21st Century Literature MASTIFF by Joyce Carol Oates
- is a suspenseful story with a high level of
NORTH AMERICAN LITERATURE
- Begins with the arrival of English-
speaking Europeans
Kinds
North American Literature
- Both oral and written
- Produced by Native North Americans is
now the US
Children’s Literature
- Material written and produced for the
entertainment
Fiction
- Any creative work, any narrative work,
portraying individuals and event in ways
that are imaginary and inconsistent with
history and fact
Latin American and Caribbean Literature
- the oral and written literature of Latin
America in several languages, particularly
in Spanish, Portuguese, and the indigenous
languages of the Americas
Caribbean Literature
- a collection of poetry, drama, and
- fiction produced by writers of the greater
Caribbean region, including Barbados,
Belize, Guyana, Suriname, and Guyane
3 MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF
AMERICAN LITERATURE
Plot of Decline
- depicts progression toward death
Indifferent of nature
- views nature w/o sentiment and w/o
projecting human characteristics of love,
care and agency onto the natural world
3rd person omniscient reaction to romanticism
and surrealism
- takes an all-knowing approach to narrative
technique, as the narrator knows or can
access what any character is doing,
thinking, or feeling, at any point of the
story.
IMPORTANCE OF N.A. LIT
- Reflects the culture, history, and
contemporary issues of the people who are
indigenous to what is now the US
- To debunk stereotypes
and the concept of North Americans
as a monolithic group rather than a diverse
group of peoples
fear deliberately created
Theme
- Love, Sacrifice, Epiphany
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
- Originally named “Death and the Maiden”
Theme
- Self-Sacrifice
- Independence
- Fantasy vs Reality
MIDDLE EASTERN LITERATURE
- Forum for academic study of all M.E Lit
Short story
- A story with a fully developed theme but
significantly shorter and less elaborate
than a novel.
- Works of prose fiction to impart moral,
capture a moment, evoke a certain mood
- Focused on plot, character, story structure
- Entertains reader at the same time gives
lesson
Fiction
- Plot, settings, and characters created from
the imagination
- For fun
Non-fiction
- Factual stories that are based on real
people and true events
- For information
Pipes by Etgar Keret in Israel 1992
Lesson
- To live the life to the fullest, we should
focus on improving ourselves and not the
other people negative thoughts to us.
The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God 2015
Lesson
- The moral of the story is that a
- character's transformation is made possible
by the lessons and experiences they gather
all along their path; change is no longer
our enemy when we can accept change,
learn from it, and become all the better for
experiencing it. It ends up being our
teacher.
AFRICAN LITERATURE
Third World Literature
- written by post-colonial writers
- primarily addresses the oppressive,
dependent, racist, colonial situations that
the authors campaigned against
“third world”
- established in the mid-1900s to designate
countries that were neither capitalist first
world nor communist second world
- "third world" writers explore issues such
as belief systems, bodies, sexualities,
ethics
The African Worldview by K.A. Busia
Kofi Abrefa Busia
- Ghanaian who was born in 1913
- His work provides some fascinating
observation on Christian faith, culture,
ethnicity, nationalism, and politics
Worldview
- Collection of presumption and
assumptions that they have about how they
see the world, whether they are aware of
them or not
- Influenced by community and lessons
from their family and teachers
- Every individual has a viewpoint
The African Worldview
- Religious ideals and social values are
prevalent in Africa
- The Supreme Being, who created the
world and all in it, is worshipped by
Africans.
Continuation
My Husband’s House is a Dark Forest of Books
by Okot p’Bitek
- Ugandan poet, wrote the epic poem “Song
of Lawino”
- First published in Acholi Luo
- Addresses African issues thru literary
device of female character
The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie
- how perspective can change a person’s
viewpoint,
- how power and narrative can change how
we see the world and people,
- how our viewpoint can be used to promote
political agendas, and
- how understanding a person or event not
from one perspective but to view it in its
entirety is how people can regain paradise.
Lesson
- Always keep an open-minded
One major literary device used:
- Chimamanda Adichie uses repetition to
remind the audience of her thesis
statement, to never look at a thing from
only one perspective
ASIAN LITERATURE
- Literary work from China, Japan, Korea,
India, Pakistan, Nepal, Kazakhstan,
Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand
- Diverse in that it features a variety of
forms and topics
Spirituality and religiosity
- Their greatest shared characteristics
- Asian literature frequently discusses
racism, injustice, power, nationalism,
struggles, and love, and there are always
lessons to be learnt.
Philippines
- 7,000 islands, predominantly Roman
Catholic
- Tagalog, Spanish, English
Passion of Christ (Pasyon)
- First work which captures the imagination
of people
Sarswela
- Dramatic performances
Balagtasan
- Entertainment through public debate
Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo by Dr.
Jose Rizal
- Originally written in Spanish
Malaysia
- Infused w/ folktales, Indian and Javanese
influence and Muslim influence
Hikayat
- Grand stories that contain elements of
chronicles, romance, and epic heroism
- Based on the Sanskrit Shuka Saptati
- Known for entertainment
- Talks about a women’s pet parrot, by
telling a story every evening, delays the
woman from going down the wrong path
until her husband returns.
Syair and Pantun
- Four-line poetic verses of a preverbal
nature often used in courtship
Indonesia
- Modern Literature
- Motto “bhinneka tunggal ika-“ the many
are on or unity in diversity
- Hindu Epics have been popularized thru
dance performance, shadow-puppet plays,
poetic recitations
Mouse Deer
- One of the examples, talks about
allegorical tales in a cycle
Vietnam
- China have been a dominant influence
Chinese Influence
- Form of Buddhism
- Religion became an entanglement
- Temple of Literature in Hanoi which was
dedicated to Confucius
The Thoughts of Hanoi by Nguyen Thi Vinh
- One of the greatest literature in Vietnam
which describe the effects of a civil war
- In 1960
- When North Vietnam and South Vietnam
fought to control the country
Singapore
- English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil
Poetry
- Became the predominant mode of
expression because it shows respect
Ulysses by the Merlion