Lecturer: R. Shaldjian Morrison Introduction to Japanese Literature Final Exam 2012 I. Short Answer Questions (30%) 1.

What is waka (also called tanka )? Be as specific as you can. 2. What is kaimami ? In what context does it appear in the Genji chapters that we read? 3. What is an onry ? Who usually becomes an onry? In what work(s) did we see the appearance of an onry? 4. What is mononoke ? What are its two types? 5. Murasaki Shikibus use of the mononoke motif was innovative because it was the first to ___. 6. There are at least fifteen relationship triangles in Masks. Give the three triangles you find to be the most important, and briefly explain their significance. 7. Describe the role of the shite in a Noh play. Who is the shite in Aoi no ue? 8. Describe the role of the waki in a Noh play. Who is the waki in Aoi no ue? 9. Describe the role of the tsure in a Noh play. Who is the tsure in Aoi no ue? 10. Critics have pointed out that the structure of Enchi Fumikos Masks is based on a jo-ha-ky rhythmical pattern. What is this pattern? Where does it originate? How is it incorporated into the work? 11. Briefly describe the yaseotoko Noh mask. Which character in Masks is it associated with? What is yaseotoko-like about this character? 12. Briefly describe the ry no onna mask. In what context does it appear in Masks? Who is this mask associated with? 13. Briefly describe the masugami mask. In what context does it appear in Masks? Who is this mask associated with? 14. Describe the fukai / mask. In what context does it appear in Masks? Who is it associated with? 15. Are Kawabatas Snow Country and Ishikawas The Nymphs examples of naturalist works? II. Short Answer Questions (30%) 1. Briefly describe the hannya mask. In what work did we encounter this mask? Describe the context in which it appears. 2. Aoi no ue is an example of a katsura (wig) Noh, the third category of Noh play. This type of play is different from the other types in that it features a __________________. 3. Give the narrative point of view for each of the following works: Tale of Genji, Masks, Snow Country, The Nymphs. (Hint: Try to use the terms we learned in the first half of the semester.) 4. In a renga sequence, what is the hokku ? What is the ageku ? 5. Briefly describe the differences between renga and haikai no renga .

6. In the Meiji period, a ku or verse came to be read as an independent unit. Historically, however, each ku was appreciated in four contexts simultaneously. What are the four contexts? 7. Kakari is arguably the most important aspect of renga. What is kakari? 8. The kakari between verses can be either shinku or soku . What do these terms mean? 9. What are the three types of kakari according to Matsuo Bash? 10. What is a ninj verse ? What is a ninj nashi verse ? 11. What are the three possible narrative points of view of a ninj verse ? 12. In traditional Japanese poetry, what is the honi (of a given dai )? How does this notion of honi make traditional Japanese poetry very different from Western realism/mimesis? 13. A bowdlerized translation is a translation that ___________________. 14. Briefly define literary naturalism in the West and literary naturalism in Japan. 15. There are two kinds of translation methods: naturalization and alienation. Briefly describe these two methods. III. Short Essay Questions (40%): Choose and answer two of the following.Cite ample evidence. 1. Is Lady Rokuj simply a jealous, murderous villain, or is she a complex and troubled character victimized by her male-dominated society, and thus deserving of our sympathy? (Hint: Consider what causes her onry spirit to wander, what causes her grief, whom she attacks/possesses, her motivations for doing so, etc.) 2. Nympholepsy is defined as a state of rapture supposed to be inspired by nymphs, hence, an ecstasy or frenzy of emotion especially inspired by something unattainable. How does the narrator of Ishikawa Juns The Nymphs suffer from this condition? What are the two entities that vie for control of him and drive his actions? How do these entities relate to his quest for that undefined sublime object that he seeks? 3. The theme of possession (or perhaps more broadly, obsession) appears in Masks, The Nymphs, The Tale of Genji, and Snow Country. Choose two of these works, and compare and contrast how this theme is presented and developed in each. 4. How is Snow Country an example of mukgawa literature ? 5. Viewed from the bathroom window, overlapping rooftops on a steep and narrow alleyway formed a succession of triangles tumbling down to where the sea (this too a triangle standing on its head) lay softly blue and sparking (Masks, 96, Atami episode). This passage is significant in that it hints at Miekos plot: to stand the triangle on its head (phallic vaginal ), i.e. to subvert the male-dominated order. Describe this plot of Miekos, and explain how the various characters (Harume, Ibuki, Mikame, Yasuko, Miekos late husband, etc.) fit into it. In the end, is she successful?