Mar 28, 2024  
2017 - 2018 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2017 - 2018 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

JAPN 220 - Japan’s Ghosts and Demons


Spring (3) Cronin (College 200, ALV)

This course explores the supernatural world and its inhabitants as imagined in Japanese literature and visual culture from ancient times to the present day.  Our survey will take in a wide variety of fantastic phenomena, including spirit possession and exorcism in The Tale of Genji, the “hungry ghosts” of medieval Buddhist folklore,  interwar Gothic tales of the bizarre, and recent Japanese horror films such as The Ring.  In the process, we will consider the various roles that the supernatural has played in Japanese culture at various historical moments. (This course is anchored in the ALV domain, and also considers aspects of the CSI domain.)