ASIA 285 - Embodied Forms: Reading the Material World of East Asia

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

(Same as CHJA 285) This class explores the representations and discourses surrounding material objects, including physical embodiments, in East Asian contexts (Japan, China and Korea). It begins with a broad theoretical exploration of materiality – how should we talk about the physical? And what of embodiment – how can the experiences of the human body become sites of dominant ideologies and socio-political resistance. We then dive into specific examples from Japanese, Korean and Chinese cultural contexts, examining these questions more closely, and dissecting how material forms become linked to broad socio-cultural discourses. Some of the topics this class covers include: bento boxes and socialization, anime figures and ‘database’ consumption, plastic surgery and neoliberal discourses of ’becoming’ in Korean media, gender swapping and social resistance in the Chinese drama Go Princess Go, the multiple languages of food, and Japanese shitamachi ‘downtown’/ local factory dramas. Classwork includes one group project and one term paper as well as short reading response papers. Judit Kroo.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS