21st CENTURY LITERATURE

Quarter 2 - Week 1-2

Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
REGION V (BICOL)
SCHOOLS DIVISION OFFICE OF IRIGA CITY
ZEFERINO ARROYO HIGH SCHOOL

QUICK STUDY NOTES

in 21ST CENTURY LITERATURE

A. LESSON BRIEF: ASIAN LITERATURE

B. KEY CONCEPTS:

Chinese Literature
Chinese literary works include fiction, philosophical and religious works, poetry, and
scientific writings.
Highlights of the Historical Development of Chinese Literature:

• Shang Dynasty (about 1700-1050 BC) — Development of Chinese Writing

• Zhou Dynasty (1045-255 BC) — Basic Philosophical and Religious Literature
• Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) — Literary Disaster and Legalism.
• Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) — Scientific and Historical Texts
• Tang Dynasty (618-907) — Early Woodblock Printing and Poetry
• Song Dynasty (960-1279) — Early Woodblock Printing, Travel Literature, Poetry,
Scientific Texts and the Neo-Confucian Classics
• Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) — Drama and Great Fictional Novels
• Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) — Novels
• Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) — Novels and Pre-modern Literature
• Modern Era (1912-present) — Westernized Literature
o politically oriented literature
o Famous authors:
▪ Ge Fei is considered one of the first and most influential avant-garde
writers of China. His most prominent works include the Jiangnan
Trilogy, for which he was awarded the Mao Dun Literary Award, one of
the most prestigious literary awards of China, and the novella The
Invisibility Cloak.
▪ Bi Feiyu started writing novels in the 1980s, and his oeuvre already
includes several short stories, novellas, and novels. The novels The
Moon Opera and Three Sisters is considered to be amongst his most
representative work.
▪ Yang Hongying is one of present-day China’s most influential writers
of children’s literature, and has written more than 80 fairy tales,
children’s novels and essays in the course of her more than 30 year
long career. Her popularity in China has given her the nickname
“China’s J.K. Rowling”.
 ▪ Dong Xi has published several novels, some of which have been
translated into English, such as Help, Our Father and Life Without
Language, for which he was awarded the First Lu Xun Literary Prize in
1998. Several pieces of his work has been adapted to movies and TV
plays.
Japanese Literature

• Japanese literature ranks as one of the major literatures of the world, comparable in
age, richness, and volume to English literature.
• The surviving works comprise a literary tradition extending from the 7th century CE to
the present; during all this time there was never a “dark age” devoid of literary
production.
• Not only poetry, the novel, and the drama have long histories in Japan, but some
literary genres not so highly esteemed in other countries—including diaries, travel
accounts, and books of random thoughts—are also prominent.
• Famous Japanese Writers in the 21st Century:
o Kenzaburo Oe (大江 健三郎, Ōe Kenzaburō) is a prominent figure of modern
Japanese literature. Born in 1935 in a quiet village in the forests of Shikoku, he
began writing seriously at the age of 23 and won the Nobel Prize for literature
almost 40 years later, in 1994.
o Haruki Murakami is probably the most famous Japanese novelist today. His
works are translated into multiple languages and read throughout the globe.
The world he creates with twins, sheep men, darkness and mysterious ladies,
are described in simple yet effective words.
• "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba" had sold more than 82 million volumes in Japan
from November 2019 to November 2020, making it the best-selling manga series in
the country during this time period.
Korean literature

• The body of works written by Koreans, at first in Classical Chinese, later in various
transcription systems using Chinese characters, and finally in Hangul (Korean: han’gŭl;
Hankul in the Yale romanization), the national alphabet.
• There are four major traditional poetic forms: hyangga (“native songs”); pyŏlgok
(“special songs”), or changga (“long poems”); sijo (“current melodies”); and kasa
(“verses”).
• Korean poetry originally was meant to be sung, and its forms and styles reflect its
melodic origins.
• The sijo is the longest-enduring and most popular form of Korean poetry.
• Korean prose literature can be divided into narratives, fiction, and literary miscellany.
Narratives include myths, legends, and folktales found in the written records.
• 21st Century Famous Korean Writers:
o Park Min-gyu debuted in 2003 and was the recipient of The Hankyoreh
Literature Award and the Munhakdongne New Writer Award. His powerful
imagination, understanding of the minority, and original narratives led him to
become an iconic figure in 21st century Korean literature.
o Kang Do-young, perhaps the most famous webtoon creator of them all, goes
by the pen name Kang Full. Without any formal education in comics, Kang
became one of the first generation of Korean Internet based comic artists in
2002 when he began publishing his work on his personal website.
C. LEARNING CHECK-UP:
Identify to what Asian Literature are the following significant events belong. Write CL for
Chinese literature, JL for Japanese literature and KL for Korean literature.

_____ 1. Hyangga, Pyŏlgok or changga, Sijo and Kasa are four traditional poetic forms.
_____ 2. The modern era is considered politically oriented literature.
_____ 3. Demon Slayer is the best selling manga series.
_____ 4. 221-206 BC was highlighted by Literary Disaster and Legalism
_____ 5. Kang Do-young, the most famous webtoon creator, began publishing his work
on his personal website.
_____ 6. Kenzaburo Oe won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
_____ 7. Ge Fei is considered one of the first and most influential avant-garde writer.
_____ 8. Drama and Great Fictional Novels was significant in 1279-1368.
_____ 9. Park Min-gyu debuted in 2003 and was the recipient of The Hankyoreh
Literature Award.
_____ 10. Yang Hongying is considered the “J.K. Rowling” of her country.

D. LEARNING INSIGHTS:

Reflect on the learning that you gained in the lesson by completing the
statements below:

I thought…

I learned…

Prepared by:

VERNA M. CONTRERAS
Subject Teacher
Evaluated by:

BELINDA B. SORIANO
Master Teacher I, English
School Quality Assurer

Approved:

LUEDVINA ESTER D. BOLANTE, Ed.D.

Secondary School Principal III