AFRICA

It is the second largest continent (after Asia), covering about one-fifth of the total
land surface of Earth. The continent is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean,
on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the east by the Red Sea and the Indian
Ocean, and on the south by the mingling waters of the Atlantic and Indian oceans.
ETYMOLOGY: The name Africa came into Western use through the Romans, who
used the name Africa terra - "land of the Afri" (plural, or "Afer" singular) for the
northern part of the continent, as the province of Africa with its capital Carthage,
corresponding to modern-dayTunisia.

ASIA
•Asia is bounded by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the east, the
Indian Ocean to the south, the Red Sea (as well as the inland seas of the Atlantic
Ocean - the Mediterranean and the Black) to the southwest, and Europe to the west.

ETYMOLOGY: The word Asia is originated from the Ancient Greek word Aoia, first
attributed to Herodotus (about 440BCE) in reference to Anatolia or to the Persian
Empire, in contrast to Greece and Egypt. It originally was a name for the east bank
of the Aegean Sea, an area known to the Hittites as Assuwa.

AFRO-ASIAN LITERATURE

• It is a term for writing written by people from mixed African-Arab ethnicity, or

African-Asian ethnicity.

• It mirrors not only the customs and traditions of African and Asian countries but
also their philosophy of life which on the whole are deeply and predominantly
contemplative and hauntingly sweet.

• It is the reflection of the storm and the stress of developing nations seeking a place
under the sun which every student must understand so he may know how this
literature affects the history and culture of a nation.

• It refers to the literary output of the various countries and cultures in Africa and
Asia. This includes their oral traditions and from the first to the contemporary written
and/or published prose and poetry. • Asian Literature alone is diverse and vibrant.
Add to that the splendor of African literature and you get enriching Afro Asian
literature

AFRO-ASIAN LITERATURE
• The background of Afro-Asian literature dates to the very beginning when the first
mixed race individual began writing.
• Earlier written documents were based on stories passed by word of mouth.
• Literary works were handed by mouth from generation to generation to entertain,
educate and remind the people about their past, heroic deeds of their people,
ancestry and culture. • Afro-Asian literature is a sign of new and modern times. It
also teaches people and allow them to learn about different experiences and cultures
from all over the world.

• Generally, literary works of Afro-Asian tell people about the unique struggles and
successes of Afro-Asian people. • GENRES: playwriting, poems, prose POEMS - tell
about the history and culture of the Afro-Asian people.

Today, Afro-Asians still express their creativity and honor their culture by crafting
beautiful poems such as haikus, ballads or sonnets. PLAYWRIGHTS- celebrate their
own culture and ancestry by setting plays in the past and referencing historical
events in their storylines. When performed, this will feature backdrops and costumes
which will reflects the culture and unique spirit of Afro-Asian people. PROSE it is
used to expose truth, to describe objects, places and people, to draw a reader
deeper into a story.

NORMS AND CULTURE

• NORMS - a standard or pattern, especially of social typical or expected of a group
behavior, that is

• CULTURE is defined as the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions,

cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process
of socialization. These shared patterns identify the members of a culture group while
also distinguishing those of another group.

The highest degree of culture is embodied within a virtue of respecting other

humans, either as an individual or a part of community. It is no surprise that, in this
phase, people of Asia and Africa adapt the culture of mutual cooperation.

NORMS AND CULTURE: AFRICA

• AFRICA Africa has 300 distinct ethnic groups, 2000 language. Home to the most
genetically diverse people on Earth. So diverse that two Africans are more
genetically different from each other than a Chinese and European are from each
other. Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent.
There are generations, which do define Africa, but none that are exclusive.

• Sense of Community A popular African proverb comes to mind here to express the
African sense of community. It says: "Go the way that many people go; if you go
alone, you will have reason to lament". The African idea of security and its value
depends on personal identification with and within the
•Sense of Good Human Relations - The art of dialogue and conversation is a
cherished value in African human People freely discuss their problems and look for
suggestions and solutions together. The unwillingness to talk to people about either
private or public affairs can be interpreted as bad manners or sign of enmity.

• Sense of hospitality - The African sense of hospitality is one of the African values
that is still quite alive. The Africans easily incorporate strangers and give them lands
to settle hoping that would go one day, and the land would revert to the owner.
Africans have symbolic ways of expressing welcome. These are in forms of
presentation of kola nuts, traditional gin, coconuts, etc, in various communities.

NORMS AND CULTURE: ASIA

• ASIA - Asian values are very much inter-related. They all support the view of the
individual as being a part of a much larger group or family, and place great
importance on the well being of the group, even at the expense of the individual.
• Family and Education A number of Asian students have done conspicuously well
in terms of test scores, gifted student programs, admissions to prestigious schools,
academic awards, and in classical music. Though obviously not all Asians fit this
pattern, this trend can be a e attributed primarily to the basic notion of the family, and
the central role that education plays in the family. Great importance is placed on
child rearing, and education is a fundamental aspect of this. Asian parents are more
likely to spend much more time with their children, and drive them harder, sometimes
even at the expense of their personal time and ambitions of the parents themselves.

• Reserve Conformity and Harmony Since the well-being of the larger group is most
important in Asian culture, great importance is placed on maintaining harmony. The
greatest virtue that can achieve is not greatness of one's self, which is viewed as
being selfish and self-centered, but of fulfilling his or her role in the whole of the
family or group. The achievement of an individual may be seen as really the result of
the effort of one's family or group.

• Benevolence and Obligation - Asian societies tend to be very hierarchical, in

contrast to African culture, where in some cases it is not unusual to consider teacher
and student, or even parent and child as equals. Asian hierarchical relationships
involve a lot of and what might be viewed as dependence or domination. But a good
deal of responsibility and benevolence is expected in return. While children might be
obligated follow their parent's wishes very closely at the expense of their own
independence, the parents are also expected to raise support, and educate them far
in excess of what might be expected by African standards.

• Loss of face, shame and honor - Losing face is one of the better known Asian
concepts among other society. Unlike individualistic cultures, shame and honor go
far beyond the individual, and reflect directly upon ones family, nation or other group,
and so is taken very seriously. Maintaining good face is a kind of measurement of
how well one has maintained faith to traditional values, and ones social standing
among others. It serves as a strong control mechanism which reinforces all other
Asian values

The Afro-Asian countries usually cared for their family first: then they are fond of their
social values; and specially, their love for their own country.

• They are also active in celebrating festivals that reflects their own characteristics as
an Asian
• They are religious because they give importance to "The Creator" by giving thanks
and offering prayers to Him.
• They are also active if we talk about literature because they are good writers. They
are talented on different branch of sports and arts that they are about to compete
worldwide.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AFRO-ASIAN LITERATURE

• African literature is as diverse as the continent itself, but several characteristics an
themes prevail throughout much of the written works emerging from Africa. There is
often great emphasis on the history, culture and customs of a group of people when
telling their stories.

• Afro-Asian's literary works were handed by mouth from generation to generation to

entertain, educate and remind the people about their past, heroic deeds of their
people, ancestry and culture. • Afro-Asian literature is a sign of new and modern
times. It also teaches people and allow them to learn about different experiences and
cultures from all over the world.

COMMON THEMES IN AFRO-ASIAN LITERATURE

Afro-Asian literature shares several common themes between African and Asian
countries. Some of these themes include nature, peace, and the highlight on
emotions
• EXAMPLE ABOUT NATURE

Petals of Blood by Ngugi wa Thiong'o It is a poem which suggests that there is a

deadly power within nature that must be respected despite attempts to suggest by
humans that they live harmoniously with it.

• EXAMPLE ABOUT PEACE

No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe It is a novel which concerns the struggle of

Obi Okonkwo's grandfather Okonkwo against the changes brought by the English

• EXAMPLE ABOUT HIGHLIGHT ON EMOTIONS

Brave Faces: The Daring Stand Against Cancer by Nasra Al Adawi It is a poetry and
true to life stories about women with breast cancer in Tanzania. The testimonies in
Brave Faces are told through personal stories and poetry that speak to this courage,
the loneliness, the anger and the pain of loosing something.

1. The Rise of Africa’s Great Civilization. Between 751 and 664 B.C.

the kingdom of Kush at the southern end of the Nile River gained strength and
prominence succeeding the New Kingdom of Egyptian civilization. Smaller
civilizations around the edges of the Sahara also existed among them the Fasa of
the northern Sudan, whose deeds are recalled by the Soninka oral epic, The Daust.
Aksum (3rd century A.D.), a rich kingdom in eastern Africa arose in what is now
Ethiopia. It served as the center of a trade route and developed its own writing
system. The Kingdom of Old Ghana (A.D. 300) the first of great civilizations in
western Africa succeeded by the empires of Old Mali and Songhai. The legendary
city of Timbuktu was a center of trade and culture in both the Mali and Songhai
empires. New cultures sprang up throughout the South:
Luba and Malawi empires in central Africa, the two Congo kingdoms, the Swahili
culture of eastern Africa, the kingdom of Old Zimbabwe, and the Zulu nation near the
southern tip of the continent.

Africa’s Golden Age (between A.D. 300 and A.D. 1600) marked the time when
sculpture, music, metalwork, textiles, and oral literature flourished. Foreign
influences came in the 4th century. The Roman Empire had proclaimed Christianity
as its state religion and taken control of the entire northern coast of Africa including
Egypt. Around 700 A.D. Islam, the religion of Mohammed, was introduced into Africa
as well as the Arabic writing system. Old Mali, Somali and other eastern African
nations were largely Muslim. Christianity and colonialism came to sub-Saharan
Africa towards the close of Africa’s Golden Age. European powers created colonized
countries in the late 1800s. Social and political chaos reigned as traditional African
nations were either split apart by European colonizers or joined with incompatible
neighbors. Mid-1900s marked the independence and rebirth of traditional cultures
written in African languages.

1. Literary Forms.
a) Orature is the tradition of African oral literature which includes praise poems, love
poems, tales, ritual dramas, and moral instructions in the form of proverbs and
fables. It also includes epics and poems and narratives. Griots, the keepers of oral
literature in West Africa, may be a professional storyteller, singer, or entertainer and
were skilled at creating and transmitting the many forms of African oral literature.
Bards, storytellers, town criers, and oral historians also preserved and continued the
oral tradition.

Features of African oral literature:

 ● repetition and parallel structure – served foremost as memory aids for griots
and other storytellers. Repetition also creates rhythm, builds suspense, and
adds emphasis to parts of the poem or narrative. Repeated lines or refrains
often mark places where an audience can join in the oral performance.

● repeat-and-vary technique – in which lines or phrases are repeated with slight

variations, sometimes by changing a single word.
● tonal assonance – the tones in which syllables are spoken determine the
meanings of words like many Asian languages.
● call-and-response format - includes spirited audience participation in which
the leader calls out a line or phrase and the audience responds with an
answering line or phrase becoming performers themselves.

b) Lyric Poems do not tell a story but instead, like songs, create a vivid, expressive
testament to a speaker’s thoughts or emotional state. Love lyrics were an influence
of the New Kingdom and were written to be sung with the accompaniment of a harp
or a set of reed pipes.

c) Hymns of Praise Songs were offered to the sun god Aten. The Great Hymn to
Aten is the longest of several New Kingdom hymns. This hymn was found on the
wall of a tomb built for a royal scribe named Ay and his wife. In was intended to
assure their safety in the afterlife.
d) African Proverbs are much more than quaint old sayings. Instead, they represent
a poetic form that uses few words but achieves great depth of meaning and they
function as the essence of people’s values and knowledge.

They are used to settle legal disputes, resolve ethical problems, and teach children
the philosophy of their people. Often contain puns, rhymes, and clever allusions,
they also provide entertainment. Mark power and eloquence of speakers in the
community who know and use them. Their ability to apply the proverbs to
appropriate situations demonstrates an understanding of social and political realities.
● Kenya. Gutire muthenya ukiaga ta ungi. (No day dawns like another.)
● South Africa. Akundlovu yasindwa umboko wayo. (No elephant ever found its
trunk too heavy.)
● Kikuyu. Mbaara ti ucuru. (War is not porridge.)

e) Dilemma or Enigma Tale is an important kind of African moral tale intended for
listeners to discuss and debate. It is an open-ended story that concludes with a
question the asks the audience to choose form among several alternatives. By
encouraging animated discussion, a dilemma tale invites its audience to think about
right and wrong behavior and how to best live within society.

f) Ashanti Tale comes from Ashanti, whose traditional homeland is the dense and
hilly forest beyond the city of Kumasi in south-central Ghana which was colonized by
the British in the mid-19th century. But the Ashanti, protected in their geographical
stronghold, were able to maintain their ancient culture. The tale exemplifies common
occupations of the Ashanti such as farming, fishing, and weaving. It combines such
realistic elements with fantasy elements like talking objects and animals.

g) Folk Tales have been handed down in the oral tradition from ancient times. The
stories represent a wide and colorful variety that embodies the African people’s most
cherished religious and social beliefs. The tales are used to entertain, to teach, and
to explain. Nature and the close bond that Africans share with the natural world are
emphasized. The mystical importance of the forest, sometimes called the bush, is
often featured.

h) Origin stories include creation stories and stories explaining the origin of death.

i) Trickster Tale is an enormously popular type. The best-known African trickster

figure is Anansi the Spider, both the hero and villain
from the West African origin to the Caribbean and other parts of the Western
Hemisphere as a result of the slave trade.

j. Moral Stories attempt to teach a lesson.

k) Humorous Stories is primarily intended to amuse.

l) Epics of vanished heroes – partly human, partly superhuman, who embody the
highest values of a society – carry with them a culture’s
history, values, and traditions. The African literary traditions boast of several oral
epics.
● The Dausi from the Soninke
● Monzon and the King of Kore from the Bambara of western Africa
● The epic of Askia the Great, medieval ruler of the Songhai empire in western
Africa
● The epic of the Zulu Empire of southern Africa
● Sundiata from the Mandingo peoples of West Africa is the bestpreserved and
the best-known African epic which is a blend of fact and legend. Sundiata
Keita, the story’s hero really existed as a powerful leader who in 1235
defeated the Sosso nation of western Africa and reestablished the Mandingo
Empire of Old Mali. Supernatural powers are attributed to Sundiata and he is
involved in a mighty conflict between good and evil. It was first recorded in
Guinea in the 1950s and was told by the griot Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate.

2. Negritude, which means literally ‘blackness,’ is the literary movement of the 1930s
– 1950s that began among French-speaking African and Caribbean writers living in
Paris as a protest against French colonial rule and the policy of assimilation. Its
leading figure was Leopold Sedar Senghor (1st president of the Republic of Senegal
in 1960), who along with Aime Cesaire from Martinique and Leo Damas
from French Guina, began to examine Western values critically and to reassess
African culture. The movement largely faded in the early 1960s when its political and
cultural objectives had been achieved in most African countries. The basic ideas
behind Negritude include:
● Africans must look to their own cultural heritage to determine the values and
traditions that are most useful in the modern world.
● Committed writers should use African subject matter and poetic traditions and
should excite a desire for political freedom.
● Negritude itself encompasses the whole of African cultural, economic, social,
and political values.
● The value and dignity of African traditions and peoples must be asserted

3. African Poetry is more eloquent in its expression of Negritude since it is the poets
who first articulated their thoughts and feelings
about the inhumanity suffered by their own people.
● Paris in the Snow swings between assimilation of French, European culture or
negritude, intensified by the poet’s catholic piety.
● Totem by Leopold Senghor shows the eternal linkage of the living with the
dead.
● Letters to Martha by Dennis Brutus is the poet’s most famous collection that
speaks of the humiliation, the despondency, the indignity of prison life.
● Train Journey by Dennis Brutus reflects the poet’s social commitment, as he
reacts to the poverty around him amidst material progress especially and
acutely felt by the innocent victims, the children
● Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka is the poet’s most anthologized
poem that reflects Negritude. It is a satirical poem between a Black man
seeking the landlady’s permission to accommodate him in her lodging house.
The poetic dialogue reveals the landlady’s deep-rooted prejudice against the
colored people as the caller plays up on it.
● Africa by David Diop is a poem that achieves its impact by a series of
climactic sentences and rhetorical questions
● Song of Lawino by Okot P’Bitek is a sequence of poems about the clash
between African and Western values and is regarded as the first important
poem in “English to emerge from Eastern Africa. Lawino’s song is a plea for
the Ugandans to look back to traditional village life and recapture African
values.

4. Novels.
● The Houseboy by Ferdinand Oyono points out the disillusionment of Toundi,
a boy who leaves his parents maltreatment to enlist his services as an acolyte
to a foreign missionary. After the priest’s death, he becomes a helper of a
white plantation owner, discovers the liaison of his master’s wife, and gets
murdered later in the woods as they catch up with him. Toundi symbolizes the
disenchantment, the coming of age, and utter despondency of the
 Camerooninans over the corruption and immortality of the whites. The novel is
developed in the form of a recit, the French style of a diary-like confessional
work.

● Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe depict a vivid picture of Africa before the
colonization by the British. The title is an epigraph from Yeats’ The Second
Coming: ‘things fall apart/ the center cannot hold/ mere anarchy is loosed
upon the world.’ The novel laments over the disintegration of Nigerian society,
represented in the story by Okwonko, once a respected chieftain who loses
his leadership and falls from grace after the coming of the whites. Cultural
values are woven around the plot to mark its authenticity: polygamy since the
character is Muslim; tribal law is held supreme by the gwugwu, respected
elders in the community; a man’s social status is determined by the people’s
esteem and by possession of fields of yams and physical prowess; community
life is shown in drinking sprees, funeral wakes, and sports festivals.
● No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe is a sequel to Things Fall Apart and
the title of which is alluded to Eliot’s The Journey of the Magi: ‘We returned to
our places, these kingdoms, / But no longer at ease here, in the old
dispensation.’ The returning hero fails to cope with disgrace and social
pressure. Okwonko’s son has to live up to the expectations of the Umuofians,
after winning a scholarship in London, where he reads literature, not law as is
expected of him, he has to dress up, he must have a car, he has to maintain
his social standing, and he should not marry an Ozu, an outcast. In the end,
the tragic hero succumgs to temptation, he, too receives bribes, and therefore
is ‘no longer at ease.’

● The Poor Christ of Bombay by Mongo Beti begins en medias res and
exposes the inhumanity of colonialism. The novel tells of Fr. Drumont’s
disillusionment after the discovery of the degradation of the native women,
betrothed, but forced to work like slaves in the sixa. The government steps
into the picture as syphilis spreads out in the priest’s compound. It turns out
that the native whose weakness is wine, women, and song has been made
overseer of the sixa when the Belgian priest goes out to attend to his other
mission work. Developed through recite or diary entries, the novel is a satire
on the failure of religion to integrate to national psychology without first
understanding the natives’ culture.
● The River Between by James Ngugi show the clash of traditional values and
contemporary ethics and mores. The Honia River is symbolically taken as a
metaphor of tribal and Christian unity – the Makuyu tribe conducts Christian
rites while the Kamenos hold circumcision rituals. Muthoni, the heroine,
although a new-born Christian, desires the pagan ritual. She dies in the end
but Waiyaki, the teacher, does not teach vengeance against Joshua, the
leader of the Kamenos, but unity with them. Ngugi poses co-existence of
 religion with people’s lifestyle at the same time stressing the influence of
education to enlighten people about their socio-political responsibilities.
● Heirs to the Past by Driss Chraili is an allegorical, parable-like novel. After 16
years of absence, the anti-hero Driss Ferdi returns to Morocco for his father’s
funeral. The Signeur leaves his legacy via a tape recorder in which he tells the
family members his last will and testament. Each chapter in the novel reveals
his relationship with them, and at the same time lays bare the psychology of
these.people. His older brother Jaad who was ‘born once and had died
several times’ because of his childishness and irresponsibility. His idiotic
brother, Nagib, has become a total burden to the family. His mother feels
betrayed, after doin her roles as wife and mother for 30 years, as she yearns
for her freedom. Driss flies back to Europe completely alienated from his
people, religion, and civilization. A Few Days and Few Nights by Mbella
Sonne Dipoko deals with racial prejudice. In the novel originally written in
French, a Cameroonian scholar studying in France is torn between the love of
a Swedish girl and a Parisienne show father owns a business establishment
in Africa. The father rules out the possibility of marriage. Therese, their
daughter commits suicide and Doumbe, the Camerronian, thinks only of the
future of Bibi, the Swedish who is expecting his child. Doumbe’s remark that
the African is like a turtle which carries it home wherever it goes implies the
racial pride and love for the native grounds.
● The Interpreters by Wole Soyinka is about a group of young intellectuals who
function as artists in their talks with one another as they try to place
themselves in the context of the world about them.

5. Major Writers.
● Leopold Sedar Senghor (1906) is a poet and statesman who was cofounder
of the Negritude movement in African art and literature. He went to Paris on a
scholarship and later taught in the French school system. During these years
Senghor discovered the unmistakable imprint of African art on modern
painting, sculpture, and music, which confirmed his belief in Africa’s
contribution to modern culture. Drafted during WWII, he was captured and
spent two years in Nazi concentration camp where he wrote some of his finest
poems. He became president of Senegal in 1960. His works include: Songs of
Shadow, Black Offerings, Major Elegies, Poetical Work. He became
Negritude’s foremost spokesman and edited an anthology of French-language
poetry by black African that became a seminal text of the Negritude
movement.

● Okot P’Bitek (1930 – 1982) was born in Uganda during the British domination
and was embodied in a contrast of cultures. He attended English-speaking
schools but never lost touch with traditional African values and used his wide
array of talents to pursue his interests in both African and Western cultures.
 Among his works are: Song of Lawino, Song of Ocol, African Religions and
Western Scholarship, Religion of the Central Luo, Horn of My Love.
● Wole Soyinka (1934) is a Nigerian playwright, poet, novelis, and critic who
was the first black African to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in
1986. He wrote of modern West Africa in a satirical style and with a tragic
sense of the obstacles to human progress. He taught literature and drama
and headed theater groups at various Nigerian universities. Among his works
are: plays – A Dance of the Forests, The Lion and the Jewel, The Trials of
Brother Jero; novels – The Interpreters, Season of Anomy; poems – Idanre
and Other Poems, Poems from Prison, A Shuttle in the Crypt, Mandela’s
Earth and Other Poems.

● Chinua Achebe (1930) is a prominent Igbo novelist acclaimed for his

unsentimental depictions of the social and psychological disorientation
accompanying the imposition of Western customs and values upon traditional
African society. His particular concern was with emergent Africa at its
moments of crisis. His works include,.Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, No
Longer at Ease, A Man of the People, Anthills of Savanah.
● Nadine Gordimer (1923) is a South African novelist and short story writer
whose major theme was exile and alienation. She received the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1991. Gordimer was writing by age 9 and published her first story
in a magazine at 15. Her works exhibit a clear, controlled, and unsentimental
technique that became her hallmark. She examines how public events affect
individual lives, how the dreams of on’s youth are corrupted, and how
innocence is lost. Among her works are: The Soft Voice of the Serpent,
Burger’s Daughter, July’s People, A Sport of Nature, My Son’s Story.

● Bessie Head (1937 –1986) described the contradictions and shortcomings of

pre- and post colonial African society in morally didactic novels and stories.
She suffered rejection and alienation from an early age being born of an
illegal union between her white mother and black father. Among her works
are: When Rain Clouds Gather, A Question of Power, The Collector of
Treasures, Serowe.

● Barbara Kimenye (1940) wrote twelve books on children’s stories known as

the Moses series which are now a standard reading fare for African school
children. She also worked for many years for His Highness the Kabaka of
Uganda, in the Ministry of Education and later served as Kabaka’s librarian.
She was a journalist of The Uganda Nation and later a columnist for a Nairobi
newspaper. Among her works are: KalasandaRevisited,The Smugglers , The
Money Game.

● Ousmane Sembene (1923) is a writer and filmmaker from Senegal. His works
reveal an intense commitment to political and social change. In the words of
 one of his characters: “You will never be a good writer so long as you don’t
defend a cause.” Sembene tells his stories from out of Africa’s past and
relates their relevance and meaning for contemporary society. His works
include, O My Country, My Beautiful People, God’s Bits of Wood, The Storm.

ARABIAN LITERATURE

1. ARABIAN GEOGRAPHY:
- Between the Persian Gulf and Red Sea
- Has 13 provinces
- Composed primarily of desert
- Has a governor each region appointed by the King
- Land square area of 1.96 million square kilometers (756,981 square miles)
- One fourth the size of US
- The capital is Riyadh Largest City: Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, Medina, Al-Ahsa, Ta'if,
Dammam, Khamis, Mushait,

2. Brief history of Saudi Arabia

- Arabs originated on the descendants of tribes and lived along the Persian
Gulf coast
- Arab Peninsula is also the homeland of Islam
- Islam is the world's largest religion
- Muhammad founded Islam
- Two holy pilgrimage cities are Mecca and Medina
- Arabic is their language
- By 1517 the Ottoman empire dominated
- Qur'an is the sacred scripture of Islam

3. CULTURE & BELIEFS: CLOTHING:

~ For women, full length body cover ; abayah,jilbob, and veil ; hijab or chador
(Sign of respect for Muslim modesty laws)
~ For men, traditional flowing robes, blue jeans, t- shirts and western business
suits FOOD: Alcohol consumption – nightlife is forbidden and under the law
Eating pork – considered unclean and prohibited.

4. FAMILY: - Large extended families live together and nepotism is encouraged,

but it still depends if the family members agree.

5. STORY TELLING: - Another favourite form of artistic expression, but in

keeping with Islamic law, guidelines govern public performances and artist
can't make “graven images.” Hand lettered Qur'an are considered sacred art
 that's to be respected and kept safe for generations. HOLIDAYS: Ramadan –
Holiest season of the Muslims and marks fasting

6. FOUR TYPES OF MUSLIMS:

1. SUNNI – 80%
2. SHITE – 10-16%
3. SUFIS
4. BAHA

7. THREE TYPES OF MUSLIMS

1. Secularists – Muslims who do not have a knowledge of the contents of the
Qur'an and only know a verse or two to justify enjoying their life such as
“Wealth and children are the adornment of the life of this world” (Surat Al-
Kahf 18:46)
2. Moderates – They know the Qur'an but seek to make their faith relevant to
modern life. They try to reconcile the contradicting verses in the Qur'an in
such a way that Muslims may
3. Fundamentalists – Those who want to apply the more extreme verses of
the Qur'an to the letter.

9. These verses came to Muhammad after he was strong militarily and after he
realized that Christians and Jews were not becoming followers of his new religion.
Muhammad's anger in the following Quranic verses , which abrogate the nice verses
in the Qur'an, is the root of violence which saturates and captures the minds of these
fundamentalists Muslims:
~ The prophet Muhammad urges Muslims to fight in the cause of Allah
~ The Qur'an commands Muslims not to befriend Jews and Christians
~ The Qur'an declares that Muslims who fight and die in battle are promised
forgiveness and a sexual luxurious life in Paradise.
~ The Qur'an commands Muslims to terrorize and torture and kill anyone who
disobeys Allah and the Prophet Muhammad
~ The Qur'an declares that Allah loves those who fight in His cause
~ The Qur'an commands Muslims to convert non Muslims to Islam by force

10. LITERATURE :
- A written Arabic literature began to be known with the collect of Qur'an in 17th
century A.D , the Arabian language soon became a major world language.
- The Arabian possessed a highly developed poetry, composed of recitation and
transmitted from generations.
- The most famous examples are the elaborated odes or qasdahs of Mu'allagat,
beginning with those of Imru'Alqais
- These poems reflected and praised the customs and values of the desert
environment in which they arose.
- The earliest known literature emerged in northern
11. Historical Periods:
● Ummayad Period ( A.D. 661-750)
- Arabic prose literature was limited primarily to grammatical treatise,
commentaries on the Qur'an , and compiling of stories about Muhammad and
his companions.
Ummayad poets: > Al-Akhtal > Al- Farazdaq > Dhu Rumma > Jarir POETIC
FORMS: - love lyrics (Ghazals), wine songs, hunting

● Abbasid Empire (750- 1258)

- The greatest period of development and achievement
- Persian influences contributed significantly to this development, translations
from Persian ( Ibn al-Muqaff') led a new refinement in Arabic prose called
Adab, often add with poetry and utilizing rhyme prose ( saj') the style of
Qur'an.

● Greatest masters of Adab:

> Al jahiz
> Al Hariri

● . New poets:
> Abu Nuwas – used the Arabic language with greater freedom and
imagination.
> Al-Maarri and Al-Mtanabi - regarded as the greatest among them
Outstanding authors:
> IBN ISHAQ – Author of Mohammad's life
> Rabja of Bastra and Sufi poetess
> ABU NUEVAS – The greatest Arab lyricist

● Modern Period
- During the centuries of Ottoman Turkish domination Arabic literature fall into
decline, not until mid 19th century it was revived by intellectual movement
known as Nahdah (reawakening), originated in Syria and spread to Egypt.
- Arabic writers of the past hundred years have been extremely versatile, most
of their works is characterized by strong concern for social issues.

● Outstanding recent Arabic novelists, dramatists and essayists

: > Tawfig al-Hakim

● The Qur'an
- Sacred scripture of Islam
- The actual words of god revealed by Muhammad
- Contains 114 chapters or suras and divided into 6,236 verses or ayah
- Termed as the glorious and wonderful, describes the absolute truth, healing
mercy, light and guidance of god to people's everyday lives
 - Has a great contribution to Arabian literature
- Revealed from god to Muhammad through the

● Arabian Nights (One thousand and One Nights)

- A collection of Middle eastern and South Asian stories and folktales
compiled in Arabic, during the Islamic Golden age.
- The common throughout the editions of the Nights is the initial frame story of
the ruler Shahryar meaning “king” or “sovereign” and his wife Scheherazade,
meaning “noble lineage”
- Some editions contain only a few hundred nights, while others include 1,001
or more.
- The bulk of the text is in prose, although the verse is occasionally used for
songs and riddles and to express heightened emotion.
- Synopsis: The main frame story concerns Shahryar, whom the narrator calls a
“Sasanian King” ruling in India and China. He was shocked to discover that his
brother's wife is unfaithful; discovering his own wife's infidelity has been even more
flagrant, he has her executed, but in his bitterness and grief decides that all women
are the same. Shahryar begins to marry a succession of virgins only to execute each
one the next morning, before she has a chance to dishonor him. Eventually the
vizier, whose duty is to provide them cannot find any more virgins. Scheherazade,
the vizier's daughter, offer herself as the next bride and her father reluctantly agrees.
On the night of their marriage, Scheherazade begins to tell the King a tale, but does
not end it. The King was curious about how the story ends, is thus forced to
postpone her execution in order to hear the conclusion. The next night, as soon as
she finishes the tale, she begins a new one, and the King is eager to hear the
conclusion of this tale, postpones her execution once again. So it goes on for 1,001
nights.

● The Lady and Her Five Suitors

- A lady's lover is put into jail. To get him out she invites all the important
people of state to her house. The kazi, Wali, Wazir and the King are
tricked into her home as they all desire her. She gets the Wali write a
release note for her lover. They are put into a cabinet because each
time they fear the next one to be lady's husband. The carpenter is
locked up because he has a dispute with the lady over the size of the
cabinet. The lady leaves the city with her lover. The five suitors are
released by the neighbours after urinating on each other. The daughter
of a merchant loves a man when her husband is away. One day this
man is cast into prison because of a quarrel he had. The woman clads
herself in the most beautiful clothes and goes to magistrate. She brings
a paper to testify against the imprisonment of her brother. The
magistrate immediately falls in love with her. He will let him go if she
comes to his house, but she invites the Wali to hers, and he accepts.
Then she goes to the Kazi telling of a Wali who as imprisoned her
 brother. The Kazi falls inl ove with her and promises her to let her
brother go. She also invites him to her house. Then she goes to the
Wazir, asking for the release of her brother. The Wazir wants to have
his will on her and he is also invited to her home. Finally she goes to
the King of the city. After telling her story, he is pierces with the arrows
of love. He invites her to his palace, but she says he would do much
more honour entering her home. The lady goes to a carpenter to ask
him to make a cabinet with a five compartments, each with s door for
locking up. Next, she lets four gowns be dyed and prepares some food
and drinks for her suitors. The Kazi comes first to her house and he put
on one of the gowns. After a while there is a tapping on the door and
the lady says it is her husband and takes the Kazi to the lowest
compartment to hide him. When she opens the door there is the Wali.
She asks him to write a letter to free her brother. He is asked to put him
on the second gown. Then there is another tapping on the door and
again she says it is her husband. The Wali is put into the second
compartment. When she opens the door it is the Wazir, they play a little
bit with each other and he is given the third gown. Then there is
another knock on the door. She puts the Wazir in the third
compartment and opens the door. The King has arrived and after some
talk desires her. His rich robes are exchanged for the fourth gown. But
another knocking is at the door. She again says it is her husband and
locks the King up in the fourth compartment. The carpenter enters the
house. She tells him the top compartment is too small. The carpenter
disagrees and to prove himself, he goes into the fifth compartment,
upon which she closes it. Then the lady goes to the treasurer with the
letter that the Wali wrote to release her lover. Then, they both leave the
city. Meanwhile, the five men in the cabinet stayed for three days
without food and drink. They cannot hold their water so they urinate
over each other. When they complain they know who the others are in
the cabinet, except for the King, because he remains silent. Then the
neighbours break into the house to see what is going on in the house.
When they see the cabinet with the voices coming out they fear there is
a Jinni inside it and want to set the thing on fire. But the Kazi screams
not to. They were released and shown in the attires the lady prepared
for them.

INDIA

1. Literary Periods.
The Indus Valley civilization flourished in northern India between 2500 and
1500 B.C. The Aryans, a group of nomadic warriors and herders, were the
 earliest known migrants into India. They brought with them a well-developed
language and literature and a set of religious beliefs.

a) Vedic Period (1500 B.C. –500 B.C.).

● This period is named for the Vedas, a set of hymns that formed the
cornerstone of Aryan culture. Hindus consider the Vedas, which were
transmitted orally by priests, to be the most sacred of all literature for they
believe these to have been revealed to humans directly by the gods.
● The Rigveda which has come to mean “hymns of supreme sacred
knowledge,” is the foremost collection or Samhita made up of 1,028 hymns.
The oldest of the Vedas, it contains strong, energetic, non-speculative hymns,
often comparable to the psalms in the Old Testament. The Hindus regard
these hymns as divinely inspired or ‘heard’ directly from the gods.

The Song of Creation

Then was not non-existent nor existent: there was no realm of air, no sky beyond it.

What covered it and where? And what gave shelter? Was water there,
unfathomedmdepth of water?

Death was not then nor was there aught immortal: no sign was there, the day’s and
night’s divider.

That one thing, breathless, breathed by its own nature: apart from it was nothing
whatsoever.

Darkness there was: at first concealed in darkness, this All was indiscriminated
chaos.

All that existed then was void and formless: by the great power of warmth was born
that unit.

b) Epic and Buddhist Age (500 B.C. – A.D.).

The period of composition of the two great epics, Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
This time was also the growth of later Vedic literature, new Sanskrit literature, and
Buddhist literature in Pali. The Dhammapada was also probably composed during
this period. The Maurya Empire (322-230 B.C.) ruled by Ashoka promoted
Buddhism and preached goodness, nonviolence, and ‘righteousness’ although this
period was known for warfare and iron-fisted rule. The Gupta Dynasty (320-467
B.C.) was the next great political power. During this time, Hinduism reached a full
flowering and was evident in culture and the arts.

● The Mahabharata, traditionally ascribed to the sage Vyasa, consists of a

mass of legendary and didactic material that tells of the struggle for
 supremacy between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas
set sometime 3102 BC. The poem is made up of almost 100,000 couplets
divided into 18 parvans or sections. It is an exposition on dharma (codes of
conduct), including the proper conduct of a king, of a warrior, of a man living
in times of calamity, and of a person seeking to attain emancipation from
rebirth.

● The Bhagavad Gita (The Blessed Lord’s Song) is one of the greatest and
most beautiful of the Hindu scriptures. It is regarded by the Hindus in
somewhat the same way as the Gospels are by Christians. It forms part of
Book IV and is written in the form of a dialogue between the warrior Prince
Arjuna and his friend and charioteer, Krishna, who is also an earthly
incarnation of the god Vishnu.

From the Bhagavad-Gita

Arjuna: Krishna, what defines a man/ deep in contemplation whose insight/ and
thought are sure? How would he speak?/ How would he sit? How would he move?

Lord Krishna: When he gives up desires in his mind,/ is content with the self within
himself,/ then he is said to be a man/ whose insight is sure, Arjuna. When suffering
does not disturb his mind,/ when his craving for pleasures has vanished,/ when
attraction, fear, and anger are gone,/ he is called a sage whose thought is sure.

● The Ramayana was composed in Sanskrit, probably not before 300 BC, by
the poet Valmiki and consists of some 24,000 couplets divided into seven
books. It reflects the Hindu values and forms of social organization, the
theory of karma, the ideals of wifehood, and feelings about caste, honor and
promises.

The poem describes the royal birth of Rama, his tutelage under the sage
Visvamitra, and his success in bending Siva’s mighty bow, thus winning Sita,
the daughter of King Janaka, for his wife. After Rama is banished from his
position as heir by an intrigue, he retreats to the forest with his wife and his
half brother, Laksmana. There Ravana, the demon-king of Lanka, carries off
Sita, who resolutely rejects his attentions. After numerous adventures Rama
slays Ravana and rescues Sita. When they return to his kingdom, however,
Rama learns that the people question the queen’s chastity, and he banishes
her to the forest where she gives birth to Rama’s two sons. The family is
reunited when the sons come of age, but Sita, after again protesting her
innocence, asks to be received by the earth, which swallows her up.

From the Ramayana: “Brother’s Faithfulness”

If my elder and his lady to the pathless forests wend,
Armed with bow and ample quiver Lakshman will on them attend,
Where the wild deer range the forest and the lordly tuskers roam, And the bird of
gorgeous plumage nestles in its jungle home, Dearer far to me those woodlands
where perennial bliss prevails!
Grant me then thy sweet permission, - faithful to thy glorious star,
Lakshman, shall not wait and tarry when his Rama wanders far,
Grant me then thy loving mandate, - Lakshman hath no wish to stay, None shall bar
the faithful younger when the elder leads the way!

c) Classical Period (A.D. – 1000 A.D.).

The main literary language of northern India during this period was Sanskrit, in
contrast with the Dravidian languages of southern India. Sanskrit, which means
‘perfect speech’ is considered a sacred language, the language spoken by the gods
and goddesses. As such, Sanskrit was seen as the only appropriate language for
the noblest literary works. Poetry and drama peaked during this period. Beast
fables such as the Panchatantra were popular and often used by religious teachers
to illustrate moral points.
● The Panchatantra is a collection of Indian beast fables originally written in
Sanskrit. In Europe, the work was known under the title The Fables of Bidpai
after the narrator, and Indian sage named Bidpai, (called Vidyapati in
Sanskrit). It is intended as a textbook of artha (worldly wisdom); the
aphorisms tend to glorify shrewdness and cleverness more than helping of
others. The original text is a mixture of Sanskrit prose and stanzas of verse,
with the stories contained within one of five frame stories. The introduction,
which acts as an enclosing frame for the entire work, attributes the stories to a
learned Brahman named Vishnusarman, who used the form of animal fables
to instruct the three dull-witted sons of a king.

From the Panchatantra: “ Right-Mind and Wrong-Mind”

The good and bad of given schemes/ wise thought must first reveal: the stupid
heron saw his chicks/ provide a mongoose meal.

● Sakuntala, a Sanskrit drama by Kalidasa, tells of the love between Sakuntala

and King Dushyanta. What begins as a physical attraction for both of them
becomes spiritual in the end as their love endures and surpasses all
difficulties. King Dushyanta is a noble and pious king who upholds his duties
above personal desire. Sakuntala, on the other hand, is a young girl who
matures beautifully because of her kindness, courage, and strength of will.
After a period of suffering, the two are eventually reunited. Emotion or rasa
dominates every scene in Sanskrit drama. These emotions vary from love to
anger, heroism to cowardice, joy to terror and allows the audience to take part
in the play and be one with the characters.
 Excerpt from Sakuntala :
King. You are too modest. I feel honoured by the mere sight of you.
Shakuntala. Anusuya, my foot is cut on a sharp blade of grass, and my dress is
caught on an amaranth twig. Wait for me while I loosen it. (She casts a lingering
glance at the king, and goes out with her two friends.)
King. (sighing). They are gone. And I must go. The sight of Shakuntala has made
me dread the return to the city. I will make my men camp at a distance from the
pious grove. But I cannot turn my own thoughts from Shakuntala.
It is my body leaves my love, not I;/ My body moves away, but not my mind;
For back to her struggling fancies fly/ Like silken banners borne against the
wind. (Exit.)

● The Little Clay Cart (Mrcchakatika) is attributed to Shudraka, a king. The

characters in this play include a Brahman merchant who has lost his money
through liberality, a rich courtesan in love with a poor young man, much
description of resplendent palaces, and both comic and tragic or near-tragic
emotional situations.

PROLOGUE (Benediction upon the audience)

May His, may Shiva's meditation be
Your strong defense; on the Great Self thinks he, Knowing full well the world's
vacuity.
And again:
May Shiva's neck shield you from every harm,
That seems a threatening thunder-cloud, whereon, Bright as the lightning-flash, lies
Gauri's arm.

d) Medieval and Modern Age (A.D. 1000 – present).

Persian influence on literature was considerable during this period. Persian was the
court language of the Moslem rulers. In the 18th century India was directly under the
British Crown and remained so until its Independence in 1947. British influence was
strong and modern-day Indians are primarily educated in English. Many have been
brought into the world of Western learning at the expense of learning about their own
culture.

● Gitanjali: Song Offerings was originally published in India in 1910 and it s

translation followed in 1912. In these prose translations, Rabindranath
Tagore uses imagery from nature to express the themes of love and the
internal conflict between spiritual longings and earthly desires.

Moment’s Indulgence
I ask for a moment's indulgence to sit by thy side.
The works that I have in hand I will finish afterwards.
Away from the sight of thy face my heart knows no rest nor respite, and my work
becomes an endless toil in a shoreless sea of toil.

● The Taj Mahal, a poem by Sahir Ludhianvi, is about the mausoleum in North
India built by the Mogul emperor Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz-iMahal.
The façade of this grandiose structure is made of white marble and is
surrounded by water gardens, gateways, and walks. The tomb at the center
of the dome stands on a square block with towers at each corner. The
construction of the building took twenty years to complete involving some 20,
000 workers.

Excerpt from the Taj Mahal

Do dead king’s tombs delight you?
If so, look into your own dark home.
In this world, countless people have loved.
Who says their passions weren’t true?
They just couldn’t afford a public display like this.

● On Learning to be an Indian an essay by Santha Rama Rau illustrates the

telling effects of colonization on the lives of the people particularly the younger
generation. The writer humorously narrates the conflicts that arise between
her grandmother's traditional Indian values and the author’s own British
upbringing.
Because Mother had to fight against the old standards, and because she was
brought up to believe in them, she has an emotional understanding of them
which my sister I will never have. Brought up in Europe and educated in
preparatory and public schools in England, we felt that the conventions were
not only retrogressive and socially crippling to the country but also a little
ridiculous.

2. Religions.
Indian creativity is evident in religion as the country is the birthplace of two important
faiths: Hinduism, the dominant religion, and Buddhism, which ironically became
extinct in India but spread throughout Asia.

a) Hinduism, literally “the belief of the people of India,” is the predominant faith of
India and of no other nation. The Hindus are deeply absorbed with God and the
creation of the universe.
The Purusarthas are the three ends of man: dharma – virtue, duty, righteousness,
moral law; artha – wealth; and kama – love or pleasure. A fourth end is moksha –
the renunciation of duty, wealth and love in order to seek spiritual perfection. It is
achieved after the release from samsara, the cycle of births and deaths. The
Hindus believe that all reality is one and spiritual, and that each individual soul is
identical with this reality and shares its characteristics: pure being, intelligence, and
bliss. Everything that seems to divide the soul from this reality is maya or illusion.

Life is viewed as an upward development through four stages of effort called the four
asramas: a) the student stage – applies to the rite of initiation into the study of the
Vedas; b) the householder stage – marries and fulfills the duties as head of the
family where he begets sons and earns a living; c) the stage of the forest dweller –
departs from home and renounces the social world; and d) ascetic – stops
performing any of the rituals or social duties of life in the world and devotes time for
reflection and meditation.

Kama refers to one of the proper pursuits of man in his role as householder, that of
pleasure and love. The Kama-sutra is a classic textbook on erotics and other forms
of pleasure and love, which is attributed to the sage Vatsyayana.

The Hindus regard Purusha, the Universal Spirit, as the soul and original source of
the universe. As the universal soul, Purusha is the life-giving principle in all
animated beings. As a personified human being, Purusha's body is the source of all
creation. The four Varnas serve as the theoretical basis for the organization of the
Hindu society. These were thought to have been created from Purusha’s body:

- The Brahman (priest) was Purusha’s mouth. Their duty is to perform

sacrifices, to study and to teach the Vedas, and to guard the rules of dharma.
Because of their sacred work, they are supreme in purity and rank.
- The Ksatriyas (warriors) are the arms. From this class arose the kings who
are the protectors of society.
- The Vaisyas (peasants) are the thighs. They live by trading, herding, and
farming.
- The Sudras (serfs) are the feet. They engage in handicrafts and manual
occupation and they are to serve meekly the three classes above them. They
are strictly forbidden to mate with persons of a higher varna.

● The Upanishads form a highly sophisticated commentary on the religious

thought suggested by the poetic hymns of the Rigveda. The name implies,
according to some traditions, ‘sitting at the feet of the teacher.’ The most
important philosophical doctrine is the concept of a single supreme being, the
Brahman, and knowledge is directed toward reunion with it by the human
soul, the Atman or Self. The nature of eternal life is discussed and such
themes as the transmigration of souls and causality in creation.

b) Buddhism originated in India in the 6th century B.C. This religion is based on
the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, called Buddha, or the ‘Enlightened One.’
Much of Buddha’s teaching is focused on self-awareness and self development in
order to attain nirvana or enlightenment.
According to Buddhist beliefs, human beings are bound to the wheel of life which is a
continual cycle of birth, death, and suffering. This cycle is an effect of karma in
which a person’s present life and experiences are the result of past thoughts and
actions, and these present thoughts and actions likewise create those of the future.
The Buddhist scriptures uphold the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold
Path. The Four Noble Truths are: 1) life is suffering; 2) the cause of suffering is
desire; 3) the removal of desire is the removal of suffering; and 4) the Noble
Eightfold Path leads to the end of suffering. The Noble Eightfold Path consists of:
1) right understanding; 2) right thought; 3) right speech; 4) right action; 5) right
means of livelihood; 6) right effort; 7) right concentration; and 8) right meditation.
The Buddhist truth states that bad actions and bad feelings such as selfishness,
greed, hostility, hate are evil not because they harm others but because of their
negative influence on the mental state of the doer. It is in this sense that evil returns
to punish the doer

● The Dhammapada (Way of Truth) is an anthology of basic Buddhist teaching

in a simple aphoristic style. One of the best known books of the Pali Buddhist
canon, it contains 423 stanzas arranged in 26 chapters. These verses are
compared with the Letters of St. Paul in the Bible or that of Christ’s Sermon
on the Mount.
.
Thought
As a fletcher makes straight his arrow, a wise man makes straight his trembling and
unsteady thought which is difficult to guard, difficult to hold back.
As a fish taken from his watery home and thrown on the dry ground, our thought
trembles all over in order to escape the dominion of Mara, the tempter. It is good to
tame the mind, which is difficult to hold in and flighty, rushing wherever it listeth; a
tamed mind brings happiness.
Let the wise man guard his thoughts, for they are difficult to perceive, very artful, and
they rush wherever they list: thoughts well guarded bring happiness.
Those who bridle their mind which travels far, moves about alone, is without a body,
and hides in the chamber of the heart, will be free from the bonds of Mara, the
tempter

3. Major Writers

a). Kalidasa a Sanskrit poet and dramatist is probably the greatest Indian writer of
all time. As with most classical Indian authors, little is known about Kalidasa’s
person or his historical relationships. His poems suggest that he was a Brahman
(priest). Many works are traditionally ascribed to the poet, but scholars have
identified only six as genuine.
b) Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). The son of a Great Sage, Tagore is a
Bengali poet and mystic who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. Tagore
managed his father's estates and lived in close contact with the villagers. His
sympathy for their poverty and backwardness was later reflected in his works. The
death of his wife and two children brought him years of sadness but this also inspired
some of his best poety. Tagore is also a gifted composer and a painter.

c) Prem Chand pseudonym of Dhanpat Rai Srivastava (1880-1936). Indian

author of numerous novels and short stories in Hindi and Urdu who pioneered in
adapting Indian themes to Western literary styles. He worked as a teacher before
joining Mahatma Gandhi’s anticolonial Noncooperation Movement.

● Sevasadana (House of Service). His first major novel deals with the
problems of prostitution and moral corruption among the Indian middle class.
● Manasarovar (The Holy Lake). A collection of 250 or so short stories which
contains most of Prem Chand’s best works.
● Godan (The Gift of a Cow). This last novel was Prem Chand’s masterpiece
and it deals with his favorite theme – the hard and unrewarding life of the
village peasant.

d) Kamala Markandaya (1924). Her works concern the struggles of

contemporary Indians with conflicting Eastern and Western values. A Brahman, she
studied at Madras University then settled in England and married an Englishman. In
her fiction, Western values typically are viewed as modern and materialistic, and
Indian values as spiritual and traditional.

● Nectar in a Sieve. Her first novel and most popular work is about an Indian
peasant’s narrative of her difficult life.

e) R. K. Narayan (1906). One of the finest Indian authors of his generation

writing in English. He briefly worked as a teacher before deciding to devote himself
full-time to writing. All of Narayan’s works are set in the fictitious South Indian town
of Malgudi. They typically portray the peculiarities of human relationships and the
ironies of Indian daily life, in which modern urban existence clashes with ancient
tradition. His style is graceful, marked by genial humor, elegance, and simplicity.
● Swami and Friends. His first novel is an episodic narrative recounting the
adventures of a group of schoolboys.
● Novels: The English Teacher (1945), Waiting for the Mahatma (1955), The
Guide (1958), The Man-Eater of Malgudi (1961), The Vendor of Sweets
(1967), A Tiger for Malgudi (1983), and The World of Nagaraj (1990).
● Collection of Short Stories: Lawley Road (1956), A Horse and Two Goats
and Other Stories (1970), Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories
(1985), and Grandmother’s Tale (1992).
f) Anita Desai (1937). An English-language Indian novelist and author of
children’s books, she is considered India’s premier imagist writer. She excelled in
evoking character and mood through visual images. Most of her works reflect
Desei’s tragic view of life.

● Cry, the Peacock. Her first novel addresses the theme of the suppression
and oppression of Indian women.
● Clear Light of Day. Considered the author’s most successful work, this is a
highly evocative portrait of two sisters caught in the lassitude of Indian life.
This was shortlisted for the 1980 Booker Prize.
● Fire on the Mountain. This work was criticized as relying too heavily on
imagery at the expense of plot and characterization, but it was praised for its
poetic symbolism and use of sounds. This won for her the Royal Society of
Literature’s Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize.

g) Vir Singh (1872-1957). A Sikh writer and theologian, he wrote at a time when
Sikh religion and politics and the Punjabi language were under heavy attack by the
English and Hindus. He extolled Sikh courage, philosophy, and ideals, earning
respect for the Punjabi language as a literary vehicle.

● Kalghi Dhar Chamatkar. This novel is about the life of the 17th century guru
Gobind Singh.
● Other novels on Sikh philosophy and martial excellence include Sundri
(1898) and Bijai Singh (1899).

h) Arundhati Roy. A young female writer whose first book The God of Small
Things won for her a Booker Prize.

A. CHINA
Historical Background
● Chinese literature reflects the political and social history of China and the
impact of powerful religions that came from within and outside the country. Its
tradition goes back thousand of years and has often been inspired by
philosophical questions about the meaning of life, how to live ethically in
society, and how to live in spiritual harmony with the natural order of the
universe.

a) Shang Dynasty (1600 B.C.). During this time, the people practiced a religion
based on the belief that nature was inhabited by many powerful gods and spirits.
Among the significant advances of this period were bronze working, decimal system,
a twelve-month calendar and a system of writing consisting of 3,000 characters.

b) Chou Dynasty (1100 B.C. – 221 B.C.). This was the longest of all the
dynasties and throughout most of this period China suffered from severe political
disunity and upheaval. This era was also known as the Hundred Schools period
because of the many competing philosophers and teachers who emerged the most
influential among them being Lao Tzu, the proponent of Taoism, and Confucius, the
founder of Confucianism. Lao Tzu stressed freedom, simplicity, and the mystical
contemplation of nature whereas Confucius emphasized a code of social conduct
and stressed the importance of discipline, morality, and knowledge.

● The Book of Songs, (Shih Ching) first compiled in the 6th century B.C., is
the oldest collection of Chinese poetry and is considered a model of poetic
expression and moral insight. The poems include court songs that
entertained the aristocracy, story songs that recounted Chou dynasty legends,
hymns that were sung in the temples accompanied by dance and brief folk
songs and ballads. Although these poems were originally meant to be sung,
their melodies have long been lost.

● O Oriole, Yellow Bird

O oriole, yellow bird,/ Do not settle on the corn,
Do not peck at my millet./ The people of this land Are not minded to nurture
me./ I must go back, go home To my own land and kin.

● The Parables of the Ancient Philosophers illustrate the Taoist belief and
the humanism of the Chinese thought. In them can be seen the relativity of all
things as they pass through man’s judgment, the virtues of flexibility, and the
drawbacks of material progress.

● The Missing Axe by Lieh Tzu

A man whose axe was missing suspected his neighbor’s son. The boy
walked like a thief, looked like a thief, and spoke like a thief. But the man
found his axe while he was digging in the valley, and the next time he saw his
neighbor’s son, the boy walked, looked, and spoke like any other child.

c) Ch’in Dynasty (221 B.C. – 207 B.C.). This period saw the unification of China
and the strengthening of central government. Roads connecting all parts of the
empire were built and the existing walls on the northern borders were connected to
form the Great Wall of China.

d) Han Dynasty (207 B.C. – A.D. 220). This period was one of the most
glorious eras of Chinese history and was marked by the introduction of Buddhism
from India.

e) T’ang Dynasty (A.D. 618-960). Fine arts and literature flourished during this
era which is viewed as the Golden Age of Chinese civilization. Among the
technological advances of this time were the invention of gunpowder and the block
printing.
 ● The T’ang Poets.
Chinese lyrical poetry reached its height during the T’ang Dynasty. Inspired
by scenes of natural beauty, T’ang poets wrote about the fragile blossoms in
spring, the falling of leaves in autumn, or the changing shape of the moon.

● Conversation in the Mountains by Li Po

If you were to ask me why I dwell among green mountains, I should laugh
silently; my soul is serene.
The peach blossom follows the moving water;
There is another heaven and earth beyond the world of men.

● A Meeting by Tu Fu
We were often separated How long does youth last?
Like the Dipper and the morning star. Now we are all gray-haired.
What night is tonight? Half of our friends are dead,
We are together in the candlelight.
And both of us were surprised when we met.

f) Sung Dynasty (A.D. 960 – 1279). This period was characterized by delicacy
and refinement although inferior in terms of literary arts but great in learning.
Professional poets were replaced by amateur writers. The practice of Neo-
Confucianism grew

g) Later Dynasties (A.D. 1260-1912). During the late 12th and early 13th
centuries, northern China was overrun by Mongol invaders led by Genghis Khan
whose grandson Kublai Khan completed the Mongol conquest of China and
established the Yuan dynasty, the first foreign dynasty in China’s history. It was
during this time that Marco Polo visited China. Chinese rule was reestablished after
the Mongols were driven out of China and the Ming dynasty was established. There
was a growth of drama in colloquial language and a decline of the language of
learning. A second foreign dynasty, the Ch’ing was established and China
prospered as its population rapidly increased causing major problems for its
government.

h) Traditional Chinese Government. The imperial rule lasted in China for over
2,000 years leading to a pyramid-shaped hierarchy in the government. The
emperor, known as the Son of Heaven, was a hereditary ruler and beneath him were
bureaucratic officials. An official government career was considered prestigious and
the selection was by means of government examinations. The civil service
examinations tested on the major Chinese works of philosophy and poetry requiring
the composition for verse. Most government officials were well-versed in literature
and philosophy and many famous Chinese poets also served in the government.
Philosophy and Religion
● Chinese literature and all of Chinese culture has been profoundly influenced
by three great schools of thought: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.
Unlike Western religions, Chinese religions are based on the perception of life
as a process of continual change in which opposing forces, such as heaven
and earth or light and dark, balance one another. These opposites are
symbolized by the Yin and Yang. Yin, the passive and feminine force,
counterbalances yang, the active and masculine force, each contains a ‘seed’
of the other, as represented in the traditional yin-yang symbol.

a) Confucianism provides the Chinese with both a moral order and an order for
the universe. It is not a religion but it makes individuals aware of their place in the
world and the behavior appropriate to it. It also provides a political and social
philosophy.
Confucius was China’s most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist,
whose ideas have influenced all civilizations of East Asia. According to tradition,
Confucius came from an impoverished family of the lower nobility. He became a
minor government bureaucrat but was never give a position of high office. He
criticized government policies and spent the greater part of his life educating a group
of disciples.

● Confucius was not a religious leader in the ordinary sense, for his teaching
was essentially a social ethic. Confucian politics is hierarchical but not
absolute and the political system is described by analogy with the family.
There are five key Confucian relationships: emperor and subject, father and
son, husband and wife, older brother and younger brother, friend and friend.
● Confucian ethics is humanist. The following are Confucian tenets: a) jen or
human heartedness are qualities or forms of behavior that set men above the
rest of the life on earth. It is the unique goodness of man which animals
cannot aspire to. Also known as ren, it is the measure of individual character
and such, is the goal of self-cultivation. The ideal individual results from
acting according to li, b) li refers to ritual, custom, propriety, and manner. Li is
thought to be the means by which life should be regulated. A person of li is a
good person and a state ordered by li is a harmonious and peaceful state. Li
or de as a virtue is best understood as a sacred power inherent in the very
presence of the sage. The sage was the inspiration for proper conduct and
the model of behavior.

● The Analects (Lun Yu) is one of the four Confucian texts. The sayings range
from brief statements to more extended dialogues between Confucius and his
students. Confucius believes that people should cultivate the inherent
goodness within themselves –unselfishness, courage, and honor – as an ideal
of universal moral and social harmony. The Analects instructs on moderation
in all things through moral education, the building of a harmonious family life,
 and the development of virtues such as loyalty, obedience, and a sense of
justice. It also emphasizes filial piety and concern with social and religious
rituals. To Confucius, a person’s inner virtues can be fully realized only
through concrete acts of ‘ritual propriety’ or proper behavior toward other
human beings.

● From The Analects (II.1)

The Master said, “He who exercises government by means of his virtue may
be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars
turn towards it.”

● The Book of Changes (I Ching) is one of the Five Classics of Confucian

philosophy and has been primarily used for divination. This book is based on
the concept of change – the one constant of the universe. Although change is
neverending, it too proceeds according to certain universal and observable
patterns.

b) Taoism, was expounded by Lao Tzu during the Chou Dynasty. Taoist beliefs
and influences are an important part of classical Chinese culture. “The Tao” or “The
Way” means the natural course that the world follows. To follow the tao of to “go
with the flow” is both wisdom and happiness. For the Taoist, unhappiness comes
from parting from the tao or from trying to flout it.

The Taoist political ideas are very passive: the good king does nothing, and by this
everything is done naturally. This idea presents an interesting foil to Confucian
theories of state, although the Taoists never represented any political threat to the
Confucianists. Whereas Confucianism stressed conformity and reason in solving
human problems, Taoism stressed the individual and the need for human beings to
conform to nature rather than to society.

Lao-tzu Known as the “old philosopher”, Lao-zi is credited as the founder of Taoism
and an elder contemporary of Confucius who once consulted with him. He was more
pessimistic than Confucius was about what can be accomplished in the world by
human action. He counseled a far more passive approach to the world and one’s
fellows: one must be cautious and let things speak for themselves. He favored a
more direct relationship between the individual self and the dao.

The Tao-Te Ching (Classic of the Way of Power) is believed to have been written
between the 8th and 3rd centuries B.C. The basic concept of the dao is wu-wei or
“non-action” which means no unnatural action, rather than complete passivity. It
implies spontaneity, non-interference, letting things take their natural course i.e., “Do
nothing and everything else is done.” Chaos ceases, quarrels end, and self-
righteous feuding disappears because the dao is allowed to flow unchallenged.
Realize the Simple Self
Banish wisdom, discard knowledge,
And the people shall profit a hundredfold;
Banish love, discard justice,
And the people shall recover the love of their kin;
Banish cunning discard utility,
And the thieves and brigands shall disappear.
As these three touch the externals and are inadequate; The people have need
of what they can depend upon:
Reveal thy Simple Self,
Embrace the Original
Nature,
Check thy selfishness, Curtail thy desires.

c) Buddhism was imported from India during the Han dynasty. Buddhist
thought stresses the importance of ridding oneself of earthly desires and of seeking
ultimate peace and enlightenment through detachment. With its stress on living
ethically and its de-emphasis on material concerns, Buddhism appealed to both
Confucians and Taoists.

Genres in Chinese Poetry has always been highly valued in Chinese culture and
was considered superior to prose. Chief among its characteristics are lucidity,
brevity, subtlety, suggestiveness or understatement, and its three-fold appeal to
intellect, emotion, and calligraphy. There are five principle genres in Chinese poetry:

b) shih was the dominant Chinese poetic form from the 2nd through the 12th
century characterized by: i) an even number of lines; ii) the same number of words in
each line, in most cases five or seven; and iii) the occurrence of rhymes at the end s
of the even-numbered lines. Shih poems often involve the use of parallelism, or
couplets that are similar in structure or meaning.

c) sao was inspired by li sao or ‘encountering sorrow’, a poem of lamentation

and protest authored by China’s first known great poet, Chu Yuan (332-295 B.C.). It
was an unusually long poem consisting of two parts: i) an autobiographical account
that is Confucian in overtones; and ii) a narration of an imaginary journey undertaken
by the persona. The sao enables the poets to display their creativity of describing
China’s flora and fauna, both real and imaginary. It is also filled with melancholia for
unrewarded virtue

d) fu was a poem partially expository and partly descriptive involving a single

thought or sentiment usually expressed in a reflective manner. Language ranges
from the simple to the rhetorical.
e) lu-shih or ‘regulation poetry’ was developed during the Tang dynasty but has
remained popular even in the present times. It is an octave consisting of five or
seven syllabic verses with a definite rhyming scheme with all even lines rhyming
together and the presence of the caesura in every line. The first four lines of this
poem is the ching (scene) while the remaining four lines describe the ch’ing
(emotion). Thus, emotion evolves from the setting or atmosphere and the two
becomes fused resulting in a highly focused reflection of the persona’s loneliness but
with determination to struggle.

f) chueh-chu or truncated poetry is a shorter version of the lu-shih and was also
popular during the Tang dynasty. It contains only four lines but within its twenty or
twenty-eight syllables or characters were vivid pictures of natural beauty.

g) tzu was identified with the Sung dynasty. It is not governed by a fixed number
of verses nor a fixed number of characters per verse. The tzu lyrics were sung to the
tunes of popular melodies.

Conventions of Chinese Theater

● Chinese drama may be traced to the song and dances of the chi (wizards)
and the wu (witches) whom the people consulted to exercise evil spirits, to
bring rain, to insure bountiful harvest, etc., an origin in worship or in some
sacred ritual.

a) There are four principal roles: sheng, tau, ching, and chao.
● The sheng is the prerogative of the leading actor, usually a male character, a
scholar, a statesman, a warrior patriot and the like.
● The tau plays all the women’s roles. At least six principal characters are
played by the female impersonator who has taken over the role after women
were banned from the Chinese stage as they were looked down upon as
courtesen.
● The ching roles usually assigned the roles of brave warriors, bandits, crafty
and evil ministers, upright judges, loyal statesmen, at times god-like and
supernatural beings. Conventionally, the ching must have broad faces and
forehead suitable for the make-up patters suggestive of his behavior.
● The chau is the clown or jester who is not necessarily a fool and may also do
serious or evil character. He is easily recognized for the white patch around
his eyes and nose, his use of colloquial language and adeptness in combining
mimicry and acrobatics.

b) Unlike Greek plays, classical Chinese plays do not follow the unities of time,
place, and action. The plot may be set in two or more places, the time element
sometimes taking years to develop or end, and action containing many other
subplots.
c) Chinese drama conveys an ethical lesson in the guise of art in order to
impress a moral truth or a Confucian tenet. Dramas uphold virtue, condemn vice,
praise fidelity, and filial piety. Vice is represented on the stage not for its own sake
but as contrast to virtue.

d) There are two types of speeches – the dialogue, usually in prose, and the
monologues. While the dialogue carries forward the action of the day, the
monologue is the means for each character to introduce him/herself at the beginning
of the first scene of every scene as well as to outline the plot.

e) Chinese plays are long – six or seven hours if performed completely. The
average length is about four acts with a prologue and an epilogue. The Chinese play
is a total theater. There is singing, recitation of verses, acrobats, dancing, and
playing of traditional musical instruments.

f) Music is an integral part of the classical drama. It has recitatives, arias, and
musical accompaniment. Chinese music is based on movement and rhythm that
harmonized perfectly with the sentiments being conveyed by a character.

g) The poetic dialogue, hsieh tzu (wedge), is placed at the beginning or in

between acts and is an integral part of the play.
The stage is bare of props except a table and a pair of chairs may be converted to a
battlefield or a court scene, a bedroom, even a prison through vivid acting and
poetry.
Property conventions are rich in symbolism table with a chair at the side, both placed
at
the side of the stage, represents a hill or a high wall.

h) Dramatic conventions that serve to identify the nature and function of each
character.
Make-up identifies the characters and personalities. Costumes help reveal types
and different colors signify ranks and status.

i) Action reflects highly stylized movements. Hand movements may indicate

embarrassment or helplessness or anguish or anger.

Major Chinese Writers.

● Chuang Tzu (4th century B.C.) was the most important early interpreter of
the philosophy of Taoism. Very little is known about his life except that he
served as a minor court official. In his stories, he appears as a quirky
character who cares little for either public approval or material possessions.

● Lieh Tzu (4th century B.C.) was a Taoist teacher who had many philosophical
differences with his forebears Lao-Tzu and Chuan Tzu. He argued that a
 sequence of causes predetermines everything that happens, including one’s
choice of action.

● Lui An (172 – 122 B.C.) was not only a Taoist scholar but the grandson of the
founder of the founder of the Han dynasty. His royal title was the Prince of
Hauinan. Together with philosophers and under his patronage, he produced
a collection of essays on metaphysics, cosmology, politics, and conduct.

● Ssu-ma Ch’ien (145 – 90 B.C.) was the greatest of China’s ‘Grand Historians’
who dedicated himself to completing the first history of China the Records of
the Historian. His work covers almost three thousand years of Chinese
history in more than half a million written characters etched onto bamboo
tablets.

The T’ang Poets:

● Li Po (701 –762) was Wang Wei’s contemporary and he spent a short time in
courts, but seems to have bee too much of a romantic and too give to drink to
carry out responsibilities. He was a Taoist, drawing sustenance from nature
and his poetry was often other-wordly and ecstatic. He had no great regard
for his poems himself. He is said to have mad thousands of them into paper
boats which he sailed along streams.
● Tu Fu (712 –770) is the Confucian moralist, realist, and humanitarian. He
was public-spirited, and his poetry helped chronicle the history of the age: the
deterioration
● Wang Wei (796? – 761?) was an 8th century government official who spent
the later years of his life in the country, reading and discussing Buddhism with
scholars and monks. He is known for the pictorial quality of his poetry and for
its economy. His word-pictures parallel Chinese brush artistry in which a few
strokes are all suggestive of authority, the disasters of war, and official
extravagance.
● Po Chu-I (772 – 846) was born two years after Tu Fu died, at a time when
China was still in turmoil from foreign invasion and internal strife. He wrote
many poems speaking bitterly against the social and economic problems that
were plaguing China.
● Li Ch’ing-chao (A.D. 1084 – 1151) is regarded as China’s greatest woman
poet and was also one of the most liberated women of her day. She was
brought up in court society and was trained in the arts and classical literature
quite an unusual upbringing for a woman of the Sung dynasty. Many of her
poems composed in the tz’u form celebrate her happy marriage or express
her loneliness when her husband was away.
● Chou-Shu-jen (1881 – 1936) has been called the ‘father of the modern
Chinese short story because of his introduction of Western techniques. He is
also known as Lu Hsun whose stories deal with themes of social concern, the
problems of the poor, women, and intellectuals.
JAPAN
Historical Background
● Early Japan borrowed much from Chinese culture but evolved its own
character over time. Early Japan’s political structure was based on clan, or
family. Each clan developed a hierarchy of classes with aristocrats, warriors,
and priests at the top and peasants and workers at the bottom. During the 4th
century A.D. the Yamato grew to be most powerful and imposed the Chinese
imperial system on Japan creating an emperor, an imperial bureaucracy, and
a grand capital city.
●
a) The Heian Age was the period of peace and prosperity, of aesthetic
refinement and artificial manners. The emperor began to diminish in power but
continued to be a respected figure. Since the Japanese court had few official
responsibilities, they were able to turn their attention to art, music, and literature.

● The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon, represents a unique form of the diary
genre. It contains vivid sketches of people and place, shy anecdotes and
witticisms, snatches of poetry, and 164 lists on court life during the Heian
period. Primarily intended to be a private journal, it was discovered and
eventually printed. Shōnagon served as a lady-in-waiting to the Empress
Sadako in the late 10th century.

From Hateful Things

One is in a hurry to leave, but one’s visitor keeps chattering away. If it is someone of
no importance, one can get rid of him by saying, “You must tell me all about it next
time”; but, should it be the sort of visitor whose presence commands one’s best
behavior, the situation is hateful indeed.

b) The Feudal Era was dominated by the samurai class which included the
militaristic lords, the daimyo and the band of warriors, the samurai who adhered to a
strict code of conduct the emphasized bravery, loyalty, and honor. In 1192 Yorimoto
became the shogun or chief general one of a series of shoguns who ruled Japan for
over 500 years.

c) The Tokugawa Shogonate in the late 1500s crushed the warring feudal lords
and controlled all of Japan from a new capital at Edo, now Tokyo. By 1630 and for
two centuries, Japan was a closed society: all foreigners were expelled, Japanese
Christians were persecuted, and foreign travel was forbidden under penalty of death.
The shogonate was ended in 1868 when Japan began to trade with the Western
powers. Under a more powerful emperor, Japan rapidly acquired the latest
technological knowledge, introduced universal education, and created an impressive
industrial economy.
Religious Traditions
● Two major faiths were essential elements in the cultural foundations of
Japanese society.

a) Shintoism or ‘ the way of the gods,’ is the ancient religion that reveres in
dwelling divine spirits called kami, found in natural places and objects. For this
reason natural scenes, such as waterfall, a gnarled tree, or a full moon, inspired
reverence in the Japanese people.

The Shinto legends have been accepted as historical fact although in postwar times
they were once again regarded as myths. These legends from the Records of
Ancient Matters, or Kokiji, A.D. 712, and the Chronicles of Japan, or Nihongi, A.D.
720 form the earliest writings of ancient Japan. Both collections have been
considerably influenced by Chinese thought.

b) Zen Buddhism emphasized the importance of meditation, concentration, and

selfdiscipline as the way to enlightenment. Zen rejects the notion that salvation is
attained outside of this life and this world. Instead, Zen disciples believe that one
can attain personal tranquility and insights into the true meaning of life through
rigorous phusical and mental discipline.

Socio-political concepts
● Japan has integrated Confucian ethics and Buddhist morality which India
implanted in China. The concepts of giri and on explain why the average
Japanese is patriotic, sometimes ultra-nationalistic, law-abiding. Even
seppuku or ritual disembowelment exemplify to what extent these two socio-
political concepts could be morally followed.

a) Giri connotes duty, justice, honor, face, decency, respectability, courtesy,

charity, humanity, love, gratitude, claim. Its sanctions are found in mores, customs,
folkways. For example, in feudal Japan ‘loss of face’ is saved by suicide or vendetta,
if not renouncing the world in the monastery.

b) On suggests a sense of obligation or indebtedness which propels a Japanese

to act, as it binds the person perpetually to other individuals to the group, to parents,
teachers, superiors, and the emperor.

Poetry
● is one of the oldest and most popular means of expression and
communication in the Japanese culture. It was an integral part of daily life in
ancient Japanese society, serving as a means through which anyone could
chronicle experiences and express emotions
a) The Manyoshu or ‘Book of Ten Thousand Leaves is an anthology by poets
from a wide range of social classes, including the peasantry, the clergy, and the
ruling class.

b) There are different poems according to set forms or structures:

● choka are poems that consist of alternate lines of five and seven syllables
with an additional seven-syllable line at the end. There is no limit to the
number of lines which end with envoys, or pithy summations. These envoys
consist of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables that elaborate on or summarize the theme or
central idea of the main poem.
● tanka is the most prevalent verse form in traditional Japanese literature. It
consists of five lines of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables including at least one caesura, or
pause. Used as a means of communication in ancient Japanese society, the
tanka often tell a brief story or express a single thought or insight and the
common subjects are love and nature.

Every Single Thing (by Priest Saigyo)

Every single thing Changes and is changing Always in this world.
Yet with the same light
The moon goes on shining.

How Helpless My Heart! (by Ono Komachi)

How helpless my heart!
Were the stream to tempt,
My body, like a reed
Severed at the roots,
Would drift along, I think.

● renga is a chain of interlocking tanka. Each tanka within a renga was divided
into verses of 17 and 14 syllables composed by different poets as it was
fashionable for groups of poets to work together during the age of Japanese
feudalism.
● hokku was the opening verse of a renga which developed into a distinct
literary form known as the haiku. The haiku consist of 3 lines of 5-7-5 syllable
characterized by precision, simplicity, and suggestiveness. Almost all haiku
include a kigo or seasonal words such as snow or cherry blossoms that
indicates the time of year being described.

Buson
Blossoms on the pear; and a woman in the moonlight reads a letter there…

Sokan
If to the moon one puts a handle – what a splendid fan!
Onitsu
Even stones in streams of mountain water compose
songs to wild cherries.

Prose appeared in the early part of the 8th century focusing on Japanese history.
During the Heian Age, the members of the Imperial court, having few administrative
or political duties, kept lengthy diaries and experimented with writing fiction.

● The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki Shikibu, a work of tremendous length

and complexity, is considered to be the world’s first true novel. It traces the
life of a gifted and charming prince. Lady Murasaki was an extraordinary
woman far more educated than most upper-class men of her generation. She
was appointed to serve in the royal court of the emperor.
● The Tale of Haike written by an anonymous author during the 13th century
was the most famous early Japanese novel. It presents a striking portrait of
wartorn Japan during the early stages of the age of feudalism.
● Essays in Idleness by Yoshida Kenko was written during the age of
feudalism. It is a loosely organized collection of insights, reflections, and
observations, written during the 14th century. Kenko was born into a
highranking Shinto family and became a Buddhist priest.

Excerpt from Essays in Idleness:

In all things it is Beginning and End that are interesting. The love of men and women
– is it only when they meet face to face? To feel sorrow at an unaccomplished
meeting, to grieve over empty vows, to spend the long night sleepless and alone, to
yearn for distant skies, in a neglected house to think fondly of the past – this is what
love is.

● In the Grove by Ryunusuke Akutagawa is the author’s most famous story

made into the film Rashomon. The story asks these questions: What is the
truth? Who tells the truth? How is the truth falsified? Six narrators tell their
own testimonies about the death of a husband and the violation of his wife in
the woods. The narrators include a woodcutter, a monk, an old woman, the
mother-in-law of the slain man, the wife, and finally, the dead man whose
story is spoken through the mouth of a shamaness. Akutagawa’s ability to
blend a feudal setting with deep psychological insights gives this story an
ageless quality.

An Excerpt: “The Story Of The Murdered Man As Told Through A Medium”

After violating my wife, the robber, sitting there, began to speak comforting words to
her. Of course I couldn’t speak. My whole body was tied fast to the root of a cedar.
But meanwhile I winked at her many times, as much as to say, “Don’t believe the
robber.” I wanted to convey some such meaning to her. But my wife, sitting
dejectedly on the bamboo leaves, was looking hard at her lap. To all appearances,
she was listening to his words. I was agonized by jealousy.”
Drama
a) Nō plays emerged during the 14th century as the earliest form of Japanese
drama. The plays are performed on an almost bare stage by a small but elaborately
costumed cast of actors wearing masks. The actors are accompanied by a chorus
and the plays are written either in verse or in highly poetic prose. The dramas reflect
many Shinto and Buddhist beliefs, along with a number of dominant Japanese
artistic preferences. The Nō performers’ subtle expressions of inner strength, along
with the beauty of the costumes, the eloquence of the dancing, the mesmerizing
quality of the singing, and the mystical, almost supernatural, atmosphere of the
performances, has enabled the Nō theater to retain its popularity.

● Atsumori by Seami Motokiyo is drawn from an episode of The Tale of the

Heike, a medieval Japanese epic based on historical fact that tells the story of
the rise and fall of the Taira family, otherwise known as the Heike. The play
takes place by the sea of Ichi no tani. A priest named Rensei, who was once
a warrior with the Genji clan, has decided to return to the scene of the battle
to pray for a sixteen-year-old named Atsumori, whom he killed on the beach
during the battle. Rensei had taken pity on Atsumori and had almost refrained
from killing him. He realized though that if he did not kill the boy, his fellow
warriors would. He explained to Atsumori that he must kill him, and promised
to pray for his soul. On his return, he meets two peasants who are returning
home from their fields and Rensai makes an astonishing discovery about one
of them.

An Excerpt from Atsumori

Chorus: [ATSUMORI rises from the ground and advances toward the Priest with
uplifted sword.]
“There is my enemy,” he cries, and would strike,
But the other is grown gentle
And calling on Buddha’s name
Has obtained salvation for his foe; So that they shall be reborn together On one lotus
seat.
“No, Rensai is not my enemy.
Pray for me again, oh pray for me again.”

b) Kabuki involves lively, melodramatic acting and is staged using elaborate and
colorful costumes and sets. It is performed with the accompaniment of an orchestra
and generally focus on the lives of common people rather than aristocrats.

c) Jorori (now called Bunraku) is staged using puppets and was a great
influence on the development of the Kabuki.

d) Kyogen is a farce traditionally performed between the Nō tragedies.

Novels and Short Stories
● Snow Country by Kawabata tells of love denied by a Tokyo dilettante,
Shimamura, to Komako, a geisha who feels ‘used’ much as she wants to think
and feel that she is drawn sincerely, purely to a man of the world. She has
befriended Yoko to whom Shimamura is equally and passionately drawn
because of her virginity, her naivete, as he is to Komako who loses it, after
her affair with him earlier. In the end, Yoko dies in the cocoon-warehouse in a
fire notwithstanding Komako’s attempt to rescue her. Komako embraces the
virgin Yoko in her arms while Shimamura senses the Milky Way ‘flowing down
inside him with a roar.’ Kawabata makes use of contrasting thematic symbols
in the title: death and purification amidst physical decay and corruption.

● The House of Sleeping Beauties by Kawabata tells of the escapades of a

dirty old man, Eguchi, to a resort near the sea where young women are given
drugs before they are made to sleep sky-clad. Decorum rules it that these
sleeping beauties should not be touched, lest the customers be driven away
by the management. The book lets the reader bare the deeper recesses of
the septuagenarian’s mind. Ironically, this old man who senses beauty and
youth is incapable of expressing, much less having it. Thus, the themes of old
age and loneliness and coping become inseparable.

● The Makioka Sisters by Tanizaki is the story of four sisters whose chief
concern is finding a suitable husband for the third sister, Yukiko, a woman of
traditional beliefs who has rejected several suitors. Until Yukiko marries,
Taeko, the youngest, most independent, and most Westernized of the sisters,
must remain unmarried. More important than the plot, the novel tells of
middle-class daily life in prewar Osaka. It also delves into such topics as the
intrusion of modernity and its effect on the psyche of the contemporary
Japanese, the place of kinship in the daily life of the people, and the passage
of the old order and the coming of the new.
● The Sea of Fertility by Mishima is the four-part epic including Spring Snow,
Runaway Horses, The Temple of Dawn, and The Decay of the Angel. The
novels are set in Japan from about 1912 to the 1960s. Each of them depicts
a different reincarnation of the same being: as a young aristocrat in 1912, as a
political fanatic in the 1930s, as a Thai princess before the end of WWII, and
as an evil young orphan in the 1960s. Taken together the novels are a clear
indication of Mishima’s increasing obsession with blood, death, and suicide,
his interest in self-destructive personalities, and his rejection of the sterility of
modern life.

● The Setting Sun by Ozamu is a tragic, vividly painted story of life in postwar
Japan. The narrator is Kazuko, a young woman born to gentility but now
impoverished. Though she wears Western clothes, her outlook is Japanese;
 her life is static, and she recognizes that she is spiritually empty. In the
course of the novel, she survives the deaths of her aristocratic mother and her
sensitive, drugaddicted brother Naoji, an intellectual ravage by his own and
society’s spiritual failures. She also spends a sad, sordid night with the writer
Uehara, and she conceives a child in the hope that it will be the first step in a
moral revolution

● In the Grove by Akutagawa is the author’s most famous story made into the
film Rashomon. The story asks these questions: What is the truth? Who tells
the truth? How is the truth falsified? Six narrators tell their own testimonies
about the death of a husband and the violation of his wife in the woods. The
narrators include a woodcutter, a monk, an old woman, the mother-in-law of
the slain man, the wife, and finally, the dead man whose story is spoken
through the mouth of a shamaness. Akutagawa’s ability to blend a feudal
setting with deep psychological insights gives this story an ageless quality.

● The Wild Geese by Oagi is a melodramatic novel set in Tokyo at the

threshold of the 20th century. The novel explores the blighted life of Otama,
daughter of a cake vendor. Because of extreme poverty, she becomes the
mistress of a policeman, and later on of a money-lender, Shazo. In her desire
to rise from the pitfall of shame and deprivation, she tries to befriend Okada, a
medical student who she greets every day by the window as he passes by on
his way to the campus. She is disillusioned however, as Okada, in the end,
prepares for further medical studies in Germany. Ogai’s novel follows the
traditio of the watakushi-shosetsu or the confessional I- novel where the
storyteller is the main character.

● The Buddha Tree by Fumio alludes to the awakening of Buddha under the
bo tree when he gets enlightened after fasting 40 days and nights. Similarly,
the hero of the novel, Soshu, attains self-illumination after freeing himself from
the way of all flesh. The author was inspired by personal tragedies that befell
their family and this novel makes him transcend his personal agony into
artistic achievement.

Major Writers
● Seami Motokiyo had acting in his blood for his father Kanami, a priest, was
one of the finest performers of his day. At age 20 not long after his father’s
death, he took over his father’s acting school and began to write plays. Some
say he became a Zen priest late in life; others say he had two sons, both of
them actors. According to legend, he died alone at the age of 81 in a
Buddhist temple near Kyoto.

● The Haiku Poets

- Matsuo Bashō (1644 – 1694) is regarded as the greatest haiku poet. He was
born into a samurai family and began writing poetry at an early age. After becoming
a Zen Buddhist, he moved into an isolated hut on the outskirts of Edo (Tokyo) where
he lived the life of a hermit, supporting himself by teaching and judging poetry.
Bashō means ‘banana plant,’ a gift given him to which he became deeply attached.
Over time his hut became known as the Bashō Hut until he assumed the name.

- Yosa Buson (1716 – 1783) is regarded as the second-greatest haiku poet.

He lived in Kyoto throughout most of his life and was one of the finest painters of his
time. Buson presents a romantic view of the Japanese landscape, vividly capturing
the wonder and mystery of nature.

- Kobayashi Issa (1763 –1827) is ranked with Bashō and Buson although his
talent was not widely recognized until after his death. Issa’s poems capture the
essence of daily life in Japan and convey his compassion for the less fortunate.

● Yasunari Kawabata (1899 – 1972) won the Nobel Prize for Literature in
1968. The sense of loneliness and preoccupation with death that permeates
much of his mature writing possibly derives from the loneliness of his
childhood having been orphaned early. Three of his best novels are: Snow
Country, Thousand Cranes, and Sound of the Mountains. He committed
suicide shortly after the suicide of his friend Mishima.

● Junichiro Tanizaki (1886 –1965) is a major novelist whose writing is

characterized by eroticism and ironic wit. His earliest stories were like those
of Edgar Allan Poe’s but he later turned toward the exploration of more
traditional Japanese ideals of beauty. Among his works are Some Prefer
Nettles, The Makioka Sisters, Diary of a Mad Old Man.

● Yukio Mishima (1925 – 1970) is the pen name of Kimitake Hiraoka, a prolific
writer who is regarded by many writers as the most important Japanese
novelist of the 20th century. His highly acclaimed first novel, Confessions of a
Mask is partly autobiographical work that describes with stylistic brilliance a
homosexual who must mask his sexual orientation. Many of his novels have
main characters who, for physical or psychological reasons, are unable to find
happiness. Deeply attracted to the austere patriotism and marital spirit of
Japan’s past, Mishima was contemptuous of the materialistic Westernized
society of Japan in the postwar era. Mishima committed seppuku (ritual
disembowelment).

● Dazai Ozamu (1909 – 1948) just like Mishima, and Kawabata committed
suicide, not unusual, but so traditional among Japanese intellectuals. It is
believed that Ozamu had psychological conflicts arising from his inability to
draw a red line between his Japaneseness clashing with his embracing the
 Catholic faith, if not the demands of creativity. The Setting Sun is one of his
works.

● Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892 – 1927) is a prolific writer of stories, plays,

and poetry, noted for his stylistic virtuosity. He is one of the most widely
translated of all Japanese writers, and a number of his stories have been
made into films. Many of his short stories are Japanese tales retold in the
light of modern psychology in a highly individual style of feverish intensity that
is well-suited to their macabre themes. Among his works are Rashomon, and
Kappa. He also committed suicide.

● Oe Kenzaburo (1935 -) a novelist whose rough prose style, at time nearly

violating the natural rhythms of the Japanese language, epitomizes the
rebellion of the post-WWII generation which he writes. He was awarded the
Nobel Prize for Literature in 1994. Among his works are: Lavish are the
Dead, The Catch, Our Generation, A Personal Matter, The Silent Cry, and
Awake, New Man!.

KOREAN LITERATURE
SOUTH KOREA
● The flag of South Korea, also known as the Taegukgi, has three parts: a white
rectangular background, a red and blue Taegeuk in its center, and four black
trigrams one toward each corner. The first pattern of Taegukgi was made by
Kojong.

NORTH KOREA
● The North Korea flag was officially adopted on September 9, 1948. The two
blue stripes signify sovereignty, peace and friendship. the white stripes signify
purity, red represents the Communist revolution and the red star is the
recognized symbol of Communism.

EARLY KOREAN LITERATURE

● Early Korean literature was heavily influenced by Shamanism, Buddhism and
Confucianism.
● Began as an oral tradition
● Good was rewarded and evil was punished and values like loyalty to the King,
filial piety, respect for ones elders, true friendship and chastity were
emphasized.
● Korean writings were poems called hyangga.

ALPHABET
GORYEO DYNASTY
 ● Korean dynasty established in 918 by Emperor Taejo. • The name "Goryeo" is
derived from "Goguryeo",one of the ancient Three Kingdoms of Korea, which
changed its name to "Goryeo" during the reign of King Jangsu of Goguryeo (in
the 5thcentury) • The English name "Korea" derives from"Goryeo.

EMPEROR TAEJO
● During Koryo period, hanshi, poems in Chinese characters, developed to
maturity, and toward the end of the dynasty, a new form of poetry called shijo
gained wide acceptance. • Korean literature of the upper class, mostly written
in classical Chinese was characterized byan emphasis on philosophic
expositions on the Chinese classics, an art that was essential for government
service, the only respectable avenue to success outside of teaching.
● The shijo, a short three-line poem written inHan-gul (the Korean alphabet),
remained popular throughout the Choson Dynasty. • The Joseon period has
left a substantial legacy to modern Korea; much of modern Korean etiquette,
cultural norms, societal attitudes towards current issues, and the modern
Korean language and its dialects derive from the culture and traditions of
Joseon.

SHAMANISM
● is a practice that involves practitioner reaching altered states of
consciousness in order to encounter and interact with the Spirit world. A
shaman is a person regarded as having access to, and influence in the world
of benevolent and malevolent spirits, who typically enters into a trance state
during a ritual, and practices divination and healing.

BUDDHISM
● Buddhism is a religion indigenous to the Indian subcontinent that
encompasses variety of traditions, beliefs, and practices largely based on
teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is commonly known as the
Buddha (meaning "the awakened one" )

CONFUCIANISM
● is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings
of the Chinese philosopher Confucius •Confucianism originated as an"ethical-
sociopolitical teaching" during theSpring and Autumn Period, but later
developedmetaphysical and cosmological elements in theHan Dynasty.

LINGUISTIC
● Linguistic expression and manner of transmission are issues of utmost
importance in the overall understanding of Korean literature.
● Korean literature in Chinese was created when Chinese characters were
brought to Korea
 ● In the Koryo and Choson cultures, Chinese letters were central to Koreans
daily lives.
● The use of the Korean script began during the Choson period with the
creation of the Korean alphabet the creation of the Korean alphabet in the
15thcentury was a crucial turning point in Koreas literary history.
● Korean script made possible the broadening of the literary field to include
women and commoners.
● The Korean script (Han-gul) assumed its place of leading importance in
Korean literature only during the latter half of the 19th century.
● As soon as the linguistic duality of "Chinese" and "Native" within Korean life
was overcome , literature in the Korean script became the foundation upon
which the national literature developed.

HYANGGA
● The Hyangga poetry of the Shilla period signaled the beginning of a unique
poetic form in Korean literature
● The Hyangga were recorded in the hyangchal script, in which the Korean
language was written using "sound" (um) and "meaning" (hun) ofChinese
characters
● Fourteen poems in the Hyangga style from theShilla period have been
preserved in the Samgukyusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms).
● This poetic form was passed down to the KoryoDynasty, and 11 poems from
that period are preserved in the Kyunyojon (Tales of Kyunyo).
● 4-line, 8-line, and 10-line poems
● It is difficult to make general determinations about the personalities of the
Hyangga poets .But it is thought that the 4-line poems with their ballad-like
attributes may indicate that the poets came from a broad range of
backgrounds.

KORYO KAYO
The literature of the Koryo period is marked byan increased use of Chinese letters,
the disappearance of Hyangga, and the emergence of Koryo kayo (Koryo songs)
which continued to be transmitted as oral literature until the Choson period.
● The new poetic form introduced by writers of the Koryo period was the Koryo
kayo called pyolgok.
● The Koryo Kayo are characterized by increased length and a free and
undisciplined form
● The bold, direct nature of the songs make themdistinctive. They deal with the
real world of humankind. Butbecause the songs were transmitted orally overa
long period and recorded only after thebeginning of the Choson period, there
is a strongpossibility that they have been partially altered.

PROSE
Korean prose literature can be divided into narratives,fiction, and literary miscellany.
ORAL LITERATURE
Oral literature includes all texts that were orally transmitted from generation to
generation until the invention of Hangul (hangul)— ballads , legends, mask plays,
puppet-show texts, and pansori ("story singing") texts.

COLONIAL PERIOD
During Colonial Korea (1910–1945), free speech and thepress were restricted, thus
influencing the literature of thetime.
● In 1919 Kim Tong-in and Kim Hyok founded a literary magazine, Changjo ( 창 조
Creation) marking the starting point of contemporary Korean literature.
● The literary magazines which appeared during the 1920sand 1930s laid the
basis for the future development of modern Korean literature.

Korean Lit
Korean Literature
Korean literature is usually divided into classical and modern in chronological order.
However, the rationale for such a division is still questioned. Since the mid-19th
century, when society actively accepted Western things, large-scale reforms flooded
South Korea. Korean classical literature developed against the backdrop of
traditional Korean folk beliefs. I was also influenced by Taoism, Confucianism, and
Buddhism. Among them, the influence of Buddhism was the largest, and the
influence of Confucianism, especially Confucianism in the Joseon era, was
enormous. On the other hand, Korean modern literature has evolved in the process
of modernization from contact with Western culture. Not only Christian thought, but
also various artistic flows and influences were imported from the West. With the
development of "new education" and "national literary movement", the Chinese
writing system, which traditionally represented the culture of the ruling class, has
lost its former socio-cultural function. At the same time, the Korean character Hangul
became more widely used, leading to the growth and development of Korean
linguistics and literary studies. With the advent of "new novels" (shinsosol), the
number of Korean screenplay novels has
increased. Music and classical poetry, which were fused into a kind of song called
Changok, were now regarded as separate attempts. A new path to new literature has
been
opened. South Korea imported Western culture through Japan and China, but also
implemented internal literary reforms.
Linguistic expressions and their translation methods are of paramount importance to
the
overall understanding of Korean literature. Korean literature covers a wide area.
Literature recorded in Chinese. Literature written in Hangul. These two aspects of
Korean
literature differ greatly in their literary form and character.
Chinese Korean literature began when Chinese characters were brought to Korea.
Since
Chinese characters are a Chinese invention, there have been attempts in Korean
history
to exclude literature written in Chinese from the parameters of Korean literature.
However, in Goryeo and Korean culture, Chinese characters played a central role in
Korean daily life. Also, the fact that the literary activities of the ruling class took place
in
Chinese cannot be overlooked. This document contains Chinese-centric ideas and
values
shared by most of East Asia during this period, but also experiences and thought
patterns
that express the unique way of life of Koreans.
The Korean alphabet (Hunminjeongeum) was created during the Korean era, and
Korean
characters were used. The emergence of the Korean alphabet in the 15th century
was a
decisive turning point in Korean literary history. Compared to Chinese literature,
which
was dominated by the upper class, the Korean script made it possible to expand the
literary field to include women and citizens. This has expanded the social
foundations of
Korean writers and readers. The Korean script (Hangul) only played a leading role in
Korean literature in the late 19th century. After the enlightenment, the use of Chinese
characters declined rapidly, and the popularity of Korean characters soared. When
the
linguistic duality of "Chinese" and "native" in Korean life was overcome, Korean
literature
became the basis for the development of national literature.

Traditional Forms And Genres

There are four major traditional poetic forms: hyangga (“native songs”); pyŏlgok
(“special songs”), or changga (“long poems”); sijo (“current melodies”); and kasa
(“verses”). Other poetic forms that flourished briefly include the kyŏnggi style in the
14th and 15th centuries and the akchang (“words for songs”) in the 15th century.The
oldest poetic form is the hyangga, poems transcribed in the hyangch’al system,
dating from the middle period of the Unified Silla dynasty to the early period of the
Koryŏ dynasty (935–1392). The poems were written in four, eight, or 10 lines; the 10-
line form—comprising two four-line stanzas and a concluding two-line stanza—was
the most popular. The poets were either Buddhist monks or members of the
Hwarangdo, a school in which chivalrous youth were trained in civil and military
virtues in preparation for state service. Seventeen of the 25 extant hyangga are
Buddhist in inspiration and content. The pyŏlgok, or changga, flourished during the
middle and late Koryŏ period. It is characterized by a refrain either in the middle or at
the end of each stanza. The refrain establishes a mood or tone that carries the
melody and spirit of the poem or links a poem composed of discrete parts with
differing contents. The theme of most of these anonymous poems is love, the joys
and torments of which are expressed in frank and
powerful language. The poems were sung to musical accompaniments chiefly by
women
entertainers known as kisaeng.
The sijo is the longest-enduring and most popular form of Korean poetry.
Although some poems are attributed to writers of the late Koryŏ dynasty, the sijo is
primarily a poetic form of the Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910). Sijo are three-line
poems in
which each line has 14 to 16 syllables and the total number of syllables seldom
exceeds
45. Each line consists of groups of four syllables. Sijo may deal with Confucian
ethical
values, but there are also many poems about nature and love. The principal writers
of sijo
in the first half of the Chosŏn dynasty were members of the Confucian upper class
(yangban) and the kisaeng.
The kasa developed at about the same time as the sijo. In its formative stage, kasa
borrowed the form of the Chinese tz’u (lyric poetry) or fu (rhymed prose). The kasa
tends
to be much longer than other forms of Korean poetry and is usually written in
balanced
couplets. Either line of a couplet is divided into two groups, the first having three or
four
syllables and the second having four syllables. The history of the kasa is divided into
two
periods, the division being marked by the Japanese invasion of 1592–97. During the
earlier period the poem was generally about 100 lines long and dealt with such
subjects
as female beauty, war, and seclusion.

Prose
Korean prose literature can be divided into narratives, fiction, and literary miscellany.
Narratives include myths, legends, and folktales found in the written records. The
principal sources of these narratives are the two great historical records compiled
during the Koryŏ dynasty: Samguk sagi (1146; “Historical Record of the Three
Kingdoms”) and Samguk yusa (1285; “Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms”). The
most important myths are those concerning the Sun and the Moon, the founding of
Korea by Tangun, and the lives of the ancient kings. The legends touch on place and
personal names and natural phenomena. The folktales include stories about
animals; ogres, goblins, and other supernatural beings; kindness rewarded and evil
punished; and cleverness and stupidity.
Ten Important Modern and Contemporary Writers from South Korea
South Korea’s modern history is marked by turbulent changes that have shaped its
national psyche. From Japanese occupation to the Korean War which tore the nation
apart, and the democratic uprisings of the 1980s, those national events have shaped
a generation of writers. We look at ten of the most important modern Korean
novelists and poets whose works reflect the turbulence of 20th-century Korea.

Park Wan-suh
Born in 1931, Park Wan-suh experience firsthand the horrors of the Korean War,
which turned her world upside down as her university education was interrupted and
her family separated. It was not until the 1970s that Park embarked on a literary
career in earnest. Her first work Namok (The Naked Tree) was published in 1970.
Many of Park’s works including The Naked Tree and Who Ate Up All the Shinga deal
with the trauma of war, especially its tragic effect on family relations. These historical
events are distilled through Park’s female perspective to show the devastating nature
of war not only on the dead, but also on the living, especially the women who
endured uncertainty and extreme hardships. In more recent works, Park delved into
the plight of women in a post-war Korea that remains strictly patriarchal.

Ko Un
Buddhist monk, democracy activist and poet, Ko Un has donned many hats in his
long career. Arguably Korea’s greatest living writer, Ko Un was born in 1933 and
thus personally experienced the horrors of the Korean War which devastated the
country, throwing it into turmoil and resulting in occupation and ultimately rupture.
Having witnessed the brutality of the war, for ten years, from 1952 in the midst of the
civil war, until 1962, Ko renounced the world and entered a Buddhist monastery.
During this time, Ko published his first volume of poetry. Four years later, he re-
entered the world. As an active participant in the democracy movements of the
1970s, Ko spent several years in prison for his political opposition. Throughout this
period, Ko continued to write and publish his poems, many of which have now been
translated into English. Ko’s poetry, grounded in the Modernist tradition, is marked
by a sense of vitality and dynamism. In works like Ten Thousand Lives, Ko gives
voice to the many individuals who have passed through his life. Popular speech and
traditional poetic form meld, bringing to life these characters. Other volumes by Ko
include The Sound of My Waves: Selected Poems 1960-1990, Abiding Places,
Korea North & South and Songs for Tomorrow: A Collection of Poems 1961-2001.

Hwang Sok-yong
Dissident and rights activist, Hwang Sok-young was born in 1943 in
Japaneseoccupied north China, then known as Manchukuo. A formative experience
for Hwang came in 1966 as he was sent to Vietnam to take part in the American war
effort. During this time, Hwang witnessed the horrors of war, which formed the basis
of his first published work The Pagoda in 1970 as well as The Shadow of Arms in
1985. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Hwang published collections of works that
paralleled his political activities. An activist against the dictatorship of Park
Chunghee, Hwang took part in the democratic Gwangju Uprising. Having been jailed
in 1993 for ‘breach of national security’ following a stint in North Korea meeting with
North Korean writers, Hwang was released in 1998 and continued his literary output
with The Old Garden, about the turbulence of the 1980s in Korea, and The Guest,
about the deep trauma and collective amnesia resulting from the division of Korea.

O Chonghui (Oh Jung-hee)

Born in Seoul in 1947, Oh has won both the Yi Sang and the Dong-In Literary
Awards and is at the forefront of establishing the success of women writers in Korea.
The world that Oh depicts is dark and bleak, where the grim landscape of life opens
ups to reveal no glimmer of hope or redemption. Death, instead of bringing welcome
relief, only continues the horror. Several of Oh’s works have been translated into
English, including River of Fire which is a collection of short stories united by a
common thread of the world seen from the perspective of their alienated, isolated
female protagonists. The collection of stories includes Oh’s first published work, The
Toy Shop Woman. Another translated collection of Oh’s works is Chinatown.

Ch’oe Yun
Ch’oe Yun, born in 1953, is one of Korea’s most recognized writers whose works
consider historical and political events that have shaped the course of contemporary
Korea. The Gwangju Massacre of 1980 in which a popular uprising was violently
quashed by the military under the authoritarian regime of Chun Doo-hwan features in
Yun’s works, as do the dissident movements of the 1980s as Korea made the
transition from dictatorship towards democratic rule. Works by Yun include There a
Petal Silently Falls, Gray Snowman, and The Last of Hanako which explores gender
roles and biases in South Korea’s patriarchal society.

Shin Kyung-sook
Shin Kyung-sook became the first Korean writer to win the Man Asian Literary Prize
in 2012 for her novel Please Look After Mother. In Korea, Shin is amongst the most
highly regarded contemporary writers, and she has won major literary prizes
including the Manhae Literature Prize, the Dong-In Literary Award and the Yi Sang
Literary Prize. Her prose is especially prized for its focus on exploring the
psychological depths of the human mind. Please Look After Mother is Shin’s first
work to be available in English. The novel’s plot is driven by a void, an absence that
deeply unsettles the peripheral figures as they confront their own selfishness and
hardheartedness. The novel is driven by the guilt of those closest to ‘Mother’, the
saintly, sacrificial old woman who has gone missing in the center of Seoul.
Alternating in perspective, from first to second to third person, the novel veers from
near accusatory to reflective and explores themes of family in the midst of South
Korea’s rapid urbanization and modernization of the past decade.
Kim Young-ha
Whether delving into noirish detective stories (Photo Shop Murder) or fictionalized
history, Kim Young-ha keeps the reader captivated by his delightful wit and deadpan
style. Often compared to Franz Kafka, Kim’s existential works undercut the normality
of everyday life, drawing our attention to the absurdity of quotidian realities. In the
short story Whatever Happened to the Guy Stuck in the Elevator?, for instance, Kim
weaves a story of a hapless protagonist whose day starts out badly – his razor
breaks halfway through his shave and the elevator breaks down – then grows
increasingly, absurdly worse. By the end of the day, safely back in his flat having
weathered a man stuck in the elevator, a bus crash, harassment accusations, being
stuck in an elevator himself, and a presentation gone wrong, the unfortunate
protagonist finds that there’s no hot water and he can’t stop thinking about the man
stuck in the elevator. Kim has garnered acclaim for his works. In 2004, he won all
three of Korea’s major literary awards: the Dong-In Literary Award for Black Flower,
the Yi Sang Literary Award for The Brother is Black and Hwang Sun-won Literature
Award for Treasure Ship. Kim’s works that have been translated into English include
Photo Shop Murder, Your Republic is Calling You and I Have the Right to Destroy
Myself.

Kim In-suk
Considered a part of Korea’s new generation of writers born in the 1960s whose
formative years paralleled South Korea’s transition towards democracy, a recurring
theme in Kim In-suk’s works is her focus on the experience of Koreans living abroad.
To date, her only work published in English is The Long Road, which explores the
diasporic experiences of Korean expatriates living in Australia. The characters reflect
on their former life in Korea, the reasons for their leaving and their existence in their
adopted country, isolated, alienated and adrift. In 2003, Kim In-suk won the Yi Sang
Literature Prize for Ocean and Butterfly, one of the most prestigious in the country.

Krys Lee
Born in Seoul, Krys Lee grew up in the US and now lives in Seoul. In her debut
collection of short stories Drifting House, her characters traverse national boundaries
physically and emotionally, yet find themselves adrift, part of nowhere and nothing.
Loneliness is pervasive in the lives of the characters. Lee reveals the true depths of
humanity unmoored and directionless, struggling to survive in a bleak and broken
world. Rather than offering protection against the world, families fractured by Korea’s
political turbulence turn inwards to rip each other apart in their unhappiness with
tragic consequences. The brutal world that Lee depicts in Drifting House is all too
real and recognizable. She smacks the reader in the face with her unsentimental
honesty, tearing down any remnants of illusory optimism about the world we live in.

Yun Ko-eun
Born in 1980, Yun Ko-eun is part of a younger generation of writers whose childhood
coincided with South Korea’s transition to full democracy and whose works reflect
the landscape of contemporary Korea. In Yun Ko-eun’s works, the real and the
unreal blur together, as the strange and absurd breaks into the quotidian lives of
utterly ordinary people, pushing them out of their comfortable conventions. With a
Murakami-esque sense, Yun’s world is unstable, and the normal and abnormal sit
side by side and sometimes collide. Through her protagonists who find themselves
trapped in both gently unsettling and increasingly bewildering situations, Yun reveals
the various idiosyncrasies of contemporary society. Yun’s published works include
The Zero G Syndrome and Table For One.

Biography:
Born in 1954 in Cheong-ju, North Chungcheong Province He first became a
recognized poet some years after he began to work as a high school teacher. The
extreme poverty of his family had meant that the only form of higher studies available
to him was the teacher training college. During his student days, seeing him
confronted with many difficulties, friends persuaded him to join their literary club and
so he first became aware of poetry.

Ivy
By Do Jong-Hwan
At times when we feel that
it is a wall, unavoidably a wall,
then without a word ivy goes climbing up the wall.
At times when we say that
it is a wall of despair
with no drop of water, where not one seed can survive,
unhurrying, the ivy advances.
Hand in hand, several together, it climbs on, a span’s breadth at a time.
It grasps the despair and will not let go
until the despair is all covered in green.
At times when we shake our heads, saying
that wall cannot be climbed,
one ivy leaf leads thousands of other ivy leaves
and finally climbs over that wall.

Biography
Hwang Sun-wŏn
Hwang Sun-won was born in 1915 near Pyongyang.Educated there and at Waseda
University in Tokyo. He was barely in his twenties when he published two volumes of
poetry, and in 1940 his first volume of stories was published. Since then, he has
concentrated on fiction, producing seven novels and more than one hundred stories.
In 1946 Hwang and his family moved from the Soviet-occupied northern sector of
Korea to the American-occupied South. He began teaching at Seoul High School in
September of that year. Like millions of other Koreans, the Hwang family was
displaced by the civil war of 1950-53. From 1957 to 1993 Hwang taught Korean
literature at Kyung Hee University in Seoul. Hwang is the author of some of the best-
known stories of modern Korea : "Pyol" (Stars, 1940), "Hwang noin" (Old Man
Hwang, 1942), "Tok chinnon nolgoni" (The Old Potter, 1944), "Hak" (Cranes, 1953),
and "Sonagi" (Showe, 1959), among others. In a creative burst in the mid 1950s
Hwang produced the story collection Iroborin saram tul (Lost Souls).

Shower
By Hwang Sun-wŏn
Summary:
The story begins as the protagonist boy spies on the great-granddaughter of Mr.
Yoon, who is sitting on a stepping stone in a stream playing with the water. She is
scooping up a handful of water to try to grasp her face reflected in the water.
Suddenly she picks up a pebble, turns around and throws it to the boy shouting,
“You fool!” The next day, the boy returns to the stream but the girl is not there. From
that day on he develops the habit of rubbing the pebble that was thrown at him. One
day it is the boy who is sitting on the stepping stone trying to catch his own reflection
in the water. As he is doing so, he sees the reflection of the girl in the water.
Embarrassed, he runs away, but trips over a stepping stone. On a Saturday, the boy
and the girl meet again and she shows him a “silk clam”. From now on they become
good friends, running around the countryside playing with scarecrows in the field and
a calf. After being reprimanded by the owner of the calf they suddenly find
themselves in a severe shower. They seek shelter in an old lookout, but since the
rain keeps pouring in, they take shelter in a haystack. After the rain stops the boy
carries her on his back, in order to cross a ditch. After this day, the boy keeps
coming to the stream, but the girl is not there. After a long time, the girl appears to
tell him that she has been ill ever since she got a cold in the rain and that she is still
not feeling any better. She also shows him the dress that she wore that day, which
was stained by the water from the ditch. She gives him some dates that she took
from her family’s ancestoral worship ceremony that day and leaves. In return the boy
sneaks into a walnut grove that same evening to give her some walnuts. As he
returns and is lying on the bed, he overhears his father speaking to his mother that
the Yoon family’s fortune has declined and that the girl has died. He also mentions
that she must have been an extraordinary girl, because she said she wanted to be
buried in the same clothes she was wearing that day.

THE KOREAN LITERATURE

At the present time, Korean arts and culture are attracting many enthusiasts around
the world. Korea’s cultural and artistic achievements through the ages are now
leading many of its young talents to the world’s most prestigious music and dance
competitions, while its literary works are being translated into many different
languages for global readers. Recently, Korean Monochrome paintings have become
the talk of the global art world.

Strange and Unique Facts About Korea

Never write a korean's name in red ink
Death by electric fan is a common fear among koreans
Korean men love their makeup
Everyone wants to know your blood type

History of Korea
Since the earliest settlements on the Korean Peninsula and in southeastern
Manchuria during prehistoric times, the people of Korea have developed a distinctive
culture based on their unique artistic sensibility. The geographical conditions of the
peninsula provided Koreans with opportunities to receive both continental and
maritime cultures and ample resources, which in turn enabled them to form unique
cultures of interest to and value for the rest of humanity, both then and now. Korea’s
vibrant cultural legacy, comprising music, art, literature, dance, architecture, clothing
and cuisine, offers a delightful combination of tradition and modernity, and is now
appreciated in many parts of the world.

EARLY KOREAN LITERATURE WAS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY SHAMANISM,

BUDDHISM AND CONFUCIANISM.
GOOD WAS REWARDED AND EVIL WAS PUNISHED AND VALUES LIKE
LOYALTY TO THE KING, FILIAL PIETY,RESPECT FOR ONES ELDERS, TRUE
FRIENDSHIP AND CHASTITY WERE EMPHASIZED.
KOREAN WRITINGS WERE POEMS CALLED HYANGGA.

The flag of South Korea, also known as the Taegukgi, has three parts: a white
rectangular background, a red and blue Taegeuk in its center, and four black
trigrams one toward each corner. The first pattern of Taegukgi was made by Kojong.

The North Korea flag was officially adopted on September 9, 1948. The two blue
stripes signify sovereignty, peace and friendship. the white stripes signify purity, red
represents the Communist revolution and the red star is the recognized symbol of
Communism.

PERSIAN LITERATURE
● Derives from Latin “Persia” deriving from Greek “Persis” In the bible it is
referred as “Paras” -(within the books of Esther, Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah)
● “Islamic Republic of Iran”
● Second largest country in Middle East
● South of the Caspian Sea and north of the Persian Gulf
● Multicultural country
● 17th most populous country
● One of the world’s oldest civilizations
ABOUT PERSIA/IRAN
● Land Area – 1,648,195 sq. km.
● Population – (2014) 81,840,713
● Life expectancy – 70
● Capital and largest City – Tehran
● Government – Islamic Theocracy
● Monetary unit – Rial
● Elburz Mountains and Mount Damavand in the north From northwest to
southeast, crossed by desert (1,287 km.) Shares borders with Iraq, turkey,
Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Afghanistan and Pakistan

RELIGION
● 633 AD- Indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism
● 1501 – Shite Islam as the official religion

LANGUAGE Khwarezmian language Mazanderani language Old Azeri language

Persian language

HISTORY
● 1500 BC – Occupied by MEDES and PERSIANS
● 525 BC- King Cyrus the Great became ruler of the Achaemenid Empire
overthrew MEDES
● 331 BC – Persia fell to Alexander
● 312 BC – Seleucids
● 247 BC – Greek speaking Parthians
● 224 BC – The Sasanians
● 641 – Arab Muslims
● 12th century – Invaded by the Mongols
● 1501-1722 – Safayid Dynasty
● 1794-1925 – Qajar Dynasty

ARTS
Carpet-weaving, pottery, mosaic, miniature painting, calligraphy, music, textile
design and illustrated manuscripts CULTURE Recognized, incorporated, adopted or
celebrated

LITERATURE
● One of the world’s oldest literatures Not all Persian literature is written in
Persian language, as some works written in Arabic and Greek Not all
literature written in Persian is written by Persians/Iranians as Turkic,
Caucasian and Indic writers also used Persian language
 ● Main issue of Pre- Islamic culture was wisdom and a kind of rationalism
Goodness and evil was a principle issue -Appeared in books and independent
treatises Classical Persian poetry is always rhymed

FAMOUS TYPES OF PERSIAN POETRY

● Gosan folk songs – Oral traditions - A kind of Iranian minstrels
● Qasidah or ode – Long poem in monorhyme - Usually panegyric, didactic or
religious nature
● Divan – Collection of poets ghazals and other verse arranged alphabetically
according to rhymes
● Ghazal (ode or lyric) – Poetic form consisting of rhyming couplet and refrain -
Poetic expression of both pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love -
Written by Persian mystics and poets
● Masnavi – Written in rhyming couplets for heroic, romantic and narrative verse
- A poem based on independent, internally rhyming lines - Followed a meter
of eleven or occasionally ten
● Rubaiyat - Poetry style - Used to describe Persian quatrain - Rhyming AABA,
AAAA - Contains only four lines - All lines rhyme, except the third line

EXAMPLE:
1. Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring
2. The Winter garment of Repentance fling
3. The Bird of Time has built a little way
4. To fly and Lo! The Bird in on the Wing.

EARLYLITERATURE
● Saada and Rumi – two poetic geniuses
● Hamdullah Mostofi – produced notable works of history, geography, epic, the
ZafarNameh or Book of Victory
● Nasir ud-Din Tusi – wrote about philosophy and logic

Three Stages of development in Persian short story:

- Formative period
- Growth and Development Period
- Period of diversity

FORMATIVE PERIOD
● Mohammad AliJamalzadehs - First writer of modern short stories – collections
of “Yak-I Bud Yak-I Nabud” and “Gained Momentum”
● Sadeq Hedayat – Introduced modernism in Persian Literature “Buf-e kur” and
“Haji Aqa” – masterpiece “Se Gathra-ye Khun” (Three drops of blood) “Zenda
be Gur” (Buried Alive)

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT PERIOD

 ● Jalal Al-e Ahmad -Shows awareness of the new generation of third world
writers concerned with the problems of cultural dominations by colonial
powers

PERIOD OF DIVERSITY
- Influence of the western literature
- New and modern approaches in writing specially in the short stories
- Mehdi Akhavan-Sales, Simin Behbahani, Aref Ghazvini and Shahriar

CLASSICAL PERSIAN POETRY

● Mohammad Taghi Bahar -“King of poets” - Theme of his poets was social and
political situation of Iran
● Parvin Etesami - Greatest Persian Poetess - “Mast va Hoshyar”(The Drunk
and the Sober) - Admired by those involved in romantic poetry

MODERN PERSIAN POETRY

● Nima Yushij - “Father of modern Persian poetry” -Introduces many techniques
and forms to differentiate the modern from the old - Sepid poetry
● Ahmad Shamlu -Adopted Nima’s methods and tried new techniques of
modern poetry - Discovered the inner characteristics of poetry - Recognized
the role of prose and music hidden in the language
● Forough Farrokhzadis -Among the first generation to embrace new style of
poetry - First Iranian who graphically articulate private sexual landscapes from
a woman’s perspective - She transcended her own literary role and
experimented w/ acting, painting and documentary film-making
● Hafiz – A term used by Muslims for people who have completely memorized
the Qur’an Hafiz – A Sufi poet, expressed in poetry love for the divine, the
intoxicating oneness of union w/ it. Uses wine as symbol for love. Spoke out
about the hypocrisy and deceit that exists in society

List of Poems
● All the Hemispheres From the Large Jug, Drink I have learned so much Let
thought become you beautiful lover School of truth Laughing at the Word Two
I know the way you can get I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again Tired of
speaking sweetly No more leaving
● “Muqaddame-ye Shahname-ye Abu Mansuri” -The oldest surviving work
Persian literary - Written during the Samanid period - Deals with the myths
and legends -The oldest example of Persian prose

Indonesian Lit
into distinctively Indonesian shapes. The tradition of plays using Javanese shadow puppets
(wayang), the origins of which may date to the neolithic age, was brought to a new level of
sophistication in portraying complex Hindu dramas (lakon) during the period of Indianization.
Even later Islam which forsakes pictorial representations of human brings, brought new
developments to the wayang tradition through numerous refinements in the sixteenth to
eighteenth centuries.
The Javanese has a literary history dating back to 6th century. Many of their folk stories are
based on Hindu stories from India. During the Medang or Mataram Kingdom a Javanese Hindu-
Buddhist kingdom that flourished between the 8th and 10th centuries in Central Java, and later in
East Java-there was blossoming of art, culture and literature, mainly through the translation of
Hindu-Buddhist sacred texts and the transmission and adaptation of Hindu-Buddhist ideas. The
bas-relief narration of the Hindu epic Ramayana was carved on the wall of Prambanan Temple.
During this period, the Kakawin Ramayana, an old Javanese rendering was written. This
Kakawin Ramayana, also called the Yogesvara Ramayana, is attributed to the scribe Yogesvara
circa the 9th century CE, who was employed in the court of the Medang in Central Java. It has
2774 stanzas in the manipravala style, a mixture of Sanskrit and archaic Javanese prose. The
most influential version of the Ramayana is the Ravanavadham of Bhatti, popularly known as
Bhattikavya. The Javanese Ramayana differs markedly from the original Hindi.
"When Islam started to spread across the islands of Indonesia in the 12th century, it was also
bringing new kinds of cultural influences from the Islamic world, from Arab culture, Persia and
Islamic West India. They included literature, types of instruments, forms of music, styles of
recitation of holy texts, and also some forms of dance. In many cases these new elements were
quickly localised and they intermingled with earlier animistic and Hindu-Buddhist elements. A
good example is wayang golek rod puppet theatre, which has its roots firmly in the older wayang
kulit shadow theatre that mainly deals with Hindu mythology. Wayang golek, however, takes its
main plot material from the Islamic Menak stories. A similar kind of fusion of cultural layers can
be recognised in numerous Indonesian traditions.

Majapahit Literature and the Nagarakertagama

• During the Majapahit period, in the 13th-15th centuries, the East Javanese culture reached its
zenith. The second half of the 14th century in particular saw the flourishing of both literature and
architecture. Majapahit's writers continued the developments in literature and wayang (shadow
puppetry) begun in the Kediri period. The best-known work today, Mpu Prapanca's
Desawarnaña, often referred to as Nāgarakertagama, composed in 1365, which provides us with
an unusually detailed view of daily life in the kingdom's central provinces. Many other classic
works also date from this period, including the famous Panji tales, popular romances based on
the history of eastern Java that were loved and borrowed by storytellers as far away as Thailand
and Cambodia. Many of Majapahit's administrative practices and laws governing trade were
admired and later imitated elsewhere, even by fledaling powers
Literature from the Dutch Period in Indonesia In colonial times some literature was published in
regiona' languages, the most being in Javanese, but this was stopped after Indonesian
independence. The earliest official publishing house for Indonesian literature is Balai Pustaka,
founded in Batavia in 1917. National culture was expressed and, in some ways formed, through
spoken Malay-Indonesian (understood by many people) and newspapers, pamphlets, poetry,
novels, and short stories for those who could read.

Modern Literature in Indonesia

Modern Indonesian literature got its start with language unification efforts in 1928 and underwent
considerable development before the war, receiving further impetus under Japanese auspices.
Revolutionary (or traditional) Indonesian themes were employed in drama, films, and art, and
hated symbols of Dutch imperial control were swept away.
Michael J. Ybarra wrote in the Los Angeles Times, "Indonesia is one of the world's largest
countries, but it's also a relatively young one. When the Indonesian republic was born in 1949,
after three centuries of Dutch colonialism, language was one forge of nationalism. The new
country stretched from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, encompassing 17,000 islands. The
archipelago was also a riot of languages with some 300 tongues spoken. The literary tradition
was more oral than written, everything from the spoken word epics of the Kalimantan Dayaks in
Borneo to Javanese court songs. The new government declared Bahasa Indonesia (a dialect of
Malay) the national language. "Indonesia owes its identity to the Indonesian language," says
novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer.

Vietnam Lit
Vietnam Literature
Is a literature, both oral and written, created largely by Vietnamese speaking people. Although
Francophone Vietnamese and English speaking Vietnamese authors in Australia and the United
States are counted by many critics as part of the national tradition.

•For much of its history, Vietnam was dominated by China and as a result much of the written
work during this period was in Classical Chinese.

Chữ nôm, created around the 10th century, allowed writers to compose in Vietnamese using
modified Chinese characters.

Although regarded as inferior to Chinese, it gradually grew in prestige. It flourished in the 18th
century when many notable Vietnamese writers and poets composed their works in chữ nôm and
when it briefly became the official written script.
While the quốc ngữ script was created in the 17th century, it did not become popular outside of
missionary groups until the early 20th century, when the French colonial administration
mandated its use in French Indochina. By the mid-20th century, virtually all Vietnamese works of
literature were composed in quốc ngữ.

⚫Vietnam literature came into being at an early date with its two major components: FOLK
LITERATURE and WRITTEN LITERATURE.

FOLK LITERATURE

. It held a great significance in Vietnam and made immense contribution to preserving and
developing the national language as well as nourishing the Vietnamese soul.

⚫ Folk literary work were diversified by mythologies, epics, legends, humorous stories, riddles,
proverbs and folk songs and featured the

WRITTEN LITERATURE
It was born roughly in the 10th century Up to 20th century, there had been components existing
at the same time:
● Works written in the Han Chinese
● Characters Works written in the Nom 'Vietnamese' character.

Since the 1920's, written literature has been mainly composed in the National language with
profound renovations in form and category such as novels, new style poems, short stories and
drama and with diversity in its artistic tendency.
Classical Chinese/Hán Văn (漢文)

Many of the official in Vietnamese history were written in Classical Chinese. These works are
mostly unintelligible even when directly transliterated into the modern quoc ngu script due to their
Chinese syntax and vocabulary.

⚫ These works include official proclamations by Vietnamese Kings, Royal histories, and
declarations of independence from China, as well as Vietnamese poetry.
Chữ nôm (-)

⚫They can directly transliterated into the modern quoc ngu and be readily understood by modern
Vietnamese speakers.

Some highly regarded works in Vietnamese literature were written in chữ nôm, including Nguyễn
Du's Truyện Kiều, Đoàn Thị Điểm's chữ nom translation of the poem Chinh Phụ Ngâm Khúc
(Lament of a Warrior Wife) from the Classical Chinese poem composed by her friend Đặng Trần
Côn (famous in its own right), and poems by the renowned poet Hồ Xuân Hương.

Quốc ngữ
While created in the seventeenth century, quốc ngữ was not widely used outside of missionary
circles until the early 20th century. During the early years of the twentieth century, many
periodicals in quốc ngữ flourished and their popularity helped popularizé quốc ngữ.

⚫While some leaders resisted the popularity of quốc ngữ as an imposition from the French,
others embraced it as a convenient tool to boost literacy. After declaring independence from the
French in 1945, Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh provisional government adopted a policy of increasing
literacy with quốc ngữ.

⚫By the mid-20th century, all Vietnamese works of literature are written in quốc ngữ, while works
written in earlier scripts are transliterated into quốc ngữ for accessibility to modern Vietnamese
speakers.

⚫The use of the earlier scripts is now limited to historical references.

GENRE
•FOLK LITERATURE
•LEGENDS
•MYTHS
•CADAO

FOLK LITERATURE
Is an intermingling of many forms. It is not only an oral tradition, but a of mixing three media.
HIDDEN- only retained on the memory of folk authors
FIXED- written
SHOWN-performed -Usually exist in many
versions noood down orally and.

MYTHS
Consists of stories about supernatural beings, heroes, creator gods, and reflect the view point of
ancient people about human life. ⚫ They consists of creator stories, stories about their origins
(Lac Long Quan, Au Co), culture heroes (Son Tinh or Mountain Spirit Thuy Tinh or Water Spirit)

CADAO
Are folk poems.
⚫Term CADAO is derived from a line in the WEI WIND section of the Chinese Classic Folk
Poetry Anthology, Shih-Ching (Book of Odes) can be loosely translated as "unaccompanied
songs".
It was transmitted orally, sustained and nourished the Vietnamese language through its centuries
of domination and influence by China.
⚫Cadao poems flourished, telling of the every day life and concerns of ordinary Vietnamese

⚫Poems tends to be short--- with many comprised of a single couplet of fourteen syllables—but
there are also many longer ones with 20 lines or more.

⚫Spanning all genres: flirting poems, work songs, lullabies, etc. some cadao deal with trivia,
such as the rituals of farming life, when to plant certain crops

Vietnamese Poetry

.New Poetry Movement- A revolutionary literary movement that took place in the first part of the
twentieth century represented a paradigm shift in Vietnamese poetry.

Vietnamese poets, eager for modernization, wasted no time to adopt French versification and
prosody rules, and in the process began to sever their ties to the old classical poetic tradition.
⚫The emergence of this rebellious, energetic movement was not taken gracefully by the old
guard, the Ancients, for whom centuries-old tradition was sacrosanct.

• This whole process was sparked by an unlikely poem by the revered but renegade Confucian
scholar Phan Khôi with an equally unlikely title Tinh Già (Elderly Love). In reality, the poem was
not the first to break existing prosody rules. Other poets such as Tản Đà and Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh
had done so for years.

But Phan Khôi's 1932 poem came at an opportune time, when a generation of young modern
educated men and women was thirsting for a whiff of fresh air amid the stuffy atmosphere of
traditionalism.

His poem was fresh on two points: the theme of ill-fated love and the unconventional verse form
bordering on free verse.

. The language was the everyday vernacular spoken with spontaneity and simplicity. There were
no allusions to Chinese myths, no concession to traditional form or substance. It was plainly the
passionate language of two lovers who could not marry while young because of the tyranny of
prejudice and the

New verse forms and stylistic techniques were introduced, new ways of expression, new ideas,
and a totally new artistic tradition were being established that were to change the direction and
tenor of Vietnamese poetry forever.
Breaking out of the mold of traditionalism, and imbued with Western ideas, Vietnamese poets of
the first four decades of the twentieth century staged their revolution with fervor and enthusiasm
fueled further by a multitude of thematic orientations.
Emotions, ideas, and thoughts of all kinds, romantic, pedagogic, cultural, p hilosophic, historic,
and even political, dominated the creative process, riding effortlessly and spontaneously on novel
stylistic and prosodic forms.

HEBREW LITERATURE
Etymology
● Hebrew comes from the middle english word “Ebreu” which come from the old french
derived from the latin word “ Hebraeus”
● Hebrews were ancestors of Samaritan and Jews
● Jews were the descendant of Hebrews
● Hebrews claim to be the descendant of Biblical Patriach Abraham
● They live in the ancient middle east 1400 BC they settle in Canaan (formerly known as
Israel) the country of the eastern coast Mediteranian Sea the territory of modern Isael,
Jordan, Lebanon and Syria;
● they live in the tent wealthier people live in the house.
● Hebrew is a member of the Canaanite group of Semitic languages. It was the language
of the early Jews, but from 586 BC it started to be replaced by Aramaic.

Aramaic (Arāmāyā, Syriac: ‫ )ܐܝܡܪܐ‬is a family of languages or dialects belonging to the Semitic
subfamily of the Afroasiatic language family. More specifically, it is part of the Northwest Semitic
group, which also includes the Canaanite languages such as Hebrew and Phoenician.
● the church of hebrew was called jerusalem Temple (the first temple was built by King
Solomon) covered with gold. • Hebrew food was similar to te food of other mediteranian
people. • the popular drink was wine.

Hebrew literature
● Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew
language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been
cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews.Hebrew literature was produced in
many different parts of the world throughout the medieval and modern eras, while
contemporary Hebrew literature is largely Israeli literature.

Ancient Hebrew literature

● literature in hebrew begins with oral literature of the Leshon Hakodesh on the Holy
Language since very ancient times and with teaching of Abraham the first of the Biblical
Patriach of Israel. Beyond comparison the most important word in ancient hebrew is the
hebrew bible (Tanakh)
● the mishna is the primary rabbinic codification of laws as derived from the torah, It was
written in the mishnais hebrew

Medieval Hebrew literature

● During the medieval period, the majority of Jewish and Hebrew literature was composed
in Islamic North Africa, Spain, Palestine, and the Middle East. Many works of medieval
philosophical literature such as Maimonedes' Guide to the Perplexed and The Kuzari, as
well as many works of fiction, were written in Judeo-Arabic. Works of rabbinic literature
were more often written in Hebrew, including: Torah commentaries by Abraham ibn Ezra,
 Rashi and others; codifications of Jewish law, such as Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, the
Arba'ah Turim, and the Shulchan Aruch; and works of Musar literature (didactic ethical
literature) such as Bahya ibn Paquda's Chovot ha-Levavot (The Duties of the Heart).
Much medieval Jewish poetry was written in Hebrew, including liturgical piyyutim in
Palestine in the seventh and eighth centuries by Yose ben Yose, Yanai, and Eleazar
Kalir. These poems were added to the Hebrew-language liturgy. This liturgy was
compiled in book form as "the siddur" by rabbis including Amram Gaon and Saadia
Gaon.
● Later Spanish, Provençal, and Italian poets wrote both religious and secular poems;
particularly prominent poets were Solomon ibn Gabirol, Yehuda Halevi, and Yehuda al-
Harizi. Most were also active in translating Jewish rabbinic and secular literature from
Arabic into Hebrew.

Modern Hebrew literature

● In addition to writing traditional rabbinic literature in Hebrew, modern Jews developed
new forms of fiction, poetry, and essay-writing, which are typically called "Modern
Hebrew Literature."

Eighteenth Century
● By the early eighteenth century, Jewish literature was still dominated by Sephardic
authors, often writing in Judeo-Arabic. Moses Hayyim Luzzatto's allegorical drama "La-
Yesharim Tehillah" (1743) may be regarded as the first product of modern Hebrew
literature. It has been referred to as "a poem that in its classic perfection of style is
second only to the Bible."Luzzatto's pupil in Amsterdam, David Franco Mendes (1713–
92), in his imitations of Jean Racine ("Gemul 'Atalyah") and of Metastasio ("Yehudit"),
continued his master's work, though his works are not as respected as were
Luzzatto's.Later in the eighteenth century, the Haskalah (Jewish enlightenment)
movement worked to achieve political emancipation for Jews in Europe, and European
Jews gradually began to produce more literature in the mould of earlier Middle Eastern
Jewish authors. Moses Mendelssohn's translation of the Hebrew Bible into German
inspired interest in the Hebrew language that led to the founding of a quarterly review
written in Hebrew. Other periodicals followed. Poetry by Naphtali Hirz Wessely such as
"Shire Tif'eret," or "Mosiade," made Wessely, so to speak, poet laureate of the period.

Nineteenth Century
● In nineteenth-century Galicia, poets, scholars, and popular writers who contributed to the
dissemination of Hebrew and to the emancipation of the Jews of Galicia included:
- Joseph Perl (1773–1839), writer and educator who, in 1819, published Revealer
of Secrets, the first Hebrew novel.
- Nachman Krochmal (1785–1840), a philosopher, theologian, and historian. •
Solomon Judah Loeb Rapoport (1790–1867), a rabbi, poet, and biographer
- Isaac Erter (1792–1841), a satirical poet whose collection of essays, "Ha- Tzofeh
le-Bet Yisrael," is one of the purest works of modern Hebrew literature, attacking
Hasidic superstitions and prejudices in a vigorous and classical style.
- Meir Halevy Letteris (1800–1871), a lyric poet also known for his adaption of
Goethe's Faust into Hebrew.

● Meir Halevy Letteris (1800–1871) In 1852, during a period in which he faced financial
difficulties, he agreed to edit an edition of the masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible. In 1866
he produced a revised edition for a Christian missionary organization, the British and
 Foreign Bible Society. This revision was checked against old manuscripts and early
printed editions, and has a very legible typeface. It is probably the most widely
reproduced text of the Hebrew Bible in history, with many dozens of authorised reprints
and many more pirated and unacknowledged ones.This revised edition became very
popular, and was widely reprinted in both Jewish circles (often accompanied by a
translation on facing pages) and in Christian circles (with the addition of the New
Testament).

● Solomon Judah Loeb Rapoport (1790–1867)

- After various experiences in business, Rapoport became rabbi of Tarnopol (1837)
and of Prague (1840). He was one of the founders of the new Wissenschaft des
Judentums movement. His chief work was the first part of an (unfinished)
encyclopaedia (Erekh Millin, 1852). Equally notable were his biographies of
Saadia Gaon, Nathan (author of the Arukh), Hai Gaon, Eleazar Kalir and others.
- After the fashion in rabbinic circles, Rapoport was known by an acronym "Shir",
formed by the initial letters of his Hebrew name Shelomo Yehuda Rapoport (Shir
literally means "song" in Hebrew)

● Nachman Krochmal (1785–1840)

- A philosopher, theologian, and historian.
- He began the study of the Talmud at an early age. At age fourteen he was
married, according to the custom of the time, to the daughter of the wealthy
merchant Habermann. He then went to live with his father-in-law at Zhovkva,
near Lemberg, where he devoted himself entirely to his studies, beginning with
Maimonides' The Guide for the Perplexed, and studying other Hebrew
philosophical writings.

● Joseph Perl (1773–1839)

- Revealer of Secrets, first published in 1819, is an epistolary novel by Joseph
Perl, a proponent of Jewish emancipation and Haskalah. It is often considered
the first modern novel in Hebrew. The book purports to be a collection of letters
between various hasidic rabbis, but is actually a satire of their teachings.
- It is an unusual book in that it satirizes the language and style of early hasidic
rabbis writing in Hebrew, which was not the vernacular of the Jews of its time. To
make his work available and accessible to his contemporaries, Perl translated his
own work into Yiddish. It is currently in print only in an English translation, by Dov
Taylor, published by Westview Press.

● The Bible

● Parable of the Good Samaritan

- The parable of the Good Samaritan is a didactic story told by Jesus in Luke
10:25–37. It is about a traveler who is stripped of clothing, beaten, and left half
dead alongside the road. First a priest and then a Levite comes by, but both
avoid the man. Finally, a Samaritan comes by. Samaritans and Jews generally
despised each other, but the Samaritan helps the injured man. Jesus is described
as telling the parable in response to the question from a lawyer, "And who is my
neighbor ?" whom Leviticus Lev 19:18 says should be loved.

● The Story of Ruth

 - The book of Ruth is the Narrative of a love story, yet also has some important
Genealogy. The timeline of this book is intertwined during the period of the
Judges. It was written about 1046-1035 B.C. Key personalities include Ruth,
Naomi, and Boaz.
- Its purpose was to demonstrate the kind of love, and faithfulness that God
desires for us. It shows the difference between what happens when a nation does
not follow in obedience to the covenant of God (Judges), and when God’s people
follow in faithfulness within the covenant (Ruth).

● The Parable of the Prodigal Son

- In the story, a father has two sons. The younger son asks for his inheritance and
after wasting his fortune (the word "prodigal" means "wastefully extravagant"),
becomes destitute. He returns home with the intention of begging his father to be
made one of his hired servants, expecting his relationship with his father is likely
severed. The father welcomes him back and celebrates his return. The older son
refuses to participate. The father reminds the older son that one day he will
inherit everything. But, they should still celebrate the return of the younger son
because he was lost and is now found.

● The “Parable of the Talents The “Parable of the Talents”, in Matthew 25:14–30 tells of a
master who was leaving his house to travel, and, before leaving, entrusted his property to
his servants. According to the abilities of each man, one servant received five talents, the
second servant received two talents, and the third servant received one talent. The
property entrusted to the three servants was worth 8 talents, where a talent was a
significant amount of money. Upon returning home, after a long absence, the master
asks his three servants for an accounting of the talents he entrusted to them. The first
and the second servants explain that they each put their talents to work, and have
doubled the value of the property with which they were entrusted; each servant was
rewarded:
- The Story of Joseph The story of Joseph is found in the Book of Genesis, from Genesis
37 though Genesis 50. Joseph’s saga is both expansive and integral to the overall
narrative of the Israelites’ descent into Egypt. His progression from dream-interpreting
shepherd to minister of Egypt is one of the more layered and elaborate stories in the
Torah.

EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
EGYPT
● Official Name: Arab Republic of Egypt Capital: Cairo
● Population: 54.6 million Currency: Egyptian pound
● Official language: Arabic

Occupying the northeast corner of Africa, Egypt is bi sected by the highly fertile Nile valley which
separates its arid western desert from the smaller semi-arid eastern desert. Egypt's 1979 peace
treaty with Israel brought security, the return of the Sinai, and large injections of U.S. aid. Its
essentially pro-Western military-backed regime is now being challenged by an increasingly
influential Islamic fundamental ist movement.

EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
FUN FACTS
● Egyptian men and women wore makeup. It was thought to have healing powers, plus it
helped protect their skin from the sun.
● They used mouldy bread to help with infections.
● They were one of the first civilizations to invent writing. They also used ink to write and
paper called papyrus.
● The Ancient Egyptians were scientists and mathematicians.
● They had numerous inventions including ways to build buildings, medicine, cosmetics,
the calendar, the plough for farming, musical instruments, and even toothpaste.
● The Pharaoh kept his hair covered. It was not to be seen by regular people.
● Cats were considered sacred in Ancient Egypt.

Traditions and Cultures of Egypt

Egypt has a rich history and culture dating back thousands of years, starting with the Pharaonic
culture, then Christianity and Islam. Egypt is among the earliest civilizations. Its culture has been
affected by many other cultures and ethnic groups who either lived in or invaded the country,
creating a melting pot.

The way the cultures blended together might be difficult for foreigners to understand, but once
you do understand and appreciate the traditions, the experience in Egypt will be like none other.

Warmth and Hospitality

Egypt has amazing natural, historical and cultural attractions, so tourism is one of the main
sources of income, especially before the revolution. Egyptians are friendly, open to other cultures
and known for their good hospitality, so do not be surprised if people invite you to their homes
and insist that you accept the invitation.

Egyptians also like to help people. It is very common if you ask someone for help or directions,
they will call others to also help and make sure you get what you need or where you need to go.

Family
When it comes to family affairs, family is very important for Egyptians so they pay special
attention to family values and relationships. This great blend between family members
encourages children to live with their parents until they get married and then start their own
families. Therefore, marriage rates are high and families encourage and financially support their
sons and daughters to get married.

Usually the responsibilities are divided so home and childcare are the main responsibilities for
women, while men are responsible for supporting the family financially.

Since family members are so connected, they deeply mourn the death of a family member. It is
customary to wear only black for at least 40 days after a family member passes, and this duration
can last up to a year. This is one of the traditions inherited from the grand pharaohs, and it is
considered inappropriate to show any sign of happiness during funerals. In contrast, Egyptians
like to throw big wedding parties, where they invite all family members and friends and hold big
feasts.

Celebrations
Speaking of parties, Egyptians love celebrations. Close and extended family members and
friends gather during holidays and special celebrations.

Due to their love of food, all celebrations include sharing special meals prepared for the
occasion. Women usually take pride in their ability to cook several dishes and compete among
themselves for who makes the most delicious dishes. Restaurants are one of the most flourishing
businesses as Egyptians like to try new cuisines and they appreciate a good meal.

Traditions and Cultures of Egypt_3 gpi_culture of egypt blog

Religion
Religion plays a big role in the life of Egyptians, and it is intermingled with daily activities of
Muslims and Christians living in Egypt. You can see this clearly during Ramadan, Eids and
Christmas, where festive spirits are everywhere.

Mosques are around every corner, so walking down the streets of Egyptian cities, you can hear
the call to pray during the five prayer times per day.

Although Egyptians use the Western calendar, they refer to the Islamic calendar for Islamic
religious holidays, and Ramadan is the most important month in the year. During this month,
Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, focusing on praying and doing charity work. Streets and
homes are decorated to celebrate the occasion and special meals are prepared.

Summary
Egypt’s long history, tourist attractions and geographic location make it an ideal destination for
business and tourism. But before you visit or develop an Arabic translation strategy for doing
business in Egypt, it’s important to understand the culture and traditions and what impacts them.

Egypt has been prey to many invaders throughout history, and recently, due to economic and
political problems, but Egyptians have a strong sense of humor and they find humor in
everything, including themselves. This is what keep us going despite all hardships.

Pyramids of Giza
The last surviving of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Pyramids of Giza are one of
the world’s most recognizable landmarks.
Having awed travelers down through the ages, these tombs of the Pharaohs Cheops (Khufu),
Chephren (Khafre), and Mycerinus (Menkaure), guarded by the enigmatic Sphinx, are usually top
of most visitor’s lists of tourist attractions to see in Egypt and often the first sight they head to
after landing.
Today, sitting on the desert edge of Cairo’s sprawl, these megalithic memorials to dead pharaohs
are still as wondrous a sight as they ever were and an undeniable highlight of any Egypt trip.

Luxor’s Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings

Famed for the Valley of the Kings, Karnak Temple, and the Memorial Temple of Hatshepsut, the
Nile-side town of Luxor in Upper Egypt has a glut of tourist attractions.
This is ancient Thebes, power base of the New Kingdom pharaohs, and home to more sights
than most can see on one visit.
While Luxor’s East Bank holds the modern city, with its vibrant souq; the two temples of Karnak
and Luxor; and the museum; the West Bank‘s lush farmland and barren cliffs are where the vast
majority of Luxor’s tourist attractions sit, with so many tomb and temple sights that it has been
called the biggest open-air museum in the world.
Spend a few days here exploring the colorful wall art of the tombs and gazing in awe at the
colossal columns in the temples, and you’ll see why Luxor continues to fascinate historians and
archaeologists.

Cruising the Nile

Egypt is defined by the Nile. For many visitors, a multi-day cruise upon this famed waterway that
saw the rise of the Pharaonic era is a highlight of their Egypt trip.
Cruising the Nile is also the most relaxing way to see the temples that stud the banks of the river
on the route between Luxor and Aswan, plus sunrise and sunset over the date-palm-studded
river banks, backed by sand dunes, is one of Egypt’s most tranquil vistas.
The two famous sights on a Nile Cruise are the Temple of Kom Ombo and Edfu’s Temple of
Horus, where all the big cruise boats stop.
If you’d prefer a less crowded and slower experience, though, and don’t mind “roughing it” a bit,
you can also cruise the Nile by felucca (Egypt’s traditional lateen-sailed wooden boats), which
also allows you to create your own itinerary.
The vast amount of cruise boat itineraries depart from either Luxor and Aswan, but feluccas can
only be chartered for multi-day trips from Aswan.

Aswan
Egypt’s most tranquil town is Aswan, set upon the winding curves of the Nile. Backed by orange-
hued dunes, this is the perfect place to stop and unwind for a few days and soak up the chilled-
out atmosphere.
Take the river ferry across to Elephantine Island and stroll the colorful streets of the Nubian
villages.
Ride a camel to the desert monastery of St. Simeon on the East Bank. Or just drink endless cups
of tea on one of the riverboat restaurants, while watching the lateen-sailed feluccas drift past.
Make sure to jump aboard a felucca at sunset to sail around Aswan’s islands. This is by far,
Aswan’s most popular activity and the most relaxing way to take in the local sights.
There are plenty of historic sites here and numerous temples nearby, including Philae Temple on
its island, but one of Aswan’s most popular things to do is simply kicking back and watching the
river life go by.

Abu Simbel
Even in a country festooned with temples, Abu Simbel is something special. This is Ramses II’s
great temple, adorned with colossal statuary standing guard outside, and with an interior
sumptuously decorated with wall paintings.
Justly famous for its megalithic proportions, Abu Simbel is also known for the incredible
engineering feat carried out by UNESCO in the 1960s, which saw the entire temple moved from
its original setting to save it from disappearing under the rising water of the Aswan dam.
Today, exploring Abu Simbel is just as much about admiring the triumph of this international
effort to save the temple complex as it is about gaping in wonder at Ramses II’s awe-inspiring
building works, itself.

Diving the Red Sea

Divers enjoying the underwater beauty of the Red Sea
Below the Red Sea’s surface is another world as fascinating as the temples and tombs on land.
The coral reefs of the Red Sea are renowned among scuba divers for both the soft corals on
display and the vast amount of sea life, ranging from colorful reef fish and nudibranchs, to
sharks, dolphins, turtles, rays, and even dugongs.
For divers, the most famous town to base yourself in is Sharm el-Sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula,
closest to the reefs of Ras Mohammed National Park, as well as the reefs of the Straits of Tiran.
To dive the sites of the Straits of Gubal head to Hurghada or El Gouna on the Red Sea coast,
while advanced divers should check out the resort of Marsa Alam, the nearest base for diving
Egypt’s “deep south” dive sites.

Explore Islamic Cairo

The atmospheric, narrow lanes of the capital’s Islamic Cairo district are crammed full of
mosques, madrassas (Islamic schools of learning), and monuments dating from the Fatimid
through to the Mameluke eras.
This is where you’ll find the labyrinth shopping souk of Khan el-Khalili, where coppersmiths and
artisans still have their tiny workshops, and stalls are laden with ceramics, textiles, spice, and
perfume.
Surrounding the market is a muddle of roads, home to some of the most beautiful preserved
architecture of the old Islamic empires.
There is a wealth of history here to explore. Visit Al-Azhar Mosque and the dazzling Sultan
Hassan Mosque, and make sure you climb to the roof of the ancient medieval gate of Bab
Zuweila for the best minaret-speckled panoramas across the district.

South Sinai’s Beach Life

Egypt’s South Sinai region, on the Sinai Peninsula, offers a beach for every type of traveler.
Sharm el-Sheikh is a European-style resort town packed full of luxury hotels, international
restaurants, and bags of entertainment options. A favorite with Europeans on winter-sun
vacations, many of the resorts here cater to families on one- or two-week sun-and-sand breaks.
Dahab is a low-key beach town with a budget-traveler heart, which is just as much about desert
excursions and adventures as the sea. It’s particularly known for its cheap dive-package deals
and for its lagoon beach area where windsurfing and kitesurfing are the top activity.
Up the coast, between the port town of Nuweiba and the border town of Taba, are the bamboo
hut retreats that offer complete get-away-from-it-all respites from life and back-to-basics beach
life.

Saqqara
Everyone’s heard of Giza’s Pyramids, but they’re not the only pyramids Egypt has up its sleeve.
Day-tripping distance from Cairo, Saqqara is a vast necropolis of tombs and pyramids that was
utilized during every era of pharaonic rule.
It’s best known for its Old Kingdom Step Pyramid, which shows how the architects of Ancient
Egypt advanced their engineering knowledge to finally create a true pyramid shape.
There’s much more to see beyond the Step Pyramid, though, with some of the surrounding
tombs, such as the Mastaba of Ti, showcasing some of the finest tomb paintings you’ll see in the
country.
Nearby, the pyramid site of Dahshur is home to the Red Pyramid and Bent Pyramid, which
should be included on any Saqqara visit.

Egyptian Museum
A treasure trove of the Pharaonic world, Cairo’s Egyptian Museum is one of the world’s great
museum collections. The faded pink mansion in downtown Cairo is home to a dazzling amount of
exhibits.
It’s a higgledy-piggledy place, with little labeling on offer and chronological order severely
lacking, but that’s half of its old-school charm.
The museum’s two highlight collections are the haul of golden treasures unearthed from
Tutankhamen‘s tomb in the Valley of the Kings and the fascinating Royal Mummies exhibit room.
Every corner you turn here, though, is home to some wonderful piece of ancient art or statuary
that would form a highlight of any other museum.

White Desert
Egypt’s kookiest natural wonder is White Desert National Park, out in the Western Desert, just
south of Bahariya Oasis.
Here, surreally shaped chalk pinnacles and huge boulders loom over the desert plateau, creating
a scene that looks like icebergs have found themselves stranded amid a landscape of sand.
This highly scenic environment looks like something out of a science fiction movie and is a
favorite destination for 4WD desert trips and overnight camping, which are both easiest
organized in Bahariya Oasis.
For desert fans and adventurers, this is the ultimate weird playground, while anybody who’s had
their fill of temples and tombs will enjoy this spectacular natural scenery.

Alexandria
Alexandria has a history that not many others can match.
Founded by Alexander the Great, home of Cleopatra, and razzmatazz renegade city of the
Mediterranean for much of its life, this seafront city has an appealing days-gone-by atmosphere
that can’t be beaten.
Although today, there are few historic remnants of its illustrious past left to see, Alexandria’s long
seafront Corniche road leading to its fort (sitting on the site where its famous ancient lighthouse
once sat) remains a favorite summer destination to capture cooling sea breezes for Egyptians
and foreign visitors alike.
Underwater archaeological projects here have imbued Alexandria’s museums with interesting
exhibits. The modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a contemporary interpretation of Alexandria’s
famed ancient library, and the handful of historic sights in town include an atmospheric
catacombs site.

Abydos Temple
The Temple of Osiris in Abydos is one of Ancient Egypt’s most fascinating artistic treasures.
The temple, begun by Seti I, sits amid a vast necropolis site where archaeological excavations
are ongoing. There a various other temple remnants to see here but for most visitors, the Temple
of Osiris is the main reason to visit.
Its hypostyle halls, graced by papyrus-headed columns, contain some of the finest relief-work in
Egypt, with various scenes portraying the pharaoh and the gods of Ancient Egypt.
As the temple lies north of Luxor, it isn’t on the main Nile cruise ship route, so it receives much
fewer visitors than the temple sites in Luxor itself and the Nile-side temples to the south. This
means you are often lucky enough to wander through the temple’s halls with only a few other
visitors on site.

Siwa Oasis
Sitting in isolation, in the western corner of the Western Desert, Siwa is the tranquil tonic to the
hustle of Egypt’s cities.
This gorgeous little oasis, surrounded by date palm plantations and numerous hot-water springs,
is one of the Western Desert’s most picturesque spots.
Siwa town is centered around the ruins of a vast mud-brick citadel, known as the Fortress of
Shali, which dominates the view, while various temple remnants, including the Temple of the
Oracle where Alexander the Great is said to have come to receive advice, are scattered
throughout the wider oasis area.
This is a top spot to wind down and go slow for a few days, as well as being an excellent base
from which to plan adventures into the surrounding desert.

St. Catherine’s Monastery

One of the oldest monasteries in the world, St. Catherine’s stands at the foot of Mount Sinai,
amid the desert mountains of the Sinai Peninsula, where Moses is said to have received the Ten
Commandments.
This desert monastery is home to an incredible collection of religious iconography, art, and
manuscripts (some of which can be seen in the on-site museum), as well as the burning bush.
For most visitors here, a trip to St. Catherine’s also involves a hike up Mount Sinai to see sunrise
or sunset.
Take the camel path for the easy route, or climb the famous Steps of Repentance if you want
better views.

Ancient Egyptian Language History

The ancient Egyptian language is the oldest indigenous language and is considered to be a
branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages plus it is related to the Berber and other Semitic languages
such as Arabic, Amharic, and Hebrew. It is one of the oldest recorded languages known
alongside Sumerians. Its first known records date back to the mid-3rd millennium BC during the
old kingdom of Egypt in 3400 BC, it was in use in the form of demotic and until the 17th century
in the middle ages in the form of Coptic. The language was accompanied by hieroglyphs which
became the official writing system. The national language of modern-day Egypt has become
Egyptian Arabic which has taken over after the Muslim conquest in the 7th century.

Classification of Ancient Egyptian Language

The transformative history of the ancient Egyptian language can be divided into six major
chronological parts:

Archaic Egyptian (Before 2600 BC)

It is the reconstructed language of the early dynastic and the late predynastic period. It also
contains the earliest examples of Egyptian hieroglyphic writings on many works of art like
Naqada Il pottery vessels.

Old Egyptian (2600 - 2000 BC)

It became the official language of the old kingdom and the first intermediate period as it was used
to write the pyramid texts which are the largest body of literature written in this language and was
used to showcase the autobiographical writings representing old Egyptians. It is characterized by
the tripling of ideograms, phonograms, and determinatives to indicate the plural.

Middle Egyptian (2000-1300 BC)

It became known as Classical Egyptian as it was used to create a variety of textual writings in
hieroglyphics and hieratic scripts that include various funerary texts like the coffin texts and
wisdom texts that act as a guide on how any person can lead a life symbolizes the ancient
Egyptian philosophical worldview. It was a used to tell the adventurous tales of certain
individuals, medical and scientific texts such as Edwin Smith papyrus, and the poetic texts of
certain ancient Egyptian gods or ancient Egyptian pharaohs. The language was so powerful and
very common within the public; the Egyptian dialect began to change to match the classical
middle Egyptian. The grammatical structure of this language doesn't differ much from the
language of the old kingdom.

Late Egyptian (1300-700 BC)

This language appeared in Egypt's new kingdom which is considered to be the golden age of
ancient Egyptian civilization. It contained many rich religious passages and secular literature and
various classicisms appeared in historical and literary texts during this period. The difference
between the middle languages is far bigger than the middle and the old. It also offers a perfect
example of the spoken language. It also saw a massive expansion of its graphemic inventory by
the hieroglyphic orthography.

Demotic (600 BC - 400 AD)

It is a name of the ancient Egyptian vernacular of the Late and Ptolemaic periods. It was used for
more than 1000 years. The word demotic is derived from the northern forms of hieratic (writing
system) used in the delta. It had three stages during its time:

The Early Demotic

It was developed in Lower Egypt between 650 and 400 BC as most texts were written in the 26th
dynasty and the following Persian period. The demotic language was used for administrative,
legal, and commercial passages and texts.

The Middle Demotic (400-30 BC)

It is a stage of writing that was massively used for literary and religious texts. At the end of the
third century, Greek was used as an administrative language of the country.

Late Roman Demotic

Greek became the semi-official language texts, religious texts, mummy, and graffiti-like the ones
on the walls of the temple of Isis on Philae that you can visit during your trips to Egypt and
demotic began to disappear but there is a number of literary texts from the first and second
centuries AD but unfortunately, most of the demotic texts decreased after the rise of greek
.
Coptic Language
The Coptic language is the final phase of transformation as it is the last direct descendant of the
ancient Egyptian language. Despite the fact that the language can be written in Egyptian
hieroglyphics and demotic scripts, the Coptic alphabet was highly modified by the Greek
alphabet. The language became the official language of the land from 200 AD to 1100 AD and
the last record of it being spoken was during the 17th century.

The language was able to survive thanks to the European scholars who learned it from the native
speakers during the Renaissance and can be only found today as a liturgical language of the
Coptic Orthodox Church. Egypt has elevated the process of cultural transformation to whole new
levels. The majestic cities of Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor, and Aswan offers the once in a lifetime
chance to witness true wonder and magic in their fullest light and if you want to make your
experience more memorable then you can board an enchanting Nile river cruise on the beating
heart of Egypt with our Egypt tour packages.
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN SOCIETY

EGYPTIAN SOCIAL PYRAMID

This diagram shows how Egyptian society was shaped. Which groups formed the top two
levels of the social pyramid? The bottom two levels?

*RICH PEOPLE
● Pharaoh - He ruled Egypt as a God. He was the king of Egypt.
● Government officials (vizier, priest, and noble) - They helped run the government and
temples
● Soldiers - They fought against foreigners and protected the Egyptian land.
● Scribes - they could read and write (They spent 12 years to learn how to do it)
● Merchants - They exchanged products (trade).
● Craftsmen - They produced goods
● Peasants - They were the farmer, construction workers
● Slaves - They were prisoners of war, house servants.. They had to obey
● FACT: Slaves DID NOT build the pyramids Peasants DID.
*Poor people

● Ancient Egyptian literature is characterized by a wide diversity of types and subject

matter. It dates from the Old Kingdom (c. 2755-2255 B.C.) into the Greco-Roman period
(after 332 B.C.). Such literary devices as simile, metaphor, alliteration, and punning are
found.

● Range of Literary Forms. The religious literature of ancient Egypt includes hymns to the
gods, mythological and magical texts, and an extensive collection of mortuary texts. The
range of secular literature includes stories; instructive literature, known as "wisdom text":
poems; biographical and historical texts; and scientific treatises, including mathematical
and medical texts. Notable also are the many legal, administrative, and economic texts
and private documents such as letters, although not actually literature. The individual
authors of several compositions dating from the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom
(2134-1784 B.C.) were revered in later periods. They came from the educated class of
up-per-level government officials, and their audience was largely educated people like
themselves.

Egyptian Cultural Attitudes

Egyptian people are generally very helpful, so tourists rarely have trouble finding assistance with
directions or recommendations. It is not unusual for an entire crowd of Egyptians to surround you
trying to answer a query. They stand very close when speaking, requiring very little personal
space. Egyptians are accustomed to refusing every invitation the first time it was offered, so if
your offer is genuine, repeat it a second time. The same goes with invitations from Egyptian
people. They will offer something once out of politeness, but you know the offer is sincere if it is
repeated. If you accept an invitation into an Egyptian home, such as for a meal, and you do not
show, the hosts would be humiliated.

Religion in Egypt
About 90 percent of the Egyptian population are Sunni Muslims, 8 percent are Coptic Christians
and the remaining 2 percent are Jewish or of other Christian denominations. Islamic values are
fundamental in personal and political aspects for all citizens, including Christians. Egyptians have
strong family values and are expected to be faithful to members of their nuclear and extended
families. Most businesses are closed on Fridays, the Muslim holy day, with some also closed on
Thursdays Egyptian Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan and are only allowed to work for
six hours each day While not required to fast during Ramadan, Christians are not allowed to eat,
drink, smoke or chew gum in public. The major mosques are open to tourists, except during
religious services. All guests are expected to remove their shoes before entering any religious
building

clearly during Ramadan, Eids and Christmas, where festive spirits are everywhere

Mosques are around every corner, so walking down the streets of Egyptian cities, you can hear
the call to pray during the five prayer times per day,
Although Egyptians use the Western calendar, they refer to the Islamic calendar for Islamic
religious holidays, and Ramadan is the most important month in the year, During this month,
Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, focusing on praying and doing charity work. Streets and
homes are decorated to celebrate the occasion and special meals are prepared.
Approximately 94 percent of Egyptians are Muslim, and Islam's tenets guide Egyptian politics,
economic activity and social life. Coptic Christians comprise most of the remaining 6 percent of
the population. Egypt's daily papers print each day's five designated prayer times every morning,
Egypt's government agencies and businesses observe all Islamic holidays, and all institutions
except for emergency services shut down on Friday, Islam's holy day. While most Egyptians
don't touch alcohol, it is available and Egyptians don't place a stigma on non-Muslims who drink
moderately.

Historical Development of Literature and the genres they are well known.

Ancient Egyptian literature comprises a wide array of narrative and poetic forms including
Inscriptions on tombs, stele, obelisks, and temples; myths, stories, and legends; religious
writings, philosophical works autobiographies, biographies, histories; poetry, hymns, personal
essays, letters and court records. Although many of these forms are not usually defined as
"literature" they are given that designation in Egyptian studies because so many of them.
especially from the Middle Kingdom (2040-1782 BCE), are of such high literary ment

The first examples of Egyptian writing come from the Early Dynastic Period (c. 5000-c 3150
BCE) in the form of Offering Lists and autobiographies; the autobiography was carved on one's
tomb along with the Offering List to let the living know what gifts, and in what quantity, the
deceased was dus regularly in visiting the grave.
hieroglyphics ("sacred carvings") consist of:
phonograms (symbols which represent sound)
Logograms (symbols representing words)
ideograms (symbols which represent meaning or sense)

Hieroglyphic script was written with particular care for the aesthetic beauty of the arrangement of
the symbols; hieratic script was used to relay information quickly and easily.

Inc 700 BCE hieratic was replaced by demotic script ("popular writing") which continued in use
until the rise of Christianity in Egypt and the adoption of Coptic script c. 4th century CE

"MOST OF EGYPTIAN LITERATURE WAS WRITTEN IN HIEROGLYPHICS OR

HIERATIC SCRIPT; HIEROGLYPHICS WERE USED ON MONUMENTS WHILE

HIERATIC SCRIPT WAS USED IN WRITING ON PAPYRUS & CERAMICS." Egyptian history,
and so literature, spans centuries and fills volumes of books; a single article cannot hope to treat
of the subject fairly in attempting to cover the wide range of written works of the culture.

Middle Kingdom Literature

The Middle Kingdom is considered the classical age of Egyptian literature. During this time the
script known as Middle Egyptian was created, considered the highest form of hieroglyphics and
the one most often seen on monuments and other artifacts in museums in the present day
Egyptologist Rosalie David comments on this penod The literature of this era reflected the added
depth and maturity that the country now gained as a result of the civil wars and upheavals of the
First intermediate Period. New genres of literature were developed including the so-called
Pessimistic Literature, which perhaps best exemplifies the self-analysis and doubts that the
Egyptians now experienced. (209)

The Pessimistic Literature David mentions is some of the greatest work of the Middle Kingdom in
that it not only expresses a depth of understanding of the complexities of life but does so in high
prose. Some of the best known works of this genre (generally known as Didactic Literature
because it teaches some lesson) are The Dispute Between a Man and his Ba (noul), The
Eloquent Peasant. The Satire of the Trades. The Instruction of King Amenemhet 1 for his Son
Senuaret, the Prophecies of Neferti
Creation myths such as the famous story of Atum standing on the primordial mound amidst the
swirling waters of chaos, weaving creation from nothing, comes from the Pyramid Texts. These
inscriptions also include allusions to the story of Ostris, his murder by his brother Set, his
resurrection from the dead by his sister wife isis, and her care for their son Horus in the marshes
of the Delta.

Following closely on the heels of the Pyramid Texts, a body of literature known as the
Instructions in Wisdom appeared.

There were a number of such texts, all written according to the model of Mesopotamian Naru
Literature, in which the work in ascribed to, or prominently features a famous figure. The actual
Prince Hardjedef did not write his Instruction nor was Kagemn's addressed to the actual
Kagemini. As in Naru literature, a well-known person was chosen to give the material more
weight and so wider acceptance. Wisdom Literature, the Pyramid Texts, and the
autobiographical inscriptions developed significantly during the Old Kingdom and became the
foundation for the literature of the
The ancient Egyptians wrote works on papyrus as well as walls, tombs, pyramids, obelisks and
more. Perhaps the best known example of ancient Johiol terature is the Story of Sinuhe, other
well-known won include the Westar Papyrus and the Ebers papynt, as well as the thumous Book
of the Dead. While most iteranure in ancient Egypt was so-called "Wadom imoratum" that is,
orature meant for instruction taber than entertainment, there also existed myths stores and
biographies solety for entertainment purposes. The autobiography mas been called the oldest
form off Egyptian eure The Nie had a strong influence on the writings of the ancient Egyptians,
as did Greco-Roman poots who came to Alexandra to be supported by the many patrons of the
arts who lived there, and to make use of the resources of the Library of Alexandria (5) Many
great thinkers from around the ancient world came to the clly including Callimachus of Libys and
Theocritus of Syracuse Not all of the ginal writers of the period came from outside of Egypt,
however, one notable Egyptian poet was Apollonius of Rhodes, so as Nonmum of Paropols
author of the epic poem Dionysiaca

The Story of Sinuhe, written in Middle Egyptian, might be the classic of Egyptian literature. Also

written at this time was the Westcar Papyrus, a sut of stories told to Khufu by his sons relating
the marvels performed by priests. The instruction of Amenemope is considered a masterpiece of
near eastern Sterature. Towards the end of the New Kingdom, the vernacular language was
more

Middle Kingdom.
In addition to these prose pieces, the Middle Kingdom also produced the poetry known as The
Lay of the Harper (also known as The Songs of the Harper), which frequently question the
existence of an ideal afterlife and the mercy of the gods and, at the same time, created hymns to
those gods affirming such an afterlife. The most famous prose narratives in Egyptian history -The
Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor and The Story of Sinuhe both come from the Middle Kingdom as
well.

The Middle Kingdom scribes, however, looked back on the time of the First

Intermedia

The literature of the Middle Kingdom opened wide the range of expression by enlarging upon the
subjects one could write about and this would not have been possible without the First
Intermediate Period.
The ancient Egyptians wrote works on papyrus as well as walls, tombs, pyramids, obelisks and
more. Perhaps the best known example of ancient Johiol terature is the Story of Sinuhe, other
well-known won include the Westar Papyrus and the Ebers papynt, as well as the thumous Book
of the Dead. While most iteranure in ancient Egypt was so-called "Wadom imoratum" that is,
orature meant for instruction taber than entertainment, there also existed myths stores and
biographies solety for entertainment purposes. The autobiography mas been called the oldest
form off Egyptian eure The Nie had a strong influence on the writings of the ancient Egyptians,
as did Greco-Roman poots who came to Alexandra to be supported by the many patrons of the
arts who lived there, and to make use of the resources of the Library of Alexandria (5) Many
great thinkers from around the ancient world came to the clly including Callimachus of Libys and
Theocritus of Syracuse Not all of the ginal writers of the period came from outside of Egypt,
however, one notable Egyptian poet was Apollonius of Rhodes, so as Nonmum of Paropols
author of the epic poem Dionysiaca
The Story of Sinuhe, written in Middle Egyptian, might be the classic of Egyptian literature. Also
written at this time was the Westcar Papyrus, a sut of stories told to Khufu by his sons relating
the marvels performed by priests. The testruction of Amenemope is considered a masterpiece of
near eastern Sterature. Towards the end of the New Kingdom, the vernacular language was
more atten employed to write popular preces like the Story of Wenamun and the Instruction of
Any

Literature in the Old Kingdom

The Offering Lists and autobiographies, though not considered "literature", are the first examples
of the Egyptian writing system in action The Offering List was a simple Instruction, known to the
Egyptians as the hetop-di-nesw ("a boon given by the king"), inscribed on a tomb detailing food,
drink, and other offerings appropriate for the person buried there. The autobiography, written
after the person's death, was always inscribed in the first person as though the deceased were
speaking. Egyptologist Miriam Lichthen writes:

The basic aim of the autobiography - the self-portrait in words was the same as that of the self-
portrait in sculpture and relief to sum up the characteristic features of the individual person in
terms of his positive worth and in the face of eternity. (4)

Autobiography of Weni, were inscribed on large monolithic slabs and were quite detalled. The
autobiography was written in prose, the Catalogue in formulaic poetry A typical example of this is
seen in the Inscription of Nefer-Seshem-Ra Called Sheshi from the 6th Dynasty of the Old
Kingdom

Literature in the New Kingdom

Between the Middle Kingdom and the era known as the New Kingdom falls the time scholars
refer to as the Second Intermediate Period (c. 1782-c.1570 BCE) During this era rule in Egypt
was divided between the foreign langs of the Hykson in Lower Egypt at Avans. Egyptian rule
from Thebes in Upper Egypt, and control of the southem reaches of Upper Egypt by the Nubians
Egypt was united, and the Hyksos and Nubians driven beyond the borders, by Ahmose of
Thebes (c. 1570-1544 BCE) who inaugurated the New Kingdom. The memory of the Hyksos
"invasion remained fresh in the minds of the Egyptians and was reflected in the political policies
and the literature of the period. The early pharaohs of the New Kingdom dedicated themselves to
preventing any kind of incursion like that of the Hyksos and so embarked on a series of military
campaigns to expand Egypt's borders; this resulted in the Age of Empire for Egypt which was
reflected in a broader scope of content in the literature and art. Monumental inscriptions of the
gods of Egypt and their enduring support for the pharaoh became a vehicle for expressing the
country's superiority over its neighbors, stories and poems reflected a greater knowledge of the
world beyond Egypt's borders, and the old theme of order vs. chaos was re-imagined as a divine
struggle.

New Kingdom literature, developed in a period when Egypt had founded an empire, displays a
more cosmopolitan approach. This is expressed in texts that seek to promote the great state god,
Amun-Ra, as a universal creator and in the inscriptions carved on temple walls and elsewhere
that relate the king's military victories in Nubia and Syria

Middle Kingdom literature was now considered "classical" and studied by students learning to be
scribes. An interesting aspect of New Kingdom literature is its emphasis on the importance of the
scribal tradition. Scribes had always been considered an important aspect of Egyptian daily life
and the popularity of The Satire of the Trades makes clear how readers in the Middle Kingdom
recognized this. In the New Kingdom, however, in the works extant in the Papyrus Lansing and
the Papyrus Chester Beatty IV, a scribe is not simply a respected profession but one who is
almost god-like in the ability to express concepts in words, to create something out of nothing,
and so become immortal through their work.

Ancient Egyptian Literature

Egyptian literature doesn't get much attention, especially compared to its art and architecture.
Most of what has been written in the ancient Egyptian language consists of spells, incantations,
lists, medical and scientific texts and descriptions of the netherworld. The ancient Egyptians
produced fables, heroic tales, love poems and descriptions of battles but nothing that has stood
the test of time like the Greek myths or Homer's epics,

Hieroglyphic Texts
Most documents and important information was written in papyrus texts. The hieroglyphics found
on tomb walls and works of art tended to be formulaic and offered little information that wasn't
already known.
Three important papyrus texts have survived to this day are: The Pyramid Texts, Book of the
Dead and the Coffin Text. They consisted mostly spells intended to bring about salvation and
comfort the dead in the next world.

Business Etiquette
A handshake is appropriate between members of the same sex, but a man should wait for a
woman to extend her hand before offering to shake hands. If she doesn't, a polite head bow is
proper. Egyptians typically offer several dinner and coffee invitations over the course of
negotiations and while they rarely respond to a proposal by saying "no." if they don't give you a
firm answer it indicates they've declined your proposal. Egyptians address business
acquaintances by their titles and expect the same courtesy, considering it rude to address a
person by his first name before being asked to. Older business travelers often have more
success in negotiations than their younger colleagues because of the value many Egyptians
place on age and experience

Mass Media in Egypt

Egypt is the most progressive country in the Middle East is the field of media, Journalism, film,
television, music and the arts are of supreme Importance in Egyptian culture. Egypt has a press
that is basically free. especially when compared to the censorship applied in other Arab nations.
The biggest newspaper in the country is called "Al Ahram." but other papers are also distributed.
Egypt's radio broadcasting system transmits programs. throughout the Arab world in Arabic,
English, French and other languages. Egyptian television is controlled by the government, with
five national television channels. Egypt is the only Arab country with a movie industry and has
been making movies since the 1930s. Egypt is also home to live entertainment venues, such as
the Cairo Opera House, National Puppet Theater, Pocket Theater and National Symphony. The
country has several museums that boast the ancient art traditions and has produced a Nobel
prize winner in literature.

Family and Honor

An Egyptian's loyalty to his family is paramount, with his ties to immediate and extended family
trumping all other bonds and obligations. Egyptians view nepotism favorably because it
demonstrates that the person bestowing favor is taking care of his family above all others.
Egyptians take honor seriously and consider a verbal agreement binding, as to go back on your
word would be disgraceful (keep this in mind when bartering for goods in a market). An
Egyptian's behavior also reflects upon his family, bringing prestige if he acts honorably and
disgrace if he behaves

Dining in an Egyptian Home

Dinner guests customarily bring pastries or candy to the host's home. A gift of flowers is a faux
pas, as they're reserved for weddings and people suffering illness. Egyptians remove their shoes
before entering a home and complimenting the host on his residence is considered common
courtesy. Egyptians allow their host to direct them to their seat for the meal and always use their
right hands for eating. Egyptian hosts find a guest's request for a second helping to be a great
compliment.

Women and Clothing

Women in Egypt are expected to be conservative and modest, in following with the Islamic
principles for women. Unknown men should never approach an Egyptian woman; instead
questions and concerns should be addressed toward other men. A large percentage of Egyptian
women maintain their virginity until marriage, because virginity is seen as a sign of morality and
men prefer to marry virgin women. Women are widely present within the professional workforce,
working as doctors, lawyers, college professors and diplomats. A head scarf is often worn as a
symbol of modesty and to discourage male advances in the professional field. Women are
expected to keep their arms and legs covered. especially in religious arenas.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Old Kingdom. Very few literary texts survived from the Old Kingdom. Among the most important
works of the period were: Pyramid Texts which include nonliterary and highly poetic spells;
Cannibal Texts, a vivid bits of poetry representing the dead kings attaining power in the afterlife
by devouring the gods; and the Proverbs of Ptahotep, a book of sound but worldly advice.

Middle Kingdom. This is the classic age of Egyptian literature which saw the flourishing of works
which became popular for hundreds of years. Among these are: Tale of Simule, which relates the
flight of a refugee courtier, Sinuhe, from Egypt to Syria for political reasons, his life in exile and
his homecoming; the Shipwrecked Sailor, a simple folk tale of a sailor who meets an old fatherly
serpent on an island; and King Cheops and the Magicians, several folk tales given in a
framework story. New Kingdom. During this period, the style of writing changed and the language
of the day was used, which brought forth a more natural manner of writing, replacing the
artificialities of the Middle Kingdom. Among the famous writings of this period were: The Story of
King Apohis and Sekenenre, which concerns war expelling the Hykos; Voyage of Wenamon, a
tale of an official sent to Lebanon for cedar wood; The Tale of the Two Brothers, The Enchanted
Prince; Hymn to the Sun, Contending of Horus and Seth, etc. The New Kingdom saw increased
concern over the dangers after death and many spells and rituals were composed for use of the
dead.

Late Period. The literature of the late period differs greatly from that of the earlier times because
it was written in demotic, the simplified Egyptian language of that time. Works like The
Lamentations of Isis and Nephtys and Setna and The Magic Book were popular during this
period.

TYPES OF EGYPTIAN LITERATURE

Most of the Egyptian writings fall into one of the five types: wisdom literature, religious literature,
tales, love lyrics, and pessimistic literature.

RELIGIOUS LITERATURE
Religious literature predominates in Egypt. This is always the case when the priests are the only
persons who can write and make records and it is rare that any secular literature survives from
an early period. In Egypt, the earliest body of texts that can be called literature is entirely
religious and comprises a series of hymns and spells sculptured on the walls of the burial
chambers in the pyramids of the five kings of the sixth dynasty. These are now known as the
Pyramid Texts. They have clearly been copied and recopied so many times that often the
language is too corrupt to be comprehensible. It is, however, possible to translate the greater
part of the inscription though many of the allusions are baffling.

The Pyramid Texts consist of hymns and spells for the benefit of the dead, and as they are the
earliest literary liturgy and exposition of religion in the world, they throw a great light on the
primitive beliefs and official creeds. The knowledge of them was handed down undoubtedly by
word of mouth till the time of the 12th dynasty when many of the texts appear on the printed and
sculptured coffins of that period. These we now call the Coffin Texts.

So much of Egypt's literature perished under the rule of the Hyksos that it is not surprising to find
no survival of the texts until the 18th dynasty. Then a few of the early spells occur in that
interesting compilation to which the mislead ing title of Book of the Dead was given by early
Egyptologists.

The Book of the Dead is a series of chapters (literary divisions) written on papyrus and often
illustrated with miniature paintings, found in graves. The chapters are not necessarily connected
with one another or they are not consecutive and there is no reason why they should be
regarded as part of a book. For convenience's sake, the name Book of the Dead is retained and
also the numbering of the so-called chap ters. This book was intended for the exercise of magic
for private individuals in the life hereafter. This is what the Old Kingdom had hoped to derive from
carving the Pryamid Texts in their burial monuments.

Another important religious work is the Hymns to the Sun-God prepared by Amenhotep IV who
later called himself Akhenaton because he believed he was the manifestation of the great
Egyptian ruler who tried to make his people believe in one god, the Sun-god Ra, the powerful,
and the king creator. A characteristic piece of devotional literature is the Hymn to Osiris which
begins as a hymn and ends as a prayer.

Besides hymns and spells for the dead there is another type of religious literature also connected
with the dead. These are the good wishes of the relatives, which when recited in the correct
chant and with the correct gestures, were believed to secure the happiness of the dead man. A
typical example of this is the one from the tomb of the scribe Amonchat, who lived in the reign of
Thutmose III.

TALES
As Egyptian literature is the earliest in the world, it is interesting to know how certain forms arose.
There are many stories of the Middle Kingdom, which almost amount to novels, but they are so
condensed as to be bald and dull in translation. This appears to have been due to their being
merely notes for the guidance of a professional storyteller, who like the bands of our early
history, travelled about the country and made his living by narrating interesting and amusing
stories to the illiterate audience. For such a man, especially for a beginner, notes would be useful
if not essential. The story could be lengthened or abridged at will, conversation could be
interpolated when necessary, and the tale

told with appropriate gestures. During the Middle Kingdom the Egyptian short stories were in
bloom. Among them the Tale of Sinule is the most famous. Other short stories are The Story of
the Doomed Prince, Misadventures of Wen-Amon, and others.

One of the stories is The Story of King Khufu and the Magicians which tells a lively story of a
miraculous happening at the court of the monarch as a prelude to the no less miraculous birth of
triplets to the priestess, destined by prophecy to become future kings. The story is probably
political propaganda but it contains the essential ingredients of a fairy story.

The Tale of Two Brothers is another story which is similar to the Biblical story of Joseph and his
brothers. The story of The Shipwrecked Sailor is another fine example which relates how a sailor
was thrown on a desert island where he conversed with a gigantic serpent.

The Story of the Eloquent Peasant tells the bad and tedious complaints of a peasant who had
been robbed of his merchandise.

LITERATURE
The so-called Maxims and Instructions belong to the genre of didactic or wisdom literature, a
popular form of expression throughout ancient Egypt. Advice is put into the mouth of an old man
admonishing a younger man of the rules of good behavior, or a king who gives advice on wise
rule. The Teaching of Amenomopet and others may be learned by heart as part of a young man's
education. These are widely quoted in conversation, and contain many parallels of Hebrew
Literature.

PESSIMISTIC LITERATURE
One of the many forms of literature that blossomed during the Middle Kingdom is the pessimistic
literature. An interesting specimen of this type is the dialogue of a disappointed man with his
soul, Dialogue of a Pessimist with His Soul. The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage describes a
topsy turvy world in which everything is awry, the poor usurping the land and place of the rich,
the foreigners invading the land, no respect and no virtue anywhere, yet a redeemer is at hand.
This is poor stuff from the literary point of view but it is interesting early evidence of their cyclic
recurrence of revolutionary reversals of fortunes.

LOVE SONGS
The love poems of ancient Egypt are in many ways like those of any other country, and therefore
run easily into English verse. Thus, the lover likens the maiden to all the flowers in the garden.
Then there is the lover who falls ill with the longing to see his beloved. Bridal songs were sung as
they still are in the village of Egypt, the theme always being the surpassing beauty of the bride.
One of the most charming are the bridal songs of Princess Mutardis. It has a refrain which may
have been the theme of many poets in all countries but the Egyptian poem is perhaps the earliest
of its kind.
Egyptian literature has survived largely in the form of priestly texts on papyrus (a form of writing
materials taken from the reed which grew in the Nile), or school copies written on tablets and
astraca (pieces of broken pottery of flakes and limestone). Some 70 works have been identified
but many of them are fragmentary and represent only a fraction of the literary achievement of
Ancient Egyptians, most of which is lost. The text may be classified as historical and mythology-
based popular romances, secular and religious forms, model letters, and collection of moral
precepts or instructions.

There were three forms of Egyptian writings: the hieroglyphics- the oldest form which used line
drawings, representing characters that depict objects and ideas; the hieratic symbol-simpler and
more conventionalized in form than hieroglyphics, used by priests and the demotic symbols used
in commercial documents at about the seventeenth century B.C. Greek was used in Egyptian
literature since the conquest of Alexander the Great.

POETRY
The following poem shows that since time immemorial, problems in human relations have
existed. What are these problems?

To Whom Should I Speak Today?

T. Eric Peet

To whom should I speak today? Brothers are evil; The friends of today love not.
To whom should I speak today?
Hearts are covetous; Every man plundereth the goods of his fellow.
To whom should I speak today? The peaceful man is in evil case; Good is cast aside
everywhere.
To whom should I speak today? Yesterday is forgotten;

Genre
Literature had initially sprung from religious beliefs but by the nineteenth dynasty involved many
different styles including instructions, love poetry, and narrative Mortuary writing was one of the
first gerees of Egyptian writing. first appearing an basic accounts and then growing into some
autobiography One of the most famous xamples of this is The Book of the Dead, in Egyptian the
Coming forth by Day

Sabayt was another genre at the time. It is often translated as Instructions or Teachings and they
contain ethical rules and ways of living

Love poetry from nineteenth and twentieth dynasty Egypt has survived on 3 papyri, vase, and
about 20 ostraca was lyrical in form similar to hymns such as those in the book of the dead, but
without rhyme like modern poetry. Like much anden poetry it would probably have been out to
music. By this time it had developed sophisticated structure. sometimes narrad ue in nature. The
poems were often fuma first person perspective this one is and the oven addressed each offer es
brother and sister. This is a curious example of how important family was to the Egyptians it was
also common to use symbolism form the natural world which sustained their way of le through
agriculture, for exampin. The Nie, crops animals and plants

We can gather that literature from the nineteenth and twentieth dynasties was varied and skillfully
written, playing many important roles in their culture, it was a way of recording religious matters,
teaching ethicalving and even includes more everyday tues such as love Unfortunately however,
there is little doubt that much of it has been lest through the ages.

The 1990s also saw the rise of women writers because of the ease of modern, privatized
publishing This resulted in a great deal of critical comment including a pejorative description of
their work as kitabat al-banat or "girls" writing Moreover, most novels during this time were
relatively short, never much longer than 150 pages, and dealt with the individual instead of a
lengthy representation of family relationships and national icons. Stylistically, many novels now
featured schizophrenic, first-person narrators instead of omniscient narrators.

Moreover, a notable writer in Cairo today is Youssef Ziedan. Ziedan has dominated the bestseller
lists in Egypt as of late. His nonfiction work, Arab Theology and the Roots of Religious Violence
(2010), was one of the more widely read books in Cairo in the months before the January 25
Revolution.

Language
Most Egyptian authors write in Classical Arabic. A few write in the vernacular: Bayram al-Tunisi
and Ahmed Fouad Negm wrote in Egyptian Arabic (Cairone), whereas Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi
wrote in Sa'idi Arabic (Upper Egyptian).

Christian
Alexandria became an important center in early Christianity during roughly the 1st to 4th century
AD, Coptic works wore an important contribution to Christian literature of the period and the Nag
Hammadi library helped preserve a number of books that would otherwise have been lost By the
eighth century Egypt had been conquered by the Muslim Arabs Literature, and especially
libraries, thrived under the new Egypt brought about by the Muslim conquerors. Several
important changes occurred during this time which affected Egyptian writers. Papyrus was
replaced by cloth paper, and calligraphy was introduced as a writing system. Also, the focus of
writing shifted almost entirely to Islam. An early novel written in Arab Egypt was ibn al-Nafis
Theologus

Autodidactus, a theological novel with futuristic elements that have beon described as science
fiction by some scholars

Printing press
The printing press first came to Egypt with Napoleon's campaign in 1798 Muhammad Al
embraced printing when he assumed power in 1805 establishing the Amin Press. This press
originally published works in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish, such as the first Egyptian newspaper
Al-Waqa' al Mariyya The printing press would radically change Egypt's literary output.

Famous Writers
Most Egyptian authors write in Classical Arabic. A few write in the vemacular: Bayram al-Tunisl
and Ahmed Fouad Negmwrote in Egyptian Arabic (Cairane), whereas Abdul Rahman el Abnudi
wrote in Sa'id Arabic (Upper Egyptian),

Notable writers

Taha Husayn

Gamal Abdel Naster

Naguib Mahfouz

Naval El Saat

Bahoa Tisher

Alaa Al Aswany

Abdel Halim Qasem

Ahmed Zairy Abushaty

The Egyptians also carved hieroglyphs onto stone and painted them on the walls of the tombs.

What did Ancient Egyptians use to write with?

• Egyptian writing was done with pen and ink on fine paper (papyrus).

• Egyptian "pens" were thin, sharp reeds, which they would dip in ink to write with.

• The ink and paint came from plants which they crushed and mixed with water.

Where did the Ancient Egyptians use writing? ⚫ They used writing in a variety of places including
in scribe schools, on tomb walls, in fields, in temples, at war and in the government.

THE WESTCAR PAPYRUS

This is one of ancient Egypt's texts that contains five stories narrated at the royal court of King
Kuhfu (Cheops) by his sins about priests and magicians and their miracles, and is also known as
"King Cheops and Magocians"

THE MAXIMS OF PTAHHOTEP

Maxims of Ptahhotep, also called the Instructions of Ptahhotep, is a collection of teaching advice
about the social virtues, kindness, modesty, and justice.

THE LEGEND OF ISIS AND ORISIS

One of the best known myths in ancient Egypt. It concerns the murder of God Osiris by his
brother, Set aka Seth, in order for him to take over the throne.

*3156

THE TALE OF THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR

An Ancient Egyptian story that belongs to the Middle Kingdom. The only remaining Papyrus of
this story is now in Moscow, and was discovered by Vladimir Golenishcheff, a Russian
Egyptologist, in 1881, although it's still not known where it was originally discovered.