21ST CENTURY LITERATURE

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LESSON 8: ASIAN LITERATURE: CHINESE
- Began more than two thousand years ago
The Book of Poetry (Shijing)
- first anthology
-compiled 600 B.C. by Confucius (551-479 B.C.)
-collection of 305 poems that date back between approximately 800 & 600 B.C.
-use of metaphor
-highlights of traditional Chinese literature include
1. The Song of the South(Chuci)
2. Prose writings in history and philosophy of the Qin and Han Dynasties.
3. Tang poetry
4. Song Lyric
5. Prose of the Tang and Song dynasties
6. Short Stories
7. Novels
8. Dramas from the Tang to the Qing dynasties
Traditional Chinese Literature Modern period of Chinese Literature
-developed under the influences of -began 1910s
1. Confucianism -more multifarious and voluminous
2. Daoism (Taoism) -running the risk of abstraction and
3. Buddhism oversimplification.
-characterized Chinese literature as
-preaches 1. Expression of both heart and mind.
1. Benevolence 2. Concerning the individual society.
2. Righteousness 3. Variously sublime and graceful
3. Individual effort 4. Blending reality and imagination.
4. Commitment to society
Chinese Literature in 20th century
5. Harmony among people
-made a dramatic turn to the West
-the change affected all aspects of
-came under the influences of Christianity in the Ming
Chinese culture.
dynasty(1368-1644)
-receptive to the literary works of such
-influenced by the music of the non-Chinese ethnic groups
eastern Countries as India & Japan
-product of Chinese civilization.
-presence of West is quite overwhelming.
Modern Chinese Literature
-writers remained prolific Arthur Waley
-Chinese literary tradition is nevertheless prosperous. -was a 20th century scholar who translated
numerous Chinese and Japanese classic
Notable names Chu’u Yuan
1. Mo Yan- fictionist won 2012 Noble Prize of Literature. -author of Battle
Novelist
1. Yu Hua Yu Xiuhua
2. Wang Shou -became well known in 2014 with her
3. Shi Teisheng online poem”Crossing the Half to Sleep
Story authors with You”
1. Gao Xiaosheng -author or “On the Treshing Floor, I Chase
2. Wang Zengqi Chickens Away”
3. Zhang Chenzi Ming Di
The Splendor of Chinese Literature -translated On the Treshing Floor, I Chase
-Chinese literature can be used as an escape into a Chickens Away
beautiful world and time, a guide to virtuous living, and
historical map through images ang philosophy.
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LESSON 9: ASIAN LITERATURE: JAPANESE
- influence by the Chinese literature from the ancient period to Edo Period (1603-1868)
- reveal elements of Indian and later of western elements, but above all, they reveal a distict style which has
influence both Eastern and Western Lit.
Ancient Literature Classical Literature
-deals primarily with myths and legends. -occurred during the golden age(Heian Period)
-the creation of Japan, wherein the islands came -Murasaki Shikibu, one of the greatest writers,
from gemstones imbued in the swords of gods are wrote the seminal text, Tale of Genji
prominent in this period.
-writers who wrote based on real events in the Tale of Genji
country -world’s first novel
1. Ono Yasumaro -very charming and accurate depiction of Japanese
2. Nihon Shoki court during Heian Period under the reign of
3. Man’yoshu Empress Akiko.
Medieval Period
-history and literature were intertwined due to the
influence of civil wars and the emergence of
warrior class
-war tales are very prominent

Renga
-popular for of Japanese poetry saw its rise.
Early Modern Literature (Edo Period)
-gave way to the rise of new genres of Japanee
drame, kabuki, haiku, yomihon

Haiku
-known for simplicity and subtlety.
Yomihon
-Japanese book which put little imphasis on
illustration.
Modern Period
-marked the emergence of new style of writings.
-Japanes writers started to romanticize and tried
experimenting with different genres and subject
matters.Prominent Japenese writers
1. Yasunari Kawabata
2. Kobi Abe
3. Takiji Kobayashi
4. Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami
- author of “The Boy Named Crow”
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LESSON 11: AFRICAN LITERATURE
- reflects the history of its people, the continents feelings, and the minds of the population.

Writings in Africa started in the Middle ages when Dark Continent

Arabic is introduced to them and the it moved -enjoys a vast collection of masterpieces, both in
forward to 1800s with the coming of alphabet oral and written literature

Birth of Negritude Movement Aftermath of Colonial Experience

-which means blackness - African writers have since chronicled new
-1934 challenges that have emerged in their repective
-writers are committed to look into their won society.
culture, traditions, and values - Writers react to sovereign governments.
-opened the avenue of writers to celebrate what is
truly African Case of Ngugi wa Thiong’o
- was imprisoned for a play considered to have
Writing political freedom grew and the dignity of submersive messages against Kenyan
African traditions has been asserted. Administration

Writers like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Kofi Corruption in Society

Awoonor, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Okot p’Bitek, Dennis
Crutus, Es’kia Mphahlele, Nadine Gordimer, and
Jacques Rabemananjara
- wrote in European language , they nevertheless
embodied the spirit of nationalism
- strong and effective were their works that they
gained worldwide acclaim.
- theme of African writers in Postcolonial times,
was reflected in V.Y. Mudimbe’s Before the Birth
of the Moon (1989)
Tanzania
- writer of “The Clever Young Man and the
Monster

Nairobi
- writer of “Rawera (the Comforter) and the
Monster”

Chinua Achebe
- writer of “Things Fall Apart”
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LESSON 12: EUROPEAN LITERATURE - I
- literature in many languages: among the most modern written works are those in English, Spanish, Dutch,
French, Polish, German, Italian, Modern Greek. Czech, Russian, Bosnian, Scandinavians, Irish

Medieval Period Realism

-(500-1500) -1820-1920
-an attention to detail, and an effort to replicate
Masterpiece the true nature of reality in a way that novelist
1. Beowulf never attempted
2. The Song of Roland
3. The Nibelungenlied Famous writers
4. The Canterbury Tales- by Geoffrey Chaucer 1. Franz kafka
2. William Butler Yeats
During Renaissance period, writers like Edmun 3. T.S. Eliot
Spencer(The Faerie Queen), John Milton(Paradise 4. Vicente Biasco Ibanez
Lost), and William Shakespeare(Romeo and Juliet) Naturalism
took the level of its literary standard into whole
-1870-1920
new high
-sought to go further and be more explanatory by
Age of Enlightenment identifying the underlying causes of a person’s
-!700-1800 actions or beliefs
-its center was a celebration of ideas- ideas about -the environment played a large part in the
what the human mind was capable of, and what narrative structure
could be achieved through deliberate action and
scientific mythology. Emile Zola
-politically in nature -influential writer in this period
-provided aspiration and model in writing
Voltaire and Jean-Jaques Rousseau Existentialist
-torchbearers of englightemnet literature and
-1850-today
philosophy.
-crime and punishment is the profound example of
Romantic Movement how some of the principle of existentialist.
-displays more variety in style, theme, and content
-1798-1870 of the 18th and 19th centuries Doytoyevsky’s Story
-concerned with the masses -shows that thinking can be perverted, leading to
-with writers like Mary Shelley and her ethical decay and personal destruction.
masterpiece, Frankenstein and Lord Byron’s Don
Juan, the focus of literature shifted from scientific Franz Kafka
to mysterious. -associated with 20th century existentialism
Victorian Period
Albert Camus
- Victorian is borrowed from the royal matriarch of
-most related name to existentialism
England, Queen Victoria
-writers exhibit some well-established habits, and Modernist Period
at the same time pushing arts & letters in new and -1910-1965
interesting directions -presented new way of living and seeing the world
-writers are free to try new concepts in writing
Novelist and Poets -series of cultural shocks where the poets took
1. Charlotte & Emily Bronte advantage
2. Lord Tennyson
3. Robert Browning King Arthur
4. Gustave Flaubert - key figure in all European literature
5. George Eliot
6. Fyodor Dosteyevsky
7. Thomas Hardy
-wrote with simplicity, truth, and tempered
emotions
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LESSON 13: EUROPEAN LITERATURE - II

Archetypes
-universal symbols that encapsulate the collectively-inherited unconscious idea, pattern of thought, image,
etc., that is, universally present in people

Psychologist Carl Gustav

- described several archetypes
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LESSON 14: EUROPEAN LITERATURE - III

DETECTIVE STORY- is an exciting type of popular literature with a very gripping story telling technique in
which a crime is introduced, investigated, and ultimately solved.

POPULAR WRITERS
 Edgar Allan Poe - his literary innovations earned him the nickname “Father of the Detective Story.”
He won a literary prize in 1843 for his master piece “The Gold Bug.”
 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - he was known for his creation of the detective Sherlock Holmes.
 Dan Brown - he was best known for the Robert Langdon series, which notably included the Da Vinci
Code (2003).
 James Patterson - is known as the world’s best selling author “Along Came a Spider” was his most
popular detective novel.
 John Grisham - was known for his legal thrillers (subset or crime fiction). “A Time to Kill” was his most
popular detective book.

ELEMENTS FOR DETECTIVE STORIES

 Flawless Crime - is a crime for which the culprit of the crime will never be caught or if caught then not
convicted by the crime.
 Innocent Suspect - is the person who did not commit a crime which they have been accuse of.
 Law Officers that are Inept or Incompetent - a person who lacks skills and has a poor judgement.
 The Cunning Detective - who will reveal the real culprit
 Denouement - where the detective explains how he solved the puzzling crime.

QUICK FACTS
 Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is the most popular detective work.
 Holmes popularity remained 126 years after his first appearance and even generated new versions
like:
- Japanese Anime Detective Conan
- BBC’s famous television show Holmes.
- Hollywood blockbusters which stars Robert Downey Jr.

The popularity of detective stories relies heavily on the suspense it creates and the reader’s anticipation
for the revelation. By far, serial writer of the 21st Century have not failed their fans yet.

Cliffhanger Plot Device- it features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted
with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction.

A STUDY IN EMERALD
- is a short alternate reality Sherlock Holmes story written by British fantasy and graphic novel author Neil
Gaiman.

NEIL GAIMAN
- is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, nonfiction, audio theatre, and
films.
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LESSON 15: NORTH AMERICAN LITERATURE - I
-America was a series of British Colonies
-literary tradition of the country can connected to British literary tradition
-very rich in content and tradition and definitely shaped the writing style of contemporary writers
Early American Writings Scott Fitzgerald - wrote “The Greatest Gatsby”
A True relationship of Virginia (by Captain John which shows how dreams and ambitions of youth
Smith)- discusses the advantages & disadvantages quickly disappear and ultimately lead to
of colonial rule. disappointment.
Political Writings 21st Century
The works of -become democratic and heterogeneous
1. Samuel Adams -regionalism has flowered
2. Benjamin Franklin International, or global writers refract U.S. culture
3. Thomas Paine -creative non-fiction and memoir have flourished
-wit and has contribution to building the nation -short story genre gained luster
that is today. -short short story has taken root
-new generation of playwrights continues the
Works of American tradition 0f exploring current social
1. Alexander Hamilton issues on stage
2. James Madison The Hunger Games
3. John Jay -Suzanne Collins (also writer of The Underland
4. Thomas Jefferson Chronicles)
-influence their very constitution.
Plot- series of events
Influential American writers Exposition- intro of characters and the situation
Washington Irving -Salmagundi Inciting incident- conflict introduced
Diedrich Knickerbocker -A History of New York Rising Action- chain of events build from the
-The Legend of Deep conflicts
Hallows Climax- outcome will be determined
-Rip van Winkle Falling Action- problem solved
James Fenimore Cooper -The Last of the Resolution- main conflict is answered
Mohicans Denouement- outcome or conclusion- the
Edgar Allan Poe -The Falls of the House unravelling or the untangling of conflict
of Usher
-The Raven Theme- general point that the story attempts to
-The Cask of make
Amontillado Setting- time and location
Herman Melville -Moby Dick
Nathaniel Hawthorne -The Scarlet letter
(comprise the Dark
Romanticism subgenre)
Greatest Century Poets
Walt Whitman
Emily Dickinson
Proponents of Realism
Mark Twain Created characters who
Henry James sounds like American
with accents
Beginning of 20th Century Writers
-novelist started -Edward Bellamy
experimenting in style & -Upton Sinclair
Subject matter -Henry Adams
-writers expresses their
disillusionment upon the
war
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LESSON 16: NORTH AMERICAN LITERATURE - II
-poetry and poets have been described in various way
Thomas Hardy Thomas Babington Afterlife
-says that poetry is Macaulay -concepts of fascinate writers
emotion. The emotion -said “Perhaps no -writers would like to the picture of what is going
must come by nature, butperson can be a poet, to happen after death
the measure can be or can even enjoy -put it simply is there really life after death
acquired by art poetry, without a
certain unsoundness Death
of mind By Emily Dickinson
T. S. Eliot William Wordsworth
-believes that immature -expressed that poetry
poets imitate, mature is the spontaneous
poets steal overflow of powerful
words collected in
moments of tranquility
Poetry
-an imaginative response to an experience
reflecting a keen awareness of language
Language in Poetry
Literal- words were taken exactly
Figurative- create special effects
Elements of Poetry
-Speaker
-Theme
Diction
-Imagery
-Rhyme & Rhythm
-Meter
-Verse
-Stanza
-Line breaks
Kinds of Poetry
Lyric Poem Narrative Poetry

-comparatively short -gives verbal

-single speaker presents a
state of mind or an
emotional state
-retain some elements of
song
-Greek writers, said that
the lyric was a song
accompanied by lyre
representation, in
verse, of a sequence
of connected events
-propels characters
through plot
-always told by
narrator
-might tell of a love
story, story of facther
and a son, or deeds
of a hero or homie
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LESSON 17: LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE - I
-writers needed to express the thoughts and feelings
-Romanticism developed in their regions
-since 1960s, they has been searching for the perfect novel that can be introduced to the world as the
epitome of what region has to offer
-”One Hundred years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

One Hundred Years of Solitude Writers emerged after the region finally found its
-takes readers to Macondo, a fictional town, but distinct voice
inspired to a real hometown, founded by the
Buendia Family Mario Vargas Llosa
-has a perfect harmony between magic and reality -won Nobel prize for literature(2010)
-most translated works -his works influenced writers belief on what is
-most read in Spanish distinctly Peruvian.
-origins, colonization, struggles, and history -most influential writers during Latin American
Rayuela Boom
-by Julio Cortazar Magic Realism
-can be read in various ways -engages belief system that defy rational,
-155 chapter empirical(scientific) proof
-divided into three parts -do science fiction and fantasy and gothic romance
-magical events in realistic context
-what is real, and how we can tell

21ST CENTURY LITERATURE

Finals Reviewer
LESSON 18: LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE - II