HUAS89001 - The Tale of Genji

Course Description

The Tale of Genji, the world's oldest novel, has been widely recognized as a foundational text of world literature. Furthermore, in the words of one Nobel Laureate, the work is "the highest pinnacle of Japanese literature." Written by a woman, Murasaki Shikibu, during the Heian period (794-1185) likely for a female readership, it is a massive work of over 1000 pages. Described as both romance and a psychological novel, The Tale of Genji narrates the exploits of Genji, a sensitive and attractive courtier, whose character is driven by both lustfulness and a superlative aesthetic sensibility in navigating court politics. Despite its importance, few endeavor to read this text in its entirety. In this course, we will read nearly all of The Tale of Genji with an eye to its importance for the study of Japanese culture and society, world literature, and critical gender studies.

Note

Taking a Graham School Remote Course: You will receive an invitation to join Canvas about a week before the course begins. Please accept the invitation and create a log-in for Canvas using your email as the user name and create a password. Then go to the Dashboard and click on your course. Next click on Zoom Professional Education and you will see the link to "Join" your classroom. Canvas houses the course information including the course syllabus, announcements, and discussions. You will not be able to participate in your online class unless you accept the Canvas invitation and set up your account.

For help visit, https://grahamschool.uchicago.edu/academic-programs/online/learning-resources/liberal-arts to find step by step instructions and to sign up for a Student Training Session.