ASIAN LITERATURE 1. In the last 2,500 years, it has been influenced by the interaction between Chinese, Indian, Islamic, and European, including Russian factors. 2. China molded the civilization of Eastern Asia, including Japan, Korea, and a primary influence on Mongolia, Tibet, Thailand, Cambodia, and Burma. 3. Indian influences have mainly expressed themselves through Hinduism and Buddhism. 4. These are not religious but have carried Indian art and literature with them and often an Indian alphabet on Tibet, Java, and Cambodia. 5. Like other countries, the Philippines' literature started with incantations, myths, and folktales and developed through the years. 6. With the introduction of Christianity, Asian literature underwent periods of orientation and growth and now has a place among the great works of the world. NORTH AMERICA LITERATURE 1. It’s not possible that some people in North America knew how to write before 1500 AD. Some Cherokee people tell stories about an early way of writing, for instance. But there is no evidence from before 1500 of any writing in North America. There’s nothing that looked like paper and nothing with writing on it. Most kids learned stories by hearing them told out loud. These stories were usually about religion or about how people should act. (Early Native American languages, n.d.) 2. The earliest North American literature was mainly sermons by men like Cotton Mather, written in the 1600s and 1700s. Then, African-American people who had come over from Africa slaves met local Cherokee people and translated traditional African and Cherokee stories into English as Br’er Rabbit stories. By the 1800s, people were beginning to write novels or fictional stories, like James Fenimore Cooper's ( the Last of the Mohicans, 1826). (Early Native American languages, n.d.) 3. The novel began to take more serious themes, like Melville’s Moby Dick (1851) and Harriet Beacher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) about slavery. (Early Native American languages, n.d.) 4. Soon people were also writing books, especially for kids like Horatio Alger's stories (1867), or Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer (1987), or Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden (1909). (Early Native American languages, n.d.) 5. The end of slavery after the Civil War and the civil rights. (Early Native American languages, n.d.) EUROPEAN LITERATURE 1. In the early time of European Literature, traditional Latin was the language manifested in literary works in most states, especially in Germany. 2. As the Papacy's prestige began to decline, national consciousness began to increase in a different state. This nationalism was manifested in literature written in National Languages or Vernacular instead of traditional Latin. (Crisis of the Middle Ages, n.d.) 3. The Vernacular European Literature opened up such that cultural peculiarities could be more naturally expressed. This allowed literature to feel more realistic and human to the readers. (Crisis of the Middle Ages, n.d.) 4. Their literature involved the Nobility: Kings, Queen, Knights, etc.…such as a. Beowulf is a famous epic from the United Kingdom. b. Les Chansons de Roland from France. 5. In the late 1600s and early 700s, when the Enlightenment was well underway in Britain and France, Germany was highly fragmented both politically and culturally. 6. German culture and literature were likewise disjoined with different regions drawing on different influences and no distinct literary style yet to place. 7. While France and other European countries used vernacular language for literature, the literary language in Germany was still predominant Latin. As a result, Enlightenment ideas from England and France took a long time to spread to Germany. LATIN AMERICA LITERATURE Refers to all works of literature in Latin American countries like Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala, Colombia, and Peru. The Vanguardia (avant-garde in English) took place in Latin America between approximately 1916 and 1935. It collectively referred to different literary movements. Four of those were the following. Creacionismo - founded by Vicente Huldobro (1893-1948) a Chilean poet in 1916. Ultrataismo – introduced to South America by Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), an Argentinian writer, in 1921. Entridentismo - founded in Mexico City by Manuel Maples Arce (1898-1981), a Mexican writer, in 1921. Surrealism - which is said to have started in Argentina when the Argentinian poet Aldo Pellegrini (1903-1973) launched the first Surrealist magazine in 1928. Surrealism - an art that combines unrelated images or events in an extraordinary and dream like way, became a significant influence in Latin American Literature throughout the 20 th century. Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) - a Chilean poet, wrote Residence on Earth (1933), a surrealist collection. Octavio Paz (1924-1998) – a Mexican poet, wrote poems with surrealist imagery. His major works were published in Freedom Under Parole (1960). Miguel Angel Asturias (1899-1974) – a Guatemalan writer, wrote the novel The President (1946). This novel, along with Carpentier’s novel, introduced magic realism. AFRICAN LITERATURE 1. Africa has a long literary tradition. However, little of his literature was written down until the 20th century. It was primarily oral and passed down from one generation to another. They were primarily written in European languages. 2. Rudimentary forms of writing were developed and used by secret societies and other exclusive groups. (Literature, n.d.) As a result, many cultures have been influenced, including the ancient Romans, Arabs, French, Spanish, and indigenous people. It also contributed to writing in Phoenician, Greek, and Latin. 3. The first African writing was focused on slavery. Newspapers served as vehicles for expressing nascent nationalist feelings. 4. Contemporary African literature reveals disillusionment and dissent with current events. 5. Literary compositions were generally copied on papyrus paper. Literature also constitutes an essential cultural element in the life of Egypt. 6. Africa’s forms of literature are (Literature, n.d.): a. Myth – typically explains the creation of the universe, the activities of the gods at the beginning of creation, the essence of all creatures, and the nature of their interrelationships. b. Legend – describes such heroic human feats as establishing dynasties or preventing disasters and has much in common with epics. Both focus on heroism. c. Folktale – told for nighttime entertainment, often employed for social commentary and instruction-served as a powerful means of affirming group values and discouraging antisocial behavior. d. Tricksters Tale – Features a small but witty animal that employs its cunning traits to protect itself against much larger and more powerful animals. Epigram, Proverbs, and Riddles – effective speech and social success depend on a good command or proverbs. It is usually based on principles of analogy that require the listener to decipher the intended meaning.
