AFRO-ASIAN LITERATURE

SHEILA MARIE O. DAVID, MA-ELLT

“…to laugh, to look in a mirror, to taste tomorrow’s

dreams, to dust off history.” –Nem Singh (2011)
 “La Belle Dame sans Merci”

How do you measure the greatness of a magnum opus?

PART 1: INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE

Literature is a word derived from the Latin word litera which
means letter. It is defined as a piece of printed work related
to the ideas and feelings of the people, that may be true or
just a product of the writer’s imagination. It is divided into
two large groups: prose and poetry.

-SAYMO, ET AL.
 LITERATURE
What is the importance of studying literature? (Cerda, et al., 2013)
o Literature helps us grow both personally and intellectually.
o Literature links us with the world of which we are a part of.
o Literature enables us to transcend our immediate time, place, and
culture and to make connections with other human beings and their
concerns.
o Literature encourages us to develop mature empathy with all forms
of life—human, animal, and plant.
o Literature sharpens our sense of moral judgment.
 LITERATURE

o Literature stimulates our imagination and ingenuity.

o Literature shows the significance of irony, paradox, oxymoron,
and ambivalence.
o Literature allows us to see the world in different vantage points.
o Literature relives history.
o Literature reminds us that we are human beings.
 Artistry
Intellectual Value
Suggestiveness
Spiritual Value
Permanence
Universality
Style

7 LITERARY STANDARDS
 LITERATURE

PROSE
It is defined as a spoken or
written language without
metrical regularity.
POETRY
It is the imaginative
expression of emotion,
thought, or narrative, frequently
in metrical form and often
using figurative language.
 4 GENRES OF LITERATURE
PROSE FICTION presents a
story that is invented and not
literally “true.”
POETRY is a piece of art
written by a poet in meter or
verse expressing various emotions
which are expressed by the use of
variety of techniques including
metaphors, similes and
onomatopoeia.
DRAMA comes from the
Greek word “dran” which
means “to do” or “to act.” It is
a story acted out.
NONFICTION PROSE
presents factual information or
expresses a viewpoint.
 A. PROSE FICTION

Myth Fairy Tale

Legend Short Story
Parable Novel
Fable Novella
 PROSE FICTION

Myth Legend
-is often a story of origins, -comes from the Latin
how the world and adjective “legenda.”
everything in it came to be. -It refers to unverified story
handed down from earlier
times, especially one
popularly believed to be
historical.
 PROSE FICTION

Parable Fable
-is a simple story -is a usually short narrative
illustrating a moral or making an edifying or
religious lesson. cautionary point and often
employing animals as
characters that speak and
act like humans.
 PROSE FICTION
Fairy Tale
-is a kind of folktale or
fable.
-Marvelous and magical
things happen to characters
in fairy tales.
-Objects too can be
enchanted.
Short Story
-is a piece of prose fiction marked
by relative shortness and density,
organized into a plot and with
some kind of denouement at the
end.
-The plot may be comic, tragic,
romantic, or satiric.
-It may be written in the mode of
fantasy, realism or naturalism.
 PROSE FICTION
Novel
-is a fictional prose
narrative of considerable
length, typically having a
plot that is unfolded by the
actions, speech, and
thoughts of numerous
characters placed in a
number of different
situations.
Novella
-is a fictional prose
narrative that is longer than
a short story, but shorter
than a novel.
-It is a form in its own
right.
B. POETRY
Lyric
Narrative
Dramatic
 LYRIC POETRY

Lyric Poetry Examples:

-is a comparatively short, Haiku
non-narrative poem in which Ode
a single speaker presents a Elegy
state of mind or an
Sonnet
emotional state.
-It retains some of the
elements of song which is
said to be its origin.
 EXAMPLES OF LYRIC POETRY

Haiku—A short Japanese poem consisting of 17 syllables

arranged in three lines
Ode—A serious lyric poetry which commemorates
important public events. It consists of stanzas with the
same pattern of rhythm and rhyme.
Elegy—A common lyric that deals with life and death. It
mourns the death of a loved one.
Sonnet—A love poem which mostly consists of 14 lines
and has a certain pattern of rhyme and rhythm
 NARRATIVE POETRY

Narrative Poetry Classifications:

-gives a verbal representation, in Ballad
verse, of a sequence of Metrical Romance
connected events. Epic
-propels characters through a
plot.
-is always told by a narrator.
-may tell a love story, the story
of a father and son, or the deeds
of a hero or heroine.
 NARRATIVE POETRY
Ballad is a song, originally
transmitted orally, which tells a
story.
-It is an important form of folk
poetry which was adapted for
literary uses from the sixteenth
century onwards.
-The ballad stanza is usually a
four-line stanza, alternating
tetrameter and trimeter.
Metrical Romance is a poem
which tells a story that ends
happily, whether love is involved
or not.
-It represents a chivalric theme or
relates improbable adventures of
idealized characters in some
remote or enchanted setting.
 NARRATIVE POETRY

-Epic is an extended narrative poem that operates

in a large scale, both in length and topic.
-It uses an elevated or dignified language,
celebrating the feats of a legendary hero with the
intervention of supernatural beings.
 DRAMATIC POETRY

-Dramatic Poetry like narrative poetry, tells stories.

But in dramatic poetry, the poet lets one or more of the
story’s characters act out the story.
-Many plays are written as dramatic poetry. The difference
between drama and dramatic poetry is a matter of degree. If
the dialogue of a play rhymes, has repeating rhythms, or
features of other distinct poetic elements, the play is
considered to be dramatic poetry.
 DRAMATIC POETRY
Dramatic Monologue is a combination
of the words dramatic and monologue.
-The “dramatic” says that it could be
acted out, and is a form of drama,
while the “monologue” defines it as a
speech that one person makes, either
to himself or to another.
-It is written to reveal both the
situation at hand and the character
himself.
Soliloquy is a long speech in
which a character who is alone
on a stage expresses his or her
private thoughts or feelings.
-It is intended to give the
illusion of unspoken
reflections.
 C. DRAMA

Tragedy Comedy
 Tragicomedy  Satirical Comedy
 Melodrama  The Comedy of Manners
 Romantic Comedy
 Black Comedy
 Farce
 C. DRAMA

Tragedy refers to a drama in which a  Tragicomedy

heroic protagonist meets an  Melodrama
unhappy or calamitous end, brought
about by some fatal flaw of
character, by circumstances outside
his or her control, or simply by
destiny.
 C. DRAMA
Tragicomedy refers to fictional Melodrama is formed by
works that blend aspects of the combining the words “melody”
genres of tragedy and comedy. - (from the Greek “meloidia,”
In English literature from meaning “song”) and “drama”.
Shakespeare’s time to the Thus, in melodrama, music is
nineteenth century, tragicomedy used to increase the spectator’s
refers to a serious play with a emotional response or to suggest
happy ending. character types.
 C. DRAMA
Comedy depicts humorous In “high” comedy, human folly
incidents in which protagonists
are faced with moderate arouses intellectual amusement
difficulties but overcome them as well as engaging the
and the play ends happily. emotions; whereas “low”
-It may involve laughter at a comedy arouses laughter
character who is a fool, a coward, through jokes and clowning
a miser, or zany, or laughter with
the rogue or trickster who upsets that have more appeal to the
the normal social order for a emotions than the intellect.
time.
 C. DRAMA
 Satirical Comedy generally ridicules
human folly and associated political,
social or moral problems.
 The Comedy of Manners, depicts the
romantic intrigues of a sophisticated
upper class, including witty repartee
and humorous social blundering.
 Romantic Comedy involves idealized
romantic love, as in romance.
 Black Comedy induces laughter
as a kind of defense
mechanism when a situation,
dispassionately considered,
would be simply horrifying.
 Farce depends upon ridiculous
situations, exaggerated
character types, coarse humor,
and horseplay for its comic
effects.
 D. NONFICTION PROSE
 Autobiography which comes from the  Diary or Journal is a daily record
Greek words auton, ‘self ’, bios, ‘life’ and of events in a person’s life.
graphein, ‘write’, is a biography written  Editorial is a statement or an
by the person himself or herself. article by a news organization,
 Biography which comes from the Greek newspaper or magazine that
word “bios” meaning “life”, and expresses the opinion of the
“graphein” meaning “write” is a personal editor, editorial board, or
account of a person’s life written by publisher.
another person.  Essay is a brief work of nonfiction
 Character Sketch is an abbreviated that offers an opinion on a subject.
portrayal of a particular characteristic of The purpose of an essay may be to
people. It emphasizes the most striking express ideas and feelings, to
part of a person’s life. analyze, to inform, to entertain, or
to persuade.
“Universality of Literature”

PART 2: AFRO-ASIAN
LITERATURE
 ANCIENT LITERATURE

• All early literatures began with simple word-tunes—

rhythmic sounds that might or might not have
meanings; lullabies of shepherds to help pass the long,
lonely days; religious chants or hymns.
• Later came praises for a hero, a king or chieftain, and
more often than not, the hero was said to have
descended from a god or goddess.
• Then came stories of adventure on land and sea, stories
of love and courage, of dignity and splendor, or of
crime and punishment.
 ANCIENT LITERATURE

• The oldest extant literature are the literary remains of

the Middle Kingdom of Egypt which are written in ink
on papyrus.
• Worthy of note is the religious literature of Babylonia
and Assyria
• Confucius: Spring and Autumn Annals
• 5 Classics of China: the country’s true Great Wall
against barbarism
 ANCIENT LITERATURE

• India: religion and literature/ Mahabharata and

Ramayana
• Golden age of Sanskrit literature: 400 to 800 AD of
works of Arabic learning, the commentaries on the
Koran, collection of Muslim tradition, biographies of
Mohammed, religious and historical literature, science
and medicine