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CS92PROD
A Wesleyan Student's Guide to Fascism: The Case of Modern Japan

CEAS 395
Spring 2024 not offered
Crosslisting: WLIT 395
Course Cluster and Certificates: Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory Certificate

"Fascism" is a term that is frequently encountered in social and political discourse. But what does this term actually mean? How can we conceive productively of different fascisms across different historical moments and (geo)political contexts--including our own? This course will consider fascism in modern Japan, and address the economic, (geo)political, social, and cultural circumstances that incited what we will call "fascist desire" in Japan's imperial moment and beyond. But while the specific experiences and characteristics of historical fascisms are informed by the unique contexts within which they unfold, including Japan's, fascism as phenomenon can never be reduced to national or cultural particularities, or confined to isolated historical moments. As one possible reaction to the experiences of modernity, that is, the specter of fascism is always with us, everywhere. By engaging with primary and secondary texts--scholarship, music, literature, film--that variously analyzed, challenged, bolstered, and critiqued fascism in the context of modern Japan, students will learn to recognize the specter of fascism in their own lived, everyday contexts, and grow in their ability to confront and counter the conditions and desires that help nourish it.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA CEAS
Course Format: DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: (CEAS-MN)(CEAS)(CEAS-Lit&Cult)(CSCT)

Last Updated on DEC-22-2024
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