a handbook for undergraduates reading japanese · a handbook for undergraduates reading japanese...
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FACULTY OF ORIENTAL STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
JAPANESE STUDIES
A handbook for Undergraduates reading Japanese
[For students starting in or after October 2011]
Academic Year 2013-14: Dates of Full Term
Michaelmas Term Sunday, 13 October - Saturday, 7 December
Hilary Term Sunday, 19 January - Saturday, 15 March
Trinity Term Sunday, 27 April - Saturday, 21 June
CONTENTS
Oriental Institute, Nissan Institute for Japanese Studies 2
Course overview 3
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ORIENTAL INSTITUTE
The Oriental Institute is situated in Pusey Lane. It is the main building for the Faculty of
Oriental Studies. Here you will find lecture rooms, a language laboratory, and a common room.
Your language classes will generally be held in the Oriental Institute. Other lectures and classes
are also given here. The Oriental Institute also houses the Oriental Institute Library. The main
teachers of Japanese are:
Dr Linda Flores
University Lecturer in Modern Japanese literature; Fellow of Pembroke College.
Professor Bjarke Frellesvig
Professor of Japanese Linguistics; Fellow of Hertford College.
Dr Jennifer Guest
University Lecturer in Classical Japanese literature; Fellow of Queen’s College.
Dr Stephen Horn
Departmental Lecturer in Japanese linguistics.
Dr James Lewis
University Lecturer in Japanese and Korean Pre-modern History; Fellow of Wolfson College.
Ms Kaori Nishizawa
Japanese language instructor
Ms Junko Hagiwara
Japanese language instructor
Mrs. Keiko Harada
Faculty Tutor in Japanese
Ms Hiroe Kaji
Japanese language instructor
NISSAN INSTITUTE FOR JAPANESE STUDIES
The Nissan Institute is situated on Winchester Road. It is part of the School of Interdisciplinary
Area Studies i the Social Science Division and houses specialists of the modern history and
social sciences (politics, economics, social anthropology) of Japan. The Nissan Institute also
has rooms for teaching, including a large lecture theatre. Some teaching for the BA in Japanese
takes place in the Nissan Institute, which also houses the Bodleian Japanese Library.
Academics contributing to the teaching for the Japanese course in the Nissan Institute are:
Professor Roger Goodman
Nissan Professor of Modern Japanese Studies; Fellow of St Antony’s College
Dr Ekaterina Hertog
University Lecturer in Japanese Sociology
Professor Takehiko Kariya
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Professor of Japanese Sociology; Fellow of St Antony’s College
Dr Sho Konishi
University Lecturer in Modern Japanese history; Fellow of St Antony’s College
Professor Ian Neary
Professor of Japanese Politics; Fellow of St Antony’s College
Dr Hiroaki Matsuura
The Economy of Modern Japan
COURSE OVERVIEW
The B.A. Honours course in Japanese at Oxford aims
- to give students a thorough grounding in modern written and spoken Japanese, and in
the written classical language;
- to ensure that they have a good general knowledge of Japanese civilization, culture, history
and society; and
- to allow them to do in-depth, specialised study from a range of subjects, including both
classical and modern literature, linguistics, pre-modern and modern history, anthropology,
politics, economics, and art.
Course Content
The Oxford BA course in Japanese is a four year course, including a compulsory study period
of one year in Japan in the second year. The course is comprehensive and demanding,
revolving around intensive work on the written and spoken language through all four years,
combined with both general and specialized study of Japanese culture, civilization and society.
The language teaching takes place in classes and small groups and in language laboratories. It
includes work conducted by experienced native speakers.
The first year is dedicated to intensive work on the Japanese languages and study of the history
and culture of Japan, and East Asia in general. The classical written language is introduced in
the first year (and will be studied in more detail in the third and fourth years of the course). At
the end of the first year you will take Prelims which examines the language and history and
culture work you have done during the first year.
The second year is spent at Kobe University in Japan for continued extensive language study,
combined with study of civilization, culture and history.
In the third and fourth years the regular language work continues, including more detailed
study of the classical language. An important part of the third and fourth years is specialized
work within subject areas chosen by yourself from a wide array of available options, including
both classical and modern literature, linguistics, pre-modern and modern history,
anthropology, politics, economics, and art. In the fourth year you also write a maximum 15,000
word dissertation on a subject of your own choice under supervision. At the end of the fourth
year you will be examined in all the work you have done over the four years.
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It is possible to study an additional language (from Chinese, Korean, and Tibetan) in the third
and fourth year of the course.
The first year
Courses of study generally in Oxford are officially expressed in terms of the examinations
('papers') which test the knowledge gained from them. Through your college you will have
been given a copy of the current Examination Regulations. The first formal examination you
will take (the First Public Examination – FPE), Prelims, will be held at the end of the first year.
You must pass the First Public Examination in first year, because you will not be considered
qualified to proceed if you do not. A resit is usually possible if you do not pass; resits are held
in September. University regulations require you to pass your First Public Examination before
you can proceed to the Final Honour School and sit your final examinations.
A general outline of the content of the FPE is as follows. For details and an authoritative
description, please see
http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/examregs/10-29ad_S_R_P_E_in_Oriental_Studies.shtml and
https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/access/content/group/a55c44d3-9f21-4dec-b48c-2dc6fa4e4bee/Exa
ms/FPE_Japanese_conventions_prelims.pdf
First Public Examination in Japanese
Paper 1: Modern Japanese
This paper will test your ability to read and write Japanese, and to translate from English into
Japanese. The teaching preparing you directly for this paper will be language classes.
Paper 2: Classical and modern Japanese
This paper will test: your ability to translate from Japanese (set and unseen texts) into English;
your knowledge of Classical Japanese, both translation from set texts and grammar; and your
ability to give a grammatical analysis of modern Japanese. The teaching preparing you for this
exam will be language classes, Classical Japanese classes, and classes and a tutorial on
grammatical analysis of Japanese.
A list of the set (prepared) texts for this paper can be found at:
https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/hierarchy/humdiv/orient/oriental_s/page/set_texts
Paper 3: East Asia Survey: Japan
This paper will test your knowledge of Japanese and East Asian history and culture in a wide
sense. You will write short factual identification of people and events, covering both modern
and pre-modern Japan and East Asia, and you will write three essays from a choice of topics
covering both modern and pre-modern Japan and East Asia. The teaching preparing you for
this paper will be the East Asia Survey Course lectures and tutorials.
Schedule of work
The schedule of work during the first year is largely as follows: The first year of your course is
divided into three different forms of teaching: Language classes, Lectures/classes, and
Tutorials. You will be given more detailed information about the scheduling of the teaching in
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the course of the year, but the main pattern is as follows:
Language classes
Approximately 10 hours per week.
Lectures/classes
East Asia Survey Course: on average just over 2 lectures per week.
Grammatical Analysis: one weekly class in Hilary Term.
Classical Japanese: four one-hour classes in weeks 5-8 in Hilary Term; four two-hour classes
in weeks 1-4 in Trinity Term.
Tutorials
You will have one tutorial per week during each term. The following is a tentative schedule,
subject to revision. Approximately half the tutorials will be general tutorials with your college
tutor, or the tutorial group you belong to. The other half will be specialist tutorials where you
will be set essays on topics covered in the East Asian Survey lectures, and discuss those essays
with a specialist. The timing and distribution may look something like this:
Michaelmas Term
Week 1 Tutorial with College Tutor
Week 2 Tutorial with College Tutor
Week 3 Historical linguistics
Week 4 Tutorial with College Tutor
Week 5 Japanese pre-modern history
Week 6 Japanese pre-modern history
Week 7 Tutorial with College Tutor
Week 8 Pre-modern literature
Hilary Term
Week 1 Tutorial with College Tutor
Week 2 Chinese and Korean history in comparison with Japan
Week 3 Tutorial with College Tutor
Week 4 Japanese pre-modern history
Week 5 Tutorial with College Tutor
Week 6 Pre-modern literature
Week 7 or 8 Grammatical analysis
Week 8 Japanese modern literature
Trinity Term
Week 1 Tutorial with College Tutor
Week 2 Modern Japanese history
Week 3 Tutorial with College Tutor
Week 4 Modern Japanese society
Week 5 Tutorial with College Tutor
Week 6 Modern Japanese economics
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Week 7 Tutorial with College Tutor
Week 8 Modern Japanese politics
Dictionaries and other reference books
The following is a list of some reference books you will need for your Japanese course in
Oxford. Your college library should have the books (if they don’t, ask them to get them), and it
is strictly speaking not necessary for you to own them; but you are strongly encouraged to buy
them. Most of them are somewhat cheaper to buy in Japan, or through internet based
booksellers such as amazon, than elsewhere.
Many of you will also buy electronic dictionaries. Please note two things: First, make sure that
your electronic dictionary has a good Japanese-Japanese dictionary (for example the Kōjien (
広辞苑) or the Nihon Kokugo Daijiten (日本国語大辞典)). Second, note that an electronic
dictionary is a wonderful and handy supplement to printed dictionaries, but that it is no
substitute; for text work you will need to use real, printed, authoritative dictionaries.
1. Japanese - English dictionary
Kenkyūsha's New Japanese-English Dictionary. Kenkyūsha. 5th (or 4th) Edition.
This is the largest and most authoritative J-E dictionary available, and it will be indispensable
for your text work in the third and fourth years. Do not mistake it for the ‘collegiate’ size
dictionary of a very similar name. The 5th edition is approx. 2,500 pages and its ISBN-13 is
978-4767420264. The 4th edition is an acceptable alternative. It was published in 1974 and
there is therefore much recent vocabulary it does not have. However, it is in many ways more
attractive intellectually than the 5th edition and it works very well supplemented for example
with a more recent medium sized Japanese-English (such as the ones that electronic
dictionaries usually come with).
2. Kanji dictionary
The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary. Charles E. Tuttle Co.
Buy either this one or the ‘Classic’ edition. It is better than other kanji dictionaries into English,
especially in its organization and coverage of intellectual and historical vocabulary.
3. Classical Japanese dictionary
Shin-Meikai Kogo Jiten (新明解古語辞典). Sanseidō (三省堂).
This is a good medium sized classical Japanese dictionary. An alternative is Iwanami’s Kogo
jiten (岩波古語辞典).
4. Grammar
Samuel E. Martin. A Reference Grammar of Japanese. University of Hawaii Press.
This is a large reference grammar of Japanese, the best one published in any language.
5. Grammar of Classical Japanese
Haruo Shirane. Classical Japanese: A Grammar. Columbia University Press.
6. English - Japanese dictionary
Kenkyûsha New English - Japanese Dictionary. (6th Edition, 2002).
OR:
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Random House English - Japanese Dictionary. Random House & Shōgakkan.
These are both large good E-J dictionaries.
The second year
The second year of the course will be spent at Kobe University in Japan for continued extensive
language study, combined with study of civilization, culture and history. Details about the year
abroad will be given during the course of the first year.
The third and fourth years
From the beginning of the third year you have more scope to pursue your own interests. The
language classes remain a central part of your studies, so that you continue to build up a
working knowledge of general spoken and written Japanese. The third year is when you start
work in Oxford for what is termed Final Honour School (FHS). As before, the work of this part
of the course is expressed in terms of the examination for which you will be preparing.
The papers for FHS are as follows:
JAPANESE only JAPANESE with an additional language
FHS
1. Modern Japanese I
2. Modern Japanese II
3. Spoken Japanese (1/2 paper)
4. Classical Japanese
5. Special text option I [translation and
commentary]
6. Special subject option I [essays]
7. Dissertation
8. Special text option II [translation and
commentary]
9. Special subject option II [essays]
10. Either Special text option III or Special
subject option III
FHS
1. Modern Japanese I
2. Modern Japanese II
3. Spoken Japanese (1/2 paper)
4. Classical Japanese
5. Special text option I [translation and commentary]
6. Special subject option I [essays]
7. Dissertation
11. Chinese, Korean, or Tibetan Texts
12. Chinese, Korean, or Tibetan History and Culture
13. Chinese, Korean, or Tibetan Language
Modern Japanese
The two papers in Modern Japanese will test your ability to translate into Japanese and from
Japanese into English, as well writing in Japanese. The teaching directly preparing you for
these papers will be language classes, text classes, and text tutorials.
Spoken Japanese
The paper in spoken Japanese will be taken in Hilary term of the fourth year. It will test your
ability to understand and produce spoken Japanese. The Spoken paper counts as half a paper.
Most of the teaching directly preparing you for the paper in spoken Japanese will be language
classes.
Classical Japanese
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The paper in Classical Japanese will take the form of translation from Classical Japanese into
English. There will be classes and tutorials in Classical Japanese language in the third and
fourth year of the course.
Dissertation
As part of FHS you will write a dissertation. You should be thinking about your dissertation
topic already in the third year. You will be doing optional work that you yourself have chosen
and it may well be that you come across something in that work that particularly interests you
and could perhaps form the basis for a dissertation. You will normally do the bulk of the
writing of the dissertation during the first two terms of the fourth year. For the deadline you
should look up the General Regulations at the beginning of the Oriental Studies section of the
Examination Regulations.
Options
You must take five options (unless you choose to take an additional language, see below), as
follows: two special text options and two special subject options, and in addition either one
special text or one special subject option.
Of these five options, at least one special subject option (taken in Michaelmas Term of the third
year) must be in Classical Literature, Linguistics, or Modern Literature. There are no other
restrictions on combinations of options, and it is possible to take several options within core
subject areas such as literature and linguistics. Special text and Special subject options will be
taught over all of the third year and in Michaelmas and Hilary Terms in the final year. You will
take one option in each of those terms. More detailed information about the options and
availability of options will be given at the beginning of each academic year and will be
discussed with you by your tutor.
If you take an additional language, you will take only one special text option and one special
subject option.
Additional languages
If you choose to study an additional language (from Chinese, Korean, or Tibetan), you will take
three papers in the additional language, one in Text, one in Language, and one in History and
Culture. Teaching for additional languages start from the beginning of the third year and
continues into Hilary Term of the fourth year.
Special subject
Each special subject option will be taught over one term, with one tutorial hour per week (8
tutorials) with a specialist tutor. You will write an essay in English for each tutorial and will
discuss your essay in the tutorial. The exams will take the form of essays within the studied
subject areas.
There will be several special subject options in Classical Literature, in Modern Literature, and
in Linguistics. In addition, special subject options may be offered in politics, society and social
history, modern history, pre-modern history, intellectual history, art, and economics.
Availability of special subject options as well as their timing will be subject to availability of
teaching.
Special text
Each special text option will be taught over one term, with two tutorial hours per week (16
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tutorials) with a specialist tutor. With the tutor, you will read texts, discuss context and
background, and write short essays or commentary within the topic. The exams will take the
form of translation from and commentary on the studied texts.
There will be several special text options in Classical Literature, in Modern Literature, and in
Linguistics. In addition, special text options may be offered in politics, society and social
history, history, and economics. Availability of special text options as well as their timing will
be subject to availability of teaching.