J314 MASKS
Suggested Paper Topic
Noel Burch mentions the idea of INTERTEXTUALITY
as an important characteristic of Japanese literature. By this term he refers
to the way in which Japanese readers are inclined to "read any given text
in relation to a body of texts." He notes that Japanese texts are traditionally
not closed off from each other, but rather, cross-referenced and inter-related
with each other in "successive and/or overlapping patterns of various sorts."
Consult the above link on the word intertextaulity or look at another
more complex and detailed one here
for helpful hints if you wish more on intertextuality. Don't forget that a useful
definition of intertextuality was linked off of one of the little pages I created
in reference to Burch's ideas early on in the course. See especially Burch,
Chapter 3.
In Masks we find just such an intricate pattern of overlapping and "layering"
that brings together the Tale of Genji, Noh, the Tales of Ise,
lines from KKS poems, the Peony Lantern story, images from painting, T'ang Dynasty Chinese poems, and intertexts like Mieko's Account of the Shrine in the Fields, the letter from Akio and Harume's father, Dr. Morioka's "story"--all located or "housed" in modern, postwar
prose fiction. Three different female Noh masks are used to structure the text,
and within the text itself other texts like: An Account of the
Shrine in the Fields," the letter from Mieko’s lover, Minoru Shimojo's painting of Mieko, llines from poems,
etc. are imported.
So, the specific charge for Paper #1 is:
Write an essay which demonstrates how you think intertextuality
informs and enriches our reading of Masks, and how it contributes to
the powerful impact which the text has on us.
NOTE: As a guiding principle, remember that I am fundamentally interested in
two things: a) your response to the text; i.e., what you think the text is about;
and b) how/why you think the text caused you to feel that way, i.e., discuss
the process by which the text operates on you as a reader. You can do this most
effectively by pointing to specific passages in the text by means of quotations,
etc.
My EXPECTATIONS, then, are for a 6-8 page paper, typed, making
effective use of block quotes from the text to illustrate your arguments. [And by the way, block quotes are indented, single-spaced, and DO NOT involve quotation marks around the author's words. The indentation istself tells the reader that this is a direct quote from the author. Just add a page number at the end of the quoted passage in parentheses.]
You
will need to have a clearly articulated thesis or a "claim" that appears in your introduction, the function of which is to stake out the problems or aspects of Masks that you wish to explore. You should be able to put forth in your Introduction, then, a statement that at the
very least says something like: "Intertextuality enriches our understanding
of Masks in the following ways. . ." or "In this paper, I will argue (or demonstrate) that an intertextaul reading of Masks enriches our understanding of the novel in the following ways...," or something along these lines. In a paper
of this length, pick two or three principal points that you want to make and
use your textual evidence to support your position. You state your claim and the body of the paper should contain the supporting evidence for your claim. Your conclusion should remind the reader of what you set out to doin your paper and make the case that you succeeded in doing it very well!
For a summary of Jonathan Culler's position on intertextuality
and presupposition click on the word, please.