Afro- Asian Literature

Afro-Asian Literature – rich in culture and tradition

Literature – Literature may be classified into a variety of systems
including language, national origin, historical period, genre, and subject
(Kenneth Rexroth, 2019).

Africa
 It is the second largest continent
 Has 11 million square miles
 Covers about 5.7% of the earth’s surface
 Known to be “the origin of mankind”

Asia
 Largest continent
 17, 226, 000 miles
 1/3 of land surface
 Most populus continent

Afro-Asian Literature
- Afro-Asian Literature mirrors not only the customs and traditions of
African and Asian countries but also their philosophy of life which
on the whole are deeply and predominantly contemplative and
hauntingly sweet.

Oral Tradition
- Stories are being transmitted through mouth by generation to
generation.
- Histories, myths, legends, vittles, proverbs, education, rewind, past,
heroic deeds, ancestry, and culture

Importance of discussing Afro-Asian

1. It’s a sign of new and modern times
2. Able to teach people and allow them to learn about different
experiences and cultures
3. Tells of the unique struggle and success of Afro-Asian people
4. Oral histories marked the beginning of history
5. History become recorded in prose plays and textbooks
6. Plays a key role in promoting the values of tolerance, acceptance, and
openness by reading literature of other nations. We have a better
understanding of their values, beliefs, traditions, and cultures.
7. Diversity results in conflicts between and among individuals, groups,
and nations.
- Cultural acceptance, tolerance, and openness

Norms and Cultures

Africa
1. Sense of Community
2. Sense of Good Human Relation
3. Sense of Hospitality

Asia
1. Family and education
2. Reserve conformity and harmony
3. Benevolence and obligations
4. Loss of face, shame, and honor

In general, Afro-Asian countries usually cared for their family first; then
they are fond of their social values; and specially, their love for their own
country. They are also active in celebrating festivals that reflects their own
characteristics as an Asian. They are religious because they give
importance to ‘The Creator’ by giving thanks and offering prayers to
Him. They are also active if we talk about literature because they are good
writers. They are talented in different branches of sports and arts that they
are about to compete worldwide.

Literary Criticism
Introduction
Changes that affected the readers role as a student and critic of literary
criticism became less easily defined and prescribed than it once was:
1. Literary Canon
2. Teachers, too have changed
 3. Share volume of information that is readily available in any subject.
(technology)

What is Literary Criticism?

A disinterested endeavour (unbiased) to learn and propagate the best that
is known and thought in the world.
Implicit in the definition is that literary criticism is a disciplined activity
that attemps to describe study, analyze, justify, interpret, and evaluate a work of
art.
Anyone who attemps to evaluate texts in this fashion is a literary critic,
a term derived from two Greek words, ‘krino’ meaning to judge and ‘krites’
meaning a judge of literature.
- A literary critic or kritikos, is, therefore, ‘a judge of literature’.

Traditionally, literary critics involve themselves in either theoretical and

practical criticism.
- Must be related to a ‘work of art’

Theoretical Criticism – formulates the theories, principles, and tenants of the

nature and values of art.

Practical Criticism – also known as applied criticism, applies the theories and/or
tenants of theoretical criticism work.
- Practical critic may be the absolutist critic and relativist critic.

 Absolutist Critic – uses one only theory or set of principles in evaluating

a text.

 Relativistic Critic – one who uses various or even contradictory theories

in critiquing.

The basis for either kind of critic, or any form of criticism, is literary theory.
Without theory, practical criticism could not exist.

The first record such judge is the 4thcentury BCE teacher Philitas, who tutor a
child who would become King Ptolemy II.
- Actively engage in discipline activity in literary criticism.

When analyzing a text, literary critics ask basic questions such as these about the
philosophical, psychological, functional, and descriptive nature of the text itself:
1. Does a text have only one correct meaning?
2. Is a text always didactic; that is, must a reader learn something from
every text?
3. Can a text affect each reader in the same way?
 4. How is a text influenced by the culture of its author and the culture in
which it is written?
5. What part or function does gender play in the writing or the reading of a
text?
6. How do our personal feelings affect our interpretation of a text?
7. Can a text become a catalyst for change in a given culture?

What is Literary Theory?

- The assumption that undergird our understanding and interpretation of
language.
- The ways we construct meaning and our understanding of the art, culture,
aesthetic, and ideologies.
- Greek word ‘theoria’ a view or perspective of a Greek stage

Literary Criticism: Involves our analysis of a text

Literary Theory: Concerned with our understanding of concepts, and intellectual

assumptions.
- Questioned our common sense!!

An incomplete, unconscious, and therefore, unclear literary theory leads to

illogical, unsound, and haphazard interpretations. On the other hand, a well-
defined, logical, and clearly articulated theory enables readers to develop a
method by which to establish principles that enable them to justify, order, and
clarify their own appraisals of a text in a consistent manner.