EASTERN VISAYAS AND ITS LITERATURE

 Eastern Visayas, also known as Region VIII, is composed of the three main islands
namely Samar, Biliran, and Leyte. These islands are comprised of the six provinces
namely Samar, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Biliran, and Leyte, and Southern
Leyte.
 Mining, farming, fishing, beverage manufacturing, home industries, and tourism
are the major sources of livelihood of the people.
 Aside from rice, the region also produces sugar, coconut, banana, fruits, root crops,
and vegetables.
 Iloilo City and Bacolod City are highly urbanized cities while the rest are rural.

LANGUAGE(S):
• Waray-Waray – lingua franca of Eastern Visayas, including the islands of Zumarraga
and Homonhon, formerly called “Samareño” and “Binisaya”
• Cebuano – second most widely used language in Region VIII and is also colloquially
known as “Kana”
• Abaknon – a unique dialect spoken in Capul Island, Northern Samar which is neither
Waray nor Cebuano, but a potpourri of several dialects; also known as Capul language
• Baybayanon – used in Baybay City, Leyte
• Kinabalian – used in the municipality of San Juan, Northern Leyte
• Boholano – used by the people in Southern Leyte

ETHNIC GROUPS:
• Waray – majority of inhabitants of Region VIII
• Samareños – inhabitants of the island of Samar
• Leyteños – inhabitants of the island of Leyte
• Bantoanon – natives of Romblon who migrated to
Eastern Visayas
• Rombloanon – natives of Romblon who migrated to
Eastern Visayas
• Cebuano
• Biliranon
• Ticaonon

THE EASTERN VISAYAS LITERATURE

FROM THE PAST TO THE PRESENT
THE PAST
• The literature of Eastern Visayas is more popularly known as Waray literature.
• Waray literature caught the attention of German priests who managed a local university
in Tacloban City, which paved way to collecting, recording, and documenting literary
works together with scholars and researchers. This proves that they saw the necessity
of preserving the literary heritage of the region.
• Francisco Pedro Chirino – a Jesuit historian who said that the Bisayans had verses
about the creation of the world, paradise, the deluge and other invisible things which
they sang while doing mundane activities such as sailing, tilling the fields, feasting, and
even mourning the dead
• Francisco Ignacio Alcina - a Jesuit historian who documented the poetic forms of
Waray literature in as early as 1668 which collected the following literary works:

➢ Candu – poem or songs about history which is sung by paracandu

➢ Diibtang – semi goddesses whose exploits are recounted in an epic that is spoken
by elderly men who were still tattooed and related it with elegance and grace

➢ Cabungao and Bubu nga Ginbuna – two celebrated lovers whose story is told in
the coast of Ibabao, the eastern coast of Samar

➢ Daragangan – men of great strength, valour, and unusual courage whose exploits
are celebrated in songs.

➢ Ambahan – meaning “multitude,” a song sung by the community

➢ Bical – a witty, humorous, and satirical joust where the man usually says critical
things of the woman and vice-versa; requires two persons to exchange verses in
strict metrical time

➢ Balac – a metaphorical, flowery, bombastic, grandiloquent, and verbose courtship

song with accompaniment of stringed musical instruments and is performed by a
man and woman and usually dealt with the affairs of love

➢ Siday – poem that celebrates the beauty of a woman or bravery of a man and is
performed by the most skilled of the folk poets

➢ Awit – most popular Waray poetry and is oftentimes used in coordinating certain
activities like rowing a boat, weaving, or walking home from the fields

➢ Canogon – poems for mourning the dead

➢ Titigoon – riddles for games

➢ Susumaton – stories told during gatherings

➢ Sareta – a narrative poem that recounted the acts of bravery and moments of
weaknesses of the Waray gods and goddesses

➢ Luwa – poem that is best recited orally than sung due to its formal nature
• Theater tradition had gained its popularity in place. These had been incorporated to
the performance of poetry, rituals, and mimetic dances. The joys and activities of the
ancient Waray are reflected and expressed through dancing.
• As an effect of a century-long Spanish colonization and a long period of American
occupation, Christianity and other foreign cultures and beliefs had washed away the
old rituals, poetic forms and narratives known by people. Moreover, many poetic forms
were dismissed as pagan culture and slowly disappeared from the collective
consciousness of the colonized people.
• Some literary forms had undergone reinvention during the Spanish and American
colonization:

➢ Balac had retained its form even its name had changed according to the languages
of the colonizers.
▪ Balac became popular with the term amoral, a term derived from the word
“amor,” during the Spanish colonization.
▪ After amoral, balac was renamed ismayling, a term derived from the English
word “smile,” during the American occupation.

➢ An anonymous literary scholar reported that in some places in Samar, balac had
been reinvented to express anti-imperialist sentiments. For an instance, in the
balac, the woman represents the motherland. Meanwhile, the man represents the
patriot who professes his patriotism or love of country. How the word ismayling was
coined is still unknown up to the present time.

➢ Comedia and zarzuela are plays that were introduced by the Spaniards and were
popularized and performed during fiestas up to 1930s. These were later on
replaced by operettas as introduced by the Americans.

➢ Sinulog a dramatization of the Moro Raids of the coasts of Samar in the 18th
century and how the Spanish priests and Warays repulsed these raids. The raids
aimed to capture men and women for sale as slaves, especially the binocol or the
women known for their beauty and fairness of skin.

THE PRESENT
• After the colonization of Spaniards and Americans, only siday, susumaton, and titigoon
are the ancient Waray literary works that survived up to the present time, together with
ismayling.
• A young Waray writer said in a regional literature conference “we have no literature,”
as the word waray means “nothing,” and that the only literature they have “comes out
only during drinking sprees”.

➢ Luwa, siday, awit – oral forms of literature that are present in the modern time.
 MINDANAO AND ITS LITERATURE
 Mindanao is known in the Philippines as the “Land of Promise.”
 It is consisted of the major islands of Mindanao mainland, Camiguin, Siargao,
Samal, Dinagat, Bucas Grande, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.
 The island is consisted of the regions namely BARMM, CARAGA, Davao, Northern
Mindanao, SOCCSKARGEN, and Zamboanga Peninsula.
 Davao City is said to be the most populous place in Mindanao.
 Apo in Davao is known as the highest point in the Philippines.
 Famous local destinations are the Maria Cristina Falls, Limunsudan Falls, Tinago
Falls, Tinuy-an Falls, Lake Lanao, Lake Sebu in South Cotabato, Agus River,
Siargao, Dahilayan Forest Park, Rio Grande River, and Enchanted River in Surigao
del Sur.
 Famous landmarks are Sunken Cemetery in Camiguin Island, The Grand Mosque
of Cotabato, Dapitan, Zamboanga City and the Islamic City of Marawi.

LANGUAGE(S):

 Cebuano – generally the native language in most regions, except for Muslim areas
on the west coast and hill tribes
 Mandaya
 Kalagan
 Giangon
 Dibabawon
 Tagabawa
 Hiligaynon
 Mansaka
 Sangirese
 Obo
 Sarangani

ETHNIC GROUPS:
Lumads from the different regions:

 Zamboanga Peninsula - Subanons

 Northern Mindanao and CARAGA – Bukidnon, Ata Manobos, Mamanwas.
Matigsalugs, Agusan Manobos, Talaandigs, Kamigins, Higaonons
 SOCCSKARGEN – T’Bolis, Tirurays, B’laans, Saranganis, Cotabato Manobos
 DAVAO – Obos, Mandayas, Giangans, Tagabawas, Kalagans, Sangirese, Mansakas
Moros:

 Maguindanaos
 Maranaos
 Tausugs
 Yakans
 Iranuns
 Samas
Other Groups:

 Butuanons
 Surigaonons
 Kagay-anons
 Zamboangueños
 Hiligaynons
 Cebuanos
 Bajaos

THE MINDANAO LITERATURE

FROM THE PAST TO THE PRESENT
THE PAST

 Each Muslim cultural community has its own inventory of folk literature, which
usually displays themes that are unique ad peculiar, yet unified by Islamic faith.
 Oral literary forms may be didactic, hortatory, entertaining, instructive, or
informative.
  Just like the other Filipino groups that follow oral tradition, Mindanao Muslim folk
literature has a rich variety of folktales, myths, legends, poems, epics, ballads,
riddles, and proverbs.
Folktales are called differently according to the ethno-linguistic groups and its origin:
Ø Kana-kana (from Jama Mapun and Sama)

Ø Katakata (from Tausug)

Ø Oman-oman (from Davaoeños)

Ø Totol (from Maranao)

Ø Tudtol (from Iranon)

Ø Tudtolan (from Maguindanao)

 Famous folktales include:

 Agamaniyog Folktales from Maranao
 Manuk-manuk Bulawan from Indanan (also known as Agta and Datu Dakula)
 Posong or Pusung from Tausug – stories of how Posong the trickster has always
deceived the datu and get away with it
 Famous epics include:
 Bantugan – Maranao epic
 Indarapatra and Sulayman – Maguindanao epic
 Parang Sabil hi Abdulla iban hi Isara – Tausug epic/ ballad
 For every folk literature such as ballads, proverbs, riddles, the ethnic groups have
their own ways of naming it.
 Most ballads are historical which feature heroic deeds of important personalities.

THE PRESENT

 In the present time, Filipinos have lack of access to the textual materials of the oral
literature of Mindanao. Literature scholars concluded that the people themselves
 don’t seem to realize that their cultural products are already vanishing due to lack
of literary preservation. Moreover, the people of Mindanao seem to be preoccupied
in mundane with politics and economics.
 Modern Mindanao literature themes revolve on topics such as war and conflict,
quest for peace, social inequality, landlessness, love of one’s land, and others.
 Mindanao Harvest 4: A 21st Century Literary Anthology was published in 2018 by
Far Eastern University (FEU) Publications. This anthology is said to be the first
comprehensive literary anthology on Mindanao’s contemporary literatures
including 63 Mindanao writers. This book is edited by Jaime An Lim, Christine F.
Godinez-Ortega, and Ricardo M. de Ungria.

METRO MANILA AND ITS LITERATURE

 The National Capital Region (NCR), official name of Metro Manila and seat of the
government, consists of 16 cities namely Manila, Quezon City, Las Piñas, Makati,
Mandaluyong, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, San Juan, Taguig,
Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela, as well as the municipality of Pateros.
 NCR is considered as the Philippines’s political, economic, social, and cultural
center. This is also reported as the 18th most populous city in the world in 2016 and
one of the modern metropolises in the Southeast Asia.
 Due to its dense population with its people coming from the different areas of the
country and its neighboring countries, Merly M. Alunan, an Eastern Visayan writer
and professor, described Metro Manila as a “huge urban conglomeration.”
 NCR is also a place of economic extremes. High-income citizens reside in highly
developed urban cities such as Makati and Muntinlupa while poor and low-income
families are scattered in slum areas such as Tondo and Smokey Mountain
 Famous landmarks and tourist destinations in the NCR include Rizal Park,
National Museum of the Philippines, Intramuros where Fort Santiago, Manila
Cathedral, San Agustin Church, Bahay Tsinoy Museum, Anda Circle and others.

LANGUAGE(S):
Filipino – more popularly known as Tagalog, the national language and an official
language of the country, is the most widely spoken language in Metro Manila
English – language of commerce, law, and several workplaces.

THE METRO MANILA LITERATURE

FROM THE PAST TO THE PRESENT
 The Tagalog literature has been born and developed in the provinces of Southern
Luzon, Central Luzon, and the present Metropolitan Manila or the National Capital
Region.
 Southern Luzon is consisted of the provinces of Region IV–A and Region IV–B.
Region IV-A, also known as CALABARZON, consists of the provinces of Cavite,
Batangas, Laguna, and Quezon. Region IV-B, also known as MIMAROPA, consists
of Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, and Palawan.
 In Region III or Central Luzon, there are provinces where Tagalog has been
predominantly used as communication tool. These are the provinces of Aurora,
Nueva Ecija, Bataan, and Bulacan.
 The Tagalog region is well-known nationwide as the birthplace of a rich tradition of
Philippine culture in the aspects of language, politics, economy and literature.
 University of Sto. Tomas, the oldest university in the Philippines, is located in
Manila.
 The first printing press that was built in Manila made the publication of the first
book Doctrina Cristiana possible in 1593, in the form of xylography. This was
written in Spanish and Tagalog languages.
 Pasyon, which narrated the life of Christ in the form of song and poetry was written
in Tagalog by the various writers Gaspar Aquino de Belen and Fr. Mariano Pilapil.
 Just like in the islands of Visayas, the literary tradition in the Tagalog regions had
been outstanding in the field of oral literature. Bugtong (riddle), proverbs, native
songs, and other forms had always been in poetic forms. Its form and perspective
were distincted as Asian, usually containing seven-syllabic rhymes.
SOME WRITERS OF CLASSIC PHILIPPINE LITERATURE FROM THE PAST:

Considering this rich and invigorating cultural matrix, the Tagalog region was
also the birthplace of several historic Filipino men in the field of Philippine politics,
culture, and literature. These writers are also known today as Filipino heroes:

Ø Francisco Balagtas Baltazar

Ø Jose Rizal

Ø Andres Bonifacio

Ø Apolinario Mabini
Ø Emilio Jacinto

Ø Marcelo H. del Pilar

Ø Jose P. Laurel

Ø Claro M. Recto

Ø Amado V. Hernandez

Ø Lope K. Santos

Ø Lazaro Francisco

Ø Faustino Aguilar

Ø Jose Corazon de Jesus

Ø Alejandro Abadilla

Ø Modesto de Castro

These men did not only historically play a great role in Philippine independence
movement but they are also men of letters. Meanwhile, the following writers from
Metro Manila have a timeless and permanent contribution to the development of
Philippine literature:
  Carmen Guerrero-Nakpil (July 19, 1922 – July 30, 2018) – was a Filipino author,
journalist, historian, and public servant and a recipient of S.E.A. Write Award;
She wrote Woman Enough and Other Essays
 Nicomedes “Nick” Márquez Joaquín (May 4, 1917 – April 29, 2004) – was a
Filipino author, historian, and journalist who is popular for his short stories and
novels written in the English language, using the pen name Quijano de Manila;
In 1976, Joaquin was declared as the 1976 National Artist of the Philippines for
Literature.
 Alejandro Reyes Roces (July 13, 1924 – May 23, 2011) – was a dramatist,
essayist, and declared as the 2003 National Artist of the Philippines for
literature. As a public servant, he became the Secretary of Education from 1961
to 1965, during the presidency of the former Philippine President Diosdado
Macapagal.
 Bienvenido N. Santos (1911–1996) – was a Filipino-American fictionist, poet, and
nonfictionist; He was born and raised in Tondo, Manila. His family roots are
originally from Lubao, Pampanga, Philippines. He resided in the United States
for many years where he is popular as a pioneering Asian-American writer.
 Carmen Acosta (February 1, 1904 and died on September 13, 1986) – She was
the daughter of Godofredo B. Herrera, and Paterna Santos. Her father was a
journalist and served for a time as municipal president (or mayor in modern
usage) of Caloocan during the American colonial rule. She was a University of
the Philippines Bachelor of Philosophy graduate and taught at the Torres High
School in Manila.
 Genoveva Edroza Matute (January 3, 1915 – March 21, 2009) – Was born in Sta.
Cruz, Manila; Wrote several books and short stories such as Kuwento ni
Mabuti, and Paglalayag sa Puso ng Isang Bata

SOME CONTEMPORARY WRITERS FROM PAST TO PRESENT:

 Lualhati Bautista – was born on December 2, 1945 in Tondo, Manila; She is one of
the historical Filipino female novelists in the present time. Her famous novels are
Dekada '70, ‘GAPÔ, and Bata, Bata, Pa'no Ka Ginawa?,
 Gémino H. Abad – was born on February 5, 1939 in Sta. Ana, Manila; At present,
he is a University Professor Emeritus at the University of the Philippines. His
current writing and research include “Upon Our Own Ground”, a two- volume
historical anthology of short stories in English, 1956- 1972, with critical
introduction; “Our Scene So Fair”, a book of critical essays on the poetry in English
since 1905 to the mid- 50s, and; “Where No Words break”, a volume of his own
poems.
  Linda Ty Casper – was born in 1931 in Malabon City; She has written and
published over fifteen books, including the historical novel DreamEden and the
political novels The Stranded Whale, The Peninsulars, Awaiting Trespass, Wings of
Stone, A Small Party in a Garden, and Fortress in the Plaza.in addition, she has also
published three collections of short stories which focuses on the cross-section of
Filipino society.
 Efren Abueg – born on March 3, 1937 in Tanza, Cavite but his life as a professor
and writer flourished in Manila since he was college; He wrote the famous short
stories Mabangis na Lungsod, and Sa Bagong Paraiso.
 Gilda Cordero-Fernando – was born on June 4, 1932 in Manila; A multi-awarded
writer, publisher and cultural icon from the Philippines; She has written the books
We Live in the Philippines, The last Full Moon: Lessons on My Life, The Magic
Circle, and other books.

SOME FAMOUS WRITERS IN THE PRESENT TIME:

 Bebang Siy – Wrote It’s Raining Mens and It’s a Mens World, whose works are
known to be funny and comical; Despite the humorous writings, her novels are
thought-provoking.
 Bob Ong – Author of Stainless Longanisa, ABNKKBSNPLAKo, Ang Paboritong
Libro ni Hudas, Kapitan Sino, MACARTHUR, Alamat ng Gubat, and others which
were known to be written in an informal and comic manner but reflects the life of
many as Filipinos
 Ricky Lee – Known as one of the greatest scriptwriters in movie and television;
Author of Si Amapola sa 65 na Kabanata, Para kay B (o kung paano dinevastate ng
pag-ibig ang 4 out of 5 sa atin), Trip to Quiapo, and other books.
 Ferdinand Pisigan Jarin – Author of Anim na Sabado ng Beyblade at Iba Pang
Sanaysay, a memoir about his son named Rebo; He is also a musician and teacher.
ASIAN LITERATURE
Asian Literature encompasses various facets of literature. Primarily, these
are the poetry and prose writings produced in a variety of languages in Asia. As
religion, was, and politics influence Asian communities, literary flourished to
emulate these developments.
The literary mores of Asia which is considered the largest continent of the
world are immense in terms of scope and length of existence. With these, it is
prudent to take a literary exploration of Asian Literature by geographical region. By its
technical term, it is
basically the literary products made in continent Asia throughout history.
Asian literature reflects the similarities in customs and traditions of African and Asian
countries, their
philosophies of life, and the struggles and successes of their developing nations and its
people.
The study of the massive amount of Asian literature as a whole requires the combination of
literature
under specific headings. Asian literature can be divided into a host of different labels,
categorized according to
religion, zone, region, ethnic group, literary genre, historical perspective or language of
origin.

CHINA
Chinese literature is one of the major literary heritages of the world, with an
uninterrupted history of more than 3,000 years, dating back at least to the 14th
century BCE.
 Its medium, the Chinese language, has retained its unmistakable identity in
its spoken and written aspects in spite of generally gradual changes in
pronunciation, the existence of regional and local dialects, and several stages
in the structural representation of the written graphs, or “characters.”
 Culturally speaking, China has endured its attribute of keeping the
fundamental of its identity very firm. The Tang Dynasty is the finest era of the
Chinese literature because the poets like Tu Fu, Li Po and Wang Wei created
landmark works.
 Through cultural contacts, Chinese literature has profoundly influenced the literary
traditions of other Asian
countries, particularly Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Not only was the Chinese script
adopted for the written
language in these countries, but some writers adopted the Chinese language as their chief
literary medium,
at least before the 20th century.
 The pronunciation of the Chinese graphs has also influenced the development of Chinese
literature. The fact
that each graph had a monophonic pronunciation in each context created many
homonyms, which led to
misunderstanding and confusion when spoken or read aloud without the aid of the graphs.

Famous Chinese Poets:

Two of the greatest Chinese poets, and the best known, are Li
Po and Tu Fu. Li Po and Tu Fu, being respected poets from the
T'ang Dynasty period, competed heavily with one another, but
they have been called friends by many scholars. In fact, many
of the poems written by the two are directed towards the other.
Each of these poets use his emotions and experiences in the
T'ang Dynasty of China to create poems that illustrate and
comment on many different aspects of ancient Chinese life.
Also, both employ similar key images. However, by examining
the "friendship" poems for insights into their relationship, one
discovers the contrast between their attitudes toward life

JAPAN
Japanese literature places as one of the major literatures in
the world both in quantity and in quality, like in age, vibrancy, and
capacity to English literature, although its pattern of improvement
has been somewhat different. The surviving works comprise a
literary tradition extending from the 7th century CE to the present.
 The earliest writing of literature in Japanese was motivated by impact from China. But
in the following years
Japanese tradition created its distinct literary landmark. One of the renowned poetic forms
is haiku (a short
descriptive poem with 17 syllables) and the various theatrical genres, namely: the Noh and
the Kabuki.
 Still, the texts entirely in Japanese depict an exceptional range of styles, which cannot be
clarified merely
in terms of the natural progression of the language.
 The complexities of interpreting Japanese literature can barely be exaggerated; even a
specialist in one
period is likely to have trouble deciphering a work from another period or genre.
 Japanese style has always favored vagueness, and the elements of speech required for
easy understanding
of a statement are often excluded as unnecessary or as thoroughly precise.
 Despite the great problems occurring from such qualities of style, Japanese literature of
all periods is
extremely interesting to modern-day readers, whether read in the original or in translation.
 Because it is prevailingly personal and colored by an emotional rather than intellectual
or moralistic mood,
its themes have a universal quality almost unchanged by time.

Japanese Poet Spotlight

Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) was one of the greatest Japanese poets. He
elevated haiku to the level of serious poetry in numerous anthologies and
travel diaries. The name of Matsuo Basho is associated especially with the
celebrated Genroku era (ca. 1680-1730), which saw the flourishing of
many of Japan's greatest and most typical literary and artistic
personalities. His poetry and in his attitude toward life he seemed to
harken back to a period some 300 years earlier. An innovator in poetry,
spiritually and culturally he maintained a great tradition of the past. One of
the most famous haiku of Matsuo Basho:
The old pond
A frog jumps in
Sound of water.
KOREA
 Korean literature consists the body of works written by Koreans, at
first in Classical Chinese, later in various transcription systems using
Chinese characters, and finally in Hangul
 Although Korea has had its own language for several thousand years,
it has had a writing system only since the mid-15th century, when
Hangul was invented. As a result, early literary activity was in Chinese
characters. Korean scholars were writing poetry in the traditional
manner of Classical Chinese at least by the 4th century CE.
 By the 7th century a system, called idu, had been devised that allowed
Koreans to make rough transliterations of Chinese texts. Eventually,
certain Chinese characters were used for their phonetic value to
represent Korean particles of speech and inflectional endings.
 In general, then, literature written in Korea falls into three categories:
works written in the early transcription systems, those written in
Hangul, and those written in Chinese.
 There are four major traditional poetic forms in Korean Literature:
o Hyangga (“native songs”) poems were written in four, eight, or 10 lines; the 10-line form
—comprising
two four-line stanzas and a concluding two-line stanza—was the most popular and oldest
form in Korean
literature.
o Pyŏlgok (“special songs”) or changga flourished during the middle and late Koryŏ
period. It is
characterized by a refrain either in the middle or at the end of each stanza. The theme of
most of these
anonymous poems is love, the joys and torments of which are expressed in frank and
powerful language.
o Sijo (“current melodies”) is the longest-enduring and most popular form of Korean
poetry. Sijo are threeline poems in which each line has 14 to 16 syllables and the total
number of syllables seldom exceeds

Japanese Poet Spotlight

Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) was one of the greatest Japanese poets. He
elevated haiku to the level of serious poetry in numerous anthologies and
travel diaries. The name of Matsuo Basho is associated especially with the
celebrated Genroku era (ca. 1680-1730), which saw the flourishing of
many of Japan's greatest and most typical literary and artistic
personalities. His poetry and in his attitude toward life he seemed to
harken back to a period some 300 years earlier. An innovator in poetry,
spiritually and culturally he maintained a great tradition of the past. One of
the most famous haiku of Matsuo Basho:
The old pond
A frog jumps in
Sound of water.
45. Each line consists of groups of four syllables. Sijo may deal with Confucian ethical
values, but there
are also many poems about nature and love.
o Kasa (“verses”) tends to be much longer than other forms of Korean poetry and is
usually written in
balanced couplets. During the earlier period, the poem was generally about 100 lines long
and dealt with
such subjects as female beauty, war, and seclusion.
 In another system, kugyŏl, abridged versions of Chinese characters were used to denote
grammatical
elements and were inserted into texts during transcription.
 Existing literary works indicate, however, that before the 20th century much of Korean
literature was written
in Chinese rather than in Korean, even after the invention of Hangul.
 Korean Poet Spotlight
Seo Jeong-ju (May 18, 1915 – December 24, 2000) was a Korean poet
and university professor. He taught Korean literature in universities, who
wrote under the pen name “Midang”.
He is widely considered as one of the best poets in twentieth-century
Korean literature and was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in literature. His
grandmother’s stories
and his interest in Buddhism had a strong influence upon his writing.
He wrote over 1,000 poems over more than 60 years and had considerable influence on
Korean literature,
being considered the ‘founding father of modern Korean poetry’.
Under the pen name Midang, he published at least 15 collections of poetry. His works have
been
translated into several languages, including English, French, Spanish, and German. His
100th anniversary
in December 2016 was commemorated by the republication of his collected works which
included recently
discovered and previously unpublished poems.
INDIA
 The original Indian literature took the form of the canonic Hindu sacred
writings, recognized as the Veda, which were written in Sanskrit. To the
Veda were added prose notes such as the Brahmanas and the
Upanishads.
 In addition to holy and moral writings, such genres as suggestive and
religious lyrics, court poetry, plays, and narrative folktales surfaced.
 Other related languages appeared in the modern languages of northern
India from these. The literature of those languages varied largely on the
ancient Indian experience, which consist of two Sanskrit epic poems, the Mahabharata and
Ramayana, as well as the Bhagavata-purana and the other Puranas.
 The South Indian language of Tamil is an exemption to this form of Sanskrit influence
since it had a classical
practice of its own. Urdu and Sindhi are other exemptions.
 Beginning in the 19th century, especially during the height of British control over the
subcontinent, Western
literary models had an impact on Indian literature, the most remarkable result being the
launch of the use of
language prose on a major scale.
 Such forms as the texts began to be embraced by Indian writers, as did realism and an
attraction in social
questions and psychological explanation. A practice of literature in English was also
recognized in the
subcontinent.
Indian Poet Spotlight
Rabindranath Tagore (May 7, 1861 - August 7, 1941), Bengali poet,
short-story writer, song composer, playwright, essayist, and painter who
introduced new prose and verse forms and the use of colloquial
language into Bengali literature, thereby freeing it from traditional models
based on classical Sanskrit. He was extremely influential in introducing Indian culture to
the West and the other way around, and he is commonly considered as the outstanding
creative artist of early 20th-century India. In 1913 he became the first non-European to
receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Tagore’s works are practically untranslatable, as his over 2,000 songs, which attained
considerable
recognition among all groups of Bengali society.

Here is one of the poems written by Rabindranath Tagore:

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

AFRICAN LITERATURE
 There are 54 nations which make up Africa. Each of these separate
countries have their own history, culture, tribes, and traditions. With that being said, there
are some commonalities shared by literature which comes from the continent as a whole.
Describing African literature can be difficult. There are some writers who think African
literature can only be written in African languages.
While others consider African literature can be written in any
language if it is created by writers from Africa.
 African literature comprises of a body of texts in various languages
and several genres, varying from oral literature to literature written in
foreign languages (French, Portuguese, and English).
Oral literature, including stories, dramas, riddles, histories, myths, songs, proverbs, and
other expressions, is frequently employed to educate and entertain children. Oral
histories, myths, and proverbs additionally serve to remind whole communities of their
ancestors' heroic deeds, their past, and the precedents for their customs and traditions.
Essential to oral literature is a concern for presentation and oratory. Folktale tellers use
call-response techniques. A griot (praise singer) willaccompany a narrative with music.
 Some of the first African writings to gain attention in the West were the poignant slave
narratives. Since the early 19th century writers from western Africa have used newspapers
to air their views. Several founded newspapers that served as vehicles for expressing
nascent nationalist feelings.
Africa suffered several difficulties in its lengthy history which gave an influence on the
themes and topics of its literature. One difficulty which headed to several others is that of
colonization. The problem with colonization is when the incoming people take advantage of
the indigenous people and the properties of the occupied land.
Colonization led to slavery. Millions of African people were enslaved and brought to
Western countries around the world from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. This
spreading of African people, largely against their will, is called the African Diaspora.
 After World War II, as Africans began demanding their independence, more African
writers were published.
The writers written in European languages, and often they shared the same themes: the
clash between indigenous and colonial cultures, condemnation of European suppression,
pride in the African past, and hope for the continent's independent future.

Masala Kulangwa and the Monster Shing'weng'we

Once upon a time in East Africa the monster or ogre Shing'weng'we
swallowed all the people in the world together with all the domestic animals except one
pregnant woman who hid in a pile of chaff. Later this woman gave
birth to a boy named Masala Kulangwa (whose name means "the smart or clever
person who understands quickly"). When he grew up, he asked: "Mother, why
are there only the two of us? Where are the other people?" She answered: "My
dear one, everyone else was swallowed by Shing'weng'we. We two are the only
ones left."
From that day on the young man started looking for the monster. One day
he killed a grasshopper and arrived home singing: "Mother, Mother, I have killed
Shing'weng'we. Rejoice and shout for joy." But his Mother answered: "My dear
one, this is only a grasshopper, not the monster. Let us roast him and eat him."
Another day he killed a bird and arrived home singing: "Mother, Mother, I
have killed Shing'weng'we up in the hills. Rejoice and shout for joy." But his
Mother answered: "My dear one, this is only a bird, not the monster. Let us roast it and eat
it."
Another day he killed a small gazelle and arrived home singing: "Mother,
Mother, I have killed Shing'weng'we up in the hills. Rejoice and shout for joy."
But his Mother answered: "My dear one, this is only a small gazelle, not the
monster. Let's roast it and eat it."
Another day he killed an antelope and arrived home singing: "Mother,
Mother, I have killed Shing'weng'we up in the hills. Rejoice and shout for joy."
But his Mother answered: "My dear one, this is only an antelope, not the
monster. Let's roast it and eat it."
Finally, the clever young man Masala Kulangwa found Shing'weng'we,
overcame him and cut open the monster's back. Out came his father along with his
relatives and all the other
people. By bad luck when he split open the monster's back Masala Kulangwa cut off the
ear of an old woman.
This woman became very angry and insulted the young man. She tried to bewitch him. But
Masala Kulangwa
found medicine and healed the old woman. Then all the people declared the young man
chief and raised him
up in the Chief's Chair. Masala Kulangwa became the chief of the whole world and his
mother became the Queen Mother.

Rawera (the Comforter) and the Monsters

A long time ago, the people of Funtu lived happily. They worked hard and produced much
food. They
loved each other. The King was kind: everybody loved him. Ng’uono lived in the village.
Because she was barren,
men refused to marry her. Elders forcefully married Ng’uono to Jater, an old man.
Ng’uono and Jater had no
friends. Despite being treated badly, they were not bitter. They humbly accepted their
situation. One day, there
was a feast. As usual, Ng’uono and Jater were not invited. From their home, they heard
people singing and
shouting joyfully. Suddenly, the music stopped. Cries of agony filled the air. Curious, Jater
and Ng’uono came
out. What they saw frightened them.
Creatures bigger than millet granaries, with eyes as big as cooking
pots surrounded the village. These odd-looking beings had hairy bodies, with
claws for toes. Ng’uono and Jater trembled just from looking at them. “Those
are monsters. Let us run,” Ng’uono said fearfully. “No. They will reach us in no
time and eat us up,” Jater said. “Come with me,” he said, taking his wife by
the hand. They hid in a hole under a big tree. They could hear people crying
as the monsters chased them. The noise stopped after a long time. “Wait here.
I will go and see what is happening,”
Jater said to his wife. “You cannot go out there! You will be killed,”
Ng’uono objected. Jater ignored her and slid out of the hole. There was not a
single person. The monsters had flattened all the huts. The crops were all
destroyed. Shocked, Jater stood out there, lost in thought. Back in the hole,
Ng’uono was worried about her husband. Unable to wait any longer, she came out and saw
him. “Oh! What
destruction!” she moaned. Walking towards him, she asked, “What shall we do?” “I don’t
know,” Jater replied
sadly. They sat under the big tree and soon fell asleep.
Ng’uono was woken by the cry of a bird perched on her forehead. “Wake up. What
happened?” asked
the bird. Sobbing, she told him the story. “Wake up your husband and follow me,” the bird
commanded. After
walking for several days, the bird led them to a valley, green with vegetation, beautiful
flowers and clear streams.
“This is your new home. There are crops of all types: harvest them and eat.” After saying
this, the bird turned to
fly away. “Oh! Before I leave…Ng’uono, take good care of your son. Bye.” “What are you
talking about? I am…”
she started but the bird had already flown away.
Jater and his wife remained standing, unable to understand. Jater gave birth to a baby boy
a few months
later. They called him Rawera, the comforter. Rawera grew up strong and obedient. One
afternoon, while he
was out hunting, he saw huge footprints at the edge of the forest. The footprints were
bigger than any he had
seen before. Afraid but curious, he followed the footprints. Deeper and deeper he went into
the thick forest. The
forest was so dark that he could not find his way through. Tired, he sat under the nearest
tree and fell sleep, his
dog beside him. The barking of the dog woke him. Sleepily, he stood up. And then he heard
it: a voice stronger
than thunder. It came from deep inside the forest. He could not understand what the voice
said. Soon, there
were more voices, equally loud.
The earth shook and trees swayed. Frightened, Rawera ran. Fear, hunger and confusion
slowed him
tremendously. The slower he ran, the louder the voices became. Finally, he reached the
edge of the forest and
collapsed. He could no longer hear the terrible voices. He rested for a few minutes and
walked home. “Where
have you been,” his mother asked. “Mother, I was just out hunting.” “Never stay late in the
forest: it is dangerous,”
warned his father. He did not tell them what happened.
For many days after, Rawera thought about the voices. He was sure the
creatures were not human. Determined to find out, he made several
poisoned arrows and spears. He hid these carefully. For many months, he
trained his dog and fed it well. Sibuor grew large and fierce. Satisfied with
his preparations, Rawera set out at dawn one day. He took his weapons and
told his parents that he was going hunting. At the edge of the forest, he
stopped to eat, rest and feed his dog.
Soon after, they entered the forest. They walked for a long, long time without
hearing any sound. Rawera was disappointed but he walked on. “Stop!” a
voice called from above. He looked up anxiously but did not see anything
and walked on. “I said stop. You will be killed,” the shrill voice said again.
“Who are you and how do you know where I am going?” Rawera asked. A
bird landed on his forehead, scaring him. He jumped to one side, ready to
attack. “Do not kill me. I want to save you,” the bird said, perching on Sibuor’s
head. “The voices you heard the other time belong to monsters. They ate your ancestors. I
am sure your parents
told you this. Now, go back home.” Whaaat? Monsters live here?” Rawera asked. “Believe
it: in this forest live
many monsters,” the bird confirmed.
“You say these monsters ate my people? How then can you tell me to go back? I will
find and kill them all. Show me where to find them,” Rawera said defiantly. “Well, I
have warned you. Come with me.” The bird led Rawera and Sibuor further into the
forest. “Look over there,” he said upon reaching a clearing. Rawera trembled at the
sight before him: many giants seated round a big fire. Their bodies were hairy. Smoke
escaped from their big noses. Seeing how frightened Rawera was, the bird said, “I
told you. You cannot fight them, can you?” “Bu-u-t they killed my people. I must kill
them,” Rawera stammered. “Because you are so determined, I will help you,” said
the bird. “When you shoot at them, aim for the palm. Go now.”
His dog beside him, Rawera walked into the clearing. The monsters smelled him many
metres away, stood as one and walked to meet him, saliva pouring from their big mouths.
Terrified,
Rawera turned back and ran. “Do not run. Turn back and shoot,” the bird
encouraged him.
He turned, took aim, and fired his first arrow. One of the monsters swallowed
it. “Shoot at the palm,” the bird shouted. The monsters were approaching fast.
Rawera let go another arrow. He aimed at the palm and felled one monster.
Encouraged, he shot the monsters rapidly. Only one remained, the biggest
of them. Rawera had only one arrow left. “Wait,” the bird called out. “Let
Sibuor go out and meet him. Then shoot the monster through the left ear.”
Rawera commanded his dog to attack the monster. As the monster picked
Sibuor to swallow him, Rawera shot him through the left ear. The monster
died.“Cut the monster’s big toe,” the bird ordered Rawera. When he did, all
the people who had been eaten by the monsters came out.
They were excited to be back. They thanked Rawera. They all walked to the
valley where Rawera and his parents lived. Jater and Ng’uono were happy to
see all the people of the village. After listening to Rawera’s story, everybody
was proud of him. They made him chief. All villagers now respected Ng’uono
and Jater.

EUROPEAN LITERATURE
Greece and Rome are considered the birth place of European Literature. Literary
pieces were conserved, remolded, and spread through Christianity and thus
communicated to the diverse vernacular languages of the European Continent,
both in the Western Hemisphere, and other regions the Europeans settled in.
Today, this body of writing displays a unity in its main features making it different
from the literatures of the rest of the world.

Ancient Period
750BC – 450
The birth of the European literature can be traced back to circa 750 BC. It
was the time when two significant literary works were developed. The first was the
Old Testaments of the Bible which was composed of 39 books in Hebrew
language. It is made of various genres which include lyric poem, tales, and
histories. On the other hand was the realization of the timeless epics: The Iliad and
the Odyssey which were associated with Homer. The Greek literary masterpieces were
conceived by scholars to have been collected across years by poets using the oral tradition.
Evidently, the Old Testament was highly religious and moralistic while the Iliad and
Odyssey narrated the heroic deeds of Greek characters like Achilles and Odysseus who
reflected the culture of warfare.

Classical Period
 450 – 1066
As the beginning of the Current Era (CE) comes, Greece endured its reputation to be a
cultural
overpowering force. The Greek drama flourished during the 5th and 4th centuries BCE.
The playwright of comedy
(like Aristophanes) and tragedy (namely: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripedes) became
popular in this time.
Notable lyrical poets like Pindar and Sappho were also famous. The varied works of the
great philosophers: Plato and Aristotle were also eminent.
The Greek tradition was later endured by the Romans, who resembled their civilization
after Greeks. When Romans gained theirimperial authority in 27 BC, the emperor
Augustus Caesar urged to have a literary identity that would reflect Rome’s potency.
Approximately a decade after, the poet Virgil became renowned because of his Aeneid, an
epic modeled on Iliad and Odyssey. Rome continued to produce literary giants in drama
(Seneca, Terence, and Plaurus), poetry (Horace), and prose (Cicero and Apuleius).

Medieval Period
1066 – 1500
Medieval, “belonging to the Middle Ages,” denotes the literature of both Europe and the
Eastern
Mediterranean from the founding of the Eastern Roman/Byzantine, Empire about 300 AD
for medieval Greek, to the period following the fall of Rome in 476 for medieval Latin, and
from about the time of Charlemagne and the “Carolingian Renaissance” he fostered in
France (c. 800) to the end of the 15th century for most written vernacular literatures.
The central literary ideals of the period are found in works created from the dialect. The
pre-Christian literature of Europe belonged to an oral tradition that was mirrored in the
“Poetic Edda” and the “sagas”, or heroic epics, of Iceland, the Anglo-Saxon “Beowulf”,
and the German “Song of Hildebrand”. These were from a common Germanic alliterative
tradition, but all were initially recorded by Christian scribes at times later than the
historical events they relate, and the pagan elements they hold were merged with Christian
thought and feeling.
Two well-known literary writers from the religious aspect: Dante Alighieri (whose Divine
Comedy depicts the three realms of afterlife and St. Augustine (whose The Confessions and
City of God last as spiritual foundation up to this day).
Heroic deeds and dignified actuations were underscored in the epics like Beowulf (Anglo-
Saxon), The Song of Roland (French), The Song of Nibelungs (German), and El Cid
(Spanish). The culture of chivalric adventure was evident in the works associated to King
Arthur, including Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. Moreover, Geoffer Chaucer
gained his title as The Father of English Literature with his paramount literary work, The
Canterbury Tales.

Renaissance Period
1485 – 1680
Renaissance (“Rebirth”) refers to the historical period in Europe that occurred after the
Middle Ages. This left behind the medieval ways of the past and launched a society towards
a modern world.
The age was marked by three major
characteristics namely: (1) the new interest in education, emulated by the classical
scholars known as humanists and instrumental in providing appropriate classical
models for the new writers; (2) the new form of Christianity, introduced by the
Protestant Reformation headed by Martin Luther, which drew men’s interest to the
individual and his inner experiences and encouraged a response in Catholic countries
summarized by the term “Counter-Reformation” and; (3) the journeys of the great
explorers that culminated in Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America in 1492 and
that had extensive consequences on the countries that developed overseas empires, as well
as on the minds and consciences of the most exceptional writers of the era.
During this period, people were concerned with individualism, as well as self and societal
improvement.
The emergence of a fresh essence of intellectual and artistic inquiry, which was the leading
feature of this political, religious, and philosophical phenomenon, was basically a
resurgence of the spirit of ancient Greece and Rome. In literature, this intended a new
attention and investigation given to the works of the great classical writers. Scholars
examined and translated “lost” ancient texts, whose distribution was much helped by
developments in printing in Europe from about 1450. Art and literature in the Renaissance
reached a height unattained in any previous period.
On the other hand, many writers produced literary pieces that catered to wealthy patrons
who commissioned their work. In 1440, Johannes Gutenberg created the printing press,
which allowed for mass production of pamphlets and novels. This event gave people more
opportunities to read publication of authors
like Petrarch and Boccaccio. Following are notable literary works written during the
Renaissance:
  Christopher Marlowe: Doctor Faustus
  Dante Alighieri: Divina Commedia
  Giovanni Boccaccio: The Decameron
  John Milton: Paradise Lost
  Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote
  Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince
  Petrarch: Canzoniere, Trionfi
  Sir Thomas More, Utopia
 William Shakespeare: King Lear, Hamlet,
 Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet

Age of Reason
1650 – 1800

Also known as the “Age of Enlightenment,” the Age of Reason aims

not to grab a hold on a useful half-truth but to cause misperception in the overall
picture, because the predominance of reason had also been a mark of
certain periods of the previous era. In literature, the rational desire nurtured
satire, argument, wit, plain prose; the other stimulated the psychological novel
and the poetry of the magnificent. Since the print culture emerged from the
previous period, the volume of printed reading materials increased. Literary
works during this period centered on human nature, people-government
relationship, property, natural laws and rights, and organized religion. Thus, this
period caused a dramatic change in the political, economical, and social
policies and beliefs of people.
The cult of wit, satire, and argument manifested in England in the writings of
Alexander Pope, Jonathan
Swift, and Samuel Johnson, continuing the tradition of Dryden from the 17th
century. The novel was
recognized as a major art form in English literature relatively by a rational realism
shown in the works of Henry
Fielding, Daniel Defoe, and Tobias Smollett and partly by the psychological
exploratory of the novels of
Samuel Richardson and of Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy.
In France, the major characteristic of the period rests in the philosophical and
political writings of the
Enlightenment, which had a deep influence all through the rest of Europe and
prefigured the French Revolution.
Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Charles de Montesquieu, and the Encyclopédistes
Denis Diderot and Jean d’Alembert all dedicated much of their work to
 controversies about social and religious matters, often involving criticisms and
direct conflict with the authorities.
It is more precise to say that the 18th century was marked by two key impulses:
reason and passion.
The respect given to reason was displayed in search of order, regularity, propriety,
and scientific knowledge; the refinement of the feelings roused compassion,
exaltation of personal relationships, religious fervor, and sensibility. This period
contributed to the betterment of humankind.

Famous authors and their literary works during this period are:
  Adam Smith: The Wealth of Nations
  Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe
  Denis Diderot: Encyclopedie
  Jean-Jacques Rousseau: The Social Contract,
 Emile, and Confessions.
  John Locke: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
 Jonathan Swift: Gulliver’s Travels
 Mary Wollstonecraft: A Vindication of the Rights of Women
  Montesquieu: Spirit of the Laws
  Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan
  Voltaire: Candide


Romantic Period
1798 – 1870
Romanticism was the principal literary movement of the initial part of the 19th
century, in which literature had its origins in the “Sturm und Drang” period in
Germany.
A consciousness of this first phase of Romanticism is an important modification to
the
usual impression of Romantic literature as something that began in English poetry
with
William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the publication of “Lyrical
Ballads” in 1798.

Although it is true that the French Revolution of 1789 and the Industrial Revolution
were two major political and social influences affecting the Romantic poets of early
19th-century England, many features of Romanticism in literature were from
literary or philosophical sources. A philosophical background was given in the 18th
century largely by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whose emphasis on the individual and
the power of inspiration inspired Wordsworth and also such first-phase Romantic
writers as Friedrich Hölderlin and Ludwig
 Tieck in Germany and the French writer Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, whose “Paul et
Virginie (1787)” predicted some of the sentimental excesses of 19th-century
Romantic literature.

Here are the famous writers of Romantic period and their literary works:
  Fredrick Schlegel: Lucinde
 Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: Phenomenology of Mind
  Horace Walpole: The Castle of Otranto
  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: The Sorrows of Young Werther, Faust
  Lord Byron: Don Juan, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage
  Mary Shelley: Frankenstein
  Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Rime of the Ancient
 Mariner, Lyrical Ballads
  Victor Hugo: Les Miserables
  William Wordsworth: The Prelud

Modernism
1870 – 1965
Modernism, like realism, provided critique of morality of the people belonging to
the middle-class society.
Writers during this period explored new forms and styles of writing, which paved
way to a technique called “stream of consciousness.” Developed by Marcel Proust,
“stream of consciousness” is a style that allowed the author to explore all of the
facets of their thought processes in the absence of any suggested formatting rules.

Post-Modernism Period
1965 – present
Characterized by an unusual mix of high and low culture, this period served as the
literary and societal response to the horrifying events of World War II and elitism
of high modernism. Fragmentation, paradox, and narrators that are difficult to
define are common. The style of writing evokes the absence of tradition in a modern
consumer-driven, technologically based society.

Authors began to use a jumble of various ingredients, known as pastiche,that had

not been seen as appropriate for literature before, in order to create a more complex
story, filled with allusions to events and style of other literary works that took a
certain level of education to recognize or even begin to appreciate.

Here are the post-modernist famous authors and their literary works:
  Alan Moore: Watchmen
  Alasdair Gray, Lanark: A Life in Four Books
  Dmitry Galkovsky: The Infinite Deadlock
  George Perec: Life: A User’s Manual
  Gertrude Stein: The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
  Italo Calvino: If on a winter’s night a traveler
  John Fowles: The French Lieutenant’s Woman
  Umberto Eco: Foucault’s Pendulum
  Venedikt Erofeev: Moscow-Petushki
  Vladimir Nabokov: Mother Night
  Walter Abish: How German Is It