Modern Japanese Fiction (in English)

In this course we will examine the development of Japanese literature from the Meiji restoration (1868) through WWII. During this period of rapid and often tumultuous modernization, fiction played a crucial role in the creation of the nation-state and in the formation of the individual's sense of self. We will read works by writers who participated actively in the imagination of modernity and those who resisted it, including Kunikida Doppo, Higuchi Ichiyo, Natsume Soseki, and Mori Ogai. 3 hrs. lect./disc.