Asian Literature

Asia is known as the largest continent of the world and to be the most continent in the planet. With
48 countries in total, it has been a whole most of the human populations. It was a cradle of
civilization. It is divided into five regions. These are; Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast
Asia, and Western Asia. A continent as big as Asia is not only rich in its population and natural
resources, it is also wealthy in real stories, fictional, poetic that it’s crossroads of literature.
Asian Literature- is diverse and vast it’s the same versus the people that live in it and the
selections are as vast as the 48 countries under its territory. It is a big body of texts produced from
Asia, by Asians, for Asians and for anyone else in the world.
These are the three well-known literatures

CHINESE LITERATURE
 Chinese civilization is the oldest civilization in the world that dates back to Shang Dynasty in
1765 B.C. it is known as “The Red Dragon”.
 Chinese literature developed over a long period of time Chinese writers have produced
volumes of poems, short stories and novels based on religious concepts and principles.
 The Chinese are not good poets but good novelists as well.
 They are also influential over the sayings teachings of Confucius which is gathered by his
followers that emphasize the importance of morality.
INDIAN LITERATURE
 India is the vast land in Southern Asia, extending from the Himalayan Mountains south to the
tip of a great peninsula that reaches from out into the Indian Ocean. It is known as “Land of
prayer”.
 Their early literature was also written mostly in Sanskrit the language which they believe was
used by god.
 The first characteristic we notice about Indian literature is that it is based on piety, a deeply
religious spirit.
 The Indians believe of Vishnu are called Avatar, descending from the god.

JAPANESE LITERATURE
 Also known as “The Land of the Rising Sun”.
 China has greatly influenced early Japanese literature. Japanese poetry, stories and essays
have been patterned after the literary works of Chines writers or were also translated into
Chinese Classical language.
 Drama is considered as the most favorite way of entertainment of the Japan.
 Most popular form from Japan would probably be its poetry, the Haiku and Tanka.

19TH CENTURY SPANISH WRITERS LARRA AND GALDOS IN RIZAL

Larra , Galdos, and Rizal are the popular Spanish writers in 19 th century through its remarkable
contribution in literature.
Galdos and Larra

 Galdos’ intent to censure orthodox conformity with national customs and institution , as
manifested his early novels, such as Dona Perfecta (1876) and Gloria (1877), recalls the
virulent criticisms directed against Spain by Mariano Jose de Larra (1809-1837).
 Larra experience as a personal frustration Spain’s inability to solve her problems.
 The critical attitude of Galdos toward existing consuetudes resembles that Larra inasmuch as
both writers strive to direct attention to the shortcomings and failures of the Spanish people.
 Larra resign himself to expatiate on social and moral values, Galdos seeks to oppose them.
 Larra’s intent on destroying prevalent modes of life, not on creating new ones.
 The two essays which most effectively express Larra’s anguished pre occupation with Spain
are: La Nochebuena de 1836 and Figaro en el cemenlerio.
 Both abound with astringent observations which reveals a spiritual state in harmony with the
author’s state of mind.

Rizal and Galdos

 It is well known that Jose Rizal was unavoidably , an avid reader.

 There was no topic that was of no interest for him: ancient languages, medicine,
anthropology, history, religion, etc.
 Rizal accepted with superb serenity his martyrdom, but he was not certainly looking for
immortality through his unfair execution,but through his writings.
 The topic of an impossible love between two beautiful souls, both of impeccable moral
standards, was very common in 19th-century Latin American novels. The most well-known
among those was Maria (1869) by the Colombian Jorge Issacs, Ninay(1885) by Pedro Paterno.
 Rizal transformed into a literary masterpiece where all social classes are mercilessly criticized.
The parallelisms between Ninay and Maria Clara, Carlos Mabagsic and Crisostomo Ibarra are
quite evident, but more relevant even is the parallelism between two original, enigmatic and
very likeable characters: Berto and Elias.
 Benito Perez Galdos, whose life is being commemorated this year in Spain as he passed away
exactly 100 years ago. And certainly, Galdos must have been a major literary influence on Jose
Rizal.
 He was born in the Canary Islands and moved to Madrid at 19 years old in search of literary
glory. He published more than 80 novels, 20 dramas, plus several travel books, essays, and a
collection of his pieces as a journalist.
 Most importantly, he was a staunch anticlerical novelist, and priests are generally given in all
his novels. Belonging to the realist trend, there is something in the plots and characters of
Galdos that still appeal pleasantly to the readers of today.
 Rizal, who was in Madrid while Galdos was in the summit of his literary career and was
extremely updated in literary novelities, should have read some of his works.
 Moreover, there is a novel by Galdos whose plot reflects somehow one of the problems
pointed out by Rizal in Noli Me Tangere: The dramatic and persistent interference of priest in
extra-religious issues. The novel is titled Dona Perfecta(1876).
 It seems that this Inocencio could very well have served as an inspiration to Rizal to create his
evil Padre Damaso.
 Reading is the most popular novelist of his century, he was able to create something
completely new and perfectly shaped to the situation of the Philippines.
 More importantly, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to claim that Noli Me Tangere came to be a
masterpiece superior to the previous novels that may have inspired it.