Berque Augustin, Le Sauvage et l`artifice : les Japonais devant la

Course syllabus
Title : Aspects of Japanese culture
Professor : Eddy Dufourmont, University Bordeaux Montaigne
Credits : 1 ECTS for French students; 2 ECTS for exchange students
Language of instruction : English
Course objectives and description :
To introduce students to ancient and modern Japanese culture through selected 8 topics, one for each
week : “Japanese and Nature”, “The Way of Gods : the Shintô”, “Japanese Buddhism”, “Japanese path
into history”, “Japan in Asia”, “Japanese women”, “An aging population”, “Japanese don’t know
individualism : Myths and legends about Japanese”. The thema of each topic will give fundamental
knowledge to understand Japan and its place in Asia and the rest of the world, the ways of Japanese
thinking and behaviours.
Bibliography : Students will be provided with all the necessary reading materials. The following titles
can considered as extended readings.
Berque Augustin, Le Sauvage et l'artifice : les Japonais devant la nature, Gallimard, 1986.
Dufourmont Eddy, Histoire politique du Japon (1853-2011), Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux, 2014.
Jansen M. B., The Making of Modern Japan, Harvard University Press, 2000.
Oguma E., The Genealogy of `Japanese' Self-Images, Trans Pacific Press, 2002.
Pelletier Philippe (et Donatien Cassan, Carine Fournier), Atlas du Japon : une société face à la
post-modernité, Éd. Autrement, 2008.
Sabouret J-F.(dirigé par), La dynamique du Japon, Saint-Simon, 2005.
Scoccimarro Rémi, Le Japon , Multimédia multisupport : renouveau d'une puissance ?, La
documentation française, 2010.
Evaluation: students will pass a writing exam (question) about one of the topic of the course, during
the last class of the session.