The above course carries Arts and Humanities & Culture Studies A
distribution credit for the College of Arts and Sciences.

This course is an introduction to some of the most well-known and
culturally important literature with religious connotations in South
and East Asia.  We will be reading all or part of six texts: two
each from India, China, and Japan.  None of these six was written as
a “religious text” per se, though at least two later came to be
regarded as “sacred” by some readers.  Yet, while
primarily “literary,” all of these texts describe religious themes
to varying degrees.  Our goal will be to simultaneously consider,
and draw connections between, literary forms and religious content.
We will examine and compare different types of religious thought and
literary styles as presented in these texts in an effort to better
understand the interplay between religious motivation for literary
creation and the stylistic composition of religious expression.
Texts:
	Narayan, R.K. trans. The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose
Version of the Indian Epic.  New York: Penguin Classics, 1972.
	Hesse, Herman. Siddhartha.  New York: Bantam, 1922, 1951.
	
	Mair, Victor, trans.  Wandering on the Way: Early Taoist
Tales and Parables of Chuang Tzu.  New York: Bantam, 1994.
	Waley, Arthur, trans. Monkey. New York: Grove Press, 1943.
		
	McKinney, Meredith, trans.  The Pillow Book.  New York:
Penguin Classics, 2006.
	Murakami, Haruki.  After the Quake.  New York: Vintage,
2002.