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Subject description

21M23001 - Zen-budizam i japanska kultura

Course specification
Course title
Acronym 21M23001
Study programme
Module
Type of study
Lecturer (for classes)
Lecturer/Associate (for practice)
    Lecturer/Associate (for OTC)
      ESPB 6.0 Status
      Condition Enrolled in a Master's degree programme. Oblik uslovljenosti
      The goal The course aims to familiarise students with the fundamental forms of the reception of Zen Buddhist thought in Japan, focusing primarily on the ways in which it has manifested itself across various aspects of Japanese culture. Furthermore, Zen represents one of the principal channels through which Japan has engaged with the wider world, generating a significant field of reception and exerting a strong reciprocal influence on various social practices, both in Japan and abroad. As an important component of Japanese cultural identity, Zen requires a sound understanding of its fundamental concepts and historical background. Acquiring this knowledge is essential for developing the competence to interpret and critically assess its significance within both Japanese and global culture.
      The outcome Acquisition of the fundamental competencies required for the independent study of elements of Zen Buddhism within the Japanese tradition, as well as for the interdisciplinary analysis and examination of the development of Zen Buddhist thought. The knowledge acquired will be demonstrated through the completion of an independent research paper.
      Contents
      Contents of lectures This course examines the ways in which Zen Buddhism was received and transformed within Japanese culture. A strong symbiotic relationship developed between Zen, as a teaching of foreign origin, and its native Japanese cultural environment. Particular attention will therefore be devoted to the forms of cultural and spiritual reception of Zen during the Kamakura period, as well as its subsequent development during the Muromachi and Edo periods, when distinctly Japanese forms of this teaching continued to emerge. The body of literature on Zen in other languages, reflecting a long-standing and diverse global interest in its Japanese form, is extensive and multifaceted. It will therefore serve as an important source of material for the theoretical component of the course.
      Contents of exercises The practical component of the course will also include reading and analysing relevant Buddhist scriptures, such as the Hannya Shingyō (Heart Sutra), as well as selected, relatively accessible original texts by leading figures of Japanese Zen Buddhism, such as Dōgen and Ikkyū.
      Literature
      1. Daisetsu T. Suzuki (2005). Zen and Japanese Culture. Belgrade: Geopoetika.
      2. Daisetsu T. Suzuki (1964). Zen Buddhism and Psychoanalysis. Belgrade: Nolit.
      3. Yoshiro Tamura, Japanese Buddhism: a cultural history, Tokyo, Kosei Publishing, 2005. (Original title)
      4. Steven Heine, Dale S. Wright (eds.), The Koan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 2000. (Original title)
      Number of hours per week during the semester/trimester/year
      Lectures Exercises OTC Study and Research Other classes
      2 2
      Methods of teaching Lectures, text reading and analysis, and discussion.
      Knowledge score (maximum points 100)
      Pre obligations Points Final exam Points
      Activites during lectures 30 Test paper 70
      Practical lessons Oral examination
      Projects
      Colloquia
      Seminars