In this course, you will make a close reading of a number of short stories written by authors who were active in the early and mid 20th century. The aim of the course is to develop your ability to read literary texts in the original. You will also reflect over and analyze the ways of expression you find in literary texts and discuss their contents and structure.

Schedule and Course Contents

The schedule for the online seminars (via Zoom) is included in the course outline: GJP37U-outline-ht24.pdf

Examination

The examination consists of a few written analysis tasks, active participation in the seminars and the submission of a short review. To pass the course, all written assignments must be passed and 80% attendance is required with a functioning microphone and camera. 

Each assignment address the task to analyse a literary text from a different point of view. The course also includes background reading of a few academic texts, which are studies about the different authors. These will be used as references when you write your own analyses. The final essay has the format of a critical review, and is thus freer in structure. In the seminars, we study the texts line by line. You will show your ability to read and explain text structure and grammar, and reflect over the texts' meaning and expression.

Note that resubmission of the written assignments is possible only once during the same semester.

Any form of plagiarism, and the use of AI tools to produce text, will be graded as a fail. All assignments should be your own writing. Plagiarism will also be reported to the disciplinary board. Please check the library's information page for more details about plagiarism: https://www.du.se/en/library/writing-references/

Literature:

The short stories chosen for this course are all written by important writers active in the early 20th century. The works of these authors are now in the public domain and may be used freely. These texts are taken from the open library Aozora bunko, but they have been prepared into different formats. All of them have been rewritten with modern spelling. They are all fairly easy to read. All these texts are available in the course modules.

• Dazai Osamu, Umi
• Hayashi Fumiko, Ehon
• Hayashi Fumiko, Kaeru
• Akutagawa Ryûnosuke, Torokko
• Okamoto Kanoko, Ai yo ai

In addition to these primary texts, you will also read the following secondary texts, which are articles about the different authors and their work. These are also available in the course modules.

• Brown, Janice. "Hayashi Fumiko: Voice from the Margin." Japan Quarterly, vol. 43, no. 1, 1996, pp. 85-99.
• Mori, Maryellen T. "The Splendor of Self-Exaltation. The Life and Fiction of Okamoto Kanoko." Monumenta Nipponica, vol. 50, no. 1, 1995, pp. 67-102.
• Sipos, George T. "Masks of the Author in Dazai Osamu’s Fiction." Theory in Action, vol. 15, no. 4, 2022, pp. 47-66.
• Suter, Rebecca. "Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927)." The Literary Encyclopedia, 2010.

Contact

Herbert Jonsson: hjn@du.se