Course Offering in Autumn 2019: The Monstrous in Japanese Culture (EALL 4200, Course number #33132)

Disembodied vengeful spirits, foxes that turn into alluring women, green and red ogres, Godzilla, and Pokémon: these are some of the monsters that have spooked and beguiled Japanese people across time. Called “yōkai”/fantastic being, “bakemono”/transforming thing, or “kaijū”/mysterious beast, these beings of the otherworld or the supernatural provide insights into the collective cultural psyche—the fears and desires—of the Japanese. Through a diachronic examination (8^th through 21^st centuries) of discourses on monsters in literature, visual arts, and scholarly studies, this course will investigate the cultural history of the monstrous in Japan.

Counts toward the Category D requirement: “East Asian Arts, Culture, History, Thought” of the Japanese major. Meetings: Tuesdays, Thursdays 3:55-5:15, Enarson 240.

Please contact Prof. Naomi Fukumori (fukumori.1@osu.edu) with queries about the course.