EAST ASIAN STUDIES 104L
SOURCES OF EAST ASIAN CIVILIZATIONS II
Spring 2002
T TH 2:30-3:50

Instructor: Susanna Fessler
Office: Humanities 210
Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 1:00-2:00 and by appointment
Phone: 518-442-4119
e-mail: fessler@albany.edu
Course Material is on-line at http://www.albany.edu/eas/104/index.htm

Course Description:
This is a basic introduction to the primary texts that have contributed to the formative cultural foundations of Korean and Japanese civilizations. The first text will be a Korean text, followed by Japanese texts in chronological order of appearance. (In some cases, we will only read selections of a work, if the work is inordinately long.) Class will be primarily lecture-based, although questions are encouraged at all times. The focus will be on the content of the text, its place in the literary tradition, and the problematics of interpretation. Although this course is designed to be a continuation of EAS 103L, "Sources of East Asian Traditions I," EAS 103L is not a prerequisite. This course is taught in English; no knowledge of Korean or Japanese is necessary.

Required Texts:

  • (P1,2) Photocopy packets, available at Shipmates in Stuyvesant Plaza, of:
  • (G) Genji and Heike: selections from The Tale of Genji and The Tale of Heike, translated, with introductions, by Helen Craig McCullough
  • (T) Tales of Times Now Past: Sixty-two Stories from a Medieval Japanese Collection, translated by Marian Ury
  • (N) Narrow Road to the Deep North by Matsuo Basho, Nobuyuki Yuasa, trans.
  • Course materials and lecture notes are available on-line at http://www.albany.edu/eas/104/index.htm

    Testing and Grading: Students will be required to write one 5-page (approximately 1500 word) paper during the course of the semester. Attendance will be taken regularly; students are expected to attend class unless extenuating circumstances prevent it. There will be unannounced intermittent quizzes on the content of the required reading. These quizzes will be easy if you have done the reading but difficult if you have not in other words, it is to your advantage to come to class prepared,. The mid-term exam and final exam will include short answer and essay questions on the material covered in class. I grade on objective criteria, as follows:

         Intermittent quizzes               20%
     5-page paper                       20%  
     Mid-term Exam                      20%
     Final Exam                         20%
     Class Attendance                   20%
    This syllabus is a non-negotiable contract. I agree to teach the topics listed below, and to grade you on the criteria listed above. I consider a grade of "Incomplete" to be for emergencies (death in the family, extreme illness, etc.), not for students who fail to plan ahead. I do not curve grades. I do not give extra credit assignments. My grading scale is as follows: 93-100%=A; 90-92%=A-; 87-89%=B+; 83-86%=B; 80-82%=B-; 77-79%=C+; 73-76%=C; 70-72%=C-; 67-69%=D+; 63-66%=D; 60-62%=D-; 0-59%=E.

    If you want to check on your performance at any point in the semester, feel free to come to my office and we'll run through the numbers. If there are extenuating circumstances which you anticipate will unduly affect your grade, it is your responsibility to speak with me IN ADVANCE.

    Topic Reading
    January 24 Th Course Introduction None
    29 T The Cloud Dream of the Nine P1: ix-94
    31 Th The Cloud Dream of the Nine P1: 95-196
    February 5 T The Cloud Dream of the Nine P1: 197-300
    7 Th Man'yoshu P2: 3-14
    12 T Man'yoshu P2: 17-77
    14 Th Man'yoshu P2: 81-196
    19 T Man'yoshu P2: 197-314
    21 Th To Be Announced
    March 5 T The Tale of Genji G: 3-40
    7 Th The Tale of Genji G: 41-112
    12 T The Tale of Genji G: 113-189
    14 Th The Tale of Genji G: 190-242
    19 T FILM: The Illustrated Scroll of the Tale of Genji None
    21 Th MIDTERM EXAM None
    April 2 T The Tale of Heike G: 245-277
    4 Th The Tale of Heike G: 278-337
    9 T The Tale of Heike G: 338-397
    11 Th The Tale of Heike G: 398-458
    16 T Tales of Times Now Past T: 1-58; First Draft Due
    18 Th Tales of Times Now Past T: 59-80
    23 T Tales of Times Now Past T: 81-199
    25 Th Basho's Travelogues and Haiku N: 9-49
    30 T Basho's Travelogues and Haiku N: 51-70
    2 Th Basho's Travelogues and Haiku N: 71-95
    7 T Basho's Travelogues and Haiku N: 97-143; Final Draft Due

    FINAL EXAMINATION SCHEDULE TO BE ANNOUNCED

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