The thing that surprises many first-time readers of modern Japanese fiction is its striking similarity to Western fiction. But equally surprising are the intriguing differences that lie concealed within that sameness. This courses charts these similarities and differences by reading Japanese fiction about love and death-two universal human experiences that are nevertheless highly inflected by specific cultures. The course begins with tales of doomed lovers that were popular in the 18th-century kabuki and puppet theaters, and that still feature prominently in Japanese popular culture, from comics to tv dramas. From there we move on to examine a range of other relationships between love and death, including parental love and sacrifice, martyrdom and love of country, sex and the occult, and romance at an advanced age. Texts may include plays, novels and short stories by authors like Chikamatsu, Kawabata, Kono, Mishima, Murakami Haruki, Oe, Tanizaki, and Tsushima, as well as films by Imamura, Oshima, and Shinoda. The class and the readings are in English. Format: lecture/discussion. Requirements: two in-class exams and two 5-7 page papers emphasizing original, creative, and convincing readings of the class texts. No prerequisites. No familiarity with Japanese language or culture is required. No enrollment limit (expected: 15). Open to all.

Hour: C. BOLTON