Students
in the Honors Section will read and discuss in special sessions
with the instructor the following excerpts from a yet-to-be-published
manuscript copy of Amino Yoshihiko's book, Rereading Japanese
History, recently translated by Alan Christy of the University
of California, Santa Cruz. Students will be responsible for leading
discussions and preparing responses to study questions. We will
meet at mutually agreed upon days and times for six sessions during
weeks 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, and 12.
Formal
written work will comprise of an interpretive report on an artifact
of premodern Japanese history considered within the framework of
the perspective(s) laid out in Amino's work. "Artifact"
in this context should be understood broadly as just about any material
or textual trace of Japan's premodern past: from law code or Buddhist
sutra to works of art or architecture to implements and commodities
of daily life to forms and routes of transportation, etc. Possibilities
abound, but must meet first with my approval. Further instructions
will follow.
Click
on the following pdf files (Adobe
Acrobat Reader required) to download and print. I urge you--nay,
require you--to print and bind all selections before meeting for
our first discussion session (date and time to be announced).
Excerpts
from Rereading Japanese History by Amino Yoshihiko, translated
by Alan Christy:
1)
Week 3:
"Translator's
Introduction" and "Author's
Forward"
"The
Maritime View of the Japanese Archipelago"
2)
Week 4:
"The
World of the Shôen Estate and Government Lands"
3)
Week 8:
"Bandits,
Pirates, Merchants and Financiers"
4)
Week 9:
"Commerce,
Finance, and Currency"
5)
Week 10:
"Fear
and Loathing"
6)
Week 12:
"Concerning
Women"
