SPECIALIZATION

Licensure Examination for Teachers

ENGLISH LITERATURE
1. Anglo-Saxon or Old-English period
The literature begins with songs and stories of a time when the Teutonic ancestors were living on the borders of the
North Sea. Three tribes of these ancestors, the Jutes, Angles, and Saxons, conquered Britain in the latter half of the fifth century,
and laid the foundation of the English nation. The first landing was probably by a tribe of Jutes, under chiefs called by the
chronicle Hengist and Horsa. The date is doubtful; but the year 449 is accepted by most historians.
These old ancestors were hardy warriors and sea rovers, yet were capable of profound and noble emotions. Their poetry
reflects this double nature. Its subjects were chiefly the sea and the plunging boats, battles, adventure, brave deeds, the glory of
warriors, and the love of home. Accent, alliteration, and an abrupt break in the middle of each line gave their poetry a kind of
martial rhythm. In general the poetry is earnest and somber, and pervaded by fatalism and religious feeling. A careful reading of
the few remaining fragments of Anglo-Saxon literature reveals five striking characteristics: the love of freedom; responsiveness to
nature, especially in her sterner moods; strong religious convictions, and a belief in Wyrd, or Fate; reverence for womanhood; and
a devotion to glory as the ruling motive in every warrior's life.
The following have been noted:
(1) the great epic or heroic poem Beowulf, and a few fragments of the first poetry, such as "Widsith," "Deor's Lament,"
and "The Seafarer."
(2) Characteristics of Anglo-Saxon life; the form of the first speech.
(3) The Northumbrian school of writers. Bede, the first historian, belongs to this school; but all his extant works are in
Latin. The two great poets are Cædmon and Cynewulf. Northumbrian literature flourished between 650 and 850. In the year 867
Northumbria was conquered by the Danes, who destroyed the monasteries and the libraries containing our earliest literature.
(4) The beginnings of English prose writing under Alfred (848-901). The most important prose work of this age is the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which was revised and enlarged by Alfred, and which was continued for more than two centuries. It is the
oldest historical record known to any European nation in its own tongue.
2. The Anglo-Norman Period
The Normans were originally a hardy race of sea rovers inhabiting Scandinavia. In the tenth century they conquered a
part of northern France, which is still called Normandy, and rapidly adopted French civilization and the French language. Their
conquest of Anglo-Saxon England under William, Duke of Normandy, began with the battle of Hastings in 1066. The literature
which they brought to England is remarkable for its bright, romantic tales of love and adventure, in marked contrast with the
strength and somberness of Anglo-Saxon poetry. During the three centuries following Hastings, Normans and Saxons gradually
united. The Anglo-Saxon speech simplified itself by dropping most of its Teutonic inflections, absorbed eventually a large part of
the French vocabulary, and became our English language. English literature is also a combination of French and Saxon elements.
The three chief effects of the conquest were (1) the bringing of Roman civilization to England; (2) the growth of nationality, i.e. a
strong centralized government, instead of the loose union of Saxon tribes; (3) the new language and literature, which were
proclaimed in Chaucer.
At first the new literature was remarkably varied, but of small intrinsic worth; and very little of it is now read.
The following have been noted:
(1) Geoffrey's History, which is valuable as a source book of literature, since it contains the native Celtic legends of
Arthur.
(2) The work of the French writers, who made the Arthurian legends popular.
(3) Riming Chronicles, i.e. history in doggerel verse, like Layamon's Brut.
(4) Metrical Romances or tales in verse. These were numerous, and of four classes: (a) the Matter of France, tales
centering about Charlemagne and his peers, chief of which is the Chanson de Roland; (b) Matter of Greece and Rome, an
endless series of fabulous tales about Alexander, and about the Fall of Troy; (c) Matter of England, stories of Bevis of Hampton,
Guy of Warwick, Robin Hood, etc.; (d) Matter of Britain, tales having for their heroes Arthur and his knights of the Round Table.
The best of these romances is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
(5) Miscellaneous literature,--the Ancren Riwle, our best piece of early English prose; Orm's Ormulum; Cursor Mundi,
with its suggestive parallel to the Miracle plays; and ballads, like King Horn and the Robin Hood songs, which were the only poetry
of the common people.
3. The Age of Chaucer
The fourteenth century is remarkable historically for the decline of feudalism (organized by the Normans), for the growth
of the English national spirit during the wars with France, for the prominence of the House of Commons, and for the growing
power of the laboring classes, who had heretofore been in a condition hardly above that of slavery.

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 The age produced five writers of note, one of whom, Geoffrey Chaucer, is one of the greatest of English writers. His
poetry is remarkable for its variety, its story interest, and its wonderful melody. Chaucer's work and Wyclif's translation of the Bible
developed the Midland dialect into the national language of England.
The following have been noted: (1) Chaucer, his life and work; his early or French period, in which he translated "The
Romance of the Rose" and wrote many minor poems; his middle or Italian period, of which the chief poems are "Troilus and
Cressida" and "The Legend of Good Women"; his late or English period, in which he worked at his masterpiece, the
famous Canterbury Tales. (2) Langland, the poet and prophet of social reforms. His chief work is Piers Plowman. (3) Wyclif, the
religious reformer, who first translated the gospels into English, and by his translation fixed a common standard of English speech.
(4) Mandeville, the alleged traveler, who represents the new English interest in distant lands following the development of foreign
trade. He is famous forMandeville's Travels, a book which romances about the wonders to be seen abroad. The fifth writer of the
age is Gower, who wrote in three languages, French, Latin, and English. His chief English work is the Confessio Amantis, a long
poem containing one hundred and twelve tales. Of these only the "Knight Florent" and two or three others are interesting to a
modern reader.
4. The Revival of Learning
This transition period is at first one of decline from the Age of Chaucer, and then of intellectual preparation for the Age of
Elizabeth. For a century and a half after Chaucer not a single great English work appeared, and the general standard of literature
was very low. There are three chief causes to account for this: (1) the long war with France and the civil Wars of the Roses
distracted attention from books and poetry, and destroyed of ruined many noble English families who had been friends and
patrons of literature; (2) the Reformation in the latter part of the period filled men's minds with religious questions; (3) the Revival
of Learning set scholars and literary men to an eager study of the classics, rather than to the creation of native literature.
Historically the age is noticeable for its intellectual progress, for the introduction of printing, for the discovery of America, for the
beginning of the Reformation, and for the growth of political power among the common people.
The following have been noted:
(1) the Revival of Learning, what it was, and the significance of the terms Humanism and Renaissance;
(2) three influential literary works,--Erasmus's Praise of Folly, More's Utopia, and Tyndale's translation of the New
Testament;
(3) Wyatt and Surrey, and the so-called courtly makers or poets;
(4) Malory's Morte d'Arthur, a collection of the Arthurian legends in English prose. The Miracle and Mystery Plays were
the most popular form of entertainment in this age; but we have reserved them for special study in connection with the Rise of the
Drama, in the following chapter.
5. The Elizabethan Age
This period is generally regarded as the greatest in the history of literature. Historically, it is noted in this age the
tremendous impetus received from the Renaissance, from the Reformation, and from the exploration of the New World. It was
marked by a strong national spirit, by patriotism, by religious tolerance, by social content, by intellectual progress, and by
unbounded enthusiasm.
Such an age, of thought, feeling, and vigorous action, finds its best expression in the drama; and the wonderful
development of the drama, culminating in Shakespeare, is the most significant characteristic of the Elizabethan period. Though
the age produced some excellent prose works, it is essentially an age of poetry; and the poetry is remarkable for its variety, its
freshness, its youthful and romantic feeling. Both the poetry and the drama were permeated by Italian influence, which was
dominant in English literature from Chaucer to the Restoration. The literature of this age is often called the literature of the
Renaissance, though, as we have seen, the Renaissance itself began much earlier, and for a century and a half added very little
to our literary possessions.
The following have been noted:
(1) the Non-dramatic Poets, that is, poets who did not write for the stage. The center of this group is Edmund Spenser,
whose Shepherd's Calendar (1579) marked the appearance of the first national poet since Chaucer's death in 1400. His most
famous work is The Faery Queen. Associated with Spenser are the minor poets, Thomas Sackville, Michael Drayton, George
Chapman, and Philip Sidney. Chapman is noted for his completion of Marlowe's poem, Hero and Leander, and for his translation
of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Sidney, besides his poetry, wrote his prose romance Arcadia, and The Defense of Poesie, one of
our earliest critical essays.
(2) The Rise of the Drama in England; the Miracle plays, Moralities, and Interludes; our first play, "Ralph Royster
Doyster"; the first true English comedy, "Gammer Gurton's Needle," and the first tragedy, "Gorboduc"; the conflict between classic
and native ideals in the English drama.
(3) Shakespeare's Predecessors, Lyly, Kyd, Nash, Peele, Greene, Marlowe; the types of drama with which they
experimented,--the Marlowesque, one-man type, or tragedy of passion, the popular Chronicle plays, the Domestic drama, the
Court or Lylian comedy, Romantic comedy and tragedy, Classical plays, and the Melodrama. Marlowe is the greatest of
Shakespeare's predecessors. His four plays are "Tamburlaine," "Faustus," "The Jew of Malta," and "Edward II."
(4) Shakespeare, his life, work, and influence.

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 (5) Shakespeare's Successors, Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher, Webster, Middleton, Heywood, Dekker; and the
rapid decline of the drama. Ben Jonson is the greatest of this group. His chief comedies are "Every Man in His Humour," "The
Silent Woman," and "The Alchemist"; his two extant tragedies are "Sejanus" and "Catiline."
(6) The Prose Writers, of whom Bacon is the most notable. His chief philosophical work is the Instauratio
Magna (incomplete), which includes "The Advancement of Learning" and the "Novum Organum"; but he is known to literary
readers by his famous Essays. Minor prose writers are Richard Hooker, John Foxe, the historians Camden and Knox, the editors
Hakluyt and Purchas, who gave us the stirring records of exploration, and Thomas North, the translator of Plutarch's Lives.
6. The Puritan Age
The half century between 1625 and 1675 is called the Puritan period for two reasons: first, because Puritan standards
prevailed for a time in England; and second, because the greatest literary figure during all these years was the Puritan, John
Milton. Historically the age was one of tremendous conflict. The Puritan struggled for righteousness and liberty, and because he
prevailed, the age is one of moral and political revolution. In his struggle for liberty the Puritan overthrew the corrupt monarchy,
beheaded Charles I, and established the Commonwealth under Cromwell. The Commonwealth lasted but a few years, and the
restoration of Charles II in 1660 is often put as the end of the Puritan period. The age has no distinct limits, but overlaps the
Elizabethan period on one side, and the Restoration period on the other.
The age produced many writers, a few immortal books, and one of the world's great literary leaders. The literature of the
age is extremely diverse in character, and the diversity is due to the breaking up of the ideals of political and religious unity. This
literature differs from that of the preceding age in three marked ways: (1) It has no unity of spirit, as in the days of Elizabeth,
resulting from the patriotic enthusiasm of all classes. (2) In contrast with the hopefulness and vigor of Elizabethan writings, much
of the literature of this period is somber in character; it saddens rather than inspires us. (3) It has lost the romantic impulse of
youth, and become critical and intellectual; it makes us think, rather than feel deeply.
The following have been noted:
(1) the Transition Poets, of whom Daniel is chief;
(2) the Song Writers, Campion and Breton;
(3) the Spenserian Poets, Wither and Giles Fletcher;
(4) the Metaphysical Poets, Donne and Herbert;
(5) the Cavalier Poets, Herrick, Carew, Lovelace, and Suckling;
(6) John Milton, his life, his early or Horton poems, his militant prose, and his last great poetical works;
(7) John Bunyan, his extraordinary life, and his chief work, The Pilgrim's Progress;
(8) the Minor Prose Writers, Burton, Browne, Fuller, Taylor, Baxter, and Walton. Three books selected from this group
are Browne's Religio Medici, Taylor's Holy Living and Dying, and Walton's Complete Angler.
7. Period of Restoration
The chief thing to note in England during the Restoration is the tremendous social reaction from the restraints of
Puritanism, which suggests the wide swing of a pendulum from one extreme to the other. For a generation many natural pleasures
had been suppressed; now the theaters were reopened, bull and bear baiting revived, and sports, music, dancing,--a wild delight
in the pleasures and vanities of this world replaced that absorption in "other-worldliness" which characterized the extreme of
Puritanism.
In literature the change is no less marked. From the Elizabethan drama playwrights turned to coarse, evil scenes, which
presently disgusted the people and were driven from the stage. From romance, writers turned to realism; from Italian influence
with its exuberance of imagination they turned to France, and learned to repress the emotions, to follow the head rather than the
heart, and to write in a clear, concise, formal style, according to set rules. Poets turned from the noble blank verse of Shakespeare
and Milton, from the variety and melody which had characterized English poetry since Chaucer's day, to the monotonous heroic
couplet with its mechanical perfection.
The greatest writer of the age is John Dryden, who established the heroic couplet as the prevailing verse form in English
poetry, and who developed a new and serviceable prose style suited to the practical needs of the age. The popular ridicule of
Puritanism in burlesque and doggerel is best exemplified in Butler's Hudibras. The realistic tendency, the study of facts and of
men as they are, is shown in the work of the Royal Society, in the philosophy of Hobbes and Locke, and in the diaries of Evelyn
and Pepys, with their minute pictures of social life. The age was one of transition from the exuberance and vigor of Renaissance
literature to the formality and polish of the Augustan Age. In strong contrast with the preceding ages, comparatively little of
Restoration literature is familiar to modern readers.
8. Eighteenth-century Literature
The period is between the English Revolution of 1688 and the beginning of the French Revolution of 1789. Historically,
the period begins in a remarkable way by the adoption of the Bill of Rights in 1689. This famous bill was the third and final step in
the establishment of constitutional government, the first step being the Great Charter (1215), and the second the Petition of Right
(1628). The modern form of cabinet government was established in the reign of George I (1714-1727). The foreign prestige of

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England was strengthened by the victories of Marlborough on the Continent, in the War of the Spanish Succession; and the
bounds of empire were enormously increased by Clive in India, by Cook in Australia and the islands of the Pacific, and by English
victories over the French in Canada and the Mississippi Valley, during the Seven Years', or French and Indian, Wars. Politically,
the country was divided into Whigs and Tories: the former seeking greater liberty for the people; the latter upholding the king
against popular government. The continued strife between these two political parties had a direct (and generally a harmful)
influence on literature, as many of the great writers were used by the Whig or Tory party to advance its own interests and to
satirize its enemies. Notwithstanding this perpetual strife of parties, the age is remarkable for the rapid social development, which
soon expressed itself in literature. Clubs and coffeehouses multiplied, and the social life of these clubs resulted in better manners,
in a general feeling of toleration, and especially in a kind of superficial elegance which shows itself in most of the prose and poetry
of the period. On the other hand, the moral standard of the nation was very low; bands of rowdies infested the city streets after
nightfall; bribery and corruption were the rule in politics; and drunkenness was frightfully prevalent among all classes. Swift's
degraded race of Yahoos is a reflection of the degradation to be seen in multitudes of London saloons. This low standard of
morals emphasizes the importance of the great Methodist revival under Whitefield and Wesley, which began in the second quarter
of the eighteenth century.

The literature of the century is remarkably complex, but we may classify it all under three general heads,--the Reign of
so-called Classicism, the Revival of Romantic Poetry, and the Beginning of the Modern Novel. The first half of the century,
especially, is an age of prose, owing largely to the fact that the practical and social interests of the age demanded expression.
Modern newspapers, like theChronicle, Post, and Times, and literary magazines, like the Tatler and Spectator, which began in this
age, greatly influenced the development of a serviceable prose style. The poetry of the first half of the century, as typified in Pope,
was polished, unimaginative, formal; and the closed couplet was in general use, supplanting all other forms of verse. Both prose
and poetry were too frequently satiric, and satire does not tend to produce a high type of literature. These tendencies in poetry
were modified, in the latter part of the century, by the revival of romantic poetry.

The following have been noted:

(1) the Augustan or Classic Age; the meaning of Classicism; the life and work of Alexander Pope, the greatest poet of the
age; of Jonathan Swift, the satirist; of Joseph Addison, the essayist; of Richard Steele, who was the original genius of
the Tatler and the Spectator; of Samuel Johnson, who for nearly half a century was the dictator of English letters; of James
Boswell, who gave us the immortal Life of Johnson; of Edmund Burke, the greatest of English orators; and of Edward Gibbon, the
historian, famous for his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
(2) The Revival of Romantic Poetry; the meaning of Romanticism; the life and work of Thomas Gray; of Oliver Goldsmith,
famous as poet, dramatist, and novelist; of William Cowper; of Robert Burns, the greatest of Scottish poets; of William Blake, the
mystic; and the minor poets of the early romantic movement,--James Thomson, William Collins, George Crabbe, James
Macpherson, author of the Ossian poems, Thomas Chatterton, the boy who originated the Rowley Papers, and Thomas Percy,
whose work for literature was to collect the old ballads, which he called the Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, and to translate
the stories of Norse mythology in his Northern Antiquities.
(3) The First English Novelists; the meaning and history of the modern novel; the life and work of Daniel Defoe, author
of Robinson Crusoe, who is hardly to be called a novelist, but whom we placed among the pioneers; and the novels of
Richardson, Fielding, Smollett, Sterne, and Goldsmith.
9. The Age of Romanticism
This period extends from the war with the colonies, following the Declaration of Independence, in 1776, to the accession
of Victoria in 1837, both limits being very indefinite, as will be seen by a glance at the Chronology following. During the first part of
the period especially, England was in a continual turmoil, produced by political and economic agitation at home, and by the long
wars that covered two continents and the wide sea between them. The mighty changes resulting from these two causes have
given this period the name of the Age of Revolution. The storm center of all the turmoil at home and abroad was the French
Revolution, which had a profound influence on the life and literature of all Europe. On the Continent the overthrow of Napoleon at
Waterloo (1815) apparently checked the progress of liberty, which had started with the French Revolution, but in England the case
was reversed. The agitation for popular liberty, which at one time threatened a revolution, went steadily forward till it resulted in
the final triumph of democracy, in the Reform Bill of 1832, and in a number of exceedingly important reforms, such as the
extension of manhood suffrage, the removal of the last unjust restrictions against Catholics, the establishment of a national
system of schools, followed by a rapid increase in popular education, and the abolition of slavery in all English colonies (1833). To
this we must add the changes produced by the discovery of steam and the invention of machinery, which rapidly changed England
from an agricultural to a manufacturing nation, introduced the factory system, and caused this period to be known as the Age of
Industrial Revolution.
The literature of the age is largely poetical in form, and almost entirely romantic in spirit. The triumph of democracy in
government is generally accompanied by the triumph of romanticism in literature. At first the literature, as shown especially in the
early work of Wordsworth, Byron, and Shelley, reflected the turmoil of the age and the wild hopes of an ideal democracy
occasioned by the French Revolution. Later the extravagant enthusiasm subsided, and English writers produced so much
excellent literature that the age is often called the Second Creative period, the first being the Age of Elizabeth. The six chief

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characteristics of the age are: the prevalence of romantic poetry; the creation of the historical novel by Scott; the first appearance
of women novelists, such as Mrs. Anne Radcliffe, Jane Porter, Maria Edgeworth, and Jane Austen; the development of literary
criticism, in the work of Lamb, De Quincey, Coleridge, and Hazlitt; the practical and economic bent of philosophy, as shown in the
work of Malthus, James Mill, and Adam Smith; and the establishment of great literary magazines, like the Edinburgh Review,
the Quarterly,Blackwood's, and the Athenaeum.
The following have been noted (1) the Poets of Romanticism: the importance of the Lyrical Ballads of 1798; the life and
work of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Scott, Byron, Shelley, and Keats; (2) the Prose Writers: the novels of Scott; the development of
literary criticism; the life and work of the essayists, Lamb, De Quincey, Landor, and of the novelist Jane Austen.
10. The Victorian Age
The year 1830 is generally placed at the beginning of this period, but its limits are very indefinite. In general it is thought
as covering the reign of Victoria (1837-1901). Historically the age is remarkable for the growth of democracy following the Reform
Bill of 1832; for the spread of education among all classes; for the rapid development of the arts and sciences; for important
mechanical inventions; and for the enormous extension of the bounds of human knowledge by the discoveries of science.
At the accession of Victoria the romantic movement had spent its force; Wordsworth had written his best work; the other
romantic poets, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats, and Byron, had passed away; and for a time no new development was apparent in
English poetry. Though the Victorian Age produced two great poets, Tennyson and Browning, the age, as a whole, is remarkable
for the variety and excellence of its prose. A study of all the great writers of the period reveals four general characteristics: (1)
Literature in this Age has come very close to daily life, reflecting its practical problems and interests, and is a powerful instrument
of human progress. (2) The tendency of literature is strongly ethical; all the great poets, novelists, and essayists of the age are
moral teachers. (3) Science in this age exercises an incalculable influence. On the one hand it emphasizes truth as the sole object
of human endeavor; it has established the principle of law throughout the universe; and it has given us an entirely new view of life,
as summed up in the word "evolution," that is, the principle of growth or development from simple to complex forms. On the other
hand, its first effect seems to be to discourage works of the imagination. Though the age produced an incredible number of books,
very few of them belong among the great creative works of literature. (4) Though the age is generally characterized as practical
and materialistic, it is significant that nearly all the writers whom the nation delights to honor vigorously attack materialism, and
exalt a purely ideal conception of life. On the whole, we are inclined to call this an idealistic age fundamentally, since love, truth,
justice, brotherhood--all great ideals--are emphasized as the chief ends of life, not only by its poets but also by its novelists and
essayists.
The following have been noted:
(1) The Poets; the life and works of Tennyson and Browning; and the chief characteristics of the minor poets, Elizabeth
Barrett (Mrs. Browning), Rossetti, Morris, and Swinburne.
(2) The Novelists; the life and works of Dickens, Thackeray, and George Eliot; and the chief works of Charles Reade,
Anthony Trollope, Charlotte Brontë, Bulwer-Lytton, Kingsley, Mrs. Gaskell, Blackmore, George Meredith, Hardy, and Stevenson.
(3) The Essayists; the life and works of Macaulay, Matthew Arnold, Carlyle, Newman, and Ruskin. These were selected,
from among many essayists and miscellaneous writers, as most typical of the Victorian Age. The great scientists, like Lyell,
Darwin, Huxley, Wallace, Tyndall, and Spencer, hardly belong to our study of literature, though their works are of vast importance;
and we omit the works of living writers who belong to the present rather than to the past century.
AMERICAN LITERATURE
American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. During
its early history, America was a series of British colonies on the eastern coast of the present-day United States. Therefore, its
literary tradition begins as linked to the broader tradition of English literature. However, unique American characteristics and the
breadth of its production usually now cause it to be considered a separate path and tradition.
1. Colonial literature
There was articulation of Puritan cultural ideas.
Captain Smith was the first American author with his works: A true Relation of Such Occurences and Accidents of Noate
as Hath in Virginia…(1608) and The General Historie of Virginia, New England, and The Summer Isles (1624).
a. Early Writing
> J. Winthrop’s The History of New England discussed religious foundations of Massachusetts.
> E. Winslow recorded a diary after the Mayflower’s arrival.
> I. Mather & W. Bradford wrote History of Plymouth Plantation.
> R. Williams & N. Ward argued state and church separation.
> Morton’s The New English Canaan mocked the religious settlers.
> E. Taylor’s Preparatory Meditations was written to prepare him for religious worship.
> W. Wigglesworth’s The Day of Doom described the time of judgement.
> N. Noyes was known for his doggerel verses.

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 b. Revolutionary Period
> B. Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac and The Autobiography of B. Franklin helped in the formation of budding
American identity.
> Paine’s Common Sense and The American Crisis influenced the political tone.
2. Post-independence
> T. Jefferson’s United States Declaration of Independence and Notes on the State of Virginia made him the most
talented early American writer.
> A. Hamilton, J. Madison, & J. Jay wrote Federalist essays.
> F. Ames, J. Otis & P. Henry wrote political writings and orations.
3. First American Novels
> T. A. Digges’ Adventures of Alonso depicted sentimental novel tradition.
> W. H. Brown’s The Power of Sympathy depicted a tragic love story between siblings.
> S. Rowson’s Charlotte: A Tale of Truth was later entitled Charlotte Temple was about a seduction tale.
> H. W. Foster’s The Coquette: Or, History History of Eliza Wharton was about a woman who was seduced and
abandoned.
> W. Irving’s A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty supported himself
through the income generated by his publication.
4. Unique American Style
> W. Irving wrote humorous works in Salmagundi and the satire A History of New York, by Diedrich Knickerbockes.
> C. Bryant wrote nature-inspired poetry.
> E. A. Poe wrote The Masque of the Red Death, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The
Murders in the Rue Morgue.
> Cooper wrote Leatherstocking Tales about Natty Bumppo which included The Last Mohicans.
> R. W. Emerson formed the movement Transcendentalism.
> H. D. Thoreau’s Walden urged resistance to the meddlesome dictates of organized society.
> A. de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America described his travels.
> H. B. Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin discussed slave’s narrative autobiography.
> N. Hawthorne’s collection of stories called Twice-Told Tales.
5. Early American Poetry
> W. Whitman’s magnum opus Leaves of Grass depicted the all-inclusiveness of American democracy.
> E. Dickinson’s Because I Could not Stop for Death was psychologically penetrating.
> W. Stevens wrote Harmonium and The Auroras of Autumn.
> T. S. Eliot wrote The Waste Land.
> R. Frost wrote North of Boston and New Hampshire.
6. Realism, Twain and James
> Mark Twain’s (Samuel Langhorne Clemen’s pen name) Life on the Mississipi and the novels Adventures of Sawyer
and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn spoke depicted real people and sounded American, using local dialects, newly
invented words and regional accents.
> W. D. Howell’s The Rise of Silas Lapham represented the realist tradition.
> H. James’s novellas Daisy Miller was about an enchanting American girl in Europe and The Turn of the Screw, an
enigmatic story.
> J. Herne’s Margaret Fleming attempted at bringing modern realism into the drama.
7. Beginning of the 20th Century
> E. Hemingway’s Edith Wharton scrutinized the upper-class, Eastern-seaboard society, and The Age of Innocence
centered on a man who chose to marry a conventional woman.
> S. Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage and Maggie: A Girl of the Streets depicted the life of New York city prostitutes.
> T. Dreiser’s Sister Carrie portrayed a life of kept woman.
> E. Bellamy’s Looking Backward outlined political and social frameworks of American society.
> U. Sinclair’s The Jungle advocated socialism.
> H. B. Adam’s autobiography The Education of Henry Adams depicted a stinging description of the education system
and modern life.
> G. Stein’s Three Lives showed her familiarity with cubism, jazz, etc. She was dubbed as one of the Lost Generation.
> T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land embodied a jaundiced vision of post-World War I society.
> K. Gibran’s writings absorbed modernist European influences.
> F. S. Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby told of the youth’s golden dreams to dissolve in failure and disappointment.
> W. Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom!, As I Lay Dying, The Sound of the Fury, and Light in August showed the slave-
holding era of the Deep South.

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8. The Rise of the American Drama
> L. Halllam’s troupe popularized minstrel shows and the adaptations of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
> T. Williams & A. Milles integrated script, music, and dance in Oklahoma! and West Side Story.
9. Depression-era Literature
> J. Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath told the story of the Joads, a poor family from Oklahoma and their journey to
California in search of a better life. His other novels were Tortilla Flat, Of Mice and Men, Cannery Row, and East of
Eden.
> N. West’s Miss Lovely Hearts plumbed the life of its antihero introduced a reluctant advice columnist and The Day of
the Locust which introduced a cast of Hollywood stereotype and explored the ironies of the movies.
> J. Agee’s Let Us Now Praise Famous Men depicted the lives of three struggling tenant-farming in Alabama.
> H. Miller’s Tropic of Cancer and Black Spring were banned because of obscenity but had major influence on
succeeding generations of American writers.
10. Post-World War II
> H. Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird depicted the more realistic modernists along with the wildly romantic beatniks.
> S. Bellow’s The Adventures of Augie March and Herzog painted vivid portraits of the American society.
> J. D. Salinger’s Nine Stories and The Catcher in the Rye perceived madness of the State of affairs in America.
> A. Ginsberg’s Howl set the tone of the movement.
> J. Kerouac’s On the Road was a chronicle of a soul-searching travel through the continent.
> W. S. Burrough’s Naked Lunch showed his travels and experiments with hard drugs.
> J. Updike’s Rabbit Run discussed the taboo topics such as adultery.
> R. Ellison’s Invisible Man told the story of a black Underground Man who experienced racial tension.
> R. Wright’s The Man Who Was Almost a Man and Native Son depicted his childhood and autodidactic education.
> W. Gaddis’ The Recognition portrayed forgery, capitalism, religious zealotry, etc.
> J. Hawkes’ The Lime Twig addressed the themes of violence and eroticism.
11. Short Fiction Poetry
> F. O’ Connor’s short stories A Good Man is Hard to Find and Everything That Rises Must Converge and her novels
Wise Blood and The Violent Bear It Away focused on the search of truth and religious scepticism.
> J. Ashbery wrote Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror, E. Bishop’s North and South, and Geography III, R. wilbur’s Things of
this World, J. Berryman’s The Dream Songs, A.R. Ammon’s collected poems, Roethke’s The Wakings, J. Merills’s The
Changing Light at Sandover, L. Gluckfor’s The Wild Iris, W.S. Merwin’s Carrier of Ladders.
12. Contemporary American Literature
> T. Pynchon’s Gravity Rainbow showed the most salient literary movement of postmodernism. His other works were
The Crying of Lot, V., Mason and Dixon, and Against the Day.
> T. Marrison’s The Bluest Eye had an elaborated description of incestuous rape and explored the conventions of
beauty. He experimented in his works Song of Solomon and Beloved.
> C. McCarthy’s The Orchard Keeper, Suttree, Blood Meridian, All the Pretty Houses, and The Road achieved both
commercial and critical success, several of his works having adapted to film.
> D. Delillo’s White Noise tackled the subjects of death and consumerism. His Underworld chronicled American life. His
other important novels were Libra, Mao II, and Falling Man.
> D.F. Wallace’s The Broom of the System and Infinite Jest showed futuristic portrait of America.
> P. King authored the short stories Girl with Curious Hair, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and Oblivion: Stories.
> J. Franzen’s The Twenty-Seventh City centered about his native place St. Louis, and The Corrections was about
disintegrating Lambert family.
> M. Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay told a story of two friends as they rose the ranks of the
comics industry in its heyday.
> D. Johnson’s Tree of Smoke was about the falsified intelligence during Vietnam.
> L. Erdrich’s The Plague of Doves was about the tribal experience set against the backdrops of murder and The Round
House which was built on the same theme.
13. Minority Literature
> M. H. Kingston wrote fictioned memoir The Woman Warrior, her novel China Men and Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake
Book.
> H. Jin’s Waiting was about a Chinese soldier who waited 18 years to divorce his wife for another woman and worried
about persecution and protracted affair.
> J. Lahiri’s first collection of short stories Interpreter of Maladies and second collection of short stories Unaccented
Earth.
> A. Tan’s The Joy Luck Club traced the lines of four immigrants families brought together by the game Mahjong.
> C. R. Lee wrote Native Speaker, A Gesture Life and Aloft.
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 > S, S. Far, T. Mori, C. Bulosan, J. Okada, H. Yamamoto became prominent.
>S. Cisneros’ The House of Mango Street was taught in schools across the United States.
> J. Diaz’ The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao told the story of an overweight Dominican boy growing up as a social
outcast.
> J. Alvarez wrote How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of the Butteflies, O. Hijuelos’ The Mambo
Kings Play Songs of Love, C. Garcia’s Dreaming in Cuban, N.S. Momaday’s House made of Dawn, L.M. Silko’s
Ceremony, G. Vizenor’s Bearheart: The heiship Chronicles, L. Erdrich’s Love Medicine.

Philippine Literature

Philippine literature is the literature associated with the Philippines and includes the legends of prehistory, and the
colonial legacy of the Philippines. Most of the notable literature of the Philippines was written during the Spanish period and the
first half of the 20th century in Spanish language. Philippine literature is written in Spanish, English, Tagalog, or other
native Philippine languages.

1. Early works
>Doctrina Christiana, Manila, 1593, is the first book printed in the Philippines.
>Tomas Pinpin wrote and printed in 1610 Librong Pagaaralan nang mga Tagalog nang Uicang Castilla, 119 pages
designed to help fellow Filipinos to learn the Spanish language in a simple way. He is also with the first news publication
made in the Philippines, "Successos Felices".
2. Classical literature in Spanish during the 19th Century
On December 1, 1846, the first daily newspaper, La Esperanza, was published in the country. Other early newspapers
were La Estrella (1847), Diario de Manila(1848) and Boletin Oficial de Filipinas (1852). The first provincial newspaper was El Eco
de Vigan (1884), which was issued in Ilocos. In Cebu City "El Boletín de Cebú" (The Bulletin of Cebu), was published in 1890.
On 1863, the Spanish government introduced a system of free public education that increased the population's ability to
read Spanish and thereby furthered the rise of an educated class called the Ilustrado (meaning, well-informed). Spanish became
the social language of urban places and the true lingua franca of the archipelago. A good number of Spanish newspapers were
published until the end of the 1940s, the most influential of them being El Renacimiento, printed in Manila by members of the
Guerrero de Ermita family.
Some members of the ilustrado group, while in Spain, decided to start a Spanish publication with the aim of promoting
the autonomy and independence projects. Members of this group included Pedro Alejandro Paterno, who wrote the
novel Nínay (first novel written by a Filipino) ((cn)) and the Philippine national hero, José Rizal, who wrote excellent poetry and
two famous novels in Spanish: Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not), and El Filibusterismo.
Especially potent was La Solidaridad, more fondly called La Sol by the members of the propaganda movement, founded
[citation needed]
in 15 February 1885. With the help of this paper, Filipino national heroes like José Rizal, Graciano Lopez Jaena,
and Marcelo H. del Pilar were able to voice out their sentiments.
3. Poetry and metrical romances
>Ladino Poems – Were natives of first Tagalog versifiers who saw print: highly literate in both Spanish and the
vernacular.
>Corridos – Were widely read during the Spanish period that filled the populace's need for entertainment as well as
edifying reading matter in their leisure moments.
>Awit – like corridos, these were also widely read during the Spanish period as entertaining, edifying, reading manner in
their leisure time. It is also a fabrication of the writers imagination although the characters and the setting may
be European. The structure is rendered dodecasyllabic quatrains.
a. Prose
The prose works of the Spanish Period consisted mostly of didactic pieces and translations of religious writings in foreign
languages.
1. Religious drama
a. The Panunuluyan– Literally, seeking entrance, the Tagalog version of the Mexican Las Posadas. Held on the eve
of Christmas, it dramatizes Joseph's andMary's search for Bethlehem.
b. Cenaculo – Was the dramatization of the passion and death of Jesus Christ.
c. Salubong – An Easter play that dramatizes the meeting of the Risen Christ and His Mother.
d. Moriones – Refers to the participants dressed roman soldiers, their identities hidden behind colorful, sometimes
grotesque, wooden masks.

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 e. The Santacruzan – Performed during the month of May which have the devotion for the Holy Cross. It depicts St.
Elena's search for the cross on which Christ died.
f. Pangangaluwa – An interesting socio-religious practice on All Saint's Day which literally means for The Soul.

2. Secular dramas
These were generally held during the nine nights of vigil and prayers after someone's death, on the first death
anniversary when the family members put away their mourning clothes.
a. The Karagatan – comes from the legendary practice of testing the mettle of young men vying for a maiden's hand. The
maiden's ring would be dropped into sea and whoever retrieves it would have the girl's hand in marriage.
b. The Duplo – A forerunner of the balagtasan. The performances consist of two teams; One composed of young women
called Dupleras or Belyakas; and the other, of young men called Dupleros or Belyakos.
c. The Comedia – It is about a courtly love between, a prince and a princess of different religions. It is about a Christian-
Muslim relationship
4. Modern literature (20th and 21st century)
The greatest portion of Spanish literature was written during the American period, most often as an expression of pro-
Hispanic nationalism, by those who had been educated in Spanish or had lived in the Spanish-speaking society of the big cities,
and whose principles entered in conflict with the American cultural trends. Such period of Spanish literary production—i.e.,
between the independence of Spain in 1898 and well ahead into the decade of the 1940s—is known as Edad de Oro del
Castellano en Filipinas. Some prominent writers of this era were Wenceslao Retana and Claro Mayo Recto, both in drama and
essay; Antonio M. Abad and Guillermo Gomez Wyndham, in the narrative; Fernando María Guerrero and Manuel Bernabé, both in
poetry. The predominant literary style was the so-called "Modernismo", a mixture of elements from the
French Parnassien and Symboliste schools, as promoted by some Latin American and Peninsular Spanish writers (e.g. the
Nicaraguan Rubén Darío, the Mexican Amado Nervo, the Spaniard Francisco Villaespesa, and the Peruvian José Santos
Chocano as major models).

5. Notable Philippine literary authors

Estrella Alfon, Francisco Arcellana, Carlos Bulosan, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, Linda Ty Casper, Gilda Cordero-
Fernando, N. V. M. Gonzalez, Nick Joaquin, F. Sionil José, Ambeth R. Ocampo, Alejandro R. Roces, Bienvenido Santos,
Edilberto K. Tiempo, Kerima Polotan Tuvera, José Rizal, Francisco Balagtas, Zoilo Galang, Lualhati Bautista, Genoveva Edroza-
Matute, Nicanor Abelardo, Kris Astudillo

AFRO-ASIAN LITERATURE
A. INDIA
1. Literary Periods. The Indus civilization flourished in northern India between 2500 and 1500 B.C. Te Aryans, a group of nomadic
warriors and herders were the earliest known migrants into India. They brought with them a well- developed language and
literature and a set of religious beliefs.
a) Vedic Period (1500 B.C. -500 B.C.). This period is named for the Vedas, a set of hymns that formed the cornerstone of
Aryan culture. Hindus consider the Vedas, which were transmitted orally by priests, to be the most sacred of all literature for they
believe these to have been revealed to humans directly by the gods.
b) Epic and Buddhist Age (500 B.C. –A.D.). The period of composition two great epics, Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
This time was also the growth of later Vedic literature, new Sanskrit literature, and the Buddhist literature in Pali.
c) Classical Period (A.D. -1000 A.D.). The main literary language of northern India during this period was Sanskrit, in
contrast with the Dravidian languages of southern India. Sanskrit, which means „perfect speech‟, is considered a sacred language
spoken by the gods and goddesses.
d) Medieval and Modern Age (A.D. 1000 – present). Persian influences on literature were considerable this period. Persian
was the court language of the Moslem rulers. In the 18th century India was directly under the British Crown and remained so until
its Independence in1947.

2. Religions. Indian creativity is evident in religion as the country is the Birthplace of two important faiths: Hinduism, the dominant
religion, and Buddhism, which ironically became extinct in India but spread throughout Asia.
1. Hinduism, literally “the belief of the people of India”, is the predominant faith of India and of no other nation.
The Hindus are deeply absorbed with God and the creation of the universe.
The Purusarthas are the three ends of man: dharma – virtue. Duty, righteousness, moral law; artha- wealth; and karma-
love or pleasure. A fourth end is moksha- the renunciation of duty, wealth and love in order to seek spiritual perfection. It is
achieved after the release from samasara, the cycle of births and

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deaths.
2. Buddhism originated in India in the 6th century B.C. This religion is based on the teachings of Siddharta Gautama called
Buddha, or the „Enlightened One‟. Much of Buddha‟s teaching is focused on self-awareness and self development in order to
attain nirvana or enlightenment.
The Buddhist scriptures uphold the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Four Noble Truths are: 1) life is suffering; 2) the cause of suffering is desire; 3) the removal of desire of suffering;
and the Noble Eightfold Paths leads to the end of suffering.
The Noble Eightfold Paths consist of: 1) right understanding; 2) right thought; 3) right speech; 4) right action; 5) right
means of livelihood; 6) right effort; 7) right consideration; 8) right meditation.
3. Religious and Philosophical Works.
The Vedas form a collection of sacred among hymn or verse composed in archaic Sanskrit the Indo-European speaking
people who entered India from the Iranian regions.
The Dhammapada (Way of Truth) is an anthology of basic Buddhist teaching in a simple aphoristic style. One of the best
known books of the Pali Buddhist canon it contains 423 stanzas arranged in 26 chapters.
The Upanishads form a highly sophisticated commentary on the religious thought suggested by the poetic hymns of the
Rigveda. The name implies, according to same traditions, „sitting at the feet of the teacher.‟
4. Epics. The two major Indian epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, are the literary embodiments of Hinduism.
The Mahabharata is longer and more importan, but the Ramayana seems to be more interesting for modern audience.
The Mahabharata consists of a mass of legendary and didactic material that tells of the struggle for supremacy between
two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas. The traditional date for the war is 3102 B.C. The poem is made up of the
almost 100,000 couplets divided into 18 parvans or sections. Authorship is traditionally ascribed to the sage Vsaya, although it is
more likely that he compiled existing material.
The Bhagavad Gita (The blessed Lord‟s Song) is one of the greatest and most beautiful of the Hindu scriptures. It is
regarded by the Hindus in somewhat the same way as the Gospels are by Christians.
The Ramayana was composed in Sanskrit, probably not before 300 B.C., by the poet Valmiki, and consists of some
24,000 couplets divided into seven books. It reflects the Hindu values and forms of social organization, the theory of karma, the
ideas of wifehood, and feelings about caste, honor and promises.
5. Literary Selections.
The Panchatantra is a collection of Indian beast fables originally written in Sanskrit.
Sakuntala is a Sanskrit drama by Kalidasa. Love is the central emotion that binds the characters Sakuntala and king
Dushyanta.
The little Clay Cart (Mrcchakatika) is attributed to Shudraka, a king. The characters in this play include a Brahman
merchant who has lost his money through liberality, a rich courtesan in love with a poor young man, much description of
resplendent palaces, and both comic and tragic or near-tragic emotional situations
Gitanjali: by Rabindranath Tagore
The Taj Mahal a poem by Sahir Ludhianvi is about the mausoleum in North India built by the mogul emperor
Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz-i-Mahal.
On learning to be an Indian an essay by Santha Rama Rau illustrates the telling effects of colonization on the lives of the
people particularly the younger generation.
6. Major Writers.
Kalidasa a Sanskrit poet and dramatist is probably the greatest Indian writer of all time. Rabindranath Tagore (1861-
1941) The son of a Great Sage, Tagore is a Bengali poet and mystic who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913.
Kamala Markandaya (1924). Her works concern the struggles of contemporary Indians with conflicting Eastern and
Western values. Nectar in a Sieve. Her first novel and most popular work is about an Indian peasant’s narrative of her difficult life.
R.K. Narayan (1906). One of the finest Indian authors of his generation writing in English.
Anita Desai (1937). An English-language Indian novelist and author of children’s books, she is considered India’s
premier imagist writer. Clear Light of Day is her landmark work.
B. Japanese Literature
Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often
written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan. Eventually,
Japanese literature developed into a separate style in its own right as Japanese writers began writing their own works about
Japan, although the influence of Chinese literature and Classical Chinese remained until the end of the Edo period. Since Japan
th
reopened its ports to Western trading and diplomacy in the 19 century, Western and Eastern literature have strongly affected
each other and continue to do so.
1. Classical literature (794–1185)

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 Murasaki Shikibu’s Genji Monogatari is considered the pre-eminent masterpiece of Heian fiction and an early example of
a work of fiction in the form of a novel. Kokin Wakashū (905) wrote, a waka-poetry anthology, and Makura no Sōshi (990s), the
latter written by Murasaki Shikibu’s contemporary and rival, Sei Shōnagon, as an essay about the life, loves, and pastimes of
nobles in the Emperor’s court. The iroha poemw was also developed during the early part of this period.
Taketori Monogatari was an example of proto-science fiction. The protagonist of the story, Kaguya-hime, is a princess
from the Moon who is sent to Earth for safety during a celestial war, and is found and raised by a bamboo cutter. She is later
taken back to her extraterrestrial family in an illustrated depiction of a disc-shaped flying object similar to a flying saucer.
Konjaku Monogatarishū was a collection of over a thousand stories in 31 volumes. The volumes cover various tales from
India, China and Japan.
2. Medieval literature (1185–1603)
The Tale of the Heike (1371) was an epic account of the struggle between the Minamotoand Taira clans for control of
Japan. Other important tales of the period include Kamo no Chōmei’s Hōjōki (1212) and Yoshida Kenkō’s Tsurezuregusa (1331).
Other notable genres in this period were renga, or linked verse, and Noh 11avoure.
3. Early-modern literature (1603–1868)
The jōruri and kabuki dramatist Chikamatsu Monzaemon is known as the Japan’s Shakespeare. Matsuo
Bashō wrote Oku no Hosomichi (1702), a travel diary. Hokusai was the most famous woodblock print artist, and illustrated his
famous 36 Views of Mount Fuji. Jippensha Ikku is also known as Japan’s Mark Twain.
Ihara Saikaku gave birth to the modern consciousness of the novel and mixed vernacular dialogue into his cautionary
tales. Jippensha Ikku wrote Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige, which is a mix of travelogue and comedy. Tsuga Teisho, Takebe Ayatari, and
Okajima Kanzan were instrumental in developing the yomihon, which were historical romances almost entirely in prose, influenced
by Chinese vernacular novels such as Three Kingdoms and Shui hu zhuan. Twoyomihon masterpieces were written by Ueda
Akinari: Ugetsu monogatari and Harusame monogatari wrote the extremely popular fantasy/historical romance Nansō Satomi
Hakkenden in addition to other yomihon.Santō Kyōden wrote yomihon mostly set in the gay quarters until the Kansei edicts
banned such works, and he turned to comedic kibyōshi.
4. Modern literature (1868–1945)
A new colloquial literature developed centering on the “I novel”, with some unusual protagonists such as the cat narrator
of Natsume Sōseki’s Wagahai wa neko de aru (I Am a Cat), Botchan and Kokoro (1914). Shiga Naoya, the so-called “god of the
novel”, and Mori Ōgai were instrumental in adopting and adapting Western literary conventions and techniques. Ryūnosuke
Akutagawa is known especially for his historical short stories. Ozaki Kōyō, Kyōka Izumi, and Ichiyo Higuchi represent a strain of
writers whose style hearkens back to early-Modern Japanese literature.
In the early Meiji period (1868–1880s), Fukuzawa Yukichi authored Enlightenment literature, while pre-modern popular
books depicted the quickly changing country. Then Realism was brought in by Tsubouchi Shōyō and Futabatei Shimei in the mid-
Meiji (late 1880s–early 1890s) while the Classicism of Ozaki Kōyō, Yamada Bimyo and Kōda Rohan gained popularity. Ichiyō
Higuchi wrote short stories on powerless women of this age. Kyōka Izumi, a 11avoured disciple of Ozaki, pursued a flowing and
elegant style and wrote early novels such as The Operating Room (1895) in literary style and later ones including The Holy Man of
Mount Koya (1900) in colloquial.
Romanticism was brought in by Mori Ōgai with his anthology of translated poems (1889) and carried to its height
by Tōson Shimazaki etc. and magazines Myōjōand Bungaku-kai in early 1900s. Mori also wrote some modern novels
including The Dancing Girl (1890), Wild Geese (1911), then, later wrote historical novels. Natsume Sōseki, who is often compared
with Mori Ōgai, wrote I Am a Cat (1905) with humor and satire, then depicted fresh and pure youth in Botchan (1906)
and Sanshirô (1908). He eventually pursued transcendence of human emotions and egoism in his later works
including Kokoro (1914) his last and unfinished novelLight and darkness (1916).
Shimazaki shifted from Romanticism to Naturalism which was established with his The Broken Commandment (1906)
and Katai Tayama’s Futon (1907). Naturalism hatched “I Novel” (Watakushi-shôsetu) that describes about the authors themselves
and depicts their own mental states. Neo-romanticism came out of anti-naturalism and was led by Kafū Nagai, Jun’ichirō
Tanizaki, Kōtarō Takamura, Hakushū Kitahara and so on in the early 1910s. Saneatsu Mushanokōji, Naoya Shiga and others
founded a magazine Shirakaba in 1910. They shared a common characteristic, Humanism. Shiga’s style was autobiographical
and depicted states of his mind and sometimes classified as “I Novel” in this sense. Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, who was highly
praised by Soseki, wrote short stories including Rashōmon(1915) with an intellectual and analytic attitude, and represented Neo-
realism in the mid-1910s.
During the 1920s and early 1930s the proletarian literary movement, comprising such writers as Takiji Kobayashi, Denji
Kuroshima, Yuriko Miyamoto, and Ineko Sata produced a politically radical literature.

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 Jun’ichirō Tanizaki was Japan’s first winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Yasunari Kawabata was considered a
master of psychological fiction. Ashihei Hino wrote lyrical bestsellers glorifying the war, while Tatsuzō Ishikawa attempted to
publish a disturbingly realistic account of the advance on Nanjing.

5. Post-war literature
Osamu Dazai’s novel The Setting Sun told of a soldier returning from Manchukuo. Shōhei Ōoka won the Yomiuri
Prize for his novel Fires on the Plain about a Japanese deserter going mad in the Philippine jungle. Yukio Mishima, well known for
both his nihilistic writing and his controversial suicide by seppuku, began writing in the post-war period. Nobuo Kojima’s short story
“The American School” portrays a group of Japanese teachers of English who, in the immediate aftermath of the war, dealt with
the American occupation in varying ways.
Kenzaburō Ōe wrote his best-known work, A Personal Matter in 1964 and became Japan’s second winner of the Nobel
Prize for Literature. Kōbō Abe’s Woman in the Dunes (1960) showed the Japanese experience in modern terms without using
either international styles or traditional conventions. Shizuko Todo’s Ripening Summer captured the complex psychology of
modern women. Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood (1987) and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994–1995) portrayed genre-
defying, humorous and surreal works. Banana Yoshimoto’s Kitchen about love, friendship, and loss showed “manga-esque” style
of writing. Manga (comic books) have penetrated almost every sector of the popular market.

C. Chinese Literature

Chinese literature reflects the political and social history of China and the impact of powerful religions that came from
within and outside the country. Its tradition goes back thousands of years and has often been inspired by philosophical questions
about the meaning of life, how to live ethically in society, and how to live in spiritual harmony with the natural order of the universe.
Shang Dynasty (1600 B.C.). People practiced a religion based on the belief that nature was inhabited by many powerful
gods and spirits. Among the significant advances of this period were bronze working, decimal system, a twelve-month calendar
and a system of writing consisting 3,000 characters.
Chou Dynasty (1100 B.C. – 221 B.C.). The longest of all dynasties and throughout most of this period China suffered
from severe political disunity and upheaval. This era was also known as the Hundred Schools period because of the many
competing philosophers and teachers. Among the most influential include Lao Tzu, the proponent of Taoism, and Confucius, the
founder of Confucianism.
Ch‟in Dynasty (221 B.C. – 207 B.C.). This is where China saw unification and the strengthening of central government.
Roads connecting all parts of the empire were built and the existing walls on the northern borders were connected to form the
Great Wall of China.
Han Dynasty (207 B.C. – A.D. 220) One of the most glorious eras of Chinese history. This period was marked by the
introduction of Buddhism from India.
T‟ang Dynasty (A.D. 618 – 960) The Golden Age of Chinese civilization. Fine arts and literature flourished in this period.
Among the technological advances of this time were the invention of gun powder and the block printing.
Sung Dynasty (A.D. 960 – 1279). This period was characterized by delicacy and refinement although inferior in literary
arts but great in learning. The practice of Neo-Confucianism proliferated.
1. Philosophy and Religion
Chinese literature and all of Chinese culture has been profoundly influenced by three great schools of thought:
Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Chinese religions are based on the perception of life as a process of continual change in
which opposing forces, such as heaven and earth or light and dark, balance one another. These opposites are symbolized by the
Yin and Yang. Yin, the passive and feminine force, counterbalances Yang, the active and masculine force, each contains a „seed‟
of the other, as represented in the traditional yin-yang symbol.
Confucianism provides the Chinese with both a moral order and an order for the universe. It is not a religion but it makes
individuals aware of their place in the world and the 12ehaviour appropriate to it. It also provides a political and social philosophy.
Confucian ethics is humanist. The following are Confucian tenets:
>jen or human heartedness are qualities or forms of 12ehaviour that set men above the rest of the lie on earth. Also
known as ren, it is the measure of individual character and such, is the goal of self- cultivation.
>li refers to ritual, custom, propriety, and manner. A person of li is a good person.
Taoism was illustrated by Lao Tzu during the Chou Dynasty. Taoist beliefs and influences are an important part of
classical Chinese culture. The “Tao” or “The Way” means the natural course that the world follows. To follow the “Tao” or to go
with the flow is both wisdom and happiness. For the Taoist, unhappiness comes from parting from the “Tao” or from trying to flout
it.
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 Buddhism was imported from India during the Han dynasty. Buddhist thought stresses the importance of ridding oneself
of earthly desires and of seeking ultimate peace and enlightenment through detachment. With its stress on living ethically and its
emphasis on material concerns, Buddhism appealed to both Confucians and Taoists.
2. Philosophical Works
The Analects (Lun Yu) is one of the four Confucian texts. The sayings range from brief statements to more extended
dialogues between Confucius and his students. The Analects instructs on moderation in all things through moral education, the
building of a harmonious family life and the development of virtues such as loyalty, obedience and a sense of justice.
The Tao-Te Ching (Classic of the Way of Power) is believed to have been written between the 8th and 3rd centuries B.C.
It presents a way of life intended to restore harmony and tranquillity to a kingdom racked by widespread disorders.
Chuang Tzu is the philosophical work of Lao Tzu‟s most important disciple, Chuan Tzu. Written in a witty, imaginative
style, this book consists of fables and anecdotes that teach the Taoist philosophy and questioned the principles of Confucianism.
3. Literary Selections
th
The Book of Songs (Shih Ching), compiled around the 6 century B.C. is the oldest collection of Chinese poetry. This
collection consists of 305 poems, many of which were originally folk songs, focusing on such themes as farming, love, and war.
The Book of Changes (I Ching) is one of the Five Classics of Confucian philosophy and has been primarily used for
divination.
Record of a Journey to the West is the foremost Chinese comic novel written about 1500-82 by the long- anonymous Wu
Chengen. The novel is based on the actual 7thcentury pilgrimage of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang (602-664) to India in search of
sacred texts.
Dream of the Red Chamber is a novel by Cao Zhan thought to be semiautobiographical and generally considered to be
the greatest of all Chinese novels.
The Injustice Done to Tou Ngo a play by Guan Han-Cheng, a Yuan dramatist, tells the story of the poisoning of Old
Chang by his own son but the conviction of Tou Ngo

4. Major Writers
Taoist Writers:
th
Chuang Tzu (4 century B.C.) was the most important early interpreter of the philosophy of Taoism. In his stories, he
appears as a quirky character who careslittle for either public approval or material possessions.
Lieh Tzu (4th century B.C.) was a Taoist teacher who had many philosophical differences with his forebears Lao-Tzu and
Chuan Tzu. He argued that the sequence of causes predetermines everything that happens, including one‟s choice of action.
Lui An (172 – 122 B.C.). Taoist scholar, the grandson of the founder of the Han dynasty. His royal title was the Prince of
Haui-nan. Together with philosophers and under his patronage, he produced a collection of essays on metaphysics, cosmology,
politics, and conduct.
Ssu-ma Ch‟ien (145 – 122 B.C.) was the greatest of China‟s grand historians who dedicated himself to
completing the first history of China the Records of the Historian..
Po Chu-I (772 – 846). He wrote many poems speaking bitterly against the social and economic problems that were
plaguing China.
Li Ch‟ing-chao (A.D. 1084 – 1151) is regarded as China‟s greatest woman poet and was also one of the most liberated
women of her day. Many of her poems composed in the tz‟u form celebrate her happy marriage or express her loneliness when
her husband was away.
Chou-Shu-jen (1881 – 1936) has been called the Father of the modern Chinese short story because of his introduction of
Western techniques. He is also known as Lu Hsun whose stories deal with themes of social concern, the problems of the poor,
women and intellectuals.
Mao Tun is the pen name of Shen Yen-ping who is an exponent of revolutionary realism. He is the author of a half-dozen

D. African literature
1. Oral literature
Oral literature (or orature) may be in prose or verse. The prose is often mythological or historical and can include tales of
the trickster character. Storytellers in Africa sometimes use call-and-response techniques to tell their stories. Poetry, often sung,
includes: narrative epic, occupational verse, ritual verse, praise poems to rulers and other prominent people. Praise singers, bards
sometimes known as "griots", tell their stories with music.
2. Pre-colonial literature
Examples of pre-colonial oral literature of west Africa includes the "Epic of Sundiata" composed in medieval Mali, and
the older "Epic of Dinga" from the old Ghana Empire. In Ethiopia, there is a substantial literature written in Ge'ez going back at
least to the 4th century AD; the best-known work in this tradition is the Kebra Negast, or "Book of Kings." One popular form of
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traditional African folktale is the "trickster" story, where a small animal uses its wits to survive encounters with larger creatures.
Examples of animal tricksters include Anansi, a spider in the folklore of the Ashanti people of Ghana; Ijàpá,
[5]
a tortoisein Yoruba folklore of Nigeria; and Sungura, a hare found in central and East African folklore. Other works in written
form are abundant, namely in north Africa, theSahel regions of west Africa and on the Swahili coast. From Timbuktu alone, there
[6]
are an estimated 300,000 or more manuscripts tucked away in various libraries and private collections, mostly written
in Arabic but some in the native languages (namely Fula and Songhai). Many were written at the famous University of
Timbuktu. Swahili literature similarly, draws inspiration from Islamic teachings but developed under indigenous circumstances.
One of the most renowned and earliest pieces of Swahili literature being Utendi wa Tambuka or "The Story of Tambuka".
3. Colonial African literature
The African works best known in the West from the period of colonization and the slave trade are primarily slave
narratives, such as Olaudah Equiano's The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789).

In the colonial period, Africans exposed to Western languages began to write in those tongues. In 1911, Joseph Ephraim
Casely Hayford (also known as Ekra-Agiman) of the Gold Coast (now Ghana) published what is probably the first African novel
written in English, Ethiopia Unbound: Studies in Race Emancipation. Although the work moves between fiction and political
advocacy, its publication and positive reviews in the Western press mark a watershed moment in African literature.
During this period, African plays began to emerge. Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo of South Africa published the first
English-language African play, The Girl Who Killed to Save: Nongqawuse the Liberator in 1935. In 1962, Ngũgĩ wa
Thiong'o of Kenya wrote the first East African drama, The Black Hermit, a cautionary tale about "tribalism" (racism between
African tribes).
African literature in the late colonial period (between the end of World War I and independence) increasingly showed
themes of liberation, independence, and (among Africans in French-controlled territories) négritude. One of the leaders of the
négritude movement, the poet and eventual President of Senegal, Léopold Sédar Senghor, published in 1948 the first anthology
of French-language poetry written by Africans, Anthologie de la nouvelle poésie nègre et malgache de langue
française (Anthology of the New Black and Malagasy Poetry in the French Language), featuring a preface by the
French existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre.
4. Colonial African literature
African writers in this period wrote both in Western languages (notably English, French, and Portuguese) and in
traditional African languages such as Hausa.
In 1986, Wole Soyinka became the first post-independence African writer to win the Nobel Prize in literature. Algerian-
born Albert Camus had been awarded the 1957 prize. During this period to the moment African literature has become powerful
compared to pre colonial Africa.
5. Colonial African literature
The Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, begun in 1980, is presented for the outstanding work of the year in African
literatures.

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