teaching hentai kanbun outside of Japan

[Paula R. Curtis]

Dear colleagues,

The other day Lee Butler and I were discussing the diverse ways that individuals in premodern Japanese Studies, particularly medieval, receive (or do not receive) formal training in reading kanbun (or hentai kanbun, as were--here I mean writing such as medieval komonjo, rather than classical Chinese as such). This led us to wonder: are there still any dedicated teachers of hentai kanbun or similar forms of writing outside of Japan? 

I recall when I was applying to programs ten or more years ago it seemed to me that the late Edwin Cranston was the only one still teaching a "kanbun" course of sorts in the US that was geared in part towards Japan researchers. Are the USC kambun workshops the only kokiroku/komonjo learning opportunities we have outside of very occasional workshops elsewhere or individual tutoring? Is this still a class that exists somewhere? If so, we'd be curious how people are teaching it.

With gratitude,

Paula

--

Paula R. Curtis

Yanai Initiative Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer

Department of Asian Languages & Cultures

University of California, Los Angeles

http://prcurtis.com/

[Howell, David L]

Dear Paula and colleagues,

We haven’t been able to offer kanbun/hentai Kanbun at Harvard since Ed Cranston’s retirement (and even Ed didn’t offer it very often during his last few years), but we do have ambitions of restarting it before long. I probably won’t know for a few months what our actual prospects are. In the meantime, I’ll be interested to hear other responses to Paula’s question.

Best wishes,

David

David L. Howell
Robert K. and Dale J. Weary Professor of Japanese History
Chair, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Professor of History

Editor, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies
Harvard University

Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
2 Divinity Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138
dho...@fas.harvard.edu

--
PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAL1MDVROBofB%2B6souLKEoYSk2ecjFBQsEswfub%2BdfjeY5p5fEQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Christopher Hepburn]

Hi Paula and colleagues,

Thanks for your hard work. 

I have some free time this weekend. If it'd be welcomed, 

I don't mind putting together a spreadsheet of courses and/ or workshops that appear to be active.

Best,

Christopher 

--

Christopher Hepburn, PhD 

Postdoctoral Scholar and 

Teaching Fellow of East Asian Studies and Music 

Department of History 

University of Southern California

East Asian Library, 109B 

Edward L. Doheny Jr Memorial Library 

3550 Trousdale Pkwy, 

Los Angeles, CA 90089

 Tel: 213.628.4264

[Bryan D. Lowe]

Dear All,

Keiko Ono at Princeton regularly teaches two semesters of kanbun that are, in Paula’s words, “geared in part towards Japan researchers." My understanding is that second semester kanbun typically covers more of the so-called hentai forms. Tom Conlan also teaches komonjo classes that are pretty systematic and thorough as I understand it. And, of course, many of our other graduate seminars here at Princeton deal with reading hentai kanbun texts, though typically in less systematic ways (at least I’m less systematic about it from a language pedagogy perspective.)

David Lurie also regularly teaches a kanbun class at Columbia and I believe very generously puts up some of his syllabi online on his web page. I think diverse forms are included here too.

Of course, questions remain about how hentai kanbun is defined, but kanbun itself is certainly taught at these two institutions and typically, I believe, includes a range of forms at least by second semester. I’m sure there are other schools in North America as well.

Best,

Bryan

Bryan D. Lowe
Assistant Professor
Department of Religion
Princeton University

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/D65A1A9E-0AC8-4A53-80A6-6E1592E85897%40fas.harvard.edu.

[Raji Steineck]

Dear colleagues,

a kanbun course is regular part of our M.A. curriculum in Japanology at University of Zurich, and an optional part of our B.A.

A couple of years ago, we designed a course that is entirely based on texts composed in Japan, which is taught in turns by Dr. Daniela Tan and myself.

I have been thinking of moving this course online or to a summer school, and would be interested in what the community thinks about these option.

Currently, we teach it in German, but moving to English as a teaching language would be possible, if there was appropriate demand.

Yours,

Raji

Prof. Dr. Raji C. Steineck

Japanologie, Asien-Orient-Institut

Universität Zürich

Zürichbergstrasse 4

8032 Zürich

Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera

---

Von: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com> im Auftrag von Paula R. Curtis <prcu...@umich.edu>
Gesendet: Freitag, 14. Oktober 2022 19:30
An: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com>
Betreff: [PMJS] teaching hentai kanbun outside of Japan

 

[Alexander Kaplan-Reyes]

Dear All:

Hello from one of the newest members of the field. I just finished my Ph.D. program at Columbia University in June. David Lurie, one of my co-advisors, has been teaching a semester of kanbun once every few years, including this very semester.

---

Sincerely,

Alexander Kaplan-Reyes

Early Career Fellow

East Asian Languages and Cultures

Columbia University

818-309-9263

---

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/ZRAP278MB0739911F8B6BCD4CE177F02FC7249%40ZRAP278MB0739.CHEP278.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM.

[Bruce Batten]

Dear All,

Although physically located in Japan (and hence perhaps not relevant to the question), the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Yokohama offers optional instruction in kanbun as part of its regular 10-month program. The IUC also has a dedicated summer course in kanbun.

Bruce L. Batten, PhD
Resident Director
Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies
Yokohama International Organizations Center, 5th Floor
1-1-1 Minato Mirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 220-0012, Japan
T: +81-(0)45-223-2002
F: +81-(0)45-223-2060
E: bat...@iucjapan.org

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CA%2BSzvNKJSvnKHaNb3zzjQAKb%3DLVSUMQQ-b-7%3DcXd%3D1hjNZ32GA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Claire-Akiko Brisset]

Dear colleagues,

A kanbun course taught by Samuel Guex is mandatory in our M.A. curriculum in Japanology at the University of Geneva. There is also an optional initiation class and an optional advanced seminar in kanbun provided at the Inalco (Paris), taught respectively by Julien Faury in the B.A. and by Michel Vieillard-Baron in the M.A. curriculum. Last but not least, Jean-Noël Robert has been teaching a kanbun seminar for years at the Ecole pratique des hautes études (Paris).

All are taught in French, and I can’t tell if hentai kanbun is addressed as such in those courses. 

 

Best wishes,

Claire-Akiko Brisset
PO histoire culturelle du Japon
département ESTAS
Faculté des lettres
Université de Genève

Le 15 oct. 2022 à 00:25, Bruce Batten <br...@obirin.ac.jp> a écrit :

Some people who received this message don't often get email from br...@obirin.ac.jp. Learn why this is important

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/34C324D9-54CB-4CEC-85EB-290E282A9B1B%40obirin.ac.jp.

[mstavros]

I teach a course almost every year at Sydney that's half focused on kanbun and the other half on bungo. Enrollment is between 40 and 65 students. 

I'll take this opportunity to introduce some of the work my student produced on the 12th-century text Hungry Ghost Scroll 餓鬼草紙. 

Kelly Zhang: https://bit.ly/3K0AUN4

Bianca Bigay: https://bit.ly/3QTeoI8

Jackson Tse: https://bit.ly/3K4DnpD

Matthew Stavros

[Paula R. Curtis]

Many thanks to you all for these fascinating responses. Edoardo just brought up the great point that it would be incredibly helpful to have a survey on this kind of information (and you all know how much I love data...!). I have thrown together a brief survey to better catalog this information. If folks don't mind filling it out and sharing with colleagues on or offlist, it would be wonderful to have a snapshot of hentai kanbun education in this particular moment when opportunities in the premodern seem somewhat uncertain. I can share the information collected with everyone afterwards.

Survey link: https://forms.gle/PXmZz7ZotNgE4Mxt8

Best,

Paula

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/34C324D9-54CB-4CEC-85EB-290E282A9B1B%40obirin.ac.jp.

[Dan Sherer]

Hello all,

I recently began to teach a year-long course on reading Premodern Japanese sources as part of our MA program here at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The second semester is primarily the reading of Kambun. The plan is currently to offer it every other year.

-Dan Sherer

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAL1MDVT7qEy6R0zWApJR6vrHETwj1DNsafWvHH0_kKkc63Fxfw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Nobumi Iyanaga]

Hello,

Although this was inside Japan, and although it no longer exists, I used to organize a bimonthly seminar of initiation to the Buddhist kanbun for (mainly) "foreign" student at Tokyo Center of École française d'Extrême-Orient (7th floor of Tôyô bunko Library) -- from 2008 to 2014. I keep a dear memory of the hours spent there.

Best regards,

Nobumi Iyanaga

>>> Von: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com> im Auftrag von Paula R. Curtis <prcu...@umich.edu>
>>> Gesendet: Freitag, 14. Oktober 2022 19:30
>>> An: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com>
>>> Betreff: [PMJS] teaching hentai kanbun outside of Japan
>>>
>>> Dear colleagues,
>>>

>>> The other day Lee Butler and I were discussing the diverse ways that individuals in premodern Japanese Studies, particularly medieval, receive (or do not receive) formal training in reading kanbun(or hentai kanbun, as were--here I mean writing such as medieval komonjo, rather than classical Chinese as such). This led us to wonder: are there still any dedicated teachers of hentai kanbun or similar forms of writing outside of Japan?

> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/db8ace62-a73d-7ac6-32a4-9d962743a242%40gmail.com.

[Jerome Ducor]

Dear All,

Prof. Jean-Noël Robert is teaching such a Master course at Ecoles pratiques des Hautes Etudes (Paris):

https://www.ephe.psl.eu/introduction-au-sino-japonais-kanbun

He also authored this helpful booklet :

Lectures élémentaires en style sino-japonais (kanbun); Paris, éd. Université Paris 7, 1986. 76 + 32 pp.

Best regards,

Jérôme Ducor

>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pmjs+unsub...@googlegroups.com.

>>> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAL1MDVROBofB%2B6souLKEoYSk2ecjFBQsEswfub%2BdfjeY5p5fEQ%40mail.gmail.com.
>>>
>>> --
>>> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
>>> To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
>>> For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
>>> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
>>> ---
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.

>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pmjs+unsub...@googlegroups.com.

>>> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/ZRAP278MB0739911F8B6BCD4CE177F02FC7249%40ZRAP278MB0739.CHEP278.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM.
>>>
>>> --
>>> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
>>> To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
>>> For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
>>> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
>>> ---
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.

>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pmjs+unsub...@googlegroups.com.

>>> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CA%2BSzvNKJSvnKHaNb3zzjQAKb%3DLVSUMQQ-b-7%3DcXd%3D1hjNZ32GA%40mail.gmail.com.
>>
>> --
>> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
>> To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
>> For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
>> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
>> ---
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.

>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pmjs+unsub...@googlegroups.com.

>> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/34C324D9-54CB-4CEC-85EB-290E282A9B1B%40obirin.ac.jp.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Paula R. Curtis
>> Yanai Initiative Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer
>> Department of Asian Languages & Cultures
>> University of California, Los Angeles
>> http://prcurtis.com/
>> --
>> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
>> To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
>> For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
>> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
>> ---
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.

>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pmjs+unsub...@googlegroups.com.

>> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAL1MDVT7qEy6R0zWApJR6vrHETwj1DNsafWvHH0_kKkc63Fxfw%40mail.gmail.com.
> --
> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
> To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
> For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.

> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pmjs+unsub...@googlegroups.com.

> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/db8ace62-a73d-7ac6-32a4-9d962743a242%40gmail.com.

--
PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pmjs+unsub...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/9A69D612-7ABA-4BA0-8FC3-E6130EFF63D7%40nifty.com.

[Chris Kern]

Dear all,

I feel like this is the kind of thing that we could really harness the power of everyone's new familiarity with Zoom to do courses like this, or collective study groups of the kind that they do in Japanese universities (i.e. Waseda's 古注の会). Especially for niche topics that you may have 10 people interested in in the US, but never 10 people in the same place at the same time. This may not apply to something broad like hentai kanbun in general, but could apply to more specific targeted areas, like people who want to get better at reading a very specific type of kanbun writing (or classical writing in general). Of course, everyone has plenty of free time and resources to do this...ha ha.

Sincerely,

Chris Kern

Auburn University

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/34C324D9-54CB-4CEC-85EB-290E282A9B1B%40obirin.ac.jp.

[mstavros]

[I posted a reply a moment ago, but it seems to have failed. Resending an abbreviated message.]

I teach a course almost every year at Sydney on kanbun and bungo. Enrollment is usually between 40 and 65. 

Matthew Stavros

On Saturday, October 15, 2022 at 6:03:09 PM UTC+11 Claire-Akiko Brisset wrote:

[David Weiß]

Dear colleagues,

 

We are based in Japan, but the International Master’s Program (IMAP) and International Doctorate (IDOC) in Japanese Humanities at Kyushu University offers regular introductory courses on classical Japanese in English, including some sessions on kanbun. I would love to offer more advanced kanbun courses in the future, but this depends on student demand.

 

Best,

David

 

--

Dr. David Weiss

Assistant Professor (Japanese Literature and Intellectual History)

Kyushu University, Faculty of Humanities

744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

ヴァイス　ダーヴィッド、博士（文学）

講師（日本文学・日本思想史）

九州大学・人文科学研究院

〒819-0395福岡市西区元岡744

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Tel: +81-(0)92-802-5040

E-mail: we...@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/48e9f28e-5b02-4249-96a9-c023fff0fd66n%40googlegroups.com.

[Thomas D. Conlan]

Dear Paula and Lee,

Let me provide a brief overview of Princeton’s pre-1600 offerings.

I teach a komonjo class here at Princeton where we read documents and diaries. You can see our handiwork at Princeton’s komonjo website. The Tannowa and Suruga Date websites are the legacies of the last two times I taught this class. How is it taught? We read the documents out loud, translate them, discuss readings and meanings, revise the translations and ultimately publish them on the web. We save paleography until later, when students are familiar with certain documentary formats.

 Keiko Ono  is also a wonderful teacher who introduces students to  kanbun, and is publishing a textbook. Although the materials are not necessarily hentai kanbun, Bryan Lowe teaches the reading of Ancient Japanese Buddhist  texts and Brian Steininger also teaches Japanese literary texts in both Classical Japanese and kanbun. 
Best wishes

Tom Conlan

PS As I am sending from my iPhone, apologies for any infelicities.

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 15, 2022, at 2:30 AM, Paula R. Curtis <prcu...@umich.edu> wrote:



--

[Anna Andreeva]

Dear colleagues, 

Just to add to the already impressive array of information, courses on bungo or “Classical Japanese: Language, Text, and Context” are compulsory here at Ghent, both at BA and MA levels. The BA classes (three years) focus mainly on classical Japanese grammar and are taught by my colleagues Dr. Klaus Pinte and Prof. Christian Uhl. There is an in-house textbook and a set of diverse exercises. I have recently taken over the compulsory Classical Japanese courses within our 2-year MA (first two semesters). In the first semester, we study selected premodern text samples written in kanbun and chapters from medieval engi texts. In the second semester we look at a variety of premodern texts focusing on women’s history and ranging from Wajinden and Nihon shoki to Edo-period women’s education manuals. The materials are mostly from the already familiar printed collections; a few of our students happily engage in learning the kuzushiji. I am currently thinking how to develop and diversify these course offerings further, so am very glad to hear about the amazing variety of approaches from you all. 

With best wishes, 

Anna Andreeva

Universiteit Gent

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/1656ADD3-ABDE-4726-9548-D0F3FAC9B650%40princeton.edu.

[Daniel Botsman]

Dear colleagues, 

I would also add my thanks to Paula (and Lee) for opening up this very interesting discussion concerning pre-modern language pedagogy.  It is wonderful to hear about all of the terrific opportunities that are available around the world. I was particularly excited to learn about the Marega collection at the Vatican from Luca Milasi.  What an amazing resource!  Although I continue to struggle with document reading myself, taking inspiration from David Howell’s example, I have periodically tried to offer seminar classes, at Yale and before that at UNC Chapel Hill,  intended to give both undergraduates and graduate students a chance to build some basic reading skills and familiarity with Sōrōbun and Kuzushiji documents.  (Ed Kamens has, of course, long offered classes in Classical Japanese at Yale.)  For anyone who is interested in developing such a class for students who are primarily interested in history, I highly recommend the 『史料を読み解く』series published by Yamakawa Shuppansha.  It includes a volume on Chusei materials edited by Kurushima Noriko and Gomi Fumihiko, but for the Edo period the 『近世の村と町』volume in the series, edited by Morishita Tōru and Yoshida Nobuyuki, is especially good.  It provides an excellent sampling of the kinds of sources that are available for Edo period social history, with photographs of originals, transcriptions, full translations into modern Japanese, and short explanatory essays which help provide vital context, as well as analysis of the content. 

As much as possible I now also try to incorporate items from Yale's pre-modern Japanese collections into these classes (which is always fun for both the students and myself).    Tom Conlan’s excellent Princeton website features one wonderful set of 15th century documents from Yale’s Heishi (Awazu) Monjo collection <http://komonjo.princeton.edu/heishi/>.  For an example of the kind of materials we have from the Edo period, and the work we have tried to do with them, please also allow me to put in a plug for this webpage focused on a scroll from Yale’s Kyoto Komonjo materials <https://japanesehistory.yale.edu/projects/kyoto-komonjo-scrolls>.  

For the past several years, this kind of work has become much easier here as a result of the presence of Dr. Masato Takenouchi, who we are very fortunate to have had in residence as a research associate.  He has co-taught document courses with me, works one-on-one with our graduate students to help them read  documents relevant to their work, and has also played an important role in facilitating several local reading groups (along the lines of those that are common in Japan).  This includes one especially active group that Paula has been a regular participant in, led by Angelika Koch-Low and our wonderful Japan librarian, Haruko Nakamura, which is focused on a text from the Yale collection called the Shudo Monogatari.  Perhaps Paula will be willing to share information about how those interested might best learn about that source? 

(I would also add that if anyone on the list would like to come to Yale to make use of the collections here, the Beinecke library offers fairly generous short term fellowships for visitors.   Information is available here <https://beinecke.library.yale.edu/programs/fellowships>.   An online catalog of pre-modern materials in the Beinecke, produced by Kondō Shigekazu and scholars from the Shiryō Hensanjo at Todai, is also available here <https://www.hi.u-tokyo.ac.jp/exchange/yale/top_page/index.html>. It would be great to have more scholars make use of these materials.) 

One other person who surely deserves our collective thanks for helping to promote the study of Edo period paleography is Laura Moretti, at Cambridge, whose annual summer school at Cambridge has been of great benefit to so many students from the US, as well as the UK and Europe, I believe.  I know Joan Piggot also used to run an important summer series on Kanbun at Cornell, and then, USC. Does that still continue? 

Finally, on the question of why scholars outside Japan should bother with the challenges of learning how to read these materials, I certainly take Prof. Farris’ point about the importance of ideas and arguments (I have heard Beth Berry say something very similar).  But there is surely something to be said for the kind of original insights and, indeed, discoveries, that can only be generated from direct engagement with original sources.  It also facilitates a very different, and often much healthier kind of interaction with colleagues in Japan.  Nor does this kind of work necessarily condemn a scholar to obscurity.  In this regard, I would just make the point that some of the best and most exciting recent work on Edo period history, by scholars such as Maren Ehlers and Amy Stanley (among others), is deeply rooted in close engagement with previously unstudied, or understudied, original sources. And Stanley’s  Stranger in the Shogun’s City, has surely been more widely read than any other recent work of pre-1868 Japanese history in English.  This seems to me to be one very valuable way to grow the field! 

My two (ok, maybe a few more) cents… 

Dani Botsman

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CALXAKXsnTyw4dtpZ6K5x-KRx8usvo-5jKNL31aVvEmrmhwojSQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Federico Marcon]

Dear All,

I tend to be a silent reader of pmjs, so I am not sure if it is wise to go against my better judgment here.

The discussion of sources v. ideas is cyclical in this forum. It returns in different form every other year. I wonder how would be the best way to argue that this polarization, this opposition is sterile and untenable. And it is not easy doin it by typing my own two pennies in an iphone…

In any case, let’s start by pointing out two distinct issues behind the expression “document fetishism” quoted by prof. Farris. One concerns the view (which I will contest) that reading sources and theory/argument are separate if not opposite practices. The other is the marginalization of “area studies” from other fields, which I, too, believe is pernicious for our work.

The first issue is for me easier to tackle. There can be no serious research without document analysis, and no document analysis can be performed in translation, no matter the genre of history one practices: it is certainly not possible for my field (intellectual/conceptual history) and neither is it for social, economic, institutional or whatever history we do.

Whether one reads document on her/his own or with the assistance of a native graduate assistant is not crucial. I personally like to lose myself in texts, but I also know that the kind of time that some handwritten material requires to be read is not affordable in European and American institutions. I remember spending an entire afternoon deciphering a poorly written letter a physician sent to Mizutani Hōbun, only to discover that instead of a learned discussion on medicinal plants, he was thanking him for the invitation to a wedding… I am sure many of you had a similar experience.

On the other hand, if one thinks that philological expertise is enough to have immediate, or, less ambiguously put, unmediated access to the past, well she or he has to think again. No act of reading is non- or pre-theoretical or non- or pre-interpretative; and thus, to me it is imperative that the interpretive labor historians do of their sources is thoroughly analyzed. This is necessary in order for it to be falsified, to be  justified, to clarify the meaning and effects of the chosen heuristic categories on the material (“society”, “agency”, “intention”, even “cause”, “violence”, “to know”, and, my favorite, “nature” are part of the heuristic apparatus, not immediately grasped in the sources), or simply to make clear one’s analytical perspective (which is itself inevitably sociohistorically mediated). Intuition, feeling, opinion are not enough: I think we must be as rigorous in our interpretations as in the syntactical, paleographical, or even chemical analyses of the texts.

As scholars, we are responsible to account for (justify) our own interpretive labor. It is a skill that must be taught to our graduate students, but I have the feeling that in the last few decades this has not been properly done anymore.

The second issue is far more complex (although not completely separated). For myself, I resist the tendency to isolation. But to engage in a dialogue with scholars in other fields, we have to do double work: East Asian studies, let’s face it, is a dominated field. Very few Europeanists or Americanists will take the time to learn of Asia, and even less about the historiographical issues and questions (and forget about the language!!!) of our field. But it is required of us that we know—in order to intervene from within—methods and stakes of European and American historiography if we want to engage in a dialogue. But we have to do it, and in order to do so, we need to be able to abstract from our documents and our interpretations ideas that can be fungible for other scholars.

I am sure I will regret having written this the instant I will touch the send arrow. In any case, here is it.

Best wishes,

Federico Marcon

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 17, 2022, at 21:08, 'Daniel Botsman' via PMJS: Listserv <pm...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

 Dear colleagues, 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/11CFBAFA-9A62-4EE9-8593-93D1F0D94C62%40mac.com.

[Laura Moretti]

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Many thanks to Dani for his kind words on our summer school at Cambridge. Next year we will be celebrating the tenth anniversary, reading sources in the vernacular and in sōrōbun on entertainers in early modern Japan. More details soon in the call for applications. We are back in person and will be able to accommodate up to 35 participants. Do encourage your students and young colleagues to attend 🙂 Over the years we have been blessed with Prof Yamabe Susumu of Nishogakusha University teaching kanbun kundoku. This collaboration is sadly coming to an end and in the foreseeable future we will be focussing on vernacular and sōrōbun.

In addition to the summer school, we have recently set up a research group with Rekihaku. Our graduate students and myself are working with Prof Kurushima Hiroshi and Prof Kudō Kōhei. We are munching through a number of komonjo from Daimon-mura 大門村 on paper making and paper makers. They reveal very interesting legal issues and economic patterns, which are particularly interesting for our graduate students who are historians. We started this collaboration last spring and are working on a website where we will make transcriptions and translations available as they are polished. 

I fully endorse Dani's point about the interactions with colleagues in Japan. My graduate students and myself are part of a number of kenkyūkai in Japan (one of the few joys of Covid, with research groups now happening on Zoom!). This fosters training in basic paleographic skills that are now expected from scholars in the field of early modern literature, but at the same time allows us to bring to the table different critical perspectives.

Recently I had the chance to discuss challenges and opportunities in reading documents in their original format for the 古典教材開発研究センター, so I am sharing here the link: https://kotekiri20.wixsite.com/cdemcjl/archive. 

I echo the thanks to Paula and Lee in initiating this interesting thread. 

Best wishes,

Laura  

---  ---  ---  

Prof Laura Moretti   BA, MA(Cantab), PhD
Professor of Early Modern Japanese Literature and Culture
Director of Postgraduate Studies (AMES)
University of Cambridge, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

Emmanuel College
Fellow & Director of Studies (AMES)

  

Recent publications 

 

Pleasure in Profit. Popular Prose in Seventeenth-Century Japan. New York: Columbia University Press, 2020. Named a 2021 Choice Outstanding Academic Title; shortlisted for the 2021 DeLong Book History Prize. 

"The Ise monogatari in Eighteenth-Century Kibyōshi," 255–302. In  Joshua S. Mostow, Tokurō Yamamoto, and Kurtis Hanlon (eds.), An Ise monogatari Reader (Brill, 2021). 

  

Adaptation as a Strategy for Participation: The Chikusai Storyworld in Early Modern Japanese Literature. Japanese Language and Literature, 54/1 (March 2020): 67-113.

Recasting the Past: An Early Modern Tales of Ise for Children. Leiden: Brill, 2016. 

  

  

Other activities 

Summer School in Japanese Early-modern Palaeography 

YouTube page Japanese Early Modern Palaeography

---

From: 'Daniel Botsman' via PMJS: Listserv <pm...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2022 2:06 AM
To: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [PMJS] teaching hentai kanbun outside of Japan

 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/11CFBAFA-9A62-4EE9-8593-93D1F0D94C62%40mac.com.

[Keiko Ono]

Dear All,

Let me update and complete the record on what I offer (one semester for each course) at Princeton every year, for about twenty years now:

1. Introduction to Kanbun (Elementary Kanbun)

2. Readings in Kanbun (Advanced Kanbun, including Hentai Kanbun)

3. Introduction to Classical Japanese (Elementary Kobun)

4. Readings in Classical Japanese (Advanced Kobun)

5. Readings in Academic Japanese for students in Chinese studies I

6. Readings in Academic Japanese for students in Chinese studies II

As I have the luxury of teaching Kanbun for two semesters, and as class sizes are small, especially the texts in the Readings in Kanbun (second semester Kanbun) are often tailored to specific student needs. I always try to include the type(s) of Hentai Kanbun texts that the students in the respective year would need. 

In addition, this past summer we launched the Princeton-Ca’ Foscari Summer School in Classical Chinese and Classical Japanese / Kanbun. This summer school—taught fully in person in English—takes place for four weeks in July at Ca’ Foscari University, Venice (Italy). My Venetian colleagues teach the Classical Chinese track, and I teach the Classical Japanese (and Kanbun) track. Each track is taught for 80 hours (4 weeks, 5 days a week, 4 hours a day), plus additional content lectures in premodern history, literature, linguistics, and religion by Ca’ Foscari and Princeton faculty. This summer school was designed for both the students without any prior knowledge of Classical Japanese or Kanbun and the students with prior knowledge who would like to brush up and deepen their proficiency. This past summer I could not include Hentai Kanbun, but I plan to do so in the future. Especially for your students, please stay tuned for the upcoming Call for Applications for July 2023!

Also, just for your information, “Readings in Academic Japanese”, mentioned above, are the classes offered especially for Ph.D. students in Chinese studies from the following departments at Princeton: East Asian Studies, Religion, Art and Archaeology, Comparative Literature etc. This course also includes some necessary Classical Japanese grammar so that the students can deal with Japanese academic writings on China from the Meiji period into more recent times. This 近代文語文, especially in academic contexts, includes a lot of Kanbun elements, as we all know. My Academic Japanese textbook, co-authored with Fumiko Nazikian (Columbia University) and Naofumi Tatsumi (Brown University) titled "A Practical Guide for Scholarly Reading In Japanese" is to come out from Routledge in February 2023; it also includes what is needed in terms of Classical Japanese grammar in order to read academic readings in 近代文語文.

Let me further take this opportunity to introduce one more thing regarding Kanbun education. There is a study group called BungoNet, which was created by Dr. Sekiko Sato, an emeritus Professor at Tohoku University, funded by KAKEN. This is a study group for teaching classical Japanese including Kanbun, for non-native students. We hold regular research meetings/conferences online and exchange opinions also on Kanbun education for non-native speakers.

Keiko Ono

(Princeton University)

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/LO4P265MB4051F4F88DBDBC3701FF6E4FBB289%40LO4P265MB4051.GBRP265.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM.

[Paula R. Curtis]

Thank you to everyone for your fascinating responses about kanbun/hentai kanbun education! 

Some of you were kind enough to also reply to the survey form I circulated previously--just in case you missed it down thread, or replied before I distributed it, I share it again here: 

Survey link: https://forms.gle/PXmZz7ZotNgE4Mxt8

Best,

Paula

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/96CA9C99-9244-4519-8F74-AE96E31FC4D4%40princeton.edu.