JAPN 220 - Japan’s Ghosts and Demons

Credits: (3)
College Curriculum: COLL 200
Domain (Anchored): ALV
Domain (Reaching Out): CSI

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. Taught in English.