INTRODUCTION OF THE WORLD LITERATURE

LITERATURE
- refers to any “written work”, derived from “literature” w/c means “writing formed w/
letters”. It is the mirror of the society w/c reflects societal norms, culture, traditions,
and experiences.
WORLD LITERATURE
- it suggests to the sum of total world’s national literature and also the circulation of
work into the wider world beyond country’s origin.
EXAMPLES OF WORLD LITERATURE:

 OLD – ENGLISH LITERATURE - Different letters, different grammars, different spelling

 THE RENAISSANCE LITERATURE – old classics rediscovered, sonnet, elegy, pastoral
 THE RESTORIAN AND 18TH CENTURY – age of reason, age of enlightenment, rise of
the novel and journalism, age of satire, age of poetry.
 THE ROMANTIC PERIOD – use of everyday language, imagination essential,
overflowing emotions common, insured by untamed nature and the exotic for east, folk
traditions and medieval tales of knights, gothic novels
 THE VICTORIAN PERIOD – queen Victoria, transition period, melancholic and political
poetry
 POST MODERN PERIOD – literature of this period exemplifies and improved crafts of
masters. The novel has flourished and writers have risen not only to popularity but to
distinction as well.
Jogann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Introduced the world literature as “WELTLITERATUR”.

FABLES
- It derives from the latin “FABULA” w/c means “story or tale”
- Authors of fables are known as “FABULISTS”
- It is a literary device that can be defined as a concise and brief story intended to
provide a moral lesson at the end.
- It is often use animals as the main characters.
- They are presented with “ANTHROMORPHIC” characters such as the ability to
speak and to reason.

EPIC
- Is a long poem, typically are derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds
and adventures of heroic or legendary figures of the history of a nation.
1. FOLK EPIC – oral compositions passed on from storyteller to about a traditional or
historican. Example of this is BEOWULF; it is a poem that describes the traditions of
nation.
2. LITERARY EPIC – written compositions that are unchanged overtime.

SHORT STORY
- A fully developed story w/c is shorter than a novel and longer than a fable.
6 ELEMENTS OF SHORT STORIES:
 SETTINGS – the time and place in w/c the story happens.
 CHARACTER – is a person or animals, who