About this course: In their ambition to capture “real life,” Japanese painters, poets, novelists and photographers of the nineteenth century collaborated in ways seldom explored by their European contemporaries. This course offers learners the chance to encounter and appreciate behavior, moral standards and some of the material conditions surrounding Japanese artists in the nineteenth century, in order to renew our assumptions about what artistic “realism” is and what it meant. Learners will walk away with a clear understanding of how society and the individual were conceived of and represented in early modern Japan. Unlike contemporary western art forms, which acknowledge their common debt as “sister arts” but remain divided by genre and discourse, Japanese visual and literary culture tended to combine, producing literary texts inspired by visual images, and visual images which would then be inscribed with poems and prose. Noticing and being able to interpret this indivisibility of visual/literary cultures is essential in understanding the social and psychological values embedded within the beauty of Japanese art.
Who is this class for: Anyone interested in visual and written arts, and the connections between them. No particular background is necessary.
Created by: The University of Tokyo
Taught by: Robert Campbell, (Former Affiliation) Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo
(Current Affiliation) Director-General, National Institute of Japanese Literature
| Level | Beginner |
| Commitment | 4 weeks of study, 2-3 hours/week |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Samurai Portraits
One good way to gauge the distance between literary and visual culture in early modern Japan is to examine the ways in which painters and poets depicted their contemporaries. Portraits of samurai are especially rich in information about how men at the top of the social ladder wished to be “viewed” as physical entities, and how they expressed themselves as moral actors within society. In the first module, we will learn the basic formal aspects of samurai portraiture, and at the same time begin to interpret poems and prose inscribed onto the images themselves.
12 videos, 1 reading, 12 practice quizzes
- Video: 1-1 Introduction
- 阅读: Course Description
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 1-1
- Video: 1-2 "Portrait of Satō Issai" by Watanabe Kazan I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 1-2
- Video: 1-3 "Portrait of Satō Issai" by Watanabe Kazan II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 1-3
- Video: 1-4 "Portrait of Satō Issai" by Watanabe Kazan III
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 1-4
- Video: 1-5 Representation of Reality in Literatures I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 1-5
- Video: 1-6 Representation of Reality in Literatures II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 1-6
- Video: 1-7 Watanabe Kazan's Representation of Reality
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 1-7
- Video: 1-8 Chinese Quatrain by Rai Mikisaburō
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 1-8
- Video: 1-9 "Portrait of Yoshida Shōin" by Matsura Shōdō I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 1-9
- Video: 1-10 "Portrait of Yoshida Shōin" by Matsura Shōdō II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 1-10
- Video: 1-11 Yoshida Shōin and His Writings I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 1-11
- Video: 1-12 Yoshida Shōin and His writings II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 1-12
Graded: Module 1 Graded Quiz
WEEK 2
Painted Beauties
Visual images of women produced in Japan before the introduction of photography can be divided into two types: portraits of women who actually existed in society, and painted or printed images of idealized “beauties,” whose resemblance to physical reality was subsumed often to an intense interest in mode and situational aspect. Like samurai portraits, images of women, both real and imagined, would often be inscribed with texts which instruct viewers how to understand and appreciate them. In this module, we will overview several painted and printed images, and learn how contemporary viewers used these images and their texts as a tool to understand the world.
14 videos, 14 practice quizzes
- Video: 2-1 "Portrait of a Geisha" by Watanabe Kazan I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 2-1
- Video: 2-2 "Portrait of a Geisha" by Watanabe Kazan II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 2-2
- Video: 2-3 "Portrait of a Geisha" by Watanabe Kazan III
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 2-3
- Video: 2-4 "A Courtesan" by Takahashi Yuichi I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 2-4
- Video: 2-5 "A Courtesan" by Takahashi Yuichi II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 2-5
- Video: 2-6 "The Courtesan Usugumo of the Miura House at the Age of 89"
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 2-6
- Video: 2-7 Beauties in Ukiyo-e I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 2-7
- Video: 2-8 Beauties in Ukiyo-e II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 2-8
- Video: 2-9 Beauties in Writings I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 2-9
- Video: 2-10 Beauties in Writings II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 2-10
- Video: 2-11 "Beauty in the Painting" by Matsumoto Fūko I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 2-11
- Video: 2-12 "Beauty in the Painting" by Matsumoto Fūko II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 2-12
- Video: 2-13 Beauties in Photographs I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 2-13
- Video: 2-14 Beauties in Photographs II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 2-14
Graded: Module 2 Graded Quiz
WEEK 3
The Literary Photograph I
What methods did early modern Japanese artists and writers have at hand to “capture the moment,” and how did these methods influence the introduction and adaption of western photography in the mid-nineteenth century? In this module we will see how photographic modes of representation were assimilated into the literary tradition of portraiture, which was covered in modules 1 and 2.
8 videos, 8 practice quizzes
- Video: 3-1 "Calligraphy and Painting Gathering in Satte Post Town" by Yoda Chikkoku I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 3-1
- Video: 3-2 "On Reading" by Miyaoi Yasuo I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 3-2
- Video: 3-3 "On Reading" by Miyaoi Yasuo II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 3-3
- Video: 3-4 "Calligraphy and Painting Gathering in Satte Post Town" by Yoda Chikkoku II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 3-4
- Video: 3-5 Inscribed Photographs I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 3-5
- Video: 3-6 Inscribed Photographs II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 3-6
- Video: 3-7 Masaoka Shiki and Post Meiji-Restoration Writers I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 3-7
- Video: 3-8 Masaoka Shiki and Post Meiji-Restoration Writers II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 3-8
Graded: Module3 Graded Quiz
WEEK 4
The Literary Photograph II
Our final module traces the trajectory of the literary photograph from the end of the long nineteenth century into Japan’s modern era. Photographic images of the human figure in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Japan were often accompanied by literary writing inscribed either on the image itself, or on its reverse side. Modern novelists sometimes published photographs with short poems as captions. We will wrap up our course with a summary of how visual and written modes of representation colluded, and combined to produce powerful documents of social and psychological actuality.
9 videos, 9 practice quizzes
- Video: 4-1 Inscribed Photographs III
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 4-1
- Video: 4-2 Portrait of Niijima Yae
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 4-2
- Video: 4-3 Picture Postcard I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 4-3
- Video: 4-4 Picture Postcard II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 4-4
- Video: 4-5 Letters from Nagai Kafū
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 4-5
- Video: 4-6 ”Strange Tale from East of the River” by Nagai Kafū I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 4-6
- Video: 4-7 ”Strange Tale from East of the River” by Nagai Kafū II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 4-7
- Video: 4-8 Course Summary I
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 4-8
- Video: 4-9 Course Summary II
- 练习测验: Practice Quiz 4-9
Graded: Module 4 Graded Quiz
FAQs
How It Works
课程作业
每门课程都像是一本互动的教科书，具有预先录制的视频、测验和项目。
来自同学的帮助
与其他成千上万的学生相联系，对想法进行辩论，讨论课程材料，并寻求帮助来掌握概念。
证书
获得正式认证的作业，并与朋友、同事和雇主分享您的成功。
Creators
The University of Tokyo
The University of Tokyo was established in 1877 as the first national university in Japan. As a leading research university, UTokyo offers courses in essentially all academic disciplines at both undergraduate and graduate levels and conducts research across the full spectrum of academic activity.
Ratings and Reviews
I found this course really interesting, but way too easy for people who appreciate, know and study Japanese history, art and literature.
Coursera provides universal access to the world’s best education, partnering with top universities and organizations to offer courses online.
© 2017 Coursera Inc. All rights reserved.
Interesting course with much new information to me. My literary understanding of nineteenth century Japan has been lacking; consequently I really enjoyed this course.