Japanese 499D - HnrsThesisSem-Rebels & Martyrs

This capstone course addresses issues of rebellion and martyrdom in Premodern and Modern Japan under the rubric of "sacrifice." We will analyze primary and secondary literature as well as films on a variety of topics. For Premodern Japan, we will focus on human sacrifices in Noh drama, rebels following the Way of Tea, Japanese Christian martyrs, blood avengers, children as rebels and martyrs, peasant rebels, social rebels committing double suicide, and common folk calling the shots through religious world-renewal movements. For Modern Japan, we will explore the motivations of assassins in the late Tokugawa (Bakumatsu) and Meiji periods, of rebels in 20th-century feminist and proletarian movements, and of soldiers in the Pacific War. Satisfies the Integrative Experience requirement for BA-Chinse, BA-ComLit, BA-FrenSt, BA-German, BA-Ital, BA-Japan, BA-Port, and BA-Span majors. The prerequisite is Japanese 499C, The Samurai.

Open to Undergraduate Seniors & Juniors only. PreReq: Japanese 499C