Gender in Japanese Culture

by Chao Chen, Humanities Reference Librarian

email chao.chen@tufts.edu | phone 617.627.2057 | home icon Homepage

Chao Chen


Preparations for Research

A. Sources for research ideas:
You may get inspiration to research a topic from many sources, including the following

  • 1. Professor’s suggestions; Course Syllabus
  • 2. Bibliographies found in the above readings;
  • 3. Other sources that inspire or interest you.

B. Survey the sources—list, from the above sources, terms, concepts, and topics you need or want to explore further:
(Be mindful if a line of inquiry might suggest itself.)

  • Authors, titles (of books and articles) and ideas from the above.
  • Terms, concepts, theories/arguments you need or want to explore further.
  • literary authors and texts, filmmakers and films, ohter scholars'/critics' analysis of a "problem", and so on
  • The above overlap and relate to each other; state these relationships when you identify them.
 

Gender in Japanese Culture

This course explores the fascinating ways in which gender has presented itself throughout Japanese history. Beginning with the 10th century Tale of Genji we will look at the complex and surprising Heian society where women writers dominated the cultural discourse, and also trace Genji’s influence in contemporary manga. We will then move on to an examination of the medieval samurai ethic and how it shaped and still shapes Japanese masculinity. Our last two sections will be on post war Japan, beginning with Japan’s defeat in WWII and ending with the rise of two remarkable gendered cultures, the shojo (young girl) and the otaku (technogeek).


1. Dictionary of Literary Biography

2. Contemporary Literary Criticism--Select

3. Oxford Art Online

4. International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers 


5. Oxford Reference Online

social, political, religous history; history of ideas; all periods.

Search Oxford Reference Online

6. Consult other Research Guides Japanese Art and Anime


 

book cover

Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the World of Manga and Anime. NC1764.5.J3 J37 2008.

This volume brings together an international group of scholars from many specialties to probe the richness and subtleties of these deceptively simple cultural forms. The contributors explore the historical, cultural, sociological, and religious dimensions of manga and anime, and examine specific sub-genres, artists, and stylistics. (Publisher)

book cover

Envisioning the Tale of Genji: Media, Gender, and Cultural production. PL788.4.G43 E58 2008.

The tale of Genji and the dynamics of cultural production: canonization and popularization / Haruo Shirane -- The late Heian and medieval periods: court culture, gender, and representation -- Figure and facture in the Genji scrolls: text, calligraphy, paper, and painting / Yukio Lippit -- The Tale of Genji and the development of female-spirit no / Reiko Yamanaka -- Monochromatic Genji: the hakubyo tradition and female commentarial culture / Melissa McCormick -- Genre trouble: medieval commentaries and canonization of The tale of Genji / Lewis Cook -- The Edo period: warrior society, education, and popular culture -- Didactic readings of The tale of Genji: politics and women's education / Haruki Ii -- Genji pictures from Momoyama painting to Edo ukiyo-e : cultural authority and new horizons / Keiko Nakamachi -- The splendor of hybridity: image and text in Ryutei Tanehiko's Inaka Genji / Michael Emmerich -- The Meiji, Taisho, and prewar Showa periods: national literature, world literature, and imperial Japan -- The tale of Genji, national literature, language, and modernism / Tomi Suzuki -- Wartime Japan, the Imperial line, and The tale of Genji / Masaaki Kobayashi -- The postwar Showa and Heisei periods: visuality, sexuality, and mass culture -- The tale of Genji in postwar film: empeor, aestheticism, and the erotic / Kazuhiro Tateishi -- Sexuality, gender, and The tale of Genji in modern Japanese translations and manga / Yuika Kitamura.

The Cambridge Companion to Modern Japanese Culture. DS822.5 .C36 2009.

book cover

'Japanese culture': an overview / Yoshio Sugimoto -- Concepts of Japan, Japanese culture and the Japanese / Harumi Befu -- Japan's emic conceptions / Takami Kuwayama -- Language / Hugh Clarke -- Family culture / Anne E. Imamura -- School culture / Kaori H. Okano -- Work culture / Ross Mouer -- Technological culture / Morris Low -- Religious culture / Stephen Covell -- Political culture / Takashi Inoguchi -- Buraku culture / Hideo Aoki -- Literary culture / Toshiko Ellis -- Popular leisure / Sepp Linhart -- Manga, anime and visual art culture / Craig Norris -- Music culture / Junko Kitagawa -- Housing culture / Ann Waswo -- Food culture / Naomichi Ishige -- Sports culture / Mih oKoishihara -- Globalisation and cultural nationalism / Takashi Inoguchi -- Exporting Japan's culture: from management style to manga / Ross Mouer and craig Norris.



arrow WorldCat (catalogs of libraries worldwide)



Procedure Note:

1. Verify if Tufts Library has the book you need.

2. Use ILliad (interlibrary loan service) to request non-Tufts books.


Recommended


A Short Guide to Writing about Literature. 2009 11th ed. A Shorot Guide to Writing about Film.
PN1995 .C66 2010
book cover book cover
A Short Guide to Writing about Art.
N7476 .B37 2008		 Look!: the Fundamentals of Art History
N345 .D26 2006
book cover book cover

Path of Discovery in the Catalogs

1. Find a title/author (assigned readings/Course Reserves);

2. Note the descriptive language of the Catalog record.

3. Use that language in further searches

  1. e.g. Click on subject/author in the record to see further results and related topics.
Title Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the World of Manga and Anime / edited by Mark W. MacWilliams; foreword by Frederik L. Schodt.
Publisher Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, c2008. NC1764.5.J3 J37 2008
Contents Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, c2008. NC1764.5.J3 J37 2008
Subject Comic books, strips, etc. -- Japan.
Comic books, strips, etc. -- Japan -- History and criticism..
Animated films -- Japan -- History and criticism.

Perform a Keyword Searches for a broader question:

(anime or manga) and cultur**

Subject browse:

samurai

Popular Culture, Japan



Note:

  • 1. include "and" in between keywords;
  • 2. "or" and ( ) to nest related/varied expressions;
  • 3. cultur* for all forms: culture, cultural, culturally, etc.

Search for authors, anime masters, etc.

Subject browse (by last name)

Murasaki Shikibu

Isozaki Arata

Miyazaki, Hayao


Keyword search

Hayao Miyazaki


Search across these three databases:

MLA (Literature)

ARTbibliographies Modern
Bibliography of the History of Art

Enter your search terms:

Other Subject Databases:

Film & Television Literature Index

Women's Studies International

GenderWatch

Academic OneFile (all subjects)


Bibliography of Asian Studies


JSTOR (with omission of the current years)
Project Muse (with current years only)



Additional Database

  1. Art Abstracts
  2. Arts & Humanities Citation Index

Click on the number to pause the slide.

Some Database Charateristics


Each Database is selective

arrow Subject Matter—disciplinary perspective, period, geographical region, and more;
arrow Scope
arrow Depth (of indexing) —citation, abstracts, full texts, which determines their search capabilities.



Strategy in Selecting a Database


arrow First, run a relatively broad search in them to assess their relevance on a topic;
arrow Next, try out a variety of keyword, subject, and author searches in a chosen database.
arrow Last, use newly learned ideas and words in other databases.

About JSTOR

1. Likely to include seminal works on a subject, which are highly original and influential, and central to the development or understanding of a subject.

2. Make sure to supplement with more up-to-date information from other sources when using JSTOR.

Click to browse some major journals in the field:

journal cover journal cover journal cover

Evaluation of Search Results:

In what types of journals and publications (besides art history journals) did you find relevant work? What does this suggest about research on your topic?

What sorts of audiences seem to be addressed in works on your topic? How can you tell? 

What aspects of the search results surprised you? Why? Did “peripheral materials” lead you anywhere? How?

Based on your search, how would you characterize the main approaches to your topic? What do you think are some of the central debates in the study of your topic? What is your evidence for thinking so?

Review of Recent Books

Review articles of any recent books on a subject are likely to summarize the current state of research in an area.

A sample search in Project Muse

(manga or anime ) and japan*; limited to "reviews only"


Note:

1. include "and" in between keywords;

2. "or" and ( ) to nest related/varied expressions;

3. japan* searches for or all forms: japan, japanese, etc.

Sample search results:

Manga from the Floating Word: Comicbook Culture and the Kibyōshi of Edo Japan (review). The Journal of Japanese Studies, Summer 2009.

The Japanization of Modernity: Murakami Haruki between Japan and the United States (review). Monumenta Nipponica, Spring 2009.

Find Authors Who Have Recently Cited an Article

1. Not every single article is cited;
2. Influential authors are cited more often;
3. More recent publications take time to be cited.

Therefore, search for seminal works by influential scholars and find out who cited them recently.

Those who cited the article found in Arts & Humanities Citation Index:

Title: Lost and 'Found' - Once More Fallen Woman.
Author(s): Nochlin, L.
Source: Art Bulletin Vol. 60 issue 1, 1978
Times Cited: 14

Read a Couple of Articles Carefully and Identify:

  • the "problem" addressed (the thesis of the article);
  • the central debates on this problem;
  • the major arguments by the author;
  • the methods applied in making these arguments;
  • the evidence (e.g., visual/formal details, original documents, or secondary sources);
  • if the conclusions are based on speculations, are they convincing?

Throughout your reading:

  • Compare and contrast methods by authors: key points of difference or convergence
  • Note controversies and weaknesses; explain and clarify gaps
  • How about the presentation, logic and clarity of the article?
  • State your own positions; provide your own interpretations and critiques

Finding Full Texts

1. Click on the FindItAtTufts button to these three options:

  • a. link to the full text of the article when available digitally;
  • b. link to a Library Catalog search for the journal in print that contains your article.
  • c. link to ILliad for requesting the article when the above two options are negative.

2. Search for a journal directly here:


Current (United States and International)

  1. LexisNexis Academic
  2. Factiva
  3. Massachusetts Newsstand 

Ethnic, Altenative and Independent Press

  1. Alt-PressWatch    
  2. Ethnic NewsWatch  from 1990 -
  3. Ethnic NewsWatch: A History  1960 -  1989

Historical

  1. American Periodicals (1740 - 1900)
  2. The Nation Digital Archive (1865 - present)
  3. Time Magazine (1923-Present)
  4. New York Times Online Archive
    (1851 - 3 years before current date)
  5. African American Newspapers - 19th Century  
  6. American Newspapers (1690 - 1922)
  7. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
  1. 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers (British)
  2. 19th Century British Newspapers
  3. British Periodicals (1680s - 1930s)
  4. Times Digital Archive (1785 - 1985)

 


Factiva includes content in over 22 languages from over 150 countries and 350 geographic regions.


 


In print:

Books and journals with color plates, photographs, and other visuals are excellent sources.

 

An Advanced Keyword search; limit to print materials, in the Tufts Catalog:

edo and (paint* or print*) and (catalog* or exhibition*)

Note:

1. include "and" in between keywords;

2. "or" and ( ) to nest related/varied expressions;

3. paint* searches for or all forms: paint, paintings, painters, etc.


 

Digital Images


JSTOR (a collection of journals with omission of the current years)

Click on the Images in JStor Tab to view images within the journal articles. (The ARTStor Images Tab is not the same as searching ARTstor separately.)

ARTstor (the digital images database)

Artifact (Tufts University)

 


Using the Chicago Manual of Style:

The Manual presents two basic documentation systems, the humanities style (notes and bibliography) and the author-date system.


Consult Chicago Manual of Style Online for detailed guidance.


Print copy at the Reference Desk: Z253 .U69 2003


Brief samples (the humanities style):

Book Citation in a bibliography:

Steiner, Hadas A. Beyond Archigram: the structure of circulation. New York: Routledge, 2009.


Book Citation in a note:

Fernando Luiz Lara, The rise of popular modernist architecture in Brazil (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, c2008), 35.


Article citation in a bibliography:

Wright, Gwendolyn. "Cultural History: Europeans, Americans, and the Meanings of Space." The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 64, no. 4 (2005), 436-440.


Article citation in a note:

Ralph E. Griswold, "Wright Was Wrong," Landscape Architecture 53 (April 1963), 190-214.

 

Citation Management Tool: RefWorks

  • 1. Store your records of books, articles, etc.
  • 2. Generate a bibliography in the style of your choice.
  • 3. Format in-text notes/footnotes while you write.

Learn how to use RefWorks
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last updated: 11/03/09