Submitted By: Maeann R.

Audije/Enrico Biglaen
Contemporary Literature
MAEANN R. AUDIJE/ENRICO BIGLAEN

WHAT IS CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE?

-Contemporary literature is a vast group of written works produced from a specific time in history through
the current age. This literary era defines a time period, but it also describes a particular style and quality of
writing. Some see this period as an extension of postmodern literature, but most refer to it as a literary era of
its own. (Elle Jay)

The United States and the Soviet Union were so opposed to each other.
They suspected each other of seeking control the world.
They are the most powerful countries in the world.
Both countries developed nuclear weapons that they could to destroy the
other.
The have both strong armies that they use as spy near their borders.
They created a world in which countries had to choose and join – the
Capitalist or the Communist.

HISTORY
 Contemporary literature stemmed from postmodernism; however, it focuses on identity politics,
people learning to cope with problems through communications, people’s sense of identity is shaped
by cultural and gender attitudes, and the emergence of ethnic writers and women writers.
 Postmodernism is a vital aspect of contemporary literature. It shows its readers how society moved
into a new era of social, psychological, cultural, and economic prosperity and issues.

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Contemporary Literature
 Contemporary literature focus on people’s sense themselves as time periods change in history.
 Through contemporary literature, people are able to define where a time period starts and when it
ends.

“CONTEMPORARY IN THE WEST HAS SHOWN SOME SIGNS OF ETHICAL

CHANGE.”
- LAFCADIO HEARN -

GENRES

 FLASH FICTION - is a fictional work of extreme brevity that still offers character and plot
development. Identified varieties, many of them defined by word count, include the six-word story;
the 280-character story; the "dribble"; the "drabble"; "sudden fiction"; flash fiction; and "micro-
story". Source Wikipedia

Dark Lies the Island is a wickedly funny and hugely original collection of stories
about misspent love and crimes gone horribly wrong.

 SHORT STORIES - is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on
a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or
mood. Short story writers may define their works as part of the artistic and personal expression of the
form.

‘Paper Menagerie’ (2011), a heartbreakingly touching story written by Chinese-American science

fiction writer Ken Liu, is the first ever fictional piece to win all three prestigious sci-fi/fantasy
awards: the Hugo, the Nebula and the World Fantasy Award. It is one of Liu's finest works to date,

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 simply written yet deeply moving. Set against the backdrop of an American society unaccepting of
Chinese culture, the story follows the protagonist and narrator, Jack, on his bildungsroman life
journey as he struggles to come to terms with himself, with his Chinese mother, and with the jarring
world around him.

 Slam Poetry -a form of performance poetry that combines the elements of performance, writing,
competition, and audience participation. ... The name slam came from how the audience has the
power to praise or, sometimes, destroy a poem and from the high-energy performance style of the
poets.

Example is “What Teachers Make” by Taylor Mali

National Poetry Slam Champion and HBO’s Def Poetry Jam alum Taylor Mali gives an insightful
answer to the question “What do teachers make?” in this performance that went viral and garnered
nearly 5 million views. A former teacher himself, Mali provides an eloquent, emotionally charged
response that goes far deeper than dollar signs.

 Plays -is a work of drama, usually consisting mostly of dialogue between characters and intended for
theatrical performance rather than just reading. The writer of a play is a playwright.The term "play"
can refer to both the written texts of playwrights and to their complete theatrical performance.

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his

career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families.
It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of
his most frequently performed plays.

 Memoirs - is a written factual account of somebody’s life. It comes from the French word mémoire,
which means “memory,” or “reminiscence.” This literary technique tells a story about the
experiences of someone’s life. A literary memoir is usually about a specific theme, or about a part of
someone’s life. It is a story with a proper narrative shape, focus, and subject matter, involving
reflection on some particular event or place.

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Contemporary Literature
Example:

“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white
wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold
liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling
and began to be happy and to make plans.”
(A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway)

 Autobiographies- is a self-written account of the life of oneself. The word "autobiography" was first
used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English periodical The Monthly Review, when
he suggested the word as a hybrid, but condemned it as "pedantic".

PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES
 Prosperity and social conservatism are the two vital things that emerged from the war.
 A change in the society’s identity in America to fit the characteristics of the land of the free.
 Contemporary literature break away from postmodernism because it tends to focus on American
counter culture.
 People of color were harshly discriminated against and cheated on public goods. Woman were just as
oppressed and treated merely as household object.
 People began to express the public opinions in the media and in many contemporary writings
including Zora Hurston’s “Their Eyes were Watching God”.

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 Their Eyes Were Watching God tells the story of Janie Crawford’s evolving
selfhood through three marriages. Light-skinned, long-haired, dreamy as a child, Janie grows up
expecting better treatment than she gets until she meets Tea Cake, a younger man who engages her
heart and spirit in equal measure and gives her the chance to enjoy life without being a man’s mule or
adornment. Though Jaine’s story does not end happily, it does draw to a satisfying conclusion. Janie
is one black woman who doesn’t have to live lost in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic
dreams, instead Janie proclaims that she has done “two things everbody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves.
They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves.”

SOCIAL ISSUE

ZORA HURSTON ALICE WALKER

 Women and African Americans embraced the prosperity after WWII but they are not still considered
equals to non-colored people.
 Non-whites were still considered insubordinate to whites.
 Counter culture was born that raised political rallies and sit ins to fight back against these social
injustice
 Activist like Alice Walker and Zora Hurston promoted these messages in their works to promote
better tomorrow.

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Contemporary Literature

CULTURAL ISSUES

VS

 Both of them suspected the other of seeking to control the world.

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  Both countries created huge armies and posted them near each other’s boarders.
 They believed that each other’s way of life was bad and only their way was the right way.
 The cultured that emerged was a scared but hopeful America.

POLITIAL ISSUES
 After the WWII, the Us and the Soviet Union emerged as the world’s two superpower.
 Both nations were scared that the other would try to take away its living so they militarized.

. A novel by Gary W. Reichard which describes the politics after war.

RELIGIOUS ISSUES
 Most people were focused on making a living so the religious issues are set aside.
 Post war given a much bigger opportunities to succeed.
 There were some conflicts with hate groups such as the KKK who disliked the Catholics.
 There are also writers who expressed public opinions in the issue of religion.

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Contemporary Literature

ECONOMICAL ISSUE
 In America economies, the economy boomed and people enjoyed access to a range of consumer
goods after the war.
 Most people had more time to make America great.
 Their economy rises up that most of them received benefits from the government.

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