Message

F1409 Comparing East and West (Cultures of the World core)

Vardaman James M.

This course will compare Japanese urban culture with that of the West. We will begin by examining the culture of the early capitals (Nara and Kyoto) and religious centers, including local holy sites and Buddhist temples, and students will select European counterparts to contrast them with. Through this, we will attempt to find similarities and differences between Japanese and Western views of society, art, and visual and representative culture. Further, by considering evolving trade routes and pilgrimage routes of Japan and Europe, we will compare economic and cultural interchange within the respective regions.
Tracing the evolution of villages in Europe and Japan, we will compare the nature of Western and Japanese hierarchies and aspects of social responsibility. By contrasting Japanese imperial palaces, initially in imitation of Chinese models, and Western palaces we will outline the adoption of urban hierarchies, cultural superiority, and distinct fashion and cultural attainments, from poetry to music. By comparing medieval castles and castle towns, we will examine the changing nature of political and economic strategies of the local powers vis-à-vis the central authority.
The first wave of direct European-Japanese encounters in the late 16th century, consisting of trade and religious propagation, ended with the closing off of the country at the order of the government. During this period of relative isolation, Japan developed a unique culture during a period of relative peace and rigid authority, while the local cultures of Europe clashed in repeated wars for dominance. We will compare the cultural impact of this difference in experience in Europe and Japan in terms of science, technology, literature, philosophy, and art. We will also consider the significance of the small trading post at Dejima, in Nagasaki harbor, which allowed Dutch traders to learn about Japan while providing Japan with a degree of information about Western ideas and world events.
The first dramatic direct encounter between Japan and the West came with the Meiji Restoration of 1868. At this point the course focuses on how the nations of Europe and the United States attempted to understand Japanese culture and how the missions of Japanese leaders traveled to the West to learn how to quickly modernize Japan. Western science and technology captured the Japanese imagination at the same time that Japanese culture captured the Western imagination through its art, poetry and especially its ukiyo-e.
A third wave of encounters began after World War II, first with a tentative mutual exploration of the “inscrutable other.” Once again, Japan endeavored to learn from the West and, for the first time, the West began to seriously study Japan. Through the 1970s and 1980s, the West reevaluated Japan as an alternative success story, primarily in economic terms but also in cultural terms. This curiosity about Japan, since the turn of the present century has manifested itself in a keen interest in what has been promoted as “Cool Japan.” While interest in Japan’s long-term traditional cultural elements continues, a more visible interest is shown in the latest animated films, manga, “cosplay”, and aspects of “otaku” and other forms of youth culture in Tokyo’s Harajuku and Akihabara. We will compare contemporary Japanese culture and Western culture to see how wide the gap between them remains.
Throughout the course, the focus will be on understanding the characteristic dynamics that have formed Western and Japanese identity, how Westerners and Japanese have differed in their views of their respective heritages in the age of globalization, and how the West and Japan currently influence one another in diverse ways, including electronics, literature, pop culture, music, fashion, and cuisine.

 

Goal of the course
Through examining urban culture in Japan and the West, the student will be able to compare fundamental Japanese and Western cultural principles at different periods. Students will select specific aspects of Japanese culture to compare with counterparts in Western countries and delineate the similarities and differences.
Readings on Japan will be selected from the bibliography and students will use online journals to research the contrasting Western materials.