EAST 249 - Pine, Bamboo, Plum: Nature in Japan

FC ARHU CD WINT

4 credits
This course studies the ideas of cultured nature as expressed and conceptualized in the literature, arts, and aesthetics of Japan: the culture of four seasons, potent trees and flowers, poetic place names, landscapes, gardens. We use the approaches of environmental humanities to analyze the meanings and evolution of natural imagery and seasonal topics in Japans classical poetry, prose fiction, and performing arts, and ask how expressions of harmony with nature relate to environmental justice today.