21st Century Literature from the

Philippines and the World

Quarter 2 - Module 1:
Representative Texts
and Authors from Asia, America,
Europe, and Africa Part I
21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 2 - Module 1: Representative Texts and Authors from Asia, America, Europe, and
Africa Part I
First Edition, 2020

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 What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help you
understand and appreciate literary texts in various genres across national literatures
and cultures. The scope of this module permits it to be used in many different learning
situations. The language used recognizes the diverse vocabulary level of students. The
lessons are arranged to follow the standard sequence of the course. But the order in
which you read them can be changed to correspond with the textbook you are now
using.

The module contains the lesson on World Literature in the 21st Century. After going
through this module, you are expected to write a close analysis and critical
interpretation of literary texts applying a reading approach and doing an adaptation of
these which require from the learner the ability to identify representative texts and
authors from Asia, North America, Europe, Latin America, and Africa.

What I Know
Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.
1. What is a term used to describe the circulation of various literary materials
around the globe from the smallest or least known countries up to the biggest or
well-known countries?
A. World Literature C. Universal Literature
B. Classical Literature D. Countryside Literature

2. Which of the following is a 21st century literary work?

A. Trees by Joyce Kilmer C. Of Studies by Francis Bacon
B. Hamlet by W. Shakespeare D. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

3. Which of the following is a 21st century author?

A. Amy Tan C. Edgar Allan Poe
B. Jane Austen D. Charles Dickens

4. Which of the following is a literary work from Europe?

A. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
B. The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison
C. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
D. Beethoven was One-Sixteenth Black by Nadine Gordimer

5. Which of the following authors hails from Asia?

A. Ian McEwan C. Miguel Syjuco
B. Alice Munro D. Isabel Allende

6. Which of the following novels has NOT been adapted into a film or TV series?
A. Beloved by Toni Morrison
B. Atonement by Ian McEwan
C. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
D. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

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 7. Which of the following statements about authors in 21st century world literature
is true?
A. Paolo Coelho is a writer from Europe.
B. Stephen King is famous for his sci-fi novels.
C. Alice Munro is the author of the short story “Runaway”.
D. J.K. Rowling is a well-known writer from North America.

8. Which of the following statements regarding the importance of studying 21st

century world literature is FALSE?
A. It helps us understand the ideals and beliefs of a nation.
B. It helps us appreciate the diverse cultures of other nations.
C. It helps us appreciate the existence of a nation in this world.
D. It helps us understand the struggles being faced by every nation.

9. Which of the following authors is a Nobel Prize in Literature laureate?

A. Margaret Ogola C. Margaret Atwood
B. Patrick Modiano D. Haruki Murakami

10. Which of the following statements CANNOT be a reason why an author received
the Nobel Prize in Literature?
A. The author is fearless in voicing out sad truths in the society through his/her
works.
B. The author is very famous among all ages and many of his/her works are
bestsellers.
C. The author has mastered his/her craft and has developed his/her own writing
style.
D. The author has a great impact in society through his/her literary works.

11. Which of the following is FALSE about African literature?

A. Africa, even before they were invaded, already had their own oral literature.
B. Chinua Achebe is a Nobel Prize in Literature laureate who hails from Africa.
C. Some of African literature’s rampant literary backgrounds are racism, slavery,
and oppression.
D. Authors during the European colonization wrote to express their sentiments
against the foreign invaders.

12. Which of the following is true about Asian literature?

A. Asian literature is rich, vast, and diverse.
B. Chinese literature is famous for its haiku and reverence to nature.
C. Haruki Murakami is a Nobel Prize in Literature laureate who hails from Japan.
D. Asian literature’s literary background focuses mainly on religion and
spirituality since Asia is the cradle of all major religions.

13. What is the significance of American Dream in American literature?

A. It is one of the hardest themes to use in American literature; those who
successfully used it in the past received various awards.
B. It is one of the recurring themes in American literature in attempt to discuss the
American ideals of equality and success.
C. It is the ideal that gives life to the American literature; without the so-called
‘American Dream’, the literature of America will not flourish.
D. It is the oldest literary theme in America that is already dying because of the
modernism brought by technology and media.

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 14. What are the four major themes of Latin American literature?
A. slavery, racism, colonialism, the fantastic
B. colonialism, social realism, redemption, coming of age
C. the fantastic, magic realism, social realism, female discourse
D. courage & heroism, power & corruption, female discourse, redemption

15. Why is it important to study world literature?

A. Because it enhances every student’s skill in analyzing various pieces of literature
around the world.
B. Because it proves to be helpful in improving the writing skills and critical
thinking skills of a person.
C. Because it enriches the mind of every student and helps him/her to also become
a famous writer or Nobel Prize laureate someday.
D. Because it helps people understand the life of different people from all over the
world and forms how people should perceive the world.

Lesson Representative Texts and

1 Authors from Asia, America,
Europe, and Africa
Homer, Sophocles, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Murasaki Shikibu,
Robert Burns, Anton Chekhov, Kate Chopin, Jane Austen, Leo Tolstoy, Francis Bacon,
and a lot more writers, novelists, poets, dramatists, and essayists should not be
forgotten for they were the ones who strengthened the foundation of world literature
when they were still alive. Studying their works makes us understand and appreciate
the rich history that our world has. But we must not limit ourselves in studying the
past. As humans who are breathing and living in the present, we must also study and
appreciate the present rich literature of the world.

What’s In

Critical reading is important and there are various critical reading strategies one
can use. Studying them will help you in understanding and analyzing the diverse literary
works one will encounter in the succeeding modules.
For a recap, identify the following critical reading:

1. This strategy is highlighting important ideas in the text or noting important

details.

a t t g

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 2. This strategy is evaluating whether the arguments presented in the text are
credible. Evidence, references, and biases of the author must be taken note of.

l y z g

3. This strategy is considering the biographical, linguistic, and sociocultural

factors that influence the writing of the text.

t xt z g
4. This strategy can be done once you’ve gained understanding of the text. This
is eliciting meaning from the text and creating an output from what you have
elicited. It may be produced in the form of writing, speaking, or presenting.

r p d g

5. This strategy is simply reading the text all over again. This will help you find
more information that you have missed in the first attempt of reading.

r r d g

What’s New

Guess the Teaser!

Read the teasers carefully and guess the titles of the books that are adapted into
films.

1. It is about the life of a young wizard and his friends who are students at Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main story arc concerns the main
character’s struggle against Lord Voldemort, a dark wizard who intends to
become immortal, overthrow the wizard governing body known as the Ministry of
Magic, and subjugate all wizards and Muggles (non-magical people).

2. In what was once North America, the Capitol of Panem maintains its hold on its
12 districts by forcing each of them to select a boy and a girl, called Tributes, to
compete in a nationally televised event called The Hunger Games. Every citizen
must watch as the youths fight to death until only one remains. District 12
Tribute Katniss Everdeen has little to rely on, other than her hunting skills and
sharp instincts, in an arena where she must weigh survival against love.

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 3. Bella Swan moves from Phoenix, Arizona to live with her father in Forks,
Washington to allow her mother to travel with her new husband, a minor league
baseball player. After moving to Forks, Bella finds herself involuntarily drawn to
a mysterious, handsome boy, Edward Cullen, and eventually learns that he is a
member of a vampire family which drinks animal blood rather than human blood.

4. Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 16-year-old cancer patient, meets and falls in love with
Gus Waters, a similarly-afflicted teen from her cancer support group. Hazel feels
that Gus really understands her. They both share the same acerbic wit and a love
of books, especially Grace's touchstone, "An Imperial Affliction" by Peter Van
Houten. When Gus scores an invitation to meet the reclusive author, he and
Hazel embark on the adventure of their brief lives.

5. Seven young outcasts in Derry, Maine are about to face their worst nightmare –
an ancient, shape-shifting evil that emerges from the sewer every 27 years to prey
on the town's children. Banding together over the course of one horrifying
summer, the friends must overcome their own personal fears to battle the
murderous, bloodthirsty clown known as Pennywise.

What is It

21st Century Literature

It pertains to all literary works written and published at the beginning of the 21st
century (from 2001 onwards). These works are often characterized as gender sensitive,
technologically alluding, culturally pluralistic, operates on the extreme reality or
extreme fiction, and questions conventions and supposedly absolute norms.

World Literature
It is a term used to describe the circulation of various literary materials around
the globe from the smallest or least known countries up to the biggest or well-known
countries. It is composed of different literary texts, such as prose, poems, drama, and
other literary genres, that usually mirror the culture, values, and issues of a country or
nation. These literary texts of every country are and should be globally accessible.
The importance of studying world literature is that through this, one may know,
appreciate, and understand the way of life, morals, ideals, and/or disputes of other
nations, and due to this, world literature is said to be the cultural heritage of all
humanity.

World Literature in the 21st Century

It comprises all the literary works of every country written and published at the
beginning of the 21st century (from 2001 onwards) which are distributed, patronized,
and read globally.

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 World literature today is still flourishing, most especially due to the advancement
of our technology. Beside the fact that literary works can now be accessed easily through
the World Wide Web or the internet, movie adaptations of books by Hollywood
filmmakers help it thrive more. One example is J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series that
was adapted into movies and her book series has various fandoms around the globe
that are still active today even though the story of the book series has already ended.
To name a few famous authors whose works were adapted into movies –
Stephenie Meyer, famous for her Twilight saga; Veronica Roth for her Divergent series;
Rick Riordan for his Percy Jackson series; Suzanne Collins for her Hunger Games series;
James Dashner for The Maze Runner series; Stephen King who is famous for his
horrifying and thrilling works, like It; Nicholas Sparks, famous for his romance novels
like A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Dear John, and The Last Song; and John Green
who is famous for his The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns. There is also George
R.R. Martin whose Game of Thrones book series was adapted into a TV series by HBO.
There are still famous authors whose works are not (yet) adapted into movies or
TV Series but read by many and various award-giving bodies are recognizing them. Some
of them are: Haruki Murakami, Arundhati Roy, Miguel Syjuco, Bi Feiyu, and Tan Twang
Eng from Asia; Dan Brown, Margaret Atwood, Jonathan Franzen, and John Updike from
North America; Neil Gaiman, Eckhart Tolle, David Mitchell, Ian McEwan, and Carlo Ruiz
Zafon from Europe; Paulo Coelho, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Carlos Fuentes, and Isabelle
Allende from Latin America; and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Margaret Ogola, Chinua
Achebe, and Ahmed Fouad Negm from Africa.

The Nobel Prize in Literature

It is a Swedish literature prize and one of the five prestigious Nobel Prizes given
since 1901 upon following the will of Alfred Nobel. Along with the other four Nobel prizes,
this Nobel Prize is regarded as the highest award that any writer can achieve and is
given annually. The procedures in nominating and winning this award is the same as
the other four Nobel prizes, but the nominators are from the Swedish Academy.
The only clear basis on which a writer can win this award is from the words of
the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel: "in the field of literature the most
outstanding work in an ideal direction". Sara Danius, Duke graduate and Permanent
Secretary of the Swedish Academy, said once in a conference that a writer is awarded
with this not for a single work but for a life’s work. She even quoted, “The Nobel Prize in
Literature is awarded to someone who has done outstanding work in an idealistic
direction that adds the greatest benefit to humankind.” Meaning, this is given to an
author who is already an exemplar in his/her writing craft and his/her work has a large
impact on society.
Like the other four Nobel prize winners, the laureates of this prize do not actually
aim on bagging this award; instead, they are just using and honing their writing craft
for art’s sake and for their audience. Few of the recipients of this prize are: Toni

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Morrison, Kazuo Ishiguro, Patrick Modiano, Nadine Gordimer, Oe Kenzaburo, Naguib
Mahfouz, and Alice Munro.

What’s More

Discovering 21st Century Authors Around the Globe

Copy and answer the tables below on a separate sheet of paper.
Gather information through consulting other books or conducting research on
the internet. Be sure to cite the sources of your information and write it down in the
Source column.
In the Brief Description About the Author column, write two to three sentences
about the author; it can be about his/her writing style, achievements, or life as a writer.
In the Famous Works column, write at least three to five literary works of the said
author.

ASIAN AUTHORS
Famous Brief Description
Name Country Source
Works About the Author
1. Anita Desai
2. Su Tong
3. Tan Twan Eng
4. Haruki Murakami
5. Kazuo Ishiguro

NORTH AMERICAN AUTHORS

Famous Brief Description
Name Country Source
Works About the Author
1. Margaret Atwood
2. Jonathan Franzen
3. Anne Rice
4. John Updike
5. Toni Morrison

LATIN AMERICAN AUTHORS

Famous Brief Description
Name Country About the Author
Source
Works
1. Gabriel Garcia Marquez
2. Mario Vargas Llosa
3. Gabriela Mistral
4. Isabel Allende
5. Carlos Fuentes

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 EUROPEAN AUTHORS
Famous Brief Description
Name Country Source
Works About the Author
1. Ian McEwan
2. David Mitchell
3. Shan Sa
4. Zadie Smith
5. Neil Gaiman

AFRICAN AUTHORS
Famous Brief Description
Name Country Source
Works About the Author
1. Margaret Ogola
2. Ngugi wa Thiong’o
3. Ahmed Fouad Negm
4. Naguib Mahfouz
5. Chinua Achebe

Notes to the Teacher

Let the students use other books or the internet in answering the activities but
always ask them to cite their sources properly. This module is merely letting students to
be immersed briefly in foreign authors and their works; this activity cannot be possible
upon limiting their sources.