David Barnhill
Env Stds/English 244: Japanese Nature Writing
Welcome to the website of Japanese Nature Writing, cross-listed as Environmental Studies 244 and English 244
This course examines the views of nature in Japanese literature. Although we will consider Japanese literature from 700 to the present, we will have three focuses: classical poetry and in particular the monk-poet Saigyō; Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694), who wrote linked verse, hokku (haiku), haibun; and modern novelist Kawabata Yasunari (1899-1972), who won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Throughout the course we will focus strongly on the vision of nature embodied in Japanese literature: the conception of nature, its value, and the relationship between humans and nature. We also will consider the religious dimension of that writing. In order to deepen sensitivity to nature in Japan , we will periodically examine East Asian landscape painting and Japanese garden art.
Proper citation of items in "Study Aids" and on e-reserve
*** Japanese Studies Major and Minor ***
