JAPN 212: Samurai Spirit
Course Description:
This course explores the four periods of the samurai tradition to survey changing roles and philosophy behind its existence. The survey will analyze contemporary images/stereotypes of the samurai. The course employs ancient war tales, historical documents and paintings, maps, articles, literary works, different genres of samurai films, and videos to fully examine one of the most popular Japanese cultural icons. Taught in English.
Reflective Narrative:
JAPN 212 Samurai Spirit is one of my favorite classes that I have taken so far. It is a deep dive into the Japanese history surrounding samurai and is a discussion of how those samurai are portrayed in modern stories and historical retelling. I found this particularly interesting because growing up I thought that being a samurai was cool and they wore really awesome costumes as a way to be somewhat popular. However, I learned in this class that Samurai are actually quite violent and even though there is such a thing as the Bushido code, which is an honor system to keep samurai accountable, it is not something that is followed by all samurai and that means that some samurai are corrupt individuals and some tend to be a lot more violent than others. However, there are many samurai that have good characteristics and follow the teachings of not only the Samurai Way but those of Buddhism, seeking to find enlightenment and be better themselves.
Coursework:
This course explores the four periods of the samurai tradition to survey changing roles and philosophy behind its existence. The survey will analyze contemporary images/stereotypes of the samurai. The course employs ancient war tales, historical documents and paintings, maps, articles, literary works, different genres of samurai films, and videos to fully examine one of the most popular Japanese cultural icons. Taught in English.
Reflective Narrative:
JAPN 212 Samurai Spirit is one of my favorite classes that I have taken so far. It is a deep dive into the Japanese history surrounding samurai and is a discussion of how those samurai are portrayed in modern stories and historical retelling. I found this particularly interesting because growing up I thought that being a samurai was cool and they wore really awesome costumes as a way to be somewhat popular. However, I learned in this class that Samurai are actually quite violent and even though there is such a thing as the Bushido code, which is an honor system to keep samurai accountable, it is not something that is followed by all samurai and that means that some samurai are corrupt individuals and some tend to be a lot more violent than others. However, there are many samurai that have good characteristics and follow the teachings of not only the Samurai Way but those of Buddhism, seeking to find enlightenment and be better themselves.
Coursework:
theories_on_samurai.docx | |
File Size: | 7 kb |
File Type: | docx |