HIST 381 - Love and Death in Tokugawa Japan, 1603-1868

1 unit(s)

We reconstruct life in early modern Japan by engaging primary sources in translation, including memoirs, autobiographies, thanatologues, satire, novels, plays, and treatises. Various social group-the samurai (the warrior elite), commoners, intellectuals, and women-are examined. We look at Japan’s past as “lived experience” by focusing on everyday social practices and personal lives. This seminar does not presuppose familiarity with Japanese history but requires a keen and active historical mind.

Prerequisite(s): Prerequisite for advanced courses is ordinarily 2 units of 200-level work in history, or by permission of the instructor. Specific prerequisites assume the general prerequisite.

Not offered in 2013/14.