21st Century Literature - Week 1

21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World - Week 1

• Literature Definition: Derived from the Latin word "littera," meaning "a letter of the alphabet." Traditionally defined as a body of written works encompassing imaginative and creative works of poetry and prose, classified by language, origin, historical period, genre, and subject matter.

• Forms of Literature: Literature can be oral or written. Written literature is called "literary text." Literary texts contain elements of psychological characterization and chronology.

• Characteristics of Literary Text:

  • Narrates a story.
  • Expresses feelings, thoughts, and ideas (from imagination or real-life experiences).
  • Delivers significant information and transcends boundaries of time, places, cultures, and languages.

• Literary Structure: Literature has specific organizational methods; the most common is narrative structure (plot). Plot components include exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution (denouement).

• Major Forms of Literature: Prose and Poetry

• Prose vs. Poetry:

  • Prose: Does not focus on rhyme or rhythm, uses sentences grouped into paragraphs, natural and grammatical language, can be understood in one reading.
  • Poetry: Emphasizes rhyme and rhythm, uses lines grouped into stanzas, figurative and rhythmic language, often requires multiple readings for full understanding.

• Types of Poetry:

  • Narrative Poetry: Tells a story, highlighting elements of a narrative (characters, setting, conflict).
  • Dramatic Poetry: Emotionally engaging verse drama intended for recitation or singing in the presence of an audience.
  • Lyric Poetry: Emphasizes conveying feelings and emotions, rather than narrating a story.

• Prose Types:

  • Fiction: Product of imagination, with characters confronting conflicts related to the central idea. Genres include crime, fantasy, romance, science fiction, western, inspirational, historical fiction, and horror. Types of fiction include short stories, novels, and novellas.
  • Non-fiction: Inspired by real events. Writers interpret, describe experiences, present facts, judgments, opinions, and commentaries through essays, journals, diaries, feature articles, editorials.

• Examples of Literary Forms: The slides provide a detailed list of specific categories under poetry and prose, along with examples.

• Genre: Refers to the forms of literature.

• Literary Elements: Identifiable characteristics of a literary text but are not deliberately "used" by an author; they represent the common elements of storytelling across literary forms.

• Traditions: Represents specific traits of literary works within a given generation or historical period, demonstrating an interconnectedness and coherence that goes beyond mere geographical or group similarity.

• Philippine Literature Overview: Philippine literature encompasses pre-colonial, colonial (Spanish, American), Japanese Occupation, and post-colonial periods.

• Pre-Colonial Period characteristics (– BC to 1564): Based on oral traditions; contains imagery and ideology.

• Pre-Colonial Period Literary Forms:

  • Riddles (bugtong) – contests of wit
  • Proverbs (salawikain) – wise sayings
  • Tanaga – expressions of life insights
  • Folk songs – convey hopes, aspirations, and daily life
  • Myths – creation stories, animal characteristics, natural phenomena
  • Legends – origins of things
  • Fables – using animal characters
  • Fantastic stories – underworld characters.
  • Epics – long narratives from oral tradition focused on supernatural events or heroic deeds.

• Colonial Period (Spanish 1565-1863): A. Characteristics: Spanish colonization, religious and secular classifications, introduction of Spanish as the language. B. Literary Forms: Religious literature (e.g., Pasyon, Senakulo); secular literature (e.g., Awit, Korido, prose narratives).

• Nationalistic/Propaganda and Revolutionary Period (1864-1896): A. Characteristics: Rise of Filipino nationalism, shift to Tagalog from Spanish, literature targeting the masses. B. Literary Forms: Political essays, satires, editorials, news articles, aimed to critique Spanish rule; political novels.

• American Colonial Period (1910-1930): A. Characteristics: Imitation of English and American models; amateurish, mushy style in poetry. B. Characteristics (1920-1930) influence of Western literary trends like Romanticism and Realism; short stories.

• Japanese Occupation Period (1942-1944): A. Characteristics: Shift towards simple Tagalog language, prevalence of fiction. B. Literary Forms: Short stories including a compilation of the short story contest in 1943.

• Japanese Occupation Period (1945-1960): A. Characteristics: Bountiful output in various literary forms, mastery of English, diverse literary techniques; emergence of major writers.

• Post-Colonial Period: Period after the rebirths of freedom, including controversial periods like Martial Law under the Marcos regime; symbolic representation and heavy censorship in literature. Use of theatre as vehicle for protest.

• Performance Task: Create a literature timeline using short bond paper, adding important literary works across various genres and periods.

Explore the foundations of 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the world in this quiz. Delve into the definitions, forms, characteristics, and structures of literary texts. This quiz will enhance your understanding of how literature transcends cultural and temporal boundaries.