21st Century Literature

from the Philippines and

the World Module 2

Name: _______________________________________

Section: _______________________________________

Prepared by:
Mr. Jayson Nabalatan
Mr. Angelo Dizon
Ms. Ailene Cristine Balingit

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21 Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
 Overview
This module was made to cater your educational needs as a student of the subject, 21st
Century Literature from the Philippines and the World. This work module assures three types of
learning 1. Cognitive, the students will be challenge to think and think because this module
contains activities that will test not what you know but it will test what you understand. 2.
Psychomotor, because the face to face interaction is now limited, this module maximize
activities that you can do in the comfort of your own home but still manage to get or attain the
competency of each lessons; and 3. Affective, as the subject greatly related to our everyday
lives.

This module contains the following

1. Interactive warm-up activities that will get your attention while recalling your past
knowledge and experience related to the topic.
2. Clearly defined terminology with examples.
3. Summarize version of lengthy statements that will activate your ability to make
concepts.
4. Different activities that will help you test your own understandability
5. Integrative ways to learn while considering the multiple intelligences that will help for
further learning.

Furthermore, additional activities via quizzes websites will be given by the teacher in-charge.

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21 Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
 Table of Contents
Title Pages

Lesson 5

A rediscovery of the literary world 4

Lesson 6

European Literature Legacy 16

Lesson 7

Latin American literature evolution 24

Lesson 8

African Literature Struggles 28

References 32

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21 Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
 Lesson 5 A Rediscovery of the Literary World

Lesson Objectives

- Identify representative texts and authors from Asia, North America, Europe,
Latin America, and Africa
- Situate the texts in the context of the region, the nation, and the world.
- Appreciate the cultural and aesthetic diversity of the world literature.

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21 Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
 Travel the world through
literature

There is a lot to be said about the diversity and universality of world literature. The distinct
language and inventiveness of certain literature coming from different continents showcase the lives
and emotions of their people, while offering the world a view of what happens in their society. A good
example is the common themes of diaspora in Asian and African literature, magic realism in Latin
American literature, and societal issues in the classical literature of Europe and North America.

Here is the list of 100 greatest works in literature

Author Title of the piece Brief description

John Bunyan (1678) The Pilgrim’s Progress A story of a man in search of

truth told with the simple
clarity and beauty of Bunyan’s
prose make this the ultimate
English classic.

Daniel Defoe (1719) Robinson Crusoe By the end of the 19th

century, no book in English
literary history had enjoyed
more editions, spin-offs and
translations. Crusoe’s world-
famous novel is a complex
literary confection, and it’s
irresistible.
Jonathan Swift (1726) Gulliver’s Travels A satirical masterpiece that’s
never been out of print,
Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s
Travels comes third in our list
of the best novels written in
English
Samuel Richardson (1748) Clarissa Clarissa is a tragic heroine,
pressured by her
unscrupulous nouveau-riche
family to marry a wealthy
man she detests, in the book
that Samuel Johnson
described as “the first book in
the world for the knowledge it
displays of the human heart.”
Henry Fielding (1749) Tom Jones Tom Jones is a classic English
novel that captures the spirit
of its age and whose famous
characters have come to
represent Augustan society in
all its loquacious, turbulent,
comic variety.
Laurence Sterne (1759) The Life and Opinions of Laurence Sterne’s vivid novel
Tristram Shandy, Gentleman caused delight and
consternation when it first
appeared and has lost little of
its original bite.
Jane Austen (1816) Emma Jane Austen’s Emma is her
masterpiece, mixing the
sparkle of her early books
with a deep sensibility.

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21 Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
Mary Shelley (1818) Frankenstein Mary Shelley’s first novel has
been hailed as a masterpiece
of horror and the macabre.
Thomas Love Peacock (1818) Nightmare Abbey The great pleasure of
Nightmare Abbey, which was
inspired by Thomas Love
Peacock’s friendship with
Shelley, lies in the delight the
author takes in poking fun at
the romantic movement.
Edgar Allan Poe (1838) The Narrative of Arthur Edgar Allan Poe’s only novel –
Gordon Pym of Nantucket a classic adventure story with
supernatural elements – has
fascinated and influenced
generations of writers.
Benjamin Disraeli (1845) Sybil The future prime minister
displayed flashes of brilliance
that equaled the greatest
Victorian novelists.
Charlotte Brontë (1847) Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë’s erotic,
gothic masterpiece became
the sensation of Victorian
England. Its great
breakthrough was its intimate
dialogue with the reader.
Emily Brontë (1847) Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë’s windswept
masterpiece is notable not
just for its wild beauty but for
its daring reinvention of the
novel form itself.
William Thackeray (1848) Vanity Fair William Thackeray’s
masterpiece, set in Regency
England, is a bravura
performance by a writer at
the top of his game.
Charles Dickens (1850) David Copperfield David Copperfield marked the
point at which Dickens
became the great entertainer
and also laid the foundations
for his later, darker
masterpieces
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850) The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne’s
astounding book is full of
intense symbolism and as
haunting as anything by Edgar
Allan Poe
Herman Melville (1851) Moby-Dick Wise, funny and gripping,
Melville’s epic work continues
to cast a long shadow over
American literature.
Lewis Carroll (1865) . Alice’s Adventures in Lewis Carroll’s brilliant
Wonderland nonsense tale is one of the
most influential and best
loved in the English canon
Wilkie Collins (1868 The Moonstone Wilkie Collins’s masterpiece,
hailed by many as the
greatest English detective
novel, is a brilliant marriage of

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 the sensational and the
realistic.
Louisa May Alcott (1868-9) Little Women Louisa May Alcott’s highly
original tale aimed at a young
female market has iconic
status in America and never
been out of print
George Eliot (1871-2) Middlemarch This cathedral of words stands
today as perhaps the greatest
of the great Victorian fictions.
Anthony Trollope (1875) The Way We Live Now Inspired by the author’s fury
at the corrupt state of
England, and dismissed by
critics at the time, The Way
We Live Now is recognized as
Trollope’s masterpiece.
Mark Twain (1884/5) The Adventures of Mark Twain’s tale of a rebel
Huckleberry Finn boy and a runaway slave
seeking liberation upon the
waters of the Mississippi
remains a defining classic of
American literature.
Robert Louis Stevenson (1886) Kidnapped A thrilling adventure story,
gripping history and
fascinating study of the
Scottish character, Kidnapped
has lost none of its power.
Jerome K Jerome (1889) Three Men in a Boat Jerome K Jerome’s accidental
classic about messing about
on the Thames remains a
comic gem
Arthur Conan Doyle (1890) The Sign of Four Sherlock Holmes’s second
outing sees Conan Doyle’s
brilliant sleuth – and his bluff
sidekick Watson – come into
their own.
Oscar Wilde (1891) The Picture of Dorian Gray Wilde’s brilliantly allusive
moral tale of youth, beauty
and corruption was greeted
with howls of protest on
publication.
George Gissing (1891) New Grub Street George Gissing’s portrayal of
the hard facts of a literary life
remains as relevant today as it
was in the late 19th century.
Thomas Hardy (1895) Jude the Obscure Hardy exposed his deepest
feelings in this bleak, angry
novel and, stung by the
hostile response, he never
wrote another.
Stephen Crane (1895) The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane’s account of a
young man’s passage to
manhood through soldiery is a
blueprint for the great
American war novel.
Bram Stoker (1897) Dracula Bram Stoker’s classic vampire
story was very much of its
time but still resonates more

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21 Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
 than a century later.
Joseph Conrad (1899) Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad’s masterpiece
about a life-changing journey
in search of Mr. Kurtz has the
simplicity of great myth
Theodore Dreiser (1900) Sister Carrie Theodore Dreiser was no
stylist, but there’s a terrific
momentum to his unflinching
novel about a country girl’s
American dream.
Rudyard Kipling (1901) Kim In Kipling’s classic boy’s own
spy story, an orphan in British
India must make a choice
between east and west.
Jack London (1903) The Call of the Wild Jack London’s vivid
adventures of a pet dog that
goes back to nature reveal an
extraordinary style and
consummate storytelling.
Henry James (1904) The Golden Bowl American literature contains
nothing else quite like Henry
James’s amazing, labyrinthine
and claustrophobic novel.
Frederick Rolfe (1904) Hadrian the Seventh This entertaining if contrived
story of a hack writer and
priest who becomes pope
sheds vivid light on its
eccentric author – described
by DH Lawrence as a “man-
demon”.
Kenneth Grahame (1908) The Wind in the Willows The evergreen tale from the
riverbank and a powerful
contribution to the mythology
of Edwardian England
HG Wells (1910) The History of Mr Polly The choice is great, but
Wells’s ironic portrait of a
man very like himself is the
novel that stands out
Max Beerbohm (1911) Zuleika Dobson The passage of time has
conferred a dark power upon
Beerbohm’s ostensibly light
and witty Edwardian satire
Ford Madox Ford (1915) The Good Soldier Ford’s masterpiece is a
searing study of moral
dissolution behind the facade
of an English gentleman – and
its stylistic influence lingers to
this day.
John Buchan (1915) The Thirty-Nine Steps John Buchan’s espionage
thriller, with its sparse,
contemporary prose, is hard
to put down.
DH Lawrence (1915) The Rainbow The Rainbow is perhaps DH
Lawrence’s finest work,
showing him for the radical,
protean, thoroughly modern
writer he was.
W Somerset Maugham (1915) Of Human Bondage Somerset Maugham’s semi-

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21 Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
 autobiographical novel shows
the author’s savage honesty
and gift for storytelling at
their best.
Edith Wharton (1920) The Age of Innocence The story of a blighted New
York marriage stands as a
fierce indictment of a society
estranged from culture.
James Joyce (1922) Ulysses This portrait of a day in the
lives of three Dubliners
remains a towering work, in
its word play surpassing even
Shakespeare.
Sinclair Lewis (1922) Babbitt What it lacks in structure and
guile, this enthralling take on
20s America makes up for in
vivid satire and
characterization
EM Forster (1924) A Passage to India EM Forster’s most successful
work is eerily prescient on the
subject of empire.
Anita Loos (1925) Gentlemen Prefer Blondes A guilty pleasure it may be,
but it is impossible to
overlook the enduring
influence of a tale that helped
to define the jazz age.
Virginia Woolf (1925) Mrs Dalloway Woolf’s great novel makes a
day of party preparations the
canvas for themes of lost love,
life choices and mental illness.
F Scott Fitzgerald (1925) The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald’s jazz age
masterpiece has become a
tantalizing metaphor for the
eternal mystery of art.
Sylvia Townsend Warner Lolly Willowes A young woman escapes
(1926) convention by becoming a
witch in this original satire
about England after the first
world war.
Ernest Hemingway (1926) The Sun Also Rises Hemingway’s first and best
novel makes an escape to
1920s Spain to explore
courage, cowardice and manly
authenticity.
Dashiell Hammett (1929) The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett’s crime
thriller and its hard-boiled
hero Sam Spade influenced
everyone from Chandler to Le
Carré.
William Faulkner (1930) As I Lay Dying The influence of William
Faulkner’s immersive tale of
raw Mississippi rural life can
be felt to this day.
Aldous Huxley (1932) Brave New World Aldous Huxley’s vision of a
future human race controlled
by global capitalism is every
bit as prescient as Orwell’s
more famous dystopia.

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Stella Gibbons (1932) Cold Comfort Farm The book for which Gibbons is
best remembered was a satire
of late-Victorian pastoral
fiction but went on to
influence many subsequent
generations.
John Dos Passos (1932) Nineteen Nineteen The middle volume of John
Dos Passos’s USA trilogy is
revolutionary in its intent,
techniques and lasting impact.
Henry Miller (1934) Tropic of Cancer The US novelist’s debut
revelled in a Paris underworld
of seedy sex and changed the
course of the novel – though
not without a fight with the
censors.
Evelyn Waugh (1938) Scoop Evelyn Waugh’s Fleet Street
satire remains sharp,
pertinent and memorable.
Samuel Beckett (1938) Murphy Samuel Beckett’s first
published novel is an
absurdist masterpiece, a
showcase for his uniquely
comic voice.
Raymond Chandler (1939) The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler’s
hardboiled debut brings to life
the seedy LA underworld –
and Philip Marlowe, the
archetypal fictional detective.
Henry Green (1939) Party Going Set on the eve of war, this
neglected modernist
masterpiece centres on a
group of bright young revelers
delayed by fog.
Flann O’Brien (1939) At Swim-Two-Birds Labyrinthine and
multilayered, Flann O’Brien’s
humorous debut is both a
reflection on, and an
exemplar of, the Irish novel.
John Steinbeck (1939) The Grapes of Wrath One of the greatest of great
American novels, this study of
a family torn apart by poverty
and desperation in the Great
Depression shocked US
society.
PG Wodehouse (1946) Joy in the Morning PG Wodehouse’s elegiac
Jeeves novel, written during
his disastrous years in
wartime Germany, remains
his masterpiece.
Robert Penn Warren (1946) All the King’s Men A compelling story of personal
and political corruption, set in
the 1930s in the American
south.
Malcolm Lowry (1947) Under the Volcano Malcolm Lowry’s masterpiece
about the last hours of an
alcoholic ex-diplomat in
Mexico is set to the drumbeat

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 of coming conflict.
Elizabeth Bowen (1948) The Heat of the Day Elizabeth Bowen’s 1948 novel
perfectly captures the
atmosphere of London during
the blitz while providing
brilliant insights into the
human heart.
George Orwell (1949) Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell’s dystopian
classic cost its author dear but
is arguably the best-known
novel in English of the 20th
century.
Graham Greene (1951) The End of the Affair Graham Greene’s moving tale
of adultery and its aftermath
ties together several vital
strands in his work.
JD Salinger (1951) The Catcher in the Rye JD Salinger’s study of teenage
rebellion remains one of the
most controversial and best-
loved American novels of the
20th century.
Saul Bellow (1953) The Adventures of Augie In the long-running hunt to
March identify the great American
novel, Saul Bellow’s
picaresque third book
frequently hits the mark.
William Golding (1954) Lord of the Flies Dismissed at first as “rubbish
& dull”, Golding’s brilliantly
observed dystopian desert
island tale has since become a
classic.
Vladimir Nabokov (1955) Lolita Nabokov’s tragicomic tour de
force crosses the boundaries
of good taste with glee.
Jack Kerouac (1957) On the Road The creative history of
Kerouac’s beat-
generation classic, fuelled by
pea soup and benzedrine, has
become as famous as the
novel itself.
Patrick White (1957) Voss A love story set against the
disappearance of an explorer
in the outback, Voss paved
the way for a generation of
Australian writers to shrug off
the colonial past.
Harper Lee (1960) To Kill a Mockingbird Her second novel finally
arrived this summer, but
Harper Lee’s first did enough
alone to secure her lasting
fame, and remains a truly
popular classic.
Muriel Spark (1960) The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Short and bittersweet, Muriel
Spark’s tale of the downfall of
a Scottish schoolmistress is a
masterpiece of narrative
fiction.
Joseph Heller (1961) Catch-22 This acerbic anti-war novel

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 was slow to fire the public
imagination, but is rightly
regarded as a groundbreaking
critique of military madness.
Doris Lessing (1962) The Golden Notebook Hailed as one of the key texts
of the women’s movement of
the 1960s, this study of a
divorced single mother’s
search for personal and
political identity remains a
defiant, ambitious tour de
force.
Anthony Burgess (1962) A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess’s dystopian
classic still continues to startle
and provoke, refusing to be
outshone by Stanley Kubrick’s
brilliant film adaptation.
Christopher Isherwood (1964) A Single Man Christopher Isherwood’s story
of a gay Englishman struggling
with bereavement in LA is a
work of compressed
brilliance.
Truman Capote (1966) In Cold Blood Truman Capote’s non-fiction
novel, a true story of bloody
murder in rural Kansas, opens
a window on the dark
underbelly of postwar
America.
Sylvia Plath (1966) The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath’s painfully graphic
roman à clef, in which a
woman struggles with her
identity in the face of social
pressure, is a key text of
Anglo-American feminism.
Philip Roth (1969) Portnoy’s Complaint This wickedly funny novel
about a young Jewish
American’s obsession with
masturbation caused outrage
on publication, but remains
his most dazzling work.
Elizabeth Taylor (1971) Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont Elizabeth Taylor’s exquisitely
drawn character study of
eccentricity in old age is a
sharp and witty portrait of
genteel postwar English life
facing the changes taking
shape in the 60s.
John Updike (1971) Rabbit Redux Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom,
Updike’s lovably mediocre
alter ego, is one of America’s
great literary protoganists, up
there with Huck Finn and Jay
Gatsby.
Toni Morrison (1977) Song of Solomon The novel with which the
Nobel prize-winning author
established her name is a
kaleidoscopic evocation of the
African-American experience

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 in the 20th century.
VS Naipaul (1979) A Bend in the River VS Naipaul’s hellish vision of
an African nation’s path to
independence saw him
accused of racism, but
remains his masterpiece.
Salman Rushdie (1981) Midnight’s Children The personal and the
historical merge in Salman
Rushdie’s dazzling, game-
changing Indian English novel
of a young man born at the
very moment of Indian
independence.
Marilynne Robinson (1981) Housekeeping Marilynne Robinson’s tale of
orphaned sisters and their
oddball aunt in a remote
Idaho town is admired by
everyone from Barack Obama
to Bret Easton Ellis.
Martin Amis (1984) Money: A Suicide Note Martin Amis’s era-defining
ode to excess unleashed one
of literature’s greatest
modern monsters in self-
destructive antihero John Self.
Kazuo Ishiguro (1986) An Artist of the Floating Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel about a
World retired artist in postwar
Japan, reflecting on his career
during the country’s dark
years, is a tour de force of
unreliable narration.
Penelope Fitzgerald (1988) The Beginning of Spring Fitzgerald’s story, set in Russia
just before the Bolshevik
revolution, is her
masterpiece: a brilliant
miniature whose peculiar
magic almost defies analysis.
Anne Tyler (1988) Breathing Lessons Anne Tyler’s portrayal of a
middle-aged, mid-American
marriage displays her
narrative clarity, comic timing
and ear for American speech
to perfection.
John McGahern (1990) Amongst Women This modern Irish masterpiece
is both a study of the
faultlines of Irish patriarchy
and an elegy for a lost world.
Don DeLillo (1997) Underworld A writer of “frightening
perception”, Don DeLillo
guides the reader in an epic
journey through America’s
history and popular culture.
JM Coetzee (1999) Disgrace In his Booker-winning
masterpiece, Coetzee’s
intensely human vision
infuses a fictional world that
both invites and confounds
political interpretation.
Peter Carey (2000) True History of the Kelly Gang Peter Carey rounds off our list

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 of literary milestones with a
Booker prize-winning tour-de-
force examining the life and
times of Australia’s infamous
antihero, Ned Kelly.

Are you familiar with them?

Are you familiar with even 2 out of 100 literature works above? Write a simple summarization
of 2 literature works that you know.

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21 Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
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21 Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
Lesson 6 European Literature Legacy

Lesson Objectives

- Identify representative texts and authors from Asia, North America, Europe, Latin
America, and Africa
- Analyze one of the famous works of western literature
- Appreciate the cultural and aesthetic diversity of the world literature.

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 European Literature

European literature refers to the literature of Europe. European literature includes

literature in many languages; among the most important of the modern written works are
those in English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Polish, Ukrainian, German, Italian, Modern Greek,
Czech, Russian, Bosnian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish and Irish.

Important classical and medieval traditions are those in Latin, Old and Middle English, Ancient
Greek, Old Norse, Medieval French and Medieval Italian.

In colloquial speech, European literature is often used as a synonym for Western literature.

European literature is a part of world literature.

Important periods in European literature

Renaissance
The creation of the printing press by Johannes
Guttenberg in 1440 allowed for much of the
literature during this time to be read by a
much larger audience.

With the new wave of knowledge, many

writers of this time period drew on classical
methods and styles from the ancient greats.
These included Aristotle, Homer, Plato, and
Socrates. Some Romans that were modeled
were Cicero, Horace, Sallust, and Virgil.

Politics were often an influence on

Renaissance literature. Some writers wrote
directly about politics, and gave advice to rulers, seen by Niccolo Machiavelli’s famous work,
The Prince.

Another source of inspiration was Christianity, which had immense influence during this time.

Important Renaissance Works

• Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote

• William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet

• Niccolo Michiavelli, The Prince

• Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron

• Petrarch, Canzoniere, Trionfi

• Sir Francis Bacon, New Atlantis

• Sir Thomas More, Utopia

• John Milton, Paradise Lost

• Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus

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The Enlightenment Period
This period in literature is marked by new
emphasis on logic and intellectualism

Writers put more attention to useful rather

than abstract thought, and expressed
desires for improving the conditions of
humanity through tolerance, freedom, and
equality.

With the reason of reason and logic, many

writers began to question the established
churches of the time, and a rise of deism
was seen during this time.

The philsophes in France during this time were important to the period and contributed many
new thoughts characteristic of the Enlightenment.

The rising middle class during this time made their preferences of prose novels and short stories
significant literary genres.

Works of the Enlightenment

• Montesqueiu, Spirit of the Laws

• John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

• Marry Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

• Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

• Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

• Voltaire, Candide

• Denis Diderot, Encyclopedie

Romanticism
This period was a movement away from the
enlightenment focus of reason and logic, focusing
more on imagination and emotions instead.

Key characteristics of this period include an

interest in the common man and childhood,
emotions and feelings, the awe of nature,
emphasis on the individual, myths, and the
importance of the imagination.

Symbolism was seen as superior because they

could suggest many things instead of the direct
interpretations of allegories

Instead of the scientific view of the universe as a

machine, romanticism saw it as organic, such as a living tree.

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Romantic authors

• Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

• Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

• Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lyrical Ballads

• Friedrich Schlegel, Lucinde

• Lord Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage

• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust

• Sir Walter Scott, Tales of the Crusaders

• Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes and Hero-Worship

• Chateaubriand, Genius of Christianity

• Hegel, Phenomenology of Mind

Realism
The realist movement portrayed the
hypocrisy, brutality, and dullness of life for
the bourgeois.

Scientific objectivity and observation were

used to influence literature during the
period of realism.

Realism often confronted readers with the

harsh realities that life had to offer.

This movement rejected the idealization of

nature, the poor, love, and polite society
during the romantic period and instead
showed the dark side of life.

Some writers portrayed the cruelty of the developing industrialism in Europe during this time.

Realist Writers

• Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary

• Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House

• George Benard Shaw, Mrs. Warren’s Profession

• Charles Dickens, The Adventures of Oliver Twist

• Claude Bernard, Introduction to the Study of Experimental Science

• Emile Zola, L’Assommoir

• Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment

• Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

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Victorian Period
The Victorian Period showed a much more
sober view of idealism than the visionary view
seen in Romanticism.

The Victorian saw nature as harsh and cruel,

contrasting the kind and harmonious view
during the Romantic era.

Some focuses of this era were the middle

class, reality, work, and nations as a whole
instead of the individual.

The trinity of the Victorian period was religion,

science and morality.

Some of the values were earnestness,

respectability, utilitarianism, and a strong emphasis on duty.

Major ideas of this period of literature included the glorification of war, expansion of empires,
industrialism, economic prosperity, and reform.

Victorian Period writers

• Robert Browning

• Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

• Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

• George Eliot

• Elizabeth Barret Browning

• Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights

• Thomas Hardy

• Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

• Matthew Arnold

• Gerard Manley Hopkins

• Anthony Trollope, Chronicles of Barsetshire

• Lord Alfred Tennyson

Modernism
Like the period of Realism, Modernism was
also critical of middle class society and
morality, but wasn’t concerned by social
issues like Realism was

Modernism was characterized as having a

concern for the aesthetic and beautiful.

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Many English writers challenged the values of the Victorian time period.

While it arose before World War I, it would flourish after it because of the immense turmoil and
social problems it created.

Experimentation and individualism become virtues, while they had been discouraged in the
past.

This period was marked by quick and unexpected shifts from traditional ways of viewing the
world.

Modernist writers

• Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

• Leonard Woolf

• James Joyce, Ulysses

• Franz Kafka

• William Butler Yeats, The Tower

• Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

• D. H. Lawrence

• Alfred Doblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz

• Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Post Modernism Period

Postmodernism developed after World War II and utilized techniques such as fragmentation,
paradox, and questionable narrators

This was a reaction against Enlightenment

ideas that were seen in literature from
Modernism

Postmodernism tended to stray from the

neatly tied-up ending in modernism, and
celebrated chance over craft.

Questioning of the distinctions between low

and high culture through a jumble of various
ingredients, known as pastiche, that before wasn’t seen as appropriate for literature

Metafiction was also often employed to undermine the writer’s authority

Postmodernist works

• Vladimir Nabokov, Mother Night

• John Fowles, The French Lieutenant’s Woman

• Venedikt Erofeev, Moscow-Petushki

• Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

• George Perec, Life: A User’s Manual

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• Italo Calvino, If on a winter’s night a traveler

• Alasdair Gray, Lanark: A Life in Four Books

• Alan Moore, Watchmen

• Dmitry Galkovsky, The Infinite Deadlock

• Umberto Eco, Foucault’s Pendulum

• Walter Abish, How German Is It

Activity Time

Watch one of the most famous works of literature of Europe and the world entitled “Les
Miserables” by Victor Hugo from the link that the teacher in charge will provide to answer the
following questions

1. Why was Jean Valjean in prison?

2. How long was his original sentence? How long was he actually in jail for, and why was his
sentence extended?

3. What was his prisoner number?

4. How was he treated after he was released?

5. Where does he find refuge, and what happens there?

6. Where does Valjean first meet Fantine?

7. What happens to Fantine after she is dismissed from her job at the factory?

8. What happens when Valjean meets Fantine for the second time?

9. Javert delivers some news to Valjean. What is it? What difficulties does this raise for Valjean?
What does he do?

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10. What does Valjean promise to do for Fantine?

11. When Javert catches up with Valjean, what mercy does Valjean ask of Javert?

12. How does Valjean escape from Javert?

13. Where does Valjean find Cosette?

14. What is the first gift he gets for her?

15. Where do they seek refuge when Javert catches up with them? Who helps them?

16. What does Marius do?

17. What do the colours red and black stand for? (Hint: they sing about it in a song, and each
colour

18. Where do Cosette and Marius ‘meet’?

19. Where does Cosette leave her note for Marius, and who finds it?

20. Who is Eponine? How does she know Cosette?

21. Who is the first person killed in the resistance skirmishes?

22. What role does Javert play in the resistance?.

23. What does Eponine do at the barricade?

24. What does Valjean do after he intercepts Marius’ letter to Cosette?

25. What happens to Marius at the barricade?

26. At the end of the show, what is Javert’s opinion/conclusion about Valjean and what kind of
person

27. Why does Valjean leave again? Where does he go?

For reflection:

What is Valjean’s relationship with God like? How does his faith and character change from the
very beginning of the movie?

How does Valjean both help and hinder Cosette as she becomes an adult?

The beggars sing: “When’s it going to end? When we gonna live? Something’s gotta happen
now or something’s gotta give.” What do they mean by this?

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Lesson 7 Latin American Literature Evolution

Lesson Objectives

- Identify representative texts and authors from Asia, North America,

Europe, Latin America, and Africa
- Familiarize with the periods in that gives birth to the Latin American
Literature
- Appreciate the influence of the Latin American literature to the evolution
of literature of the world

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 Latin American Literature

Consist of oral & written literature in several languages (Spanish, Portuguese, and the
indigenous languages of the Americas as well as literature of the United States written in the
particular prominence globally during the second half of the 20th
century, largely due to the international success of the style known as magical realism. As such,
the region's literature is often associated solely with this style, with the 20th Century literary
movement known as Latin American Boom, and with its most famous exponent, Gabriel García
Márquez. Latin American literature has a rich and complex tradition of literary production that
dates back many centuries.

Pre-Columbian Literature

Primarily oral, though the Aztecs and Mayans Colonial literature

When Europeans encountered the New World, early explorers and conquistadores produced
written accounts and crónicas of their experience, such as Columbus's letters or Bernal Díaz del
Castillo's description of the conquest of Mexico Nineteenth-century literature ("foundational
fictions“)

Novels in the Romantic or Naturalist traditions that attempted to establish a sense of national
identity, and which often focused on the indigenous question or the dichotomy of "civilization
or barbarism“

Additionally, a gradual increase in women's education and writing during the 19th century
brought more women writers to the forefront

Modernismo and Boom precursors

Emerged in the late 19th century

A poetic movement whose founding text was the Nicaraguan Rubén Darío's Azul (1888).

Had been the renovation of poetic from & techniques, extending to the use of free verse.

The first Latin American literary movement to influence literary culture outside of the region,
and was also the first truly Latin American literature, in that national differences were no longer
so much at issue.

In early twentieth century, saw the rise of indigenismo, a movement dedicated to representing
indigenous culture and the injustices that such communities were undergoing

The Argentine Jorge Luis Borges invented what was almost a new genre, “the philosophical
short story” Modernismo was an end of Nineteenth and early Twentieth-century Latin-
American literary movement, best exemplified by Rubén Darío.

The Boom

After World War II, Latin America enjoyed increasing economic prosperity, and a new-found
confidence also gave rise to a literary boom.

Was a period of literary flourishing in the 1960s and 70s that brought much of the area’s
literature to an international audience. Famous Boom authors include Julio Cortázar, Carlos
Fuentes, Octavio Paz, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Gabriel García Márquez.

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Boom writers ventured outside traditional narrative structures, embracing non-linearity and
experimental narration.

Launched Latin American literature onto the world stage, it was distinguished by daring and
experimental novels

Emir Rodríguez Monegal published his influential Latin American literature monthly Mundo
Nuevo (with excerpts of unreleased novels from then-new writers such as Guillermo Cabrera
Infante or Severo Sarduy, including two chapters of Gabriel García Márquez's Cien años de
soledad in 1966) which was one of the Boom's defining novels, which led to the association of
Latin American literature with magic realism.

Post-Boom and contemporary literature

Sometimes characterized by a tendency towards irony and towards the use of popular genres

Some writers felt the success of the Boom to be a burden, and spiritedly denounced the
caricature that reduces Latin American literature to magical realism.

Other writers have traded on the Boom's success: see for instance Laura Esquivel's pastiche of
magical realism in Como agua para chocolate.

Contemporary literature in the region is vibrant and varied, ranging from the best-selling Paulo
Coelho and Isabel Allende to the more avant-garde and critically acclaimed work of writers such
as Diamela Eltit & Giannina Braschi.

The Fantastic — odd, remarkable or bizarre; grotesque and highly unbelievable or unrealistic
events occur in fiction. The Fantastic tests and often bends the limits of reality. Authors most
often associated with the “Fantastic” are Borges and Cortázar.

Magical realism — there is argument between those who see magical realism as a Latin
American invention and those who see it as the global product of a postmodern world — when
magical or supernatural elements are introduced into an otherwise realistic fictional setting;
magical realism will depict believable settings, characters, and circumstances, but the
supernatural or magical is incorporated into the fiction. Carpentier coined the term “lo real
maravilloso.” Authors associated with magical realism include Garcia Marquez, Carpentier, and
Esquivel (especially Like Water for Chocolate).

Social realism — dark and often depressing depictions of life in Latin America; sometime the
literature reflects the violent history of the region: “Torrents of blood.” Authors associated
w/social realism are Novas Calvo, Rulfo, and Arias. 4. Female discourse — fiction that makes its
main theme gender role as it critiques marianismo and machismo in Latin American society.
Authors associated w/female discourse or feminist themes include Allende, Castellanos. and
Ferré.

Surrealism is often confused with magical realism as they both explore illogical or non-realist
aspects of humanity and existence. Surrealism "is most distanced from magical realism [in that]
the aspects that it explores are associated not with material reality but with the imagination
and the mind, and in particular it attempts to express the 'inner life' and psychology of humans
through art." It seeks to express the sub-conscious, unconscious, the repressed and
inexpressible. Magical realism, on the other hand, rarely presents the extraordinary in the form
of a dream or a psychological experience.

Labyrinth — Borges’ fiction relies upon this theme. Many of his characters are caught in strange
mazes or webs of lies. Sometimes, Borges’ charters’ actions cause them to be trapped in a place
or time, repeating the same bad decisions endlessly.

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Eternal Recurrence of All Things — Borges borrows from Nietzsche’s concept: the eternal
recurrence of all things means that everything that has happened in the past will happen again;
only characters who are capable of self-knowledge can learn not to repeat the mistakes of the
past.

Reader participation —Cortázar’s characters are more often social outcasts: the circus freak,
lunatics, even some delusional characters people Cortazar’s fiction. Instead of the author
having omniscience (being all- knowing), Cortázar invites readers to construct the meaning of
his work. In the case of Rayuela/Hopscotch (a novel), readers are encouraged to read chapters
in a non-linear fashion. Whether a reader wants to read from the middle of the novel or from
the last chapter to the first (backwards), each reader will experience a different story. Open
doors — rather than placing characters in a maze, Cortázar risks their lives; some are
murderers, some are insane, and others are suicidal. Sudden jolts — the unexpected is bound
to happen in Cortázar’s fiction. In an effort to shake readers from passivity and complacency,
Cortázar wants readers to feel shocked and surprised when we read his stories. The conclusion
of “Continuity of Parks” is particularly surprising as readers are suddenly transported into the
narrator’s chair. (How so?)

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Lesson 8 African Literature Struggles

Lesson Objectives

- Identify representative texts and authors from Asia, North America,

Europe, Latin America, and Africa
- Detect the common theme on some of the famous work in African
literature
- Integrate a poem presentation through ICT.

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 African Literature

African literature preserves the rich culture and traditions of the African nations. The
myths and trickster tales, which typically explain the creation of the universe, the activities of
the gods, and the beginning of creation, and the essence of existence. Most of the literary
pieces of Africa shed light on controversial issues such as racial discrimination, political
conflicts, civil war, gender sensitivity, and human rights issues.

The most notable literary selections are those that capture the life and struggle of the
African people. There have been significant struggles that could have been left untouched, but
writers choose to face courageous task of answering the call of pen, and begin the process of
social healing through literature. Perhaps, it is this brilliant characteristic of African literature
that enables it to shine and fulfill one universal function of literature.

The literary tradition of Africa became richer than ever as it gained artistic and
sophisticated expression in different languages. Traditional languages became vehicles of
cultural thoughts. Poetry, drama, novel, and short story flourished as the literary genres. The
people’s struggle to cope with – or oppose – the changing atmosphere of their homelands was
dramatically recorder in what is known as African literature.

FAMOUS LITERARY WORKS

POETRY

Paris in the Snow swings between assimilation of French, European culture or negritude;
intensified by the poet’s catholic piety.

Totem by Leopold Senghor shows the eternal linkage of the living with the dead.

Letters to Martha by Dennis Brutus is the poet’s most famous collection that speaks of the
humiliation, the despondency, the indignity of prison life.

Train Journey by Dennis Brutus reflects the poet’s social commitment as he reacts to poverty
around him amidst material progress especially and acutely felt by the innocent victims, the
children.

NOVELS

The Poor Christ of Bombay by Mongot Beti begins en medias res and exposes the inhumanity of
colonialism. The novel tells Fr. Drumont’s disillusionment after the discovery the degradation of
the native women, bethrothed, but to work like slaves in the sixa.

The River Between by James Ngugi shows the clash of traditional values and contemporary
ethics and mores. The Honia River is symbolically taken as metaphor of tribal and Christian
unity – the Makuyu tribe conducts Christian rites while the Kamenos hold circumcision rituals.
Muthoni, the heroine, although a new-born Christian, desires the pagan ritual.

Heirs to the Past by Driss Chraili is an allegorical, parablelike novel. After 16 years of absence,
the anti-hero Driss returnd to Morocco for his father’s funeral. The Signeur his legacy via a tape
recorder in which he tells the family members his last will and testament.

One of the most famous poem originating in Africa is the “I am an African Child” by Eku McGrid

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Who is Eku McGrid?

Eku McGred is a gifted musician, poet and songwriter with over 12years of service in the music
ministry. He has worked alongside many churches, helping them train and develop their singers
and musicians. He currently serves at a local parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in
the UK.

He was born in Freetown Sierra Leone. After finishing his college education he travelled to
England to pursue a degree in Electronics Technology. He graduated with Bsc Honours in
Electronics Technology from Coventry and Msc in Engineering Business Management from
Warwick University.

Let us do a poem analysis

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21 Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
Master it

As a final output make a video presentation of you reciting the poem “I am an African Child” by
Eku McGrid. You will be graded using the criteria below.

1. Creativity and Originality - 15 points ___________

2. Relevance of the Material - 20 points ___________

3. Presentation and Delivery - 25 points ___________

4. Mastery of the Piece - 15 points ___________

5. Impact - 15 points ___________

6. Attitude - 10 points ___________

TOTAL – 100

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 References
(2020) 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World Second Edition. Makati City,
Philippines. Diwa Textbooks.

(2020) 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World Teacher’s Guide . Makati City,
Philippines. Diwa Textbooks.

(2004) Worship through the Storm. Retrieved from

http://www.worshipthroughthestorm.com/about-eku/

Palero, Juan Miguel (2015, June 4) Latin American Literature. Retrieved from
https://www.slideshare.net/jmpalero/latin-american-literature?qid=44e553aa-e988-4f6d-aae9-
0601473d22b3&v=&b=&from_search=1

Eltagunde, Donald (2019, August 17) European Literature. Retrieved from

https://www.slideshare.net/donaldeltagunde/european-literature?qid=c675d6ce-3167-4178-b180-
9ed760797a8a&v=&b=&from_search=2

Lactaotao, Racquel P. (2016, January 20) Characteristics of African Literature. Retrieved from
https://www.slideshare.net/shinranrin/characteristics-of-african-literature-report

Alimajen, Jenkin Kay (2018, November 6) I am an African child. Retrieved from

https://www.slideshare.net/JenkinKay/i-am-an-african-child-122027930?qid=a4bae8d6-0d94-46b3-
b7c3-8a3c795aed44&v=&b=&from_search=5

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