Course Title: 01:082:483 From Text to Image in Japanese Art
Credit not given for both this course and 01:565:483.
Academic Credits: 3 credits
Mode of Instruction: Seminar
Course Prerequisites and Corequisites: None
Core Curriculum: None
Course Description:
Explores the profound influence of classical literature on the arts of Japan, especially painting. Analysis of the historical and literary meaning of the literary works; investigation of the fusion of text and image.
This interdisciplinary course explores the profound influence of classical literature on the arts of Japan. During a thousand years, from the Heian to Tokugawa periods (794-1868), artists transformed into visual images both the emotions and the events described in the myths, legends, poetry, courtly novels, and war chronicles. Literary works were adapted to different formats—handscrolls, hanging scrolls, screens, and prints—as they became an integral, indivisible aspect of the arts that expressed the aesthetic of different social groups—aristocrats, shoguns, and urban bourgeoisie. We will read widely across many different genres of classical literature and their visual representations, and investigate how the fusion of text and image created unique masterpieces of Japanese art.
The course is constituted of three modules:
1. Spreading Faith: Miraculous Tales of Buddhist and Shinto Gods
2. Courtly Elegance: Literary Traditions from the Classical Age
3. Warrior Heroes: Tales of Battles and Demon-Quelling Adventures
Course Materials
Course Instructor
Fall, 2022 Professor Haruko Wakabayashi (Dep't of Asian Language & Culture)
Disclaimer: These Course Description/Synopses pages have been provided as samples and the information should not be considered accurate or current. For actual course information, refer to the course site hosted by a Rutgers Learning Management System (Sakai, Canvas, etc.) as of first day of class.
