Experience Genres of Japanese Literature

Anthology of Japanese Literature compiled and edited by Donald Keene is a useful resource for social studies and English teachers of high school students, and possibly middle school students. This is an excellent resource for a high school library, and would be suitable in the development of cross-curricular lessons. Teachers would likely use selections from the anthology to supplement units on East Asia, Japan, world or multicultural literature, poetry, etc.
The text contains five main sections, following the introduction, which contain different genres of Japanese literature: novels, diaries, poetry, and plays. The introduction provides adequate literary, political, religious, and social background information for an instructor’s preparations in using the selections with students. The five sections, organized chronologically, reflect major periods in Japanese political history, starting with the Ancient Period, to 794 A.D., the Heian Period, from 794 to 1185, the Kamakura Period, from 1185-1333. The Muromachi Period, from 1333-1600, and the Tokugawa Period, from 1600-1868. This organization is useful in selecting works from particular periods of history for comparison within a time period, with a different genre, across time periods, or in comparison with works of world literature. Themes related to the works within the anthology include history, life experiences, such as love and death, religion and spirituality, military success, and nature.
It is unlikely that many teachers would use the entire anthology, however, selection of relevant works is completely doable. Some students may need have their teacher model close reading of text selections. Advanced students could develop analytical skills by reading selections for audience, purpose, themes, and context, and then consider historical, political, economic, and/or social influences. They could also contrast a selection from the anthology with a piece of western literature.