East Asian Art and Popular Culture
Code: 101545 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| East Asian Studies | OB | 3 |
Contact
- Name:
- Roberto Figliulo
- Email:
- roberto.figliulo@uab.cat
Teachers
- Roberto Figliulo
- Tomás Grau De Pablos
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites are required to enroll in this course.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The main aim of this subject is to provide an introduction to the basic characteristics of artistic and cultural production in East Asia. Its purpose is to help develop an interdisciplinary vision of East Asian Studies.
Competences
- Applying knowledge of the art and popular culture to the analysis and comprehension of written texts in the languages of East Asia.
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Developing self-learning strategies.
- Ensuring the quality of one's own work.
- Knowing and comprehending the art and popular culture of the countries of East Asia.
- Knowing and using the information and communication technology resources (ICT) in order to collect, produce, analyse and present information related to the East Asian Studies.
- Knowing, comprehending, describing and analysing the values, beliefs and ideologies of East Asia.
- Knowing the great literary, philosophical, and artistic movements of East Asia.
- Recognising the connotations of the specific cultural references in the field of East Asia and assessing the influence in the interlinguistic and intercultural communication.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Respecting the gender equality.
- Working in interdisciplinary and intercultural groups.
- Working in teams in an international, multilingual and multicultural context.
Learning Outcomes
- Applying knowledge of the art and popular culture to the analysis and comprehension of written texts in the languages of East Asia.
- Assessing the obtained results in the information search process in order to update the knowledge about history, literature, linguistics, thought and art.
- Carrying out the documentary search in the specific languages of East Asia.
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Developing self-learning strategies.
- Ensuring the quality of one's own work.
- Knowing and comprehending the art and popular culture of the countries of East Asia.
- Knowing, comprehending, describing and analysing the values, beliefs and ideologies of East Asia.
- Knowing the great literary, philosophical, and artistic movements of East Asia.
- Recognising the connotations of the specific cultural references in the field of East Asia and assessing the influence in the interlinguistic and intercultural communication.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Respecting the gender equality.
- Using the specific terminology of history, literature, linguistics, thought and art.
- Utilising different tools for specific purposes in the fields of history, literature, linguistics, thought and art.
- Working in interdisciplinary and intercultural groups.
- Working in teams in an international, multilingual and multicultural context.
Content
Part 1 – Artistic production in East Asia: between past, present and future
The first part of the subject presents artistic production in East Asia (China, Japan and Korea). We will see how aesthetic ideas and artistic practices have spread throughout this geographic region. We will analyse the main art trends in East Asia. We will focus on the most notable artists and artistic movements to understand how artistic production has evolved in the region. We will analyse how artistic production has been highly conditioned by and constantly related to major changes in East Asian societies.
Part 2 – Key aspects of East Asian’s popular culture
In the second part of the subject we will present the concept of popular culture, understood as the set of practices, products and activities that are carried out in a specific region, and we will apply it to the field of East Asia. During these sessions, we will study the way in which people and groups in Japan, South Korea and China participate and shape their culture, as well as the role that different industries and consumer practices have played throughout their recent history.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Assignments of analysis of artworks and primary and secondary sources. | 13 | 0.52 | 1, 8, 9, 7, 4, 10, 11, 12, 14, 13 |
| Debates | 5 | 0.2 | 8, 9, 7, 4, 10, 11, 12, 16, 15, 14, 13, 6 |
| Individual and/or group tutorials. | 2 | 0.08 | 2, 8, 9, 7, 4 |
| Lectures. | 40 | 1.6 | 8, 9, 7, 11 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Group assignments. | 15 | 0.6 | 8, 9, 7, 4, 3, 11, 12, 16, 15, 14, 13 |
| Individual assignment. | 15 | 0.6 | 1, 8, 9, 7, 5, 4, 10, 12, 14, 13, 6 |
| Oral presentations | 2 | 0.08 | 2, 8, 9, 7, 5, 4, 3, 10, 11, 12, 16, 15, 14, 13, 6 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Individual assignment: readings, watching visual material, etc. | 14 | 0.56 | 1, 2, 8, 9, 7, 5, 4, 3, 12, 14, 13, 6 |
To achieve the established objectives, this subject mainly involves lectures. Particular emphasis will be placed on the analysis of artworks and primary and secondary sources, in which the active participation of students, through comments, discussions and debates, will be fundamental. The work students carry out will mainly consist of group presentations, debates and discussions, written assignments, and a series of exams. Over the course of the semester the lecturer will hold individual and/or group tutorials to help students with their work.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group work | 30% | 20 | 0.8 | 1, 8, 9, 7, 4, 3, 10, 11, 12, 16, 15, 14, 13 |
| Individual written assignment | 20% | 17 | 0.68 | 2, 8, 9, 7, 5, 4, 3, 10, 11, 12, 14, 13, 6 |
| Seminars' reports | 20% | 5 | 0.2 | 8, 7, 5, 4, 10, 11, 12, 16, 15, 13, 6 |
| Written exam | 30% | 2 | 0.08 | 2, 8, 9, 7, 5, 4, 10, 11, 12, 14, 13, 6 |
Continuous assessment
Students must provide evidence of their progress by completing various tasks and tests. These activities are detailed in the table at the end of this section of the Study Guide.
Review
When publishing final marks prior to recording them on students' transcripts, the lecturer will provide written notification of a date and time for reviewing assessment activities. Students must arrange reviews in agreement with the lecturer.
Missed/failed assessment activities
Students may retake assessment activities they have failed or compensate for any they have missed, provided that those they have actually performed account for a minimum of 66.6% (two thirds) of the subject's final mark and that they have a weighted average mark of at least 3.5.
The lecturer will inform students of the procedure involved, in writing, when publishing final marks prior to recording them on transcripts. The lecturer may set one assignment per failed or missed assessment activity or a single assignment to cover a number of such activities. Under no circumstances may an assessment activity worth 100% of the final mark be retaken or compensated for. In case of retaking, maximum grade will be 5 (Pass).
Classification as "not assessable"
In the event of the assessment activities a student has performed accounting for just 25% or less of the subject's final mark, their work will be classified as "not assessable" on their transcript.
Misconduct in assessment activities
Students who engage in misconduct (plagiarism, copying, personation, etc.) in an assessment activity will receive a mark of “0” for the activity in question. In the case of misconduct in more than one assessment activity, the student involved will be given a final mark of “0” for the subject. Assessment activities in whichirregularities have occurred (e.g. plagiarism, copying, impersonation) are excluded from recovery.
Evaluation activities
30% Written exam
A written exam on the contents of both parts of the subject.
20% Individual written assignment
The individual assignment consists of analysing the work of an artist, creative professional, illustrator, designer, film director, musician or music group, etc.
30% Group work
Preparation, in groups, of a cultural promotion product (more details will be given in classes).
20% Seminars' reports
A written assignment related with the seminars on the subject’s contents held over the semester.
Single assessment
This subject may be assessed under the single assessment system in accordance with the terms established in the academic regulations of the UAB and the assessment criteria of the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting.
Students must make an online request within the period established by the faculty and send a copy to the teacher responsible for the subject, for the record.
Single assessment will be carried out in person on one day during week 16 or 17 of the semester. The Academic Management Office will publish the exact date and time on the faculty website.
On the day of the single assessment, teaching staff will ask the student for identification, which should be presented as a valid identification document with a recent photograph (student card, DNI/NIE or passport).
Single assessment activities
The final grade for the subject will be calculated according to the following percentages:
40% Individual assignment
Individual written assignment and oral exam on a topic chosen from a selection previously indicated by the lecturers
30% Exam
A written exam on the contents of the subject.
30% Practical assignment
Preparation of a cultural promotion product.
Grade revision and resit procedures for the subject are the same as those for continual assessment.
Bibliography
Part 1
Bush, Susan, & Shih, Hsio-yen (Eds.). (1985). Early Chinese texts on painting. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Cheng, François (1993). Vacío y plenitud. Madrid: Siruela.
Chong, Doryun, Hayashi, Michio & Sumitomo, Fumihiko (2012). From postwar to postmodern: art in Japan, 1945-1989: primary documents. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Chung, Yeon Shim, & Kim, Sunjung, et al. (2020). Korean art from 1953: collision, innovation, interaction. London: Phaidon Press.
Clunas, Craig (1997). Art in China. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jungmann, Burglind (2014). Pathways to Korean Culture - Painting of the Joseon Dynasty, 1392-1910. London: Reaktion Books.
Horlyck, Charlotte (2017). Korean Art: from the 19th Century to the Present. London: Reaktion Books.
Munroe, Alexandra (Ed.). (1994). Japanese art after 1945: scream against the sky. New York: Harry N.Abrams; Japan: Yokohama Museum of Art.
Noritake, Tsuda (2009). A History of Japanese art: from prehistory to the Taisho period. North Clarendon: Tuttle Publication.
Wichmann, Siegfried (1999). Japonisme: the Japanese influence on Western art since 1858. London: Thames and Hudson.
Wu, Hung, (Ed.). (2010). Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents. New York: MoMa.
Part 2
Acuña, B.P., & von Feigeblatt, O.F. (Eds). (2013), Popular Culture: A Reader. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Choe, Y. & Hyun Kim, K. (2014). The Korean Popular Culture Reader. Durham y Londres: Duke University Press.
Clements, J. (2013). Anime: A History. Londres: Palgrave MacMillan.
Iwabuchi, K.; Tsai, E. i Berry, C. (2017). Routledge Handbook of East Asian Popular Culture.Nueva York: Routledge.
Latham, K. (2007). Pop Culture China! Media, Arts, and Lifestyle. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Louie, K. (ed.) (2009). The Cambridge Companion to Modern Chinese Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Moskowitz, M. L. (ed.) (2011). Taiwan Popular Culture: Charismatic Modernity. Londres i Nueva York: Routledge.
Kim, Y. (ed.) (2023). Introducing Korean Popular Culture. Londres: Routledge.
Steinberg, M. (2012). Anime’s Media Mix.Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan. Minneapolis i Londres: University of Minnesota Press.
Yong Jin, D. (2023). Understanding the Korean Wave: Transnational Korean Pop Culture and Digital Technologies. Taylor & Francis.
Wang, K. J. (2020) Hong Kong Popular Culture. Worlding Film, Television, and Pop Music. Springer.
Software
Specific programs will not be used for this subject.
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan | first semester | morning-mixed |