Semester.ly

Johns Hopkins University | AS.310.115

Ghost Tales from China and Japan, 14Th-19Th Centuries

3.0

credits

Average Course Rating

(4.04)

We cannot express our own experience of death – only imagine life after death. How did people in the past conceptualize the world of the dead? Ghost tales will teach us what we imagine as the experience of dead and life after death. This course aims to introduce students to a variety of ghost stories in Late Imperial China and Tokugawa Japan and connect their literary imagination of the dead to the cultural, socio-historical, and religious context of each society as well as to the broad East Asian tradition of supernatural narratives. While we also touch upon earlier traditions on narrating the dead, most of the stories in class readings are from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties of China, and the Tokugawa period (1600-1868) of Japan. Key issues include family, gender, sexuality, body, medicine and many more. Although we will also take a look at visual and theatrical representations of the dead, we will primarily focus on literary texts about ghostly phenomena. Film screenings required. All readings are in English.

Fall 2013

(4.09)

Fall 2014

(4.0)

Fall 2013

Professor: Fumiko Joo

(4.09)

Students praised this course’s interesting topic and learning about ghost tales. Some students said they thought the weekly writing assignments were excessive while others felt the classroom discussions were at times unproductive as some students didn’t participate. Suggestions for improvement included having the instructor work harder to include students in the class discussion perhaps by cal ing on people who haven’t contributed. Prospective students should know that students found that the class focused not only on reading ghost stories but on pieces that analyzed the ghost stories.

Fall 2014

Professor: Fumiko Joo

(4.0)

Students praised this course for including interesting readings that were from a different atmosphere than Western ghost stories. Perceived issues with the course included a belief that class discussions suffered because not everyone completed assigned readings. Suggestions for improvement primarily focused on a desire to find ways to make sure al students were engaged during in-class discussions. Other students suggested that the course would be improved by having the instructor more clearly communicate their expectations for the course. Prospective students should know that the course involved a good amount of reading and that the course is also writing intensive.