MODULE 1

WORLD LITERATURE

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Vision: uphold the vision of its founder to achieve a better life by providing full
opportunities where every graduate and member of the MVGFCI community
are transformed into competent and morally upright professionals dedicated
towards the development of a better society.
MVGFCI In pursuit of its vision, MVGFCI shall provide full opportunities and support
Mission: to ensure and sustain quality instruction, research, community extension,
student affairs and support services.
Desired The graduates manifest the attributes of a “Gallegan” which are as follows:
Students’ professionally competent, effective communicator, critical thinker, strong
Learning interpersonal and collaborative skills, responsible and accountable, ethical,
Outcomes and lifelong learner
Introduction Literature broadly is any collection of written work, but it is also used more
narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially
prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has
expanded to include oral literature, much of which has been transcribed.
Literature is a method of recording, preserving, and transmitting knowledge
and entertainment, and can also have a social, psychological, spiritual, or
political role.
Lesson Comprehensively discuss what world literature is all about.
Outcomes
Relate Literature to History,

Clarify what is the meaning and function of “genre” in world literature.

Compare and contrast Prose and Non-Prose in Poetry, Fables, Epic, Myth,
and Bible.

Content Literature, as an art form, can also include works in various non-fiction
genres, such as biography, diaries, memoir, letters, and the essay. Within its
broad definition, literature includes non-fictional books, articles, or other
printed information on a particular subject.

Etymologically, the term derives from Latin literatura/litteratura "learning, a

writing, grammar," originally "writing formed with letters," from litera/littera
"letter". In spite of this, the term has also been applied to spoken or sung
texts. Developments in print technology have allowed an ever-growing
distribution and proliferation of written works, which now includes electronic
literature.

Literature is classified according to whether it is poetry, prose or drama, and

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such works are categorized according to historical periods, or their
adherence to certain aesthetic features, or genre.

History

Oral literature is an ancient human tradition found in "all corners of the

world". The earliest poetry is believed to have been recited or sung,
employed as a way of remembering history, genealogy, and law. In Asia, the
transmission of folklore, mythologies as well as scriptures in ancient India, in
different Indian religions, was by oral tradition, preserved with precision with
the help of elaborate mnemonic techniques. Homer's epic poetry, states
Michael Gagarin, was largely composed, performed, and transmitted orally.
But literary critics argued the unreliability of oral literature since it is oral and
not in written form.

Oratory or the art of public speaking "was for long considered a literary art".
From Ancient Greece to the late 19th century, rhetoric played a central role
in Western education in training orators, lawyers, counsellors, historians,
statesmen, and poets.

Early Literature

Many works of early periods, even in narrative form, had a covert moral or
didactic purpose, such as the Sanskrit Panchatantra.200 BC – 300 AD,
based on older oral tradition. In ancient China, early literature was primarily
focused on philosophy, historiography, military science, agriculture, and
poetry. China, the origin of modern paper making and woodblock printing,
produced the world's first print cultures.

The earliest known Greek writings are Mycenaean (c.1600–1100 BC),

written in the Linear B syllabary on clay tablets. The Qur'an (610 AD to 632
AD), the main holy book of Islam, had a significant influence on the Arab
language, and marked the beginning of Islamic literature. Theological works
in Latin were the dominant form of literature in Europe typically found in
libraries during the Middle Ages. Western Vernacular literature includes the
Poetic Edda and the sagas, or heroic epics, of Iceland, the Anglo-Saxon
Beowulf, and the German Song of Hildebrandt. A later form of medieval
fiction was the romance, an adventurous and sometimes magical narrative
with strong popular appeal, this marks the birth of Romanticism.

Prose is a literary device referring to writing that is structured in a

grammatical way, with words and phrases that build sentences and
paragraphs.

Non-Prose/ Poetry is literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative

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 awareness of experience or a specific emotional response through language
chosen and arranged for its meaning, sound, and rhythm.

Poetics is the highest form of literary creativity.

A literary movement is a general term for pieces of literature by different

authors (usually over the same time period) who share a similar
impetus for writing in some way. Usually, these authors are considered
part of a "movement" because they have similar ideas about something.
Activity and Short reflective essay
Assessment
How literature change the course of human history?

Mechanics: 50-100 number of words in Arial font, size 12

References 1. Knickerbocker, K.L. et al. Interpreting Literature. Quezon City: JMC
Press Inc. 1985.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literature
3. https://literarydevices.net/prose/
4. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poetics
5. https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-literary-movement-
261693#:~:text=A%20literary%20movement%20is%20a%20general
%20term%20for,%22movement%22%20because%20they%20have
%20similar%20ideas%20about%20something.
6. https://wordswithoutborders.org/book-reviews/friedrich-holderlins-
selected-poems-and-odes-and-elegies/
7. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/friedrich-holderlin
8. https://interestingliterature.com/2017/05/10-of-the-best-w-b-yeats-
poems/#:~:text=%2010%20of%20the%20Best%20W.%20B.
%20Yeats,Coming%20is%20due%2C%20and%20that%20the...
%20More%20