The disintegration of the Soviet Union, violence in East Timor, conflict between North Korea and South Korea and similar phenomena have signaled the continuing importance of nationalism and at the same time the increasing instability of nations. What is a nation? Under what conditions is nationhood formed and under what circumstances do nations collapse? Are national identities immutable and exclusive of other forms of identification? Is, as Frantz Fanon once wrote, "Europe literally the creation of the Third World?" This course will critically investigate the questions of nationalism and cultural identity as they have arisen in East Asia. In the first part of the course, we will examine seminal theoretical texts -coming from disciplines such as anthropology, history, literary studies, and philosophy -that have informed our contemporary understanding of the nation and nationalism and attempt to arrive at a conceptual clarification of the subject. The second part will focus on various nationalist projects as they have unfolded across East Asia - Japan, China, and Korea. Through careful thematic comparisons of these cases, we will explore the extent to which non -European nationalisms are modular or derivative; examine the often fraught relationships between nation and state as well as gender and nation; and investigate the ways in which modern nationalist projects provide new ways of synthesizing culture, power, and history. Format: seminar/discussion. Requirements: class participation, presentations, and three (6 -8 pages) papers. No prerequisites. Preference given to those students with permission of instructor. Comparative Politics Subfield

Hour: J. LEE