BAUAN TECHNICAL INTEGRATED HIGH SCHOOL

Senior High School Department

21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
Native American
Literature
Mr. Windle M. Perez
21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the
World
• Our American identity
as we know it is a
product of our past.
• Literature reveals
how we arrived at our
society and culture
today.
•We study Native American literature out
of a respect for the indigenous cultures
who were here before the European
explorers as well as a respect for their
cultural and literary influence
throughout the years.
•Indigenous Americans inhabited this
continent before anyone else. They
endured many invasions from the
Spaniards for the following primary
reasons: (1) land, (2) gold and (3)
crops all of which were plentiful.
•Once explorers and settlers
decided to stay and start building
the natives could do nothing
although they usually tried to fight
back.
•Natives had a completely different set of
values and traditions:
1. some wouldn't fight back until they realized they would
lose their land completely
2. they lived off the land and held it in high regard earth
was the mother
3. they never used more than they needed and they never
wasted anything
•Natives had a completely different set of
values and traditions:
1. some wouldn't fight back until they realized they would
lose their land completely
2. they lived off the land and held it in high regard earth
was the mother
3. they never used more than they needed and they never
wasted anything
Long before European explorers came to North
America, Native Americans had a rich literary
tradition of their own. Their stories, histories, and
legends were shared and preserved through oral
tradition. The storyteller is one whose spirit is
indispensable to the people.
•The Native Americans spoke
hundreds of languages and lived in
incredibly diverse societies with
varied mythological beliefs.
• Despite their differences, their cultures and literary
traditions had the following common elements:
1.lack of a written language
-they believed in the power of words and they relied on memory,
rather than writing to preserve their texts in this regard,
-these stories are not defined by the boundaries of written
language there are no ending pages and they are not contained
within a limited, concrete, physical source; these stories belong
to the collective people/the tribe.
• Despite their differences, their cultures and literary
traditions had the following common elements:
2. the oral tradition was a performance
-it is offered to the audience as dramatic events in time
yet, the audience is not passive and has a role in
bringing out the story the storyteller is very important
to culture and is one of the most honored and
respected members of the tribe/society
• Despite their differences, their cultures and literary
traditions had the following common elements:
2. the oral tradition was a performance
-the relationship between the storyteller and the
audience is established through voice emphasis,
gestures, use of space, eye contact, and the
audience can be representative of the
characters in the story.
•Despite their differences, their cultures and
literary traditions had the following common
elements:
3. there is no known original author
- these stories are open to personal
interpretation.
• These oral stories include the following types of
texts:
cultural information (beliefs about social order and appropriate
behavior)
historical accounts including migrations how people got to
where they are
lessons describe how and why things are the way they are
creation stories and the origins of societies (beliefs about the
nature of the physical world)
•These oral stories include the following types of
texts:
legends which include exploits of their heroes
traditions, religious beliefs, ceremonies, dream
songs, shamanic chants, naming chants and
blessings (beliefs about human nature and the problem
of good and evil)
•These oral stories include the following
types of texts:
trickster tales featuring a trickster figure who
was any combination of the following descriptions
rule-breaker, malicious, cunning, foolish, chaos-
causing, shape and gender shifting (a famous
example is Kokopeli who was a Hopi flute player
symbolic of happiness, joy, and fertility)
• These oral stories include the following types of
texts:
 instructions from spirit mentors and explanations on how
to conduct ceremonies
descriptions of natural processes such as water cycles, inter-
species relationships, life cycles of plants, earth movements, and
soil types
 oral maps for travel which describe historic and on-going
migrations of tribe for subsistence and holy journeys
•These oral stories include the following
types of texts:
 magical tales of transformation which articulate
the mystery and complexity of being human
adventures in love, romance, and marriage
• While oral stories are meant to be passed down
through generations verbally, it is important to
remember that written transcripts are not
exactly representative of the oral performance.
But a translation/ transcription of the stories is the
closest we can come to sharing the Native
American culture and tradition.
• These oral stories were chanted, spoken, sung
and repeated over and over until embedded into
the memories of the next generations.
• The Native American oral tradition was the only way
to pass on tribal history, heritage, and cultural
practices. In order to continue hundreds of years of a
tribes history the young must listen and remember
the stories the elders tell and then pass them on.
It includes (1) American
Individualism, (2) American Dream,
(3) Cultural diversity and (4)
Tolerance
Also known as the self-made man
Celebration of ambition and achievement
Original colonists came from religious freedom
Later colonists came looking to make their
fortune for the opportunities not available in
class-based European societies.
Closely linked to American Individualism
The idea that anyone can became
whatever he or she wants to become
through hard work, determination, and
perseverance.
A society that welcomes legal
immigrants of diverse backgrounds.
The melting pot theory – immigrants assimilate
into our culture and become Americans.
The salad bowl theory – immigrants retain their
separate identifies while making up part of the
whole and adopt a hyphenated American name
(Chinese-Americans)
Religious Tolerance was one of the
first principles in American Life.
More recent issues have included
race, gender, sexual orientation and
etc.
These include ancient hieroglyphic and
pictographic writings of Middle America as well as
an extensive set of folktales, myths, and oral
histories that were transmitted for centuries by
storytellers and that live on in the language works of
many contemporary American Indian writers.
Oral Tradition of songs and stories.
 Originals authors unknown
 Written accounts come after colonization
 Includes: creation stories, myths, totems
 Archetypes: trickster and conjurer
Focuses on:
 The Natural world as sacred
 Importance of land and place
Myth – an anonymous oral story
Relies on supernatural to explore a natural
phenomenon, human behavior or mystery
Explain why the world is the way it is/they help
make sense of the world
Notable Works
The Earth on the Turtle’s Back – Carol Pugliano
When Grizzlies Walked Upright – Richard Erdoes
and Alfonzo Ortiz.
Grandmother Spider Steals the Sun – Geri
Keams
Creation by Women – Elizabeth Fisher
(1) Historical Context, (2)
Characteristics, (3) Important
Authors
Historical Context
• When colonists arrive in the new land, they
created villages and towns and established new
governments (while protesting the old ways in
Europe)
‒French. Swedes, Dutch, German, Scots-Irish,
Spanish, Africans (mostly slaves)
Historical Context
•Did not consider themselves
"Americans" until mid- 1700s
•Enormous displacement of Native-
American civilizations
Characteristics
• Literature of the period was dominated by the Puritans
and their religious influence
• Emphasis on faith in one's daily life
- Predestination - A person's fate is determined by God
- Original Sin - All are corrupt and need a Savior
- Puritan work ethic - belief in hard work and simple, nofrills
living
- Theocracy - government ruled by Bible/church
Characteristics
• Types of Writing •Writing Style
1. Sermons ‒Writing is Utilitarian;
2. Diaries not professional
3. Personal writers
Narratives ‒Writing in instructive
‒Puritan Plain Style;
Simple and direct
Representative Authors
• William Bradford (journal)
• Anne Bradstreet (poetry)
• Jonathan Edwards (sermon)
• Mary Rowlandson (captivity narrative)
• Phillis Wheatley (poetry)
• Olaudah Equiano (slave narrative)
Though not written during Puritan times. The Crucible by Author Miller & The Scarlet
Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne depict life during the time when Puritan theocracy
prevailed.
(1) Historical Context, (2)
Characteristics, (3) Important
Authors
Historical Context
Occurred during/after the Revolutionary
War
Writers focused on explaining and
justifying the American Revolution
Writers pondered what if really means
to be an American
Historical Context
Writers pondered what if really means to be an
American
After the war of 1812 (when last British troops
were removed from North America) there was an
even greater focus on Nationalism, Patriotism
and American Identity.
Characteristics
Emphasis on reason as opposed to faith alone;
this was a reaction to the Puritan way of life
Shift to a more print-based culture; literacy seen
as sign of status
Instructive in values, highly ornate writing
style, highly political and patriotic
Representative
1. Benjamin Franklin (biography, common sense
aphorism)
2. Patrick Henry (speech)
3. Thomas Paine (pamphlet)
4. Thomas Jefferson (political documents)
5. Abigail Adams (letters)
(1) Historical Context, (2)
Characteristics, (3) Important
Authors
Historical Context
A reaction to the previous decades in which
reason and rational thought dominated
Period of invention, Manifest Destiny,
abolition movement, and the "birth" of truly
American Literature
Historical Context
Growth of urban population in Northeast
Growth of newspapers, lectures, debates
Revolution in transportation and science
Industrial revolution made "old ways" of doing
things irrelevant
Characteristics
Writers celebrated: Types of Writing:
1. Individualism 1. Short Stories
2. Nature 2. Novels
3. Imagination 3. Poetry
4. Creativity
5. Emotions
Characteristics
Interest in fantasy and supernatural
Writing can be interpreted two ways - surface
and depth
Good triumphs over evil
Imagination over reason
Intuition over fact
Important Authors
Early Romantics Washington Irving
Authors began the (folktales)
tradition of creating William Cullen
imaginative literature Bryant (poetry)
that was distinctly
American  James Fenimore
Cooper (novels)
Important Authors
 Fireside Poets Henry Wadsworth
 The most popular poets of Longfellow
the time were read in the
home by the fireside Oliver Wendell
 Poetry contained strong Holmeso James
family values and Russell Lowell
patriotism
John Greanleaf
 Taught in elementary
schools for memorization Whittier
Important Authors
 Transcendentalists  Ralph Waldo Emerson
 Hippies of the Romanticismo
(essays, poetry)
 Belief that man's nature is
inherently good; "divine Henry David Thoreau
spark", or "inner light“ (essays)
 Man and society are
perfectible (utopia)o
 Stress self- reliance, intuition
Important Authors
 Dark Romantics
 AKA Gothic or Anti-
Transcendentalism
 Man's nature is inherently
evil
 Use of supernatural
 Strong use of symbolism
 Dark landscapes, depressed
characters
 Nathaniel Hawthorne
(novels, short stories)
 Herman Melville (novels,
short stories, poetry)
 Edgar Allan Poe (short
stories, poetry, literary
criticism)
Important Authors
 Dark Romantics
 AKA Gothic or Anti-
Transcendentalism
 Man's nature is inherently
evil
 Use of supernatural
 Strong use of symbolism
 Dark landscapes, depressed
characters
 Nathaniel Hawthorne
(novels, short stories)
 Herman Melville (novels,
short stories, poetry)
 Edgar Allan Poe (short
stories, poetry, literary
criticism)
(1) Historical Context, (2)
Characteristics, (3) Important
Authors
Historical Context
The Realistic Period includes the Civil War, significant
industrial inventions, and extensive westward
expansion
Rejection of Romantic view of life as too idealistic
Writers write about real-life issues and complex events
of the time rather than idealized people or places
Objective narrator
Characteristics
Realistic authors convey the reality of life, however
harsh
Characters reflect ordinary people in everyday life:
determined yet flawed, struggling to overcome the
difficulties of war, family, natural disasters, and
human weaknesses
Characteristics
Good doesn't always triumph over evil
Nature is a powerful force beyond man's
control
Racism persisted beyond slavery-
Reconstruction, Jim Crow, KKK, etc.
Important Authors
 Transitional Writer Walt Whitman
 Transition from Romanticism
to Realism (poetry)
 Express Transcendental
ideas in poetry, with realistic
Emily Dickinson
detail (poetry)
 Experimented with new
poetic techniques such as
free verse and slant rhyme
Important Authors
 Civil War Writers Walt Whitman
 Primarily concerned (poetry)
with:
 The war Emily Dickinson
 Slavery (poetry)
 Women's suffrage
(right to vote)
Important Authors
 Local Color Writers (Regionalists)
 Mark Twain (Mississippi
 Focused on a particular region of
the country River valley)
 Seeking to represent accurately the
culture and beliefs of that area.
 Kate Chopin (the South,
 Emphasized: particularly Louisiana)
1. Physical landscape  Willa Cather (the
2. Habits
Midwest, particularly
3. Occupations• Speech (dialect)
of the area's people Nebraska)
(1) Historical Context, (2)
Characteristics, (3) Important
Authors
Historical Context
The Realistic Period includes the Civil War, significant
industrial inventions, and extensive westward
expansion
Rejection of Romantic view of life as too idealistic
Writers write about real-life issues and complex events
of the time rather than idealized people or places
Objective narrator
Characteristics
 Focused on grim reality  Universe is godless, cold,
 Observed characters like and indifferent
scientists observe lab  Life is meaningless
animals  Fate Chance (no free will)
 Viewed nature and the  Characters are helpless
universe as indifferent, victims- trapped by
even hostile, to man nature, the environment,
or their own heritage
Important Authors
Jack London (novels, short stories)
Stephen Crane (novels, short stories, poetry)
Edwin Arlington Robinson (poetry)
Ambrose Bierce (short stories)
(1) Historical Context, (2)
Characteristics, (3) Important
Authors
Historical Context
Writers affected by:
1.World War I, World War II, fear of communism, beginning of
the Cold War
2.Roaring 20s, the Great Depression, commercialism
3.Increased population from immigration
4.Lingering racial tensions
5.Technological changes
6.Fear of eroding traditions
Characteristics
 Modern writers are known for:
1. Themes of alienation and disconnectedness
2. Frequent use of irony and understatement
3. Experimentation with new literary techniques in fiction and poetry
• Stream of consciousness
• Interior dialogue
• Fragments
4. Creating a unique style
5. Rise of ethnic female writers
Important Authors
 The Lost Generation T.S. Eliot (poetry)
 A group of writers who F. Scott Fitzgerald
chose to live in Paris after
WWI (fiction)
 Themes of alienation and Ernest Hemingway
change (fiction)
 Confronted people's fears,
despair, and
disillusionment
Important Authors
 Harlem Renaissance Langston Hughes
 Flourishing of African-
American authors (poetry)
 Included music and art Zora Neale Hurston
 Two goals: (1) Write about (fiction)
African-American experience
(2) Create literature by African- Claude McKay (poetry)
Americans that could rival
anything created by anyone
else
Important Authors
Southern Margaret Mitchell
Renaissance William Faulkner
 Follow in the footsteps
of earlier local color Flannery O'Connor
writers, in that they
focus on the South
Important Authors
Traditional Poets Modern Dramatists
 Carl Sandburg  Arthur Miller
 Robert Frost Tennessee Williams
Experimental Poets
 Edward Estlin
Cummings
(1) Historical Context, (2)
Characteristics, (3) Important
Authors
Historical Context
 unprecedented prosperity
 global conflict
 Korean War, Vietnam War, the end of the Cold War, the rise of
terrorism, Gulf War, 9/11, Iraqi War. War in Afganistan
 social protest
 the civil rights movement, the women's rights movement, the
gay rights movement
Historical Context
 unprecedented prosperity
 global conflict
 Korean War, Vietnam War, the end of the Cold War, the rise of
terrorism, Gulf War, 9/11, Iraqi War. War in Afganistan
 social protest
 the civil rights movement, the women's rights movement, the
gay rights movement
Historical Context
Mass culture and consumerism
Media saturation
Rise of technology and space exploration
The digital revolution
Characteristics
 Eclectic - a collection of a
little bit of everything•
Create traditional works
without traditional structure
 Address social issues
related to
gender/race/youthful
rebellion
 Questions traditional values
 Often critical and ironic
 No heroes/anti-heroes are
common
 Detached, unemotional
 Individuals are isolated
Important Authors
The Beat Poets Jack Kerouac
Pre-hippies, highly William S.
intellectual, Burroughs
exuberant language Allen Ginsberg
and behavior
Important Authors
Confessional Poets Sylvia Plath
Used anguish of Anne Sexton
their own lives to Robert Lowell
reveal hidden
despair
Important Authors
American
Authors
J.D. Salinger Truman Capote
James Thurber Stephen King
John Updike Joyce Carol Oates
Important Authors
Jewish Latino-Americano
1. Elie Wiesel 1. Julia Alvarez,
African-American 2. Sandra Cisneros
1. Ralph Ellison Asian-Americano
2. Maya Angelou 1. Amy Tan
3. Alice Walker 2. Maxine Hong
Kingston
BAUAN TECHNICAL INTEGRATED HIGH SCHOOL
Senior High School Department
21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World