Readings

Readings are also listed by session.

Required Texts

Buy at Amazon Robertson, Jennifer. Takarazuka: Sexual Politics and Popular Culture in Modern Japan. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780520211513.

Buy at Amazon Napier, Susan. Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke. New York, NY: Palgrave, 2001. ISBN: 9780312238636.

Buy at Amazon Keene, Donald, trans. Chushingura: The Treasury of Loyal Retainers. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1997. ISBN: 9780231035316.

Readings by Session

WEEK # TOPICS READINGS
1 Introduction to the Course: Asian / Performance / Cultures

Discussion: Performances of Class and Gender - Street vs. Opera
Film: Wu, Tian-Ming. King of Masks, 1996.
2 Anime and Japanese Culture Geertz, Clifford. "Notes on the Balinese Cockfight." 1973, republished "Deep Play: notes on the Balinese Cockfight." 1972. Daedalus 134, no. 4 (Fall 2005): 56-86.

Buy at Amazon Napier, Susan. Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke. New York, NY: Palgrave, 2001, pp. 3-138. ISBN: 9780312238636. (Text)

Film: Kon, Satoshi. Paranoia Agent, 2004. (TV show - Part 1)
3 Pokemon and Cross-Cultural Influence Selections from Pikachu's Global Adventure

Buy at Amazon Tobin, Joseph, ed. Pikachu's Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokemon. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004, chapters 4-6. ISBN: 9780822332879.

Buy at Amazon Allison, Anne. "Cuteness as Japan's Millennial Product." In Pikachu's Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokemon. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004. ISBN: 9780822332879.

Selected Short Stories by Haruki Murakami

Haruki, Murakami. "The Kidney-Shaped Stone That Moves Everyday," The New Yorker, September 26, 2005.

Film: Kon, Satoshi. Paranoia Agent, 2004. (TV show - Part 2)
4 Anime as Performance

Discussion of Issues Related to Paper 1
Buy at Amazon Napier, Susan. Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke. New York, NY: Palgrave, 2001. ISBN: 9780312238636. (Finish the book - text)
5 Fiction, Music and Politics Short Stories by Haruki Murakami

Murakami, Haruki. "UFO in Kushiro," The New Yorker, September, 2001.
6 Hip-Hop, Japan and Race as Performed Buy at Amazon Wood, Joe. "Yellow Negro." In Giant Steps: A New Generation of African-American Writers. Edited by Kevin Young. New York, NY: Perennial, 2001. ISBN: 9780613339032.

Condry, Ian. "Yellow B-Boys, Black Culture, and the Elvis Effect." In Hip-Hop Japan and the Paths of Cultural Globalization. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. (Forthcoming)

Buy at Amazon Atkins, Taylor. "The Japanese Jazz Artist and the Authenticity Complex." In Blue Nippon. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780822327219.

Film: Watanabe, Shinichirô. Samurai Champloo, 2004. (Selected episodes)
7 Asian Identities and Politics through Comics

Tak Toyoshima will Discuss his Editorial Comic Secret Asian Man during the First Half of Class
Buy at Amazon Murakami, Takashi. Superflat Manifesto. Tokyo, Japan: Madora Shuppan, 2000. ISBN: 9784944079209.

Duus, Peter "Weapons of the Weak, Weapons of the Strong: The Development of the Japanese Political Cartoon." Journal of Asian Studies 60, no. 4 (November 2001).

Read "Secret Asian Man" archive. (Selections)

Film: Watanabe, Shinichirô. Samurai Champloo, 2004. (Selected episodes)
8 Beijing Film Academy - Animation from China Buy at Amazon Robertson, Jennifer. Takarazuka: Sexual Politics and Popular Culture in Modern Japan. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780520211513. (First half)
9 Gender, Sexuality and Performance Buy at Amazon Robertson, Jennifer. Takarazuka: Sexual Politics and Popular Culture in Modern Japan. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780520211513. (Finish)

Film: Longinotto, Kim, and Jano Williams. Dream Girls, 1994.
10 Transgendered Identities in Japan Buy at Amazon Keene, Donald, trans. Chushingura: The Treasury of Loyal Retainers. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1997. ISBN: 9780231035316. (First half)

Film: Ogawa, Lulu. We Are Transgenders, 1998.
11 Cultural Performances and Authenticity

Discussion of Authenticity, 47 Samurai ("Passing" as Failed Ronin)
 
12 Student Presentations

Discussion of Final Paper Topics
 
13 Final Class