Session 10—Wed, Feb 8: Discussion of assigned Japanese premodern texts, 2

Topics for this session

❖ Japanese premodern texts: The Tale of Genji, second of three sessions
❖ Koi (孤悲、古非、恋、こひ, longing)
❖ Amae (甘え in modern Japanese, not used in premodern, "playing the child", evoking the nurturing response, being vulnerable, revealing dependency, etc.)
❖ Attention to private / public

Thoughts*

Koi is our way of talking about how these early Japanese said "I love you", namely, not by saying so directly but with a "negative" discourse built around the feelings of longing when the lover is absent.

Required—to be completed for today's session

✓ The reading of Genji should already have been completed in full by the first session of the sessions on premodern Japanese texts.

Reminder: You should be working on the Chinese premodern readings.

Texts, multimedia notes, links*

nothing yet ...

Other*

nothing yet ...

*THOUGHTS: Reading before class probably helps follow session content, reading afterwards might help consolidate notes, revisiting for tests is recommended. Content might be added before class or anytime up until about 24 hours ahead of a midterm.

*TEXTS, MULTIMEDIA NOTES, LINKS: If I have read from something, shown something or presented audio that is not elsewhere mentioned, I usually include that information here for the curious, sometime after the class (since I often make last-minute decisions about including something). It might take a while and sometimes I forget. You can email me.

*OTHER: When possible I note here names, places, and other details that I have mentioned in a lecture that would otherwise not be accessible in the assigned materials or easily located on your own. As with "TEXTS ..." this is usually sometime after class and, again, I might not be able to get around to doing it.