GLOBAL CURRENTS IN WORLD LITERATURE

A Review on Literature and a Glimpse of World Literature

What is Literature?

a) Literature, a body of written works. The name has traditionally been applied to those

imaginative works of poetry and prose distinguished by the intentions of their authors and the

perceived aesthetic excellence of their execution. Literature may be classified according to a

variety of systems, including language, national origin, historical period, genre, and subject

matter.

b.) Literature (from the Latin Littera  meaning 'letters’ and referring to an acquaintance with the

written word) is the written work of a specific culture, sub-culture, religion, philosophy or the

study of such written work which may appear in poetry or in prose. 

c.) Literature is a term used to describe written and sometimes spoken material. Derived from

the Latin word literature meaning "writing formed with letters," literature most commonly refers

to works of the creative imagination, including poetry, drama, fiction, nonfiction, and in some

instances, journalism, and song. 

d.) Literature, in its broadest sense, is any written work. More restrictively, it is writing that

possesses literary merit. Literature can be classified according to whether it is fiction or non-

fiction and whether it is poetry or prose. It can be further distinguished according to major forms

such as the novel, short story or drama, and works are often categorized according to historical

periods or their adherence to certain aesthetic features or expectations (genre).

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e.) writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal

interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays.

Subdivisions of Literature

There are two divisions of literature: prose and poetry.

a.) Prose is writing that resembles everyday speech. The word prose is derived from the

Latin prosa which literally means straightforward. Prose is adopted for the discussion of facts

and topical reading and does not adhere to any particular formal structures other than simple

grammar.

b.) Poetry is any writing in verse form. The word poetry is derived from the Greek poiesis which

literally means creating or creating. Poetry relies heavily on imagery, precise word choice and

figures and speech.

We may differentiate prose from poetry according to the following points of comparison:

POINT OF
PROSE POETRY
COMPARISON

Form Paragraph Verse

Words and rhythms of ordinary and Metrical, rhythmical, figurative
Language
everyday language language
Appeal Intellect Emotions
Convince, Inform, Instruct Stirs the readers imagination,
Aim
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present an ideal of how life should

be and how life can be

Genre of Literature

There are five types of genres in literature, which include:

a.) Poetry

Poetry is the first major literary genre. All types of poetry share specific characteristics. In fact,

poetry is a form of text that follows a meter and rhythm, with each line and syllable. It is further

subdivided into different genres, such an epic poem, narrative, romantic, dramatic, and lyric.

Dramatic poetry includes melodrama, tragedy, and comedy, while other poems includes

ode, sonnet, elegy, ballad, song, and epic.

Popular examples of epic poems include Paradise Lost, by John Milton, The Iliad and The

Odyssey, by Homer. Examples of romantic poems include Red Red Rose, by Robert Burns. All

these poetic forms share specific features, such as they do not follow paragraphs or sentences;

they use stanzas and lines instead. Some forms follow very strict rules of length, and number of

stanzas and lines, such as villanelle, sonnet, and haiku. Others may be free-form, like Feelings,

Now, by Katherine Foreman, which is devoid of any regular meter and rhyme scheme. Besides

that, often poetry uses figurative language, such as metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia, hyperbole,

and alliteration to create heightened effect.

b.) Drama
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Drama is a form of text that is performed in front of an audience. It is also called a play. Its

written text contains dialogues, and stage directions. This genre has further categories such as

comedy, tragedy, and tragicomedy. William Shakespeare is known as the father of English

drama. His well-known plays include Taming of the Shrew, Romeo & Juliet, and Hamlet. Greek

playwrights were the pioneers in this field, such as Sophocles’ masterpiece Oedipus

Rex, and Antigone, while modern dramas include Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller.

c.) Prose

This type of written text is different from poetry in that it has complete sentences organized into

paragraphs. Unlike poetry, prose focuses on characters and plot, rather than focusing on sounds.

It includes short stories and novels, while fiction and non-fiction are its sub genres. Prose is

further categorized into essays, speeches, sermons, and interpretations.

d.) Fiction

Fiction has three categories that are, realistic, non-realistic, and semi-fiction. Usually, fiction

work is not real and therefore, authors can use complex figurative language to touch readers’

imaginations. Unlike poetry, it is more structured, follows proper grammatical pattern, and

correct mechanics. A fictional work may incorporate fantastical and imaginary ideas from

everyday life. It comprises some important elements such as

plot, exposition, foreshadowing, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Popular

examples of literary fiction include, James Joyce’s novel A Portrait of an Artist as a Young

Man,  Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and Harper

Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.

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e.) Non-Fiction

Non-fiction is a vast category that also has sub-genres; it could be creative like a personal essay,

or factual, like a scientific paper. It may also use figurative language, however, not unlike poetry,

or fiction has. Sometimes, non-fiction may tell a story, like an autobiography, or sometimes it

may convey information to readers.

Other examples of non-fiction include biographies, diaries, memoirs, journals, fantasies,

mysteries, and romances. A popular example of non-fiction genre is Michael Pollan’s highly

celebrated book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, which is an

account of the eating habits of Americans.

Literary Approaches

a.) CULTURAL APPROACH - Considers literature as one of the principal manifestation and

vehicles of a nation’s or race’s culture and tradition. It includes the entire complex of what goes

under “culture” - the technological, the artistic, the sociological, the ideological aspects, and

considers the literary piece in the total culture milieu in which it was born. This approach in one

of the richest way to arrive at the culture of the people and one of the most pleasurable ways of

appreciating the literature of the people. It goes by the dictum “culture teaching through

literature”. Also called “PURE” or “LITERARY” approach. The selection is read and viewed

intrinsically, or for itself; independent of author, age, or any other extrinsic factor. This approach

is close to the “art for art’s sake” dictum. The study of the selection is more is more or less
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based on the so – called literary elements which is more or less boil down to the literal level, the

affective values, the ideational values, technical values, and total effects.

b.) FORMALISTIC / LITERARY APPROACH - The literal level (subject matter). The

affective values (emotional, mood, atmosphere, tone attitudes, empathy).The ideational values

(themes, visions, universal truths, character). The affective values (emotional, mood,

atmosphere, tone attitudes, empathy). The nature of man is CENTRAL to literature. The reader

or teacher or critic more or less “requires” that the piece present MAN AS ESSENTIALY

RATIONAL that is endowed with intellect and free will; or that the piece does not misinterpret

the true nature of man.

c.) MORAL AND HUMANISTIC APPROACH - In these times of course the TRUE

NATURE OF MAN is hotly contested, making literature all the more challenging. This approach

is close to the “MORALITY” of literature, to the questions of ethical goodness and badness.

Sees literature as both a reflection and product of the times and circumstances in which it is

written. Man as a member of a particular society or nation at a particular time, is central to the

approach and whenever a teacher gives historical or biographical backgrounds in introducing a

selection, or arranges a literature course in chronological order; he is hewing close to this

approach.

d.) HISTORICAL APPROACH – Sees literature as both a reflection and product of the times

and circumstances in which it is written. Man as a member of a particular society or nation at a

particular time, is central to the approach and whenever a teacher gives historical or biographical

backgrounds in introducing a selection, or arranges a literature course in chronological order; he

is hewing close to this approach.

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e.) IMPRESSIONISTIC APPROACH – Literature is viewed to elucidate “reacting- response”

which is considered as something very personal, relative and fruitful. Unconditioned by

explanations and often taking the impact of the piece as a whole, it seeks to see how the piece

has communicated.

f.) PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH - Set in dizzying motion, principally, by FREUD,

perhaps beyond his wildest expectations, it considers literature as the EXPRESSION OF

PERSONALITY of “Inner Drives” of neurosis. It includes the psychology of the author, of the

character, and even the psychology of creation. It has resulted in an almost exhausting and

exhaustive “psychological analysis” of the characters of symbols and images, of recurrent

themes, etc.

g.) SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH - Literature is viewed as the expression of man within a

given social situation which is reduced to discussions on economic, in which men are somewhat

simplistically divided into haves and haves not, thus passing into the “proletarian approach”

hitch tends to underscore the conflict between the two classes. The sociological approach stresses

on social “relevance”, social “commitment,” contemporaneity, and it deems communication with

the reader important

h.) CRITICAL APPROACHES

a.) BIOGRAPHICAL CRITICISM - It views literature as a reflection of an author’s

life and time or of the characters’ life and times. It is necessary to know about the author

and the political, economic, and sociological context of his times in order to truly

understand his works.

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b.) FEMINISM CRITICISM - Literature may be interpreted as a battle of the sexes or a

reaction or result of oppressive patriarchy. It is concerned with the impact of gender on

writing and reading. Usually begins with a critique of patriarchal culture. It is concerned

with the place of female writers. It is concerned with the roles of female characters within

works.

c.) READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM - Literature may be judged according to how

the reader perceives it instead of what the author intends. The text itself has no meaning

until it is read by a reader. The reader creates the meaning. It analyzes the reader's role in

the production of meaning makes someone's reading a function of personal identity.

Recognizes that different people view works differently and that people's interpretations

change over time.

d.) DECONSTRUCTIONIST CRITICISM - Texts must be read many times to be able

to get the real meaning of a text. The texts can have multiple meaning. Readers can have

their own interpretation. Real meaning conceals in the texts. Texts can be reinterpreted

many times. Decoding of texts can be a difficult task to do.

e.) MYTHOLOGICAL CRITICISM - Mythological critics explore the universal

patterns underlying a literary work. This type of criticism draws on the insights of

anthropology, history, psychology, and comparative religion to explore how a text uses

myths and symbols drawn from different cultures and epochs. A central concept in

mythological criticism is the archetype, a symbol, character, situation, or image that

evokes a deep universal response

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What is World Literature?

World Literature is the totality of all national literatures. The formation of literature in different

countries happened not at the same time, which is connected with the emergence of writing and

artistic creativity.

Each nation`s literature has its own artistic and national features. World literature is very

important for the studying; still the literature of one country develops together with other

national literatures. They enrich each other borrowing certain literary elements. There are a lot of

scientific works on world literature, which explain the peculiarities of this phenomenon. As a

concept, world literature emerged only in the 19th century when the literary connections of

different countries had spread and strengthened.

The term “world literature” was introduced by Jogann Wolfgang von Goethe. He used the word

“Weltliteratur” in 1827. Goethe studied the characteristic features and interrelationships of

different national literatures, the tendencies of their development and their achievements. He

studied the works of famous writers which presented different literary phenomena of different

historic periods.

He claimed that literature shouldn`t be restrained by national boundaries. In 1894 the world saw

the first book about world literature – “The history of world literature”. The world literature

emerged because of the development of global economic and cultural relations. This global

literary process was also caused by the rapid development of national literatures. In the history of

world literature we define several stages of its development such as the literature of Bronze Age,

Classical literature, Early Medieval literature, Medieval Literature, Early Modern and Modern

literature.
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World literature is the cultural heritage of all humanity. It is essential to study world literature as

it helps us understand the life of different people from all over the world, forms our world-

outlook and acquaints us with the masterpieces of literature.

What is Global Currents?

Global - relating to the whole world

Current – belonging to the present time

Global Current – Any event belonging to the present time relating to the whole world

United Nations Focus Issues

GLOBAL CURRENTS IN WORLD LITERATURE

AFRICA

The UN system plays a crucial role in

coordinating assistance of all kinds — to

help Africa help itself.  From promoting the

development of democratic institutions, to

the establishment of peace between warring

nations, the UN is present on the ground

supporting economic and social

development and the promotion and

protection of human rights.

AGEING

The world’s population is ageing: virtually

every country in the world is experiencing

growth in the number and proportion of older

persons in their population. The number of

older persons, those aged 60 years or over,

has increased substantially in recent years in

most countries and regions, and that growth

is projected to accelerate in the coming

decades.

AIDS
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New HIV infections have fallen by 35% since 2000 (by 58% among children) and AIDS-related

deaths have fallen by 42% since the peak in 2004. The global response to HIV has averted 30

million new HIV infections and nearly 8 million  AIDS-related deaths since 2000.  The UN

family has been in the vanguard of this progress.

ATOMIC ENERGY

More than 30 countries worldwide

are operating 444 nuclear reactors for

electricity generation and 66 new

nuclear plants are under

construction. In 2014, 13 countries

relied on nuclear energy to supply at

least one-quarter of their total

electricity.

Big Data for the SDGs

The volume of data in the world is

increasing exponentially. New sources of

data, new technologies, and new

analytical approaches, if applied

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responsibly, can allow to better monitor progress toward achievement of the SDGs in a way that

is both inclusive and fair.

CHILDREN

Every child has the right to health,

education and protection, and every

society has a stake in expanding

children’s opportunities in life. Yet,

around the world, millions of children are

denied a fair chance for no reason other

than the country, gender or circumstances

into which they are born.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change is one of the

major challenges of our

time. From shifting weather

patterns that threaten food

production, to rising sea levels

that increase the risk of

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catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in

scale. 

DECOLONIZATION

The wave of decolonization, which

changed the face of the planet, was

born with the UN and represents the

world body’s first great success. As

a result of decolonization many

countries became independent and

joined the UN.

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DEMOCRACY

Democracy is a universally

recognized ideal and is one of the

core values and principles of the

United Nations. Democracy

provides an environment for the

protection and effective realization

of human rights.

ENDING POVERTY

While global poverty rates have been

cut by more than half since 2000, one

in ten people in developing regions

still lives on less than US$1.90 a day -

the internationally agreed poverty

line, and millions of others live on

slightly more than this daily amount.

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FOOD

About 795 million people in the world

were undernourished in 2014–16. That

means one in nine people do not get

enough food to be healthy and lead an

active life. Hunger and malnutrition are in

fact the number one risk to health

worldwide — greater than AIDS, malaria

and tuberculosis combined.

GENDER EQUALITY

Women and girls represent half of the

world’s population and, therefore, also

half of its potential. Gender equality,

besides being a fundamental human

right, is essential to achieve peaceful

societies, with full human potential

and sustainable development.

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HEALTH

The United Nations, since its

inception, has been actively involved

in promoting and protecting good

health worldwide. Leading that effort

within the UN system is the World

Health Organization (WHO), whose

constitution came into force on 7

April 1948.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Promoting respect for human rights is a

core purpose of the United Nations and

defines its identity as an organization for

people around the world. Member States

have mandated the Secretary-General and

the UN System to help them achieve the

standards set out in the UN Charter and

the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights.
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INTERNATIONAL LAW AND

JUSTICE

The UN continues to promote

justice and international law across

its three pillars of work:

international peace and security,

economic and social progress and

development, and respect for human

rights and fundamental freedoms.

MIGRATION

Since the earliest times, humanity has

been on the move. Today, more people

than ever before live in a country other

than the one in which they were born.

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OCEANS AND LAW OF THE SEA

Life itself arose from the oceans. The ocean is vast, some 72 per cent of the earth's surface. Not

only has the oceans always been a prime source of nourishment for the life it helped generate,

but from earliest recorded history it has served for trade and commerce, adventure and discovery.

PEACE AND SECURITY

Saving succeeding generations

from the scourge of war was the

main motivation for creating the

United Nations, whose founders

lived through the devastation of

two world wars.

POPULATION

In 1950, five years after the

founding of the United Nations,

world population was estimated at

around 2.6 billion people. It

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reached 5 billion in 1987 and 6 in 1999. In October 2011, the global population was estimated to

be 7 billion.

REFUGEES

The world is witnessing the highest levels

of displacement on record. An

unprecedented 59.5 million people

around the world have been forced from

home. Among them are nearly 20 million

refugees, over half of whom are under the

age of 18.
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WATER

Fresh water sustains human life and is

vital for human health. There is

enough fresh water for everyone on

Earth. However, due to bad economics

or poor infrastructure, millions of

people (most of them children) die

from diseases associated with

inadequate water supply, sanitation and

hygiene.

YOUTH

As youth are increasingly demanding

more just, equitable and progressive

opportunities and solutions in their

societies, the need to address the

multifaceted challenges faced by young

people (such as access to education,

health, employment and gender equality)

have become more pressing than ever.

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History of World Literature

Invention of Writing and Earliest Literature [Beginnings to 100 A.D.]

1. Writing was not invented for the purpose of preserving literature; the earliest written

documents contain commercial, administrative, political, and legal information, and were

created by the first "advanced" civilizations in an area that Westerners commonly call the

Middle East.

2. The oldest writing was pictographic, meaning that the sign for an object was written to

resemble the object itself; later, hieroglyphic and cuneiform scripts were invented to

record more complicated information.

3. Begun in 2700 B.C. and written down about 2000 B.C., the first great heroic narrative of

world literature, Gilgamesh, nearly vanished from memory when it was not translated

from cuneiform languages into the new alphabets that replaced them.

4. Though the absence of written signs for vowels can confuse some readers, the

consonantal script developed by the Hebrews ushered in a new form of writing that could

be composed without special artistic skills and read without advanced training.

5. With their return to Palestine in 539 B.C., the Hebrews rebuilt the Temple and created the

canonical version of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.

6. As the stories in the Bible expound, unlike polytheistic religions in which gods often

battle among themselves for control over humankind, the sole resistance to the Hebrew

God is humankind itself.

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Ancient Greece [Beginnings to 100 A.D.]

1. Though the origin of the Hellenes, or ancient Greeks, is unknown, their language clearly

belongs to the Indo-European family.

2. By serving as a basis for education, the Iliad and Odyssey played a role in the

development of Greek civilization that is equivalent to the role that the Torah had played

in Palestine.

3. The Greeks who established colonies in Asia adapted their language to the Phoenician

writing system, adding signs for vowels to change it from a consonantal to an alphabetic

system.

4. Before its defeat to Sparta, Athens developed democratic institutions to maintain the

delicate balance between the freedom of the individual and the demands of the state.

5. Unlike the Sophists, Socrates proposed a method of teaching that was dialectic rather

than didactic; his means of approaching "truth" through questions and answers

revolutionized Greek philosophy.

6. The basis for Homer's Iliad and Odyssey was an immense poetic reserve created by

generations of singers who lived before him.

7. Neither the Iliad nor the Odyssey offers easy answers; questions about the nature of

aggression and violence are left unanswered, and questions about human suffering and

the waste generated by war are left unresolved.

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8. Greek comedy and tragedy developed out of choral performances in celebration of

Dionysus, the god of wine and mystic ecstasy.

Poetry and Thought in China [Beginnings to 100 A.D.]

1. Chinese civilization first developed in the Yellow River basin.

2. The Classic of Poetry is a lyric poetry collection that stands at the beginning of the

Chinese literary tradition.

3. The fusion of ethical thought and idealized Chou traditions associated with Confucius

were recorded in the Analects by Confucius's disciples following his death.

4. The Chuang Tzu offers philosophical meditations in a multitude of forms, ranging from

jokes and parables to intricate philosophical arguments.

5. During the period of the Warring States, Ssu-ma Ch'ien produced the popular Historical

Records chronicling the lives of ruling families and dynasties in a comprehensive history

of China up to the time of Emperor Wu's reign.

6. The end of ancient China is often linked with the rise of the draconian ruler Ch'in Shih-

huang.

India’s Heroic Age [Beginnings to 100 A.D.]

1. The ethnic, religious, and linguistic diversity of India's billion people has given rise to a

diverse written and oral literary tradition that evolved over 3,500 years.
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2. The Vedas are the primary scriptures of Hinduism and consist of four books of sacred

hymns that are typically chanted by priests at ceremonies marking rites of passage.

3. The Upanisads argue that the soul is a manifestation of a single divine essence; release

comes from understanding the basic unity between the self and the universe.

4. Two epics that express the core values of Hinduism are the Ramayana and

the Mahabharata.

5. Dharma is the guiding principle of human conduct and preserves the social, moral, and

cosmic integrity of the universe. It refers to sacred duties and righteous conduct, and is

related to three other spheres that collectively govern an ideal life: artha (wealth, profit,

and political power); kama (love, sensuality); moksa (release, liberation).

6. The belief that all beings are responsible for their own actions and their own suffering is

known as karma.

7. Because Buddhism was a more egalitarian and populist religion, it initially gained a

following among women, artisans, merchants, and individuals to whom the ritualistic and

hierarchical nature of Hinduism seemed constraining.

8. Because Hinduism and its important texts such as the Bhagavad-Gita were able to

synthesize tenets and ideas from the other religions, it was able to triumph in India.

9. The idea that moral and spiritual conquest is superior to conquest by the sword is an

enduring motif of the time and one that was publicly endorsed by Emperor Asoka.

The Roman Empire [Beginnings to 100 A.D.]

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1. With its military victories in North Africa, Spain, Greece, and Asia Minor, the social,

cultural, and economic life of Rome changed profoundly.

2. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the concept of a world-state was appropriated by the

medieval Church, which ruled from the same center, Rome, and laid claim to a spiritual

authority as great as the secular authority it succeeded.

3. Literature in Latin began with a translation of the Greek Odyssey and continued to be

modeled after Greek sources until it became Christian.

4. The lyric poems that Catullus wrote about his love affair with the married woman he

called Lesbia range in tone from passionate to despairing to almost obscene.

5. Left unfinished at the time of his death, Virgil's Aeneid combines the themes of the

Homeric epics: the wanderer in search of a home from the Iliad, and the hero at war from

the Odyssey.

6. Ovid's extraordinary subtlety and psychological depth make his poetry second only to

Virgil's for its influence on Western poets and writers of the Middle Ages, the

Renaissance, and beyond.

7. Probably written by Petronius, and probably written during the principate of Nero,

the Satyricon is a satirical work about the pragmatism and materialism of the Roman

Empire that would soon be supplanted by Christianity.

Roman Empire -> Christian Europe [100 A.D. to 1500]

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1. The life of the Hebrew prophet Jesus ended in the agony of the crucifixion by a Roman

governor, but his teachings were written down in the Greek language and became the

sacred texts of the Christian church.

2. The teachings of Jesus were revolutionary in terms of Greek and Roman feeling, as well

as the Hebrew religious tradition.

3. Until Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, declaring tolerance for all religions, in 313,

the Christian church was often persecuted by imperial authorities, particularly under the

rule of emperors Nero, Marcus Aurelius, and Diocletian.

4. The four Gospels were collected with other documents to form the New Testament,

which Pope Damasus had translated from Greek to Latin by the scholar Jerome in 393–

405.

5. In his Confessions, Augustine sets down the story of his early life for the benefit of

others, combining the intellectual tradition of the ancient world and the religious feeling

that would come to be characteristic of the Middle Ages.

India’s Classical Age [100 A.D. to 1500]

1. During the rule of the Guptas in ancient India, great achievements were made in

mathematics, logic, astronomy, literature, and the fine arts.

2. Classical Sanskrit literature deals extensively with courtly culture and life. Aiming to

evoke aesthetic responses, many of the works admitted into the literary canon were poetic

works written and performed by learned poets (kavi) who were under the patronage of
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kings. A highly stylized form of poetry, kavya literature consists of four main genres—

the court epic, short lyric, narrative, and drama.

3. In contrast to the elegant and formal works of the kavya genre are two important

collections of tales that have influenced tales around the world—the Pañcatantra and

the Kathasaritsagara.

4. Women in classical literature are rarely portrayed as one-dimensional characters who are

victims of circumstance.

5. The kavya tradition is concerned with the universe and ideals. Heroes and heroines are

rarely individuals; rather, they represent "universal" types.

China’s Middle Period [100 A.D. to 1500]

1. The "middle period" of Chinese literature occupies a central place in that nation's cultural

history; to many it is the era during which Chinese thought and letters achieved its

highest form.

2. During China's "middle period," Confucianism declined in importance; Taoism and

Buddhism in fact began to acquire a more important status. With an emphasis on personal

salvation, they offered an alternative to the Confucian ideals of social and ethical

collective interests.

3. Because of the way that it was integrated into life during this period, the T'ang Dynasty is

often considered a period when poetry flourished.

4. Thanks to the development of printing, the vernacular traditions emphasizing storytelling

have coexisted and evolved along with classical literature up to present times.
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Islam [100 A.D. to 1500]

1. God's revelations were first received around 610 by the prophet Muhammad, whose

followers later collected them into the Koran, which became the basis for a new religion

and community known today as Islam.

2. Though most of the pre-Islamic literature of Arabia was written in verse, prose became a

popular vehicle for the dissemination of religious learning.

3. As its title "the Recitation" suggests, the Koran was made to be heard and recited;

because it is literally the word of God, Muslims do not accept the Koran in translation

from Arabic.

4. Although Persian literature borrowed from Arabic literary styles, it also created and

enhanced new poetic styles, including the ruba'i (quatrain), ghazal (erotic lyric),

and masnavi (narrative poem).

5. More widely known than any other work in Arabic, the Thousand and One Nights is

generally excluded from the canon of classical Arabic literature due to its extravagant and

improbable fabrications in prose, a form that was expected to be more serious and

substantial than verse.

Formation of Western Literature [100 A.D. to 1500]

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1. Contrary to popular belief, the medieval period cannot be characterized as entirely

barbaric. During this period, national literatures in the vernacular appeared.

2. Due to their disparate influences, literature and culture in medieval Europe were very

diverse, drawing from different, often conflicting sources.

3. Composed around 850, the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf speaks about the warring

lifestyle of the Germanic and Scandinavian groups that conquered the Roman Empire.

4. Not only does the Song of Roland set the foundation for the French literary tradition, but

it also establishes the narrative about the foundation of France itself.

5. Writing in the twelfth century, Marie de France helped establish the major forms and

themes of vernacular literature, especially for what we now call romances, novelistic

narrative's that deal with adventure and love.

6. The thirteenth-century story Thorstein the Staff-Struck is a short example of the Icelandic

saga tradition that speaks about the lives of men and women who lived in Iceland and

Norway between the ninth and eleventh centuries.

7. Beginning in Provence around 1100, the love lyric spread to Sicily, Italy, France,

Germany, and eventually England.

8. The Divine Comedy offers Dante's controversial political and religious beliefs within a

formal and cosmological framework that evokes the three-in-one of the Christian Trinity:

God the Father; God the Son; and God the Holy Spirit.

9. Best known for his Decameron, Giovanni Boccaccio was one of the many medieval

writers who contributed to the revival of classical literary traditions that would come to

fruition in the Italian Renaissance and later spread to other parts of Europe.
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10. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight  revive the "native" Anglo-Saxon tradition first seen

in Beowulf that had apparently been submerged between the twelfth and fourteenth

centuries following the Norman Conquest.

11. Although Chaucer's Canterbury Tales does not appear to be overtly political, it was

written during a period of considerable political and religious turmoil that would

eventually give rise to the Protestant Reformation.

12. Anonymously written plays such as Everyman focused on morality or were dramatic

enactments of homilies and sermons.

Golden Age of Japanese Culture [100 A.D. to 1500]

1. Although Japanese poetry, drama, literature and other writings of the Golden Age

elaborate on a wide range of philosophical, aesthetic, religious, and political topics, and

while literature and culture have flourished in Japan for over a thousand years, many

misconceptions about Japanese literature persist.

2. One of the earliest monuments of Japanese literature, the Man'yoshu (The Collection of

Ten Thousand Leaves), appears to have been intended as an anthology of poetry

anthologies.

3. The Kokinshu combines great poems of the past with great poems of the present; it also

integrates short poems into longer narrative sequences, thereby becoming more than a

mere collection of poems.

4. Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of  Genji, arguably the first significant novel in world literature,

was written in the early eleventh century.

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5. The Pillow Book is a seemingly unstructured collection of personal observations, random

thoughts, and perceptions that entered the mind of the author.

6. Not only did the Tale of the Heike help to create the samurai ideal, it has served as an

inspiration for more writers in more genres than any other single work of Japanese

literature.

7. Although Shintoism, the native religion emphasizing the protective powers of

supernaturalism, enjoyed widespread popularity, Buddhism began to play an increasingly

important role in premodern Japan, most notably in the arenas of literature and drama.

8. No (translated as "talent" or "skill"), Japan's classical theater, is a serious and stylized art

form that is produced without most of the artifices of Western theater such as props and

scenery.

Mystical Poetry of India [100 A.D. to 1500]

1. The literary genre of India's medieval era, lyric poetry, was associated with bhakti, or

mystical devotion to God.

2. Bhakti is a populist literary form that is usually composed by poet-saints of all castes and

both genders in their native tongues.

3. Each poem positions the devotee and God in a particular relationship, but the most

popular relationship is that of erotic love between a male god and a female devotee.

4. Bhakti poetry is composed in many different regional languages and elegizes Siva,

Krishna, and other important Hindu deities.

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5. The emotive quality of the poems, their ability to provide social critique and the

representation of love that crosses boundaries between the secular and sacred have

made Krishna poetry appealing and accessible to many groups.

Africa [1500-1650]

1. The founding of the Mali Empire is attributed to Son-Jara Keita, whose life and exploits

are the subject of the Son-Jara, the national epic of the Manding people.

2. The rise of ancient Mali in the thirteenth century is closely associated with the spread of

Islam into the region, which had begun in the seventh century.

3. The principal custodians of the oral tradition are professional bards, known among

the Manding as dyeli or belein-tigui.

4. The epic of Son-Jara developed by accretion, which together with its oral transmission

may account for its three distinct generic layers.

5. The ideological function of the epic is the construction of a Manding common identity

under a founding hero.

The Renaissance [1500-1650]

1. During the Renaissance, notions of Europe's and of humankind's centrality in the world

were challenged and partially discredited by advances in scientific theory, a rediscovery

of Greco-Roman culture, and the so-called discovery of the Americas.

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2. The Renaissance reached its peak at different times in different cultures, beginning in

Italy with the visual arts and, nearly two centuries later, working its way as far as

England, where its achievements are most recognized in drama.

3. An interest in the nature of this life rather than in the life to come is of central importance

in the works of Petrarch and Erasmus.

4. The Renaissance tendency toward perfection is well illustrated by Machiavelli's ideal

prince and Castiglione's ideal courtier, but is also illustrated in the reworking of older

literary traditions such as in Ariosto's Orlando  Furioso.

5. French rulers and aristocrats adopted the artistic, literary, and social values of the more

sophisticated Italian city-states such as Castiglione's Urbino.

6. Spain's major contributions to Renaissance literature can be traced to Cervantes and Lope

de Vega.

7. Works from the English tradition, including Paradise Lost, Hamlet, and Othello, question

the values of the Renaissance.

Native America and Europe in the New World [1500-1650]

1. On November 8, 1519, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and a battalion of four

hundred soldiers entered and seized Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital of the emperor

Montezuma.

2. Although contact with the Europeans devastated the cultures of the Native American

groups, efforts were also made to preserve Aztec verbal arts.

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3. Though many Aztec and Mayan works were translated into European languages, they

were not made available in native languages for fear of encouraging native religious

practices.

4. Much of the literary work in Native American cultures belongs to three basic genres of

the oral tradition—song, narrative, and oratory.

5. How is it possible for "outsiders" to appreciate fully the complexity of literary works that

are inextricably linked to indigenous cultural practices and mores?

Vernacular Literature in China [1650-1800]

1. When the Mongol (Yüan) armies overran northern China and the southern Sung

dynasties, they established themselves as a dynasty, abolishing governmental principles

derived from Confucian teachings.

2. Often building on works of classical literature, vernacular literature (dealing with sex,

violence, satire, and humor) became known for its ability to elaborate creatively on plots

of earlier works by filling in details or perhaps even by articulating what had been

omitted.

3. Under the Ch'ing Dynasty, and especially during the period known as the "literary

inquisition," classical Chinese writing suffered a devastating blow.

4. China's autonomy and cultural self-confidence were decimated in the eighteenth and

early nineteenth centuries, when European colonial powers began to exert control over

China's economy.
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Ottoman Empire [1650-1800]

1. On the tenth night of Muharram in 1040 (August 19, 1630), Evliya «elebi dreamed that

the Prophet Muhammad appeared to him and encouraged him to pursue his wanderlust.

2. Sometimes traveling in an official capacity and sometimes traveling as a private

individual, Evliya «elebi recorded his observations in a vivid anecdotal style.

3. After the destruction of the Saljuqid state in the thirteenth century, the Ottomans

established themselves as an independent dynasty in northwestern Anatolia, from which

they expanded into Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and the Balkans.

4. Under Mehmed II the Conqueror, the Ottomans established an architectural style that

symbolized their imperial ambitions, a new legal code, and a policy of imperial

expansion. They continued and enriched Arabic and Persian literary traditions.

Enlightenment in Europe [1650-1800]

1. In the midst of the massive—and often cataclysmic—social changes that violently

reshaped Europe during the eighteenth century, philosophers and other thinkers

championed reason and the power of the human mind, contributing to the somewhat

misleading appellation of this prerevolutionary period as an "Age of Enlightenment."

2. Because literature was produced by a small cultural elite, it tended to address limited

audiences of the authors' social peers, who would not necessarily notice the class- and

race-specific values that served as a basis for proper conduct and actions outlined in

poems, novels, and belles letters.

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3. The notion of a permanent, divinely ordained, natural order offered comfort to those

aware of the flaws in the actual social order.

4. Reliance on convention as a mode of social and literary control expresses the constant

efforts to achieve an ever-elusive stability in the eighteenth century.

5. By exercising their right to criticize their fellow men and women, satirists evoked a

rhetorical ascendancy that was obtained by an implicit alliance with literary and moral

tradition.

6. Though she outwardly declared her humility and religious subordination, Sor (Sister)

Juana InÈs de la Cruz managed to advance claims for women's rights in a more profound

and far-reaching way than anyone had achieved in the past.

Popular Arts in Pre-Modern Japan [1650-1800]

1. To sustain peace, the Tokugawa shoguns expelled Portuguese traders and Christian

missionaries, who tended to play one feudal baron against another in order to subvert

local power, and prohibited any Japanese from traveling abroad.

2. During this period of peace and stability, the role of samurai retainers in

maintaining Shogunal authority shifted from warriors to bureaucrats.

3. Often indifferent to tradition, this new merchant class developed a culture of its own,

reflecting the fast pace of urban life in woodblock prints, short stories, novels, poetry, and

plays.

4. Ihara Saikaku is known as a founder of new, popular "realistic" literature, writing about

the foibles of the merchant class in urban Osaka.

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5. Cultivating the persona of the lonely wayfarer, Matsuo Basho's austere existence was the

antithesis to Saikaku's prosperity.

6. Ueda Akinari is known for his successful insinuation of the supernatural into everyday

life and his keen understanding of the irrational implications of erotic attachment.

Revolution and Romanticism in Europe and America [1800-1900]

1. Emerging in the late eighteenth century and extending until the late nineteenth century,

Romanticism broke with earlier models of thinking that were guided by rationalism and

empiricism.

2. After the American and French revolutions, faith in social institutions declined

considerably; no longer were systems that were organized around hierarchy and the

separation of classes considered superior.

3. As manufacturing and industrialization developed, resulting in a decline in the

agricultural economy, a "middle class" began to emerge in England and other parts of

Europe.

4. Breaking with the Christian belief that the self is essentially "evil" and fallible, Romantic

poets and authors often explored the "good" inherent in human beings.

5. As the middle class rose to ascendancy in the nineteenth century, new approaches to

science, biology, class, and race began to shake middle-class society's values.

6. Imagination was seen as a way for the soul to link with the eternal.
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7. The new thematic emphases of poetry—belief in the virtues of nature, the "primitive,"

and the past—engendered a form of alienation that was described in the "social protest"

poetry of Romantic poets.

Urdu Lyric Poetry in Northern India [1800-1900]

1. The most popular lyric genre of Urdu, a hybrid language developed from the interaction

of Hindi and Persian, is the Ghazal.

2. Derived from the Arabic praise poem (Qasidah), Ghazal reflects on love—human, divine,

and spiritual.

3. Formal and thematic conventions are important to the Ghazal tradition.

4. Mirza Asadullah Khan, or Ghalib (Conqueror) as he is more commonly known, is

considered the most important poet associated with this tradition.

Realism, Naturalism, and Symbolism in Europe [1800-1900]

1. Nourished by the political and social aspirations of the middle class, nationalism and

colonialism came to dominate the nineteenth century in Europe.

2. Though its first literary use was in Germany at the turn of the nineteenth century, the

term realism did not become a commonly accepted literary and artistic slogan until

French critics began to use it in the 1850s.

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3. Though the realist program made innumerable subjects available to art, it narrowed the

themes and methods of literature.

4. Contrary to what they might think, realist writers did not make a complete break with

past literary conventions, nor did they follow "to the letter" the theories and slogans they

propounded.

5. As prose looked outward at the world around it, poetry looked inward at its very

construction as language.

6. Inspired by Baudelaire's The  Flowers of Evil, Symbolism's manifesto appeared in 1886,

thereby not including the great midcentury poems by Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud,

and MallarmÈ.

The 20th Century: European Modernisms [1900s]

1. In the twentieth century, modernization was used in tandem with colonization as a means

to legitimize the often forced adoption of Western concepts of "progress" in different

parts of the world. As such, modernization also became a stimulus for movements that

rejected "progress" in favor of "tradition."

2. European writers and thinkers looked beyond models of scientific rationalism for means

of expressing knowledge of the world and lived experience that could not be apprehended

by intellect alone.

3. Literary and linguistic systems were seen as games in which "pieces" (words) and "rules"

(grammar, syntax, and other conventions) were combined with playfulness and

sometimes with pathos to emphasize the instabilities of language.

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4. The twentieth century is sometimes called a "century of isms" as different groups of

European artists and intellectuals attempted to give expression to contemporary history

and subjectivity.

5. Western modernism is too conceptually limited to describe much of the cultural

productions of older nations in North America such as the Navajo, Zuni, and Inuit.

Decolonization [1900s]

1. With the spread of Western colonialism from Europe and North America to Asia, Africa,

and South America also came the spread of its by-product; Western modernism.

2. Though early criticisms were leveled at former colonial subjects who wrote in the

colonizer's language since such writing was considered to reflect "impoverished"

experiences, more recent evaluations point to the ways that the writings of former

colonial subjects have enriched European languages.

3. Though social-realist movements varied considerably within Chinese, Indian, and Soviet

contexts, in general they denounced the bourgeois and colonialist values expounded in

Western art and literature.

4. Though English-language literatures are well known outside India, literatures in regional

languages such as Kannada, Urdu, Sindhi, Bengali, Hindi, and Tamil represent other

aspects of Indian life.

5. The literary traditions of the diverse countries that the West calls "the Middle East"

reflect the multiple histories and cultural traditions of the region.

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6. In addition to experiences of Western colonialism in Africa, African writers also address

issues related to the slave trade and to the African diaspora.

7. The generally political nature of magical realism in South American writing was often

missed by earlier generations of Western readers, who were too amazed by the

imaginative creativity of magical realism.

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Defining Literature. (n.d.). Retrieved from

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Mark, Joshua J.(2009). Literature. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/literature/

Divisions of Literature. (n.d.). Retrieved from

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%20are%20two%20divisions%20of,prosa%20which%20literally%20means%20straightforward.

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depth/global-issues-overview/
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A World Literature Timeline. (n.d.). Retrieved from

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