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SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

QUARTER 4 MODULE|2nd SEM|SY: 2021-2022

21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

Lesson 7: Literature in America and Africa

At the end of this course, the learners will be able to:

 Differentiate/compare and contrast the various 21st Century literary genres and the ones from
the earlier genres/ periods citing their elements, structures and traditions.
 Produce a creative representation of a literary text by applying a multimedia skills

Look for photos from the internet or magazines that best represent African and American literature.
Write a short explanation on why you chose this photo and how it represents America and Africa's
literary heritage. Share your answer with a classmate and let’s deepen our understanding about their
literature in this lesson.
Studying African and American literature offers us the opportunity to listen to the voices of African
and American people. Their literature is about their experiences, thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and
values. This lesson will help you understand the nature of African and American literature and know
their distinguishing features.

American Literature in the Modern and Postmodern Periods

 Writers challenged the norms and traditional practices of writing.

Hence, this phenomenon led to the beginnings of the modern and
postmodern periods.
 modernism and postmodernism underscored that literary writing has
to be “free.” In this essence, writers of these periods are unconventional as
they deconstructed the norms in writing. These distortions for them are not
regarded as rebellious acts of writing. However, such “delineations” are the
unique features of modern and postmodern works.
 If a writer chooses to bombard his poems with so many exclamation
points after every word, it will not mean that he is not a good writer and that
he does not know anything about the structure of English. Rather, the writer
adheres to the style of modern and postmodern literature.

Latin American Literature

 The oral and written literature of South American countries were generally written in Spanish and
Portuguese. These works make up the entirety of Latin American literature as these countries were
former Spanish and Portuguese colonies.
 The popularity of Latin American literature can be attributed to the uprising of “magic realism,”
a signature style of Latin American writers. Furthermore, as more people from this region migrate
to other parts of the world, they also brought their literary traditions with them.
 Between the 19th century and the 20th century, the literary movement of modernismo emerged
in the Latin American literary scene. It tackled the rebellion against the bourgeois or the middle
class. This social resentment comes from the fact that the bourgeois enjoy privileges at the cost of

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 the masses’ labor. The one of the most prominent modernist writers was Rubén Darío, a
Nicaraguan writer.
 Many critics viewed modernismo as the culprit for the deterioration of the purity of a true Latin
American literature, as modernismo focused on the aesthetics of the form rather than focusing on
the realities of society. This led to the birth of indigenismo.
 The indigenismo movement was seen as a counterattack to modernismo because it highlighted
the portrayal of indigenous culture and the injustices that some people were facing.
 Latin America experienced economic abundance after World War II, affecting literature and
paving the way to a literary boom. This era saw the flourishing of literature and criticism in the
region during the 1960s and 1970s. Boom writers are regarded as unconventional because they
embraced new ideas in writing.
 One of the essential contributions of this era is the magic realism movement, which became the
signature style of Latin American writers. This literary technique emphasizes that unreal and
magical things or events are real and are part of everyday realities.

Modern African Literature

 Modern African literature became prominent as a literary tradition, producing classics such as
Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Weep Not Child, and Wole
Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman. This recognition was further affirmed by Soyinka’s
winning of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986.
 The colonization of Africa exposed African writers to some European languages, which they then
used in their works. Modern African literature is written using both native African and European
languages.
 Though written African literature is more dominant in modern literature, oral lore or literature is
not lost. Up to this date, literary works of the ethnic groups Yoruba, Hausa, Zulu, and Sotho in
native languages still exist.
 Because of colonialism, African literature is heavily influenced by the West in terms of both style
and language use.
 There is the Eurocentric temptation to see modern African literature written in these European
languages as an extension of European literature. It goes to show that the West is a major factor
in the literary production of Africa. Eurocentrism appears to propagate a trend that to be modern
is to be Western. However, after modern imperialism, language alone cannot be the sole definer
of a people’s literature.

American Literature
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible,
without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may
become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real
possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue
there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

CONTINUE TO THE NEXT PAGE 

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 Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and
disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the
stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with
God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a
beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

By Max Ehrmann © 1927

African Literature
Africa
David Diop

Africa my Africa
Africa of proud warriors in ancestral Savannahs
Africa of whom my grandmother sings
On the banks of the distant river
I have never known you
But your blood flows in my veins
Your beautiful black blood that irrigates the fields

The blood of your sweat

The sweat of your work
The work of your slavery
Africa, tell me Africa
Is this your back that is unbent
This back that never breaks under the weight of humiliation
This back trembling with red scars
And saying no to the whip under the midday sun?
But a grave voice answers me
Impetuous child that tree, young and strong
That tree over there
Splendidly alone amidst white and faded flowers
That is your Africa springing up anew
springing up patiently, obstinately
Whose fruit bit by bit acquires
The bitter taste of liberty.

Anderson, Jan. World Literature. Pensacola, Fla: A Beka Book, 2002.

DHaen, Theo, César Domínguez, and Mads Rosendahl Thomsen. World Literature: A Reader. London: Routledge, 2013.

Hart, Stephen M. A Companion to Latin American Literature. New York: Tamesis, 2007
Redding, Saunders. Modern African Literature. CLA Journal. Accessed February 2, 2022.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/44325856?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

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Redding, Saunders. Modern African Literature. CLA Journal. Accessed February 2, 2022.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/44325856?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Tabotabo, Claudio V. A Travel to the Literatures of the World. Mandaluyong: National Bookstore, 2007.

Read and comprehend the poem “Africa” by David Diop and “Desiderata” by Max Ehrmann and
answer the following questions.

1. In what way can you sympathize with the narrator? Explain.

2. What event in this poem struck you the most? Explain.
3. What does the line from Desiderata, "even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story " mean?
4. In what way you can relate to the two poems?

REMINDERS:
1. Read the instructions carefully before doing each task.
2. Do not forget to write your name, section, and date of submission.
3. Staple your paper, write the lesson number, and subject if you answer on a separate
sheet.
4. Submit only the assessment part. Keep the study guides.
5. Carry out the tasks with honesty and integrity; copied works will not be recorded.
6. Secure copies/pictures of your modules. Subject teachers will not be liable for any
module loss.
7. Do not write in all capital/uppercase letters. Also, use only black or blue ink pen.