Contemporary Japanese literature - selected issues 3600-JA-WLJ-OW

Topics developed in the course include such areas as Japanese literature, linguistics, history, religion and philosophy, aesthetics, and art. Students expand their knowledge of a selected topic based on a wide selection of literature on the subject. In the case of the conversation classes, students analyze source texts, prepare papers on a selected topic, take part in discussions, and improve their workshop skills.

Term 2025L:

Care in Contemporary Japanese Literature

Contemporary Japan faces issues such as an aging population, the phenomenon of hikikomori (social withdrawal), and a widespread sense of anxiety stemming from frequent and unpredictable natural disasters. It therefore seems that the Japanese—who have long viewed reality more collectively than individually—have developed a deeply rooted sense of care that extends both to their immediate family and to strangers within society.
Care ethics, as one of the fundamental moral orientations, shapes important ways of perceiving the world around us and of interacting with others. Although interest in studying care in literature remains limited in Poland, the works of feminist scholars such as Carol Gilligan, Sara Ruddick, and Nel Noddings—and the approaches to human relationships they propose—offer new perspectives on selected problems of the contemporary world.
To explore how care ethics—and, more broadly, the very motif of care—is represented in contemporary Japanese literature, I propose examining selected novels, short stories, and excerpts by Japanese writers alongside classic theoretical texts by Western scholars. The reflections found in these studies may prove helpful in interpreting the issues addressed by Japanese authors.

Course coordinators

Tomasz Dymowski

Type of course

General:

elective courses

Term 2025L:

elective courses
general courses

Mode

Classroom

Learning outcomes

Knowledge: the graduate knows and understands
- has in-depth detailed knowledge (including terminology, theory and methodology) of literary studies or linguistics or philosophy and religion or history and socio-political issues [K_W01].
- has expanded knowledge on selected problems of Orient/African cultures (in the field of culture and literature or language or philosophy and religion or history and socio-political issues) in a comparative perspective [K_W02].
- has extended knowledge on selected problems of Japanese culture (in the field of culture and literature or language or philosophy and religion or history and socio-political issues) [K_W03].
- has detailed knowledge of the state of research on selected problems of Japan and centers [K_W05].
- knows and understands advanced methods of analyzing, interpreting and valuing various products of Japanese culture proper for chosen traditions, theories and research schools in the field of linguistics or literary and cultural studies or philosophy and religious studies or history [K_W06].
- has an orientation in contemporary Japanese cultural life [K_W08].
Abilities: graduate is able to
- can indicate the sources of cultural differences of Oriental countries, also on the basis of source materials [KU_02].
- can use terms from the field of Japanese philosophy and religion to analyze and interpret religious phenomena, ethical motives and human behavior, as well as differences between cultures [KU_06].
- is able to detect relations between formation of philosophical and religious ideas of Japan and social, cultural and economic processes [KU_07].
- can compare and analyze in depth relations between selected literary texts and/or other works of cultural creativity (film, press, social writings) of Japan and the issues of tradition and modernity [K_U09].
- is able to critically analyze and interpret various cultural products of Japan in a way appropriate to selected traditions, theories and research schools in the field of linguistics, literary studies, cultural studies or history, applying original approaches taking into account knowledge of oriental studies [K_U10]
Social competences: graduate is prepared to
- to be aware of the diversity resulting from cultural, religious and philosophical diversity, and its influence on the shaping of social and political attitudes and economic processes [K_K06].
- to understand the ethical issues and responsibilities related to the transmission of knowledge about Japan [K_K07].

Assessment criteria

- attendance check (pass/fail)

- continuous evaluation (current preparation for classes and activity)

- passing the course is based on preparing and delivering a presentation on a book of choice, as well as active participation in class discussions

Bibliography

Literature selections adapted to the topics undertaken in the semester.

Term 2025L:

Recommended readings:

1) Kawabata Yasunari, The Old Capital
2) Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun
3) Kawakami Mieko, Breasts and Eggs (first book)
4) Murata Sayaka, Earthlings
5) Tawada Yōko, Floating Soul
6) Ōe Kenzaburō, Silent Cry
7) Ogawa Yōko, Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales
8) Kawakami Hiromi, Manazuru
9) Hirano Keiichirō, A Man
10) Tsushima Yūko, Watashi
11) Itō Hiromi, Killing Kanoko
12) Murakami Haruki, The End of the World and Hard Boiled Wonderland

Theory:

1) Virginia Woolf, Room of One's Own, Selected Works (selected fragments)
2) Carol Giligan, In a Different Voice (selected fragments)
3) Justyna Tabaszewska, Humanistyka służebna. Negocjowanie pola i budowanie autonomii w dobie kryzysu (selected fragments)
4) Olga Tokarczuk, The Tender Narrator (selected fragments)
5) Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (selected fragments)
6) Donna Haraway, Cyborg Manifesto
7) Julia Fiedorczuk, Cyborg w ogrodzie. Wprowadzenie do ekokrytyki (selected fragments)
8) Jolanta Brach-Czaina, Szczeliny istnienia (selected fragments)
9) Julia Kristeva, Essay on Abjection (selected fragments)
10) Agnieszka Gawron, Macierzyństwo: współczesna literatura, kultura, etyka
(selected fragments)
11) Maciej Uliński, Etyka troski i jej pogranicza (selected fragments)
12) Judith Butler, Gender Trouble (selected fragments)