21ST CENTURY

WORLD LITERATURE World Literature

- Is the totality of all national literatures.
Once upon a time Apparently involved in all nations and
- A four simple words but powerful countries the collection of national
words. literatures from all parts of the world.
- even science itself tells us when we - World literature emerged only in the
hear a story our bodies produce the 12th century when the literary
hormone oxytocin and we instantly connections of different countries had
start to form a connection with the spread the strengthened.
person that we are listening.
- Stories binds us together and help us Johann Woflgang Won Goethe
to make sense of our experiences. - He is the first one who coined up tith
- There is always that moment we the “Weltliteratur”
experience that so-called catharsis be - He introduced the term “world
it consciously or not that release of literature” by using the word
emotion to our relief. ‘weltliteratur’ in 1827.
- He studied the characteristics, features
Literature Storytelling and interrelationships of different
- is the very heart of it all. national literatures.
- He studied the famous writers
Literature presented in different literary
- connects us to various human phenomena and historic periods.
experience and changes us - He also claimed that literature
emotionally. shouldn’t be restrained by national
boundaries.
Catharsis - It was in Germany when the concept
- (noun) the process of releasing and of world literature initially emerged.
thereby providing relief from strong or
repressed emotions. Text in Literature
- Simply referring to any written literary
Emotions word.
- are apparently what fuels every story
in literature. Literatures that Goethe studied:
- Sanskrit literatures of India
Universal or Cosmopolitan Appeal of - The Islamic religious translations or
Literature islamic writings
- a characteristic that literature - Serbian epic poetry translation
possesses that transcends time, space,
- Some translated Chinese writing
race, creed, religion, and culture.
- the same characteristic that gave birth
to WORLD LITERATURE.
1848
- Two writers happened to be German
philosophers or theories as well as like
Goethe had emerged by the name of
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles.
- They used the word world literature in
their book entitled Communist
Manifesto.
1894
- The world saw the first book about
world literature entitled “The History
of World Literature”.
WORLD LITERATURE
CLASSIFICATIONS
ACCORDING TO PERIOD OF
DEVELOPMENT
a. The Bronze age of Literature
- covers ancient literature from 2600 BC
- literary works of Sumerians and
Egyptians.
- The first ancient civilizations who
developed early systems of writing
including cuneiform of the Sumerians
sand hieroglyphs of the Egyptians.
b. Classical Literature
- a great masterpieces of Greek, Roman,
and other ancient civilizations (1200
BCE to 455 CE).
- the period that gave birth to the greek
and roman god and goddesses.
c. Medieval Literature
- Any work written in Latin or the
vernacular betweenn c. 476-1500 CE,
including philosophy, religious,
treatises, legal texts, as well as works
of the imagination.
d. Modern Literature
- originated in the late 19th and early
20th centuries mainly in Europe and
North America.
- characterized by a self-conscious
break with traditional ways of writing
in both poetry and prose fiction
imagination.
- the period that gave birth to the kind
of writing called stream of
consciousness technique which depict
the infinite thoughts and feelings
which pass through the mind of a
narrator.
Stream of Consciousness
- The prose fiction version Soliloquy or
monologue in the genre of drama.
Monologue
- A literary device use in drama which
characterize by long speech delivered
or presented by an individual
character.
Soliloquy
- Presented by a single character to
himself /herself as an expression of
his/ her inner thoughts to
himself/herself
Stream of Consciousness Writers
- Dorothy Richardson (Pointed Roofs
1915)
- James Joyce (Ulysses 1922)
- Virginia Woolf (To the Lighthouse
1927 and Mrs. Dalloway 1925)
E. Contemporary Literature - Set after
World War II or during the
1940s.
- Reality based stories with strong
characters and a believable story.
 - The period that gave birth to the genre
of magical realism.
Magical Realism
- Points a realistic view of the modern
word while also adding magical
elements often dealing with the
blurring of the lines between fantasy
and reality
- Uses a substantial amount of realistic
detail and employs magical elements
to make a point about reality.
F. 21st Century Literature
- Any works written from 2001
onwards.
- Characterized by the steep increase in
the acceptability of literature of all
types
- Speculative Fiction.
- The advent of internet age, digital
media and social media in 21st has
also led to the emergence of new
literary genres.
Speculative Fiction
- Genres with elements that do not exist
in reality, recorded history, nature, or
the present universe.
- Themes in the context of supernatural,
Futuristic, and other imaginative
realms.
Dystopian Fiction
- Denoting an imaged state or society
where there is great suffering and
injustice
- Complete opposite of
Utopian
Literature which presents an ideal
world free of suffering or pain.
21st Century Representative Texts and
Authors Across the Continents from Asia,
North America, Europe, Latin America to
Africa
1.ASIA
Tan Twan Eng
- is a malaysian novelist, two of his
novels the gift of rain (2007) and The
garden of evening mists (2011) both
receive the international accolades and
have been translated into various
languages.
- Both of his novels featured about
historical relevance of Malaysia.
- Born in Penang and lived in various
places in Malaysia.
- Studied law at University of London
and worked as lawyer in Kuala
Lumpur.
- His first novel was long listed for the
Man Booker Prize and translated into
Italian, Spanish, Greek, Romanian,
Czech, and Serbian.
- His second novel won the Man Asian
Literary Prize and Walter Scott Prize,
and was shortlisted for The Man
Booker Prize and the International
IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
Musharaff Ali Farooqi
- Is a Pakistan author, novelist and
translator.
- His novel between “Clay and Dust”
was shortlisted for the Man Asian
Literary Prize 2012 and longlisted for
the 2013 DSC Prize for South Asian
Literature.
- His second novel “The story of a
Widow” was shortlisted for the South
Asia Literature 2011 and longlisted
for the 2010 IMPAC- Dublin Literary
Award.
 - Most recent children’s fiction is the
novel ‘tiktik, the master of time”
Pakistan’s first english language novel
for children.
Jeet Thayil
- Indian poet, novelist, and musician.
- Born in 1959 in Kerala, ans also
librettist
- His 4 collections are: These errors are
correct (Tranquebar, 2008), English
(2004, Penguin India, Rattapallax
Press, New York, 2004) Apocalypse
(Ark, 1997) and Gemini (Viking
Penguin, 1992). His first novel
Narcopolis (Faber & Faber, 2012) was
shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker
Prize and the Hindu Literary Prize
2013.
Nayomi Munaweera
- Sri Lankan American novelist
- Her debut novel “Island of a Thousand
Mirror” was long listed for The Man
Asia Literary Prize and the Dublin
IMPAC Prize. Nayomi’ssecond novel,
“What Lies Between Us” was released
in February 2016 and had received
accolads as one of 2016s most
anticipated books.
2. NORTH AMERICA
Jonathan Safran Foer
- American novelist from New York
- He is the author of two bestselling
award-winning novels “Everything is
illuminated and Extremely Loud and
Incredibly Close”, and bestselling
work of nonfiction “Eating Animals”.
Lives in Brooklyn, NYC.
Sara Gruen
- American novelist
- She is the #1 New York Times and
USA. Today bestselling author of five
novels: “At the Water’s Edge”, “Ape
House”, “Water for Elephants”,
“Riding Lesson’s”, and “Flying
Changes”.
- Her works were translated into 43
languages and have sold more than 10
mil copies worldwide.
- Water for Elephants was adapted by
Reese Witherspoon, Rob Pattinson,
and Christoph Waltz in 2011.
Margaret Atwood
- Canadian author
- She has numerous critically acclaimed
novels to her credit. Some of her best-
selling titles are “Oryx and Crake”
(2003), “The Handmaid’s Tale”
(1986), and “The Blind Assasin”
(2000).
- She’s the best known for her feminiat
and dystoplan political themes and her
prolific output of work spans multiple
genres etc..
- she distinguishes her “ speculative
fiction” from science fiction because
“science fiction has monsters and
spaceships, speculative fiction could
happen”.
Valeria Luiselli
- She is a Mexican novelist and her
works have pushed the boundaries of
distortion between the real and the
imagined.
- Works such as “Faces in the Crowd”
(2012) and “The Story of my Teeth”
(2015) have seen her cast as one of the
bright lights of contemporary Mexican
fiction anf her collection of non-fiction
essays, “Sidewalks” (2013),
demonstrates the versatility and deft
touch of an interesting new literary
talent.

Carmen Boullosa
- Pact, playwright, and novelist
- Her thoughtful and eclectic works
such as “Leaving Tobasco”, and
“Texas: The Great Theft”, have
cemented the reputation of a writer
considered to be reaching the height of
her powers.
3. EUROPE
Ian Mcwan
- British Writer
- He started winning literary awards
with his first book, a collection of
short stories, “First Love, Last Rites”
(1976) and never stopped.
“Atonement” (2001), a family drama
focused on repentance, won several
awards and was made into a movie
directed by Joe Wright (2007).
“Saturday” (2005) won the James Tait
Black Memorial Prize. His work often
focuses on closely observed personal
lives in a politically frought world.
David Mitchell
- English novelist known for his
frequent use of intricate and complex
experimental structure in his work.
- In his first novl “Ghost written”
(1999) to tell the story, he uses nine
narrators to tell the story, and 2004s
“Cloud Atlas” is novel comprising six
interconnected stories. He won the
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for “
Ghost-written” was shortlisted for the
Booker Prize for “number 9 dream”,
(2001) and was on the Booker longlist
for “The Bone Clocks” (2014).
Zadie Smith
- A novelist and her works often deal
with race and thr immigrants
postcolonial experience.
- Literary critic James Wood coined the
term ”hysterical realism” in 2000 to
describe Zadie Smith’s hugely
successful debut novel, “White Teeth”
which Smith agreed was a “painfully
accurate term for the sort of
overblown, manic prose to be found in
novel like my own ”White Teeth”.
- Her third novel is “On beauty” her
2012 novel in NW
Delphine de Vigan
- Award-winning french novelist
- She has published several novels for
adults.
- Her words are “No and Me” and
“Nothing holds back the night”
Micheal Houellebeco
- French novelist whose work entitled
“La Carte et le Territoire” won the
prestigious Pri x Goucourt in 2010.
- He is a writer in the tradition of
literary provocation that reaches back
to the Maequis de Sade and Baudelaire
- His works are “Extension du domaine
de la lute” in 1994, “Les partivules
elementaires” in 1998, ‘”Plateforme”
in 2001 and “La Carte et le Territoire
in 2010”
4. LATIN AMERICA
Isabel Allende
- Chilean-American novelish who write
in the “magical realism” tradition.
- She is considered one of the first
successful women novelists in Latin
American.
- Her works are “City of the Beasts” anf
“The House of the Spirits”.
- She has written over 20 books that
have been translated into more than 35
languages and sold more than 67
million copies.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Was colombian writer associated with
Magical Realism genre of narrative
fiction and credited with
reinvigorating Latin American writing,
won the Novel Prize for literature in
1982.
- His works are “One hundred years of
Solitude” and “Love in the time of
Cholera”
Mario Vargas Llosa
- Peru’s foremost author and the winner
of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature.
- His works are “The Storyteller”, “The
feast of the Goat”, and “The War of
the End of the World”
Patric Iopron
- Spanish-language novelist
- He is the author of 7 novels and 6
story collections
- His latest novel “My Father’s Ghost is
climbing in the Rain”, was recently
published in Vintage paperbavk.
Roberto Hasbun
- Bolovian Witer/Spanish-
language novelist
- He is the author of three novels, a
volume of personal essays, and three
collectionsmof short stories, two of
which have been made into films.
- The author of “Los Afectos”
5. AFRICA
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Nigerian novelists
- Author of the stories
“Purple
Hibiscus”, “Americanah”, and “Half
of a Yellow Sun”.
Aminata Forna
- Novelist from Sierra Leone
- An extraordinary brave account of her
family’s experiences living in war-torn
Sierra Leone, anf in particular her
father’s tragic fate as a political rebel.
- Writer of “The Devil that danced on
the Water”. (A daughter’s quest).
Nadine Gordimer
- Her works powerfully explore social,
moral, and racial issues in a South
African under apartheid rule.
- Some of her famous work’s were
banned because for daring to speak out
against the appressive governmental.
- Her novel “Burger’s Daughter”
follows the struggles of a group of
anti-apartheid activists.
Alain Mabanckou
- Alain Mabanckou’s extraordinary,
interlinked body of work dedicated to
his native Congo has acclaimed him a
state as one of out great storytellers.
- His most-recent book is
“African
Psycho”
- Has 6 volumes of poetry and 6 novels.
Benokri
- explored the political violence that he
witnessed at firsthand during the civil
was in Nigeria in his fictional works.
- He is the author of “ The famished
road” (1991), “Songs of Enchantment
” (1993), “Infinite Riches” (1998),
“Astronishing the Gods” (1995),
“Dangerous Love ” (1996), “In
Areadia” (2022), and “Starbook”
(2007).
Figures of Speech
Simile
 Compares two unlike things with a
common quality with the use of “like”
and “as”
 Ex: Her hair is like a satin
Metaphor
 A comparison that is done by stating
one thing is another in order to
suggest their similarity or shared
qualities
 Ex: She’s a mad dog when she gets
mad
Personification
 According to the Merriam- Webster
Dictionary, personification is defined
as the “representation of a things or
abstraction as a person or by the
human form”
 Ex: The sun gently kissed her cheeks
Metonymy
 Refers to using a thing or idea that is
now referred to by its own name yet
by a different one, a name of
something in which it is closely
associated.
 Ex: The Malacanang Palace
Declared…. (rather than the president)
Synecdoche
 Uses a part of something to represent
the whole or the whole to represent a
part.
 Ex: Give us this day our daily bread.
(bread means the meals that we take
every day)
Hyperbole
 Uses intentional exaggeration to
achieve emphasis or produce a comic
effect.
 Ex: The bus you took forever
 I love you to the moon and back.
Oxymoron
 Is a word or a combination of words
with contradictory meanings.
 Ex: Bittersweet, Open secret
 Durian is disgustingly delicious
Alliteration
 Refers to the use of closely spaced
words that have the same initial
sounds.
 Ex: Black bug but a big black bear
Onomatopoeia
 Is the use of words that imitate the
sound of what they are reffering to.
 Ex: Machine noises, car honk, animal
sounds, etc.
Irony
 Comes from the latin “ironia” which
means feigned ignorance
 This can be a contradiction between
what someone says and what they
mean, between what a character
expects and what they go on to
experience, or what actually happens
in the plot.
Types of Irony
 Verbal Irony- sarcasm
It means saying the opposite of your
intended meaning or what you intend
the reader to understand, usually by
either understatement or
overstatement.
 Situational Irony- is when a story
shows us the opposite of what we
expect
 Dramatic Irony- this means that
when the audience knows something
that the characters don’t