The Supernatural in East Asian Culture
No prerequisites listed, you can take this course without prior coursework.
Description
the Supernatural in Pre-Modern East Asian Literature and its Contemporary Cinematic Adaptations (3 hrs Lecture) This course introduces students to East Asian culture through depictions of supernatural phenomena. By transgressing the boundaries of life and death, human and animal, real and unreal, supernatural beings shed light on socio-culturally constructed boundaries, such as status and gender. Through the lens of traditional supernatural literature, a framework of social structures in traditional East Asia emerges to show how characters confront and transgress the bounds of normative behaviour. Topics may include gender, purity and contamination, Five Elements Theory, Buddhism, Daoism, Neo-Confucianism, popular religion, cultural taboos, and changing views toward the supernatural in the age of scientific inquiry.
Restrictions
Students may not hold credit for this course and EALC-2740.
Cross-listed
EALC-2740(3).
From the 2026-27 undergraduate calendar. Always verify details on WebAdvisor or with an academic advisor before registering.