Topics: Literature: Japan >> Classical Literature

Multimedia Files • Classical Japan [Audio/Video/Text]
This video unit is an introduction to Classical Japan. Topics include the influence of Chinese culture on Classical Japan, the Imperial family, the Nara period, Buddhism, Shinto, the Japanese language, and Japanese poetry of the period, including the waka forum and the Manyôshû and Kokinshû collections. Featuring Columbia University professors Donald Keene, Carol Gluck, Haruo Shirane, and Paul Varley, and Asia Society President Emeritus Robert Oxnam.
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• What is waka? [Reading]
An essay about the history and structure of waka, a type of short poem. Followed by discussion questions.

Primary Sources • The Manyôshû and Kokinshû Poetry Collections [Reading]
Excerpts from Japan's oldest collections of poems. Followed by discussion questions.

• The Heian Period (794-1185) [Reading]
Includes two introductory readings on the aristocratic-court culture of the Heian Period, which produced the literary masterpieces The Tale of Genji and The Pillow Book. One reading is for students; the second reading is intended as background information for the teacher.

Primary Sources • The Pillow Book [Reading]
Short excerpts from The Pillow Book, an 11th-century prose text, followed by discussion questions.

• The Tale of Genji [Reading]
A brief introduction to The Tale of Genji, followed by the plot summary of a suggested selection from the text. Includes discussion questions.

Multimedia Files • The Tale of Genji [Audio/Video/Text]
This video unit examines this literary masterpiece of the Heian period. Literary salons, women as authors, and the impact of The Tale of Genji are discussed by the featured speakers: Columbia University professors Haruo Shirane and Paul Varley, and Asia Society President Emeritus Robert Oxnam.
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for students includes teacher's note multimedia unit
primary source reading general reading includes art
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