Course Description:
Although often described as one of the most ethnically homogenous countries in the world, Japan has recently seen calls to reinvent itself as a multicultural society. These calls are especially urgent as Japan faces the challenges of an aging population and a globalizing world. At the same time, Japan has never been completely homogenous. Not so long ago, Japan was a multiethnic empire stretching across the Asian continent and the South Pacific. This course takes up questions of race and ethnicity in modern Japan, from the late 19th century to the present. Focusing on representations of ethnic and racial difference in Japanese literature and popular culture, we will consider how concepts, representations, and experiences of race fluctuate across cultural and historical contexts.
Cindi L. Textor 