2019/2020

Words Spun Out of Images: Visual and Literary Culture in Nineteenth Century Japan

Type: Optional course (faculty)

Delivered by: School of Asian Studies

Where: Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs

When: 1 module

Language: English

ECTS credits: 4

Contact hours: 2

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The course offers learners the chance to encounter and appreciate behavior, moral standards and some of the material conditions surrounding Japanese artists in the nineteenth century, in order to renew our assumptions about what artistic “realism” is and what it meant. Learners will walk away with a clear understanding of how society and the individual were conceived of and represented in early modern Japan. Unlike contemporary western art forms, which acknowledge their common debt as “sister arts” but remain divided by genre and discourse, Japanese visual and literary culture tended to combine, producing literary texts inspired by visual images, and visual images which would then be inscribed with poems and prose. Noticing and being able to interpret this indivisibility of visual/literary cultures is essential in understanding the social and psychological values embedded within the beauty of Japanese art.

Learning Objectives

• 1. Learning how society and the individual were conceived of and represented in early modern Japan
• 2. Interpreting the indivisibility of visual/literary cultures (visual images which were inscribed with poems and prose)

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Operates knowledge about the basic formal aspects of samurai portraiture, and at the same time begin to interpret poems and prose inscribed onto the image.
• Shows how contemporary viewers used painted or printed images of idealized “beauties” and their texts as a tool to understand the world
• Shows how photographic modes of representation were assimilated into the literary tradition of portraiture
• Student shows how visual and written modes of representation colluded, and combined to produce powerful documents of social and psychological actuality
• Discusses about visual and literary culture in early modern Japan based on learned material.

Course Contents

• Topic 1. Samurai Portraits
  Portraits of samurai are rich in information about how men at the top of the social ladder wished to be “viewed” as physical entities, and how they expressed themselves as moral actors within society. We will learn the basic formal aspects of samurai portraiture, and at the same time begin to interpret poems and prose inscribed onto the images themselves. 1. "Portrait of Satō Issai" by Watanabe Kazan 2. Representation of Reality in Literatures
• Topic 2. Painted Beauties
  Visual images of women produced in Japan before the introduction of photography can be divided into two types: portraits of women who actually existed in society, and painted or printed images of idealized “beauties,” whose resemblance to physical reality was subsumed often to an intense interest in mode and situational aspect. Like samurai portraits, images of women, both real and imagined, would often be inscribed with texts which instruct viewers how to understand and appreciate them. We will overview several painted and printed images, and learn how contemporary viewers used these images and their texts as a tool to understand the world. 1. "Portrait of a Geisha" by Watanabe Kazan" 2. A Courtesan" by Takahashi Yuichi 3. "The Courtesan Usugumo of the Miura House at the Age of 89" 4. Beauties in Ukiyo-e 5. Beauties in Writings 6. "Beauty in the Painting" by Matsumoto Fūko 7. Beauties in Photographs
• Topic 3. The Literary Photograph I
  What methods did early modern Japanese artists and writers have at hand to “capture the moment,” and how did these methods influence the introduction and adaption of western photography in the mid-nineteenth century? We will see how photographic modes of representation were assimilated into the literary tradition of portraiture. 1. "Calligraphy and Painting Gathering in Satte Post Town" by Yoda Chikkoku 2. "On Reading" by Miyaoi Yasuo 3. "Calligraphy and Painting Gathering in Satte Post Town" by Yoda Chikkoku 4. Inscribed Photographs 5. Masaoka Shiki and Post Meiji-Restoration Writers
• Topic 4. The Literary Photograph I I
  We trace the trajectory of the literary photograph from the end of the long nineteenth century into Japan’s modern era. Photographic images of the human figure in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Japan were often accompanied by literary writing inscribed either on the image itself, or on its reverse side. Modern novelists sometimes published photographs with short poems as captions. We will wrap up our course with a summary of how visual and written modes of representation colluded, and combined to produce powerful documents of social and psychological actuality. 1. Inscribed Photographs 2. Portrait of Niijima Yae 3. Picture Postcard 4. Letters from Nagai Kafū 5. “Strange Tale from East of the River” by Nagai Kafū 6. Course Summary
• Debate
  Before final grading the students must be got acquainted to the results of their participation in the debates

Assessment Elements

• Test after the 1st week (10 minutes)
• Test after the 2nd week (10 minutes)
• Test after the 3d week (10 minutes)
• Test after the 4th week (10 minutes)
• Debates
  Debates missed by a student for a good reason (illness, scientific or academic trip, participation in a conference, etc., documented to the training office), if agreed with the teacher, may not be taken into account and the weight will be redistributed to all elements of the online course control. The retake of the exam is possible in accordance with the “Regulation on the organization of intermediate certification and ongoing monitoring of student performance at the Higher School of Economics”.

Interim Assessment

• Interim assessment (1 module)
  0.1 * Debates + 0.2 * Test after the 1st week (10 minutes) + 0.2 * Test after the 2nd week (10 minutes) + 0.25 * Test after the 3d week (10 minutes) + 0.25 * Test after the 4th week (10 minutes)

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Fenollosa, E. (2007). Epochs of Chinese and Japanese Art : An Outline History of East Asiatic Design (Vol. New and rev. ed. with copius notes by Professor Petrucci). Berkeley, Calif: Stone Bridge Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=480475
• Tomizawa-Kay, E. (2016). Changes in the Japanese art market with the emergence of the middle-class collector. Journal of the History of Collections, 28(2), 261–277. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhc/fhv029

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Chen, L. S. (2003). Traces of the Brush: The Art of Japanese Calligraphy (Book). Library Journal, 128(16), 68. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=asn&AN=10940275
• Morinaga, M. I. (2005). Secrecy in Japanese Arts: “Secret Transmission” As a Mode of Knowledge. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=188990
• Satō, S., Akiba Roshi, G., Fujiwara, S., & Sato, A. O. (2013). Shodo : The Quiet Art of Japanese Zen Calligraphy, Learn the Wisdom of Zen Through Traditional Brush Painting. Tokyo [Japan]: Tuttle Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1567925