This course consists of the following three integrated components:
Basic concepts and theoretical frameworks
Students will be introduced to the terms and concepts needed for critical analysis and understanding of language and culture.
- The nature and definition of language and culture
- Critical perspectives related to language and culture (e.g., ideology, discourse and discursive formation, language and power)
- Concepts and terms related to language and culture (e.g., high/low culture, popular/mass culture, collectivism and individualism, harmony, orientalism and self-orientalism, Self and Other, imperialism, nationalism, hegemony)
Japanese language, culture, and society
With a particular focus on linguistic elements, students will learn about the language, culture and society of Japan.
- The development of Japan as a nation state and the Japanese language
- Japanese language education in the world
- Language policies and language education in Japan
- Linguistic ideologies in Japan
- The development of Japanese orthography and its usage in different contexts
- Japanese lexis and expressions: etymology of Japanese words, loanwords in Japanese, Japanese loanwords in other languages, slang, idioms and proverbs
- The Japanese language and translation: difficulty, what is lost in translation
- Gender/regional/generational difference in the Japanese language
- Japanese nonverbal communication
Analysis of Japanese cultural products
Students will explore aspects of Japanese language, culture and society through an examination of various cultural products such as literature, anime, food, mascots and festivals. The topics and themes may include, but are not limited to:
- Japanese social and cultural identities
- Japanese aesthetic values and religious beliefs
- The discourse on race and ethnicity in Japan
- Social stratification and minorities in Japan
- Gender and family system in Japan
- Japanese sub-cultures and pop-cultures (e.g., cosplay, otaku culture)