you will be able to: Früstück, Sabine and Anne Walthall eds. Recreating Japanese Men (Berkeley: University of California, 2011). Igarashi, Yoshikuni Bodies of Memory: Narratives of War in Postwar Japanese Culture, 1945-1970 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000). Low, Morris ed. Building a Modern Japan: Science, Technology, and Medicine in the Meiji Era and Beyond (Basingstoke, Hampshire: PalgraveMacmillan, 2005). Molony, Barbara and Kathleen Uno eds. Gendering Modern Japanese History (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Asia Center, 2005). Nakayama, Shigeru ed. A Social History of Science and Technology in Contemporary Japan, vols. 1-4 (Melbourne: Trans Pacific Press, 2001-2006). Roberson James and Nobue Suzuki eds. Men and Masculinities in Contemporary Japan: Dislocating the Salaryman Doxa (New York: Routledge, 2003). Tomida, Hiroko and Gordon Daniels eds. Japanese Women: Emerging from Subservience, 1868-1945 (Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental, 2005) Further reading will be recommended in the class. Pre-requisite units: JAPA30000 (University of Manchester), Undergraduate degree in Japanese Studies or JLPT N2. Students who have not fulfilled any of the pre-requisite conditions will be subject to a form of language assessment prior to enrolment.Knowledge and understanding
Intellectual skills
Practical skills
Transferable skills and personal qualities
Employability skills
Assessment methods
Method
Weight
Written assignment (inc essay)
100%
Feedback methods
Recommended reading
Study hours
Scheduled activity hours
Lectures
22
Seminars
11
Independent study hours
Independent study
117
Additional notes