Links with the Honour School of Oriental Studies in Japanese

1. The first two years are considered the foundation course in Japanese Studies. At the end of the second year, an undergraduate will take the following examinations:

a) Classical and Modern Texts: selections from the Hōjōki and Tsurezuregusa and selected modern Japanese texts;

b) Unprepared translation (Japanese to English) and grammar;

c) Prose composition (English to Japanese) and the Japanese language;

d) The History and Culture of Japan and East Asia (general questions on Japan, Korea, and China)

2. From the third year onwards, an undergraduate is required to choose a disciplinary specialisation, prepare for eight final examinations and write one dissertation. From 2002/2003, the option of Japanese with Korean will also be available.

The Japanese Syllabus for the additional option of Japanese with Korean

1) Japanese prose composition

4) Spoken Japanese

5) Special Texts I (Japanese)

6) Special Texts II (Japanese)

9) A dissertation (Honour School dissertations may be written on an aspect of the history of relations between Japan and Korea and researched using Japanese sources.)

10) Japanese unprepared translation: modern Japanese fiction and non-fiction

11), 12), and 13) Japanese with Korean

Total hours: 154; Korean Language would end in 4th wk; Prescribed Texts would end in 5th wk; History and Culture would end in 4th wk.

11) Prescribed Texts (the classes begin in Trinity Term of the third year and continue to Trinity Term of the fourth year with revision)

The texts acquaint students with many of the most important classical texts from all periods of Korean history in modern Korean translation, or they acquaint students with the major concerns and problems of contemporary Korean linguistics and introduce students to Middle Korean.

All texts are provided by the Lecturer.

12) Essay Questions on Korean Culture (the classes begin in Trinity Term of the third year and continue to Trinity Term of the fourth year with revision)

Reading and synthesizing modern English scholarship on a variety of key questions will provide a wide understanding of pre-modern and modern Korea. The topics covered may include:

• regional archaeology
• formation of the Korean language
• the formulation and transmission of culture across East Asia
• kingship in Korea and Japan
• relation between Korean and other languages
• the constitutions of ancient, medieval, and early-modern societies and states
• questions of continuity or discontinuity between periods
• Middle Korean and the earliest literature in the Korean language
• religion and philosophy (Shamanism, Buddhism, and Confucianism)
• the reactions of Koreans to the Euro-American world order in the 19th century
• the impact of Japanese colonialism
• the Korean War of 1950-1953
• issues in contemporary Korean linguistics
• and the contemporary socio-political circumstances of North and South Korea

Students should also attend the on-going lecture series on `Premodern and Modern East Asia: China, Korea, and Japan' given by experts on Chinese, Korean, and Japanese history, culture, and society. These lectures will aid greatly in understanding the greater context of East Asia and its civilizations and cultures.

13) Korean language: Prose Composition, Seen and Unseen Translation, and Grammatical Questions (the classes begin in Michaelmas Term of the third year and continue to Trinity Term of the fourth year with revision). Students should also attend on-going lectures on Korean Grammar and Sounds of Korean.

Aim: The paper aims at helping candidates to acquire a working knowledge of Korean to handle written material at a good standard with the main emphasis on the ability to gather information from routine public sources and basic academic materials and to acquire basic conversational skills.

Texts:

• Chi, Y.H. College Korean I & II.
• Kim, Nam-Kil. Modern Korean: An Intermediate Reader. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2000.
• Ihm, Ho Bin et al., translated by Kyung-Sig Samuel Lee. Korean Grammar for International Learners. Seoul: Yonsei University Press, 1988. (Reference)
• Korean Through English. Seoul: Seoul Systems Co. (CD-Rom)

Useful survey histories of Korea are:

• Lee, Ki-Baik. A new history of Korea, translated by Edward W. Wagner with Edward J. Shultz. Cambridge, Mass: Published for the Harvard-Yenching Institute by Harvard University Press, 1984.
• Eckert, Carter J. et al. Korea old and new: a history. Seoul: Published for the Korea Institute, Harvard University by Ilchokak Publishers, 1990.
• Nahm, Andrew C. Korea: Tradition and Transformation: A History of the Korean People. Seoul: Hollym International Corporation, 1996.
• McCann, David R. ed. The Columbia Anthology of Modern Korean Poetry. New York: Columbia, 2004.
• Lee, Peter H. with Donald Baker et al., eds. Sourcebook of Korean civilization. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993-1996. Volumes 1 and 2.
• Lee, Peter H., compiler and editor. Anthology of Korean literature: from early times to the nineteenth century. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii, 1981.
• Lee, Peter H. ed. A history of Korean literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,2003.