Fulfills COAS A & H distribution requirement


The Last Samurai and Lost in Translation are only the latest in a
century’s worth of American films about Japan.  In this course we
will look at a wide selection of these films, from comedies and
action films to travelogues and propaganda pieces, with a particular
focus on gender and national identity, Japanese modernity and
traditionalism, and Japan as Ideal and Other.  Likely films to be
screened will include The Secret Game, Know Your Enemy: Japan,
Sayonara, The Yakuza, Black Rain, and Ghost Dog, as well as various
Japanese films about last samurais and what is lost in translation,
including films by Kurosawa, Imamura, and Takeshi Kitano.  Expect a
considerable amount of reading focusing on cultural history and the
politics of representation.