Japanese Literature: Periods and Impact

• Literature is written or oral works expressing ideas, emotions, and stories through language.
• Literature often reflects human experiences, culture, society, and history.
• Literature is an artistic reflection of life and can provide insight into the human condition, values, and beliefs.
• Literature serves as a tool for communication, education, and social change.

Nature of Literature

• Artistic Expression involves writers using language to convey emotions, thoughts, and ideas creatively.
• Literature mirrors the culture, society, history, and psychology of individuals and groups.
• Literature often gives insight into social and personal issues.
• Imaginative literature involves imagination, letting readers escape into new worlds or think critically about real ones.
• Literature has the power to evoke deep emotions, provoke thought, challenge perspectives, and foster connections with characters, stories, and ideas.

Scope of Literature

• Fiction includes novels, short stories, and dramas that tell invented stories and often explores human experiences and societal issues.
• Non-Fiction includes essays, autobiographies, biographies, and historical works that provide factual accounts of events or ideas.
• Poetry is a genre focused on verse, rhyme, and rhythmic language to express feelings, concepts, and images.
• Drama includes plays, screenplays, and scripts meant for performance, exploring conflict, character, and dialogue.
• Hybrid Forms are contemporary literature blurring lines between genres, such as graphic novels, multimedia storytelling, and interactive narratives.

Forms of Literature

• Written literature includes traditional printed forms like novels, essays, poems, and plays.
• Oral literature includes folk tales, myths, legends, and songs passed down verbally.
• Digital literature includes e-books, blogs, social media storytelling, and online narratives. Visual and Multimedia include graphic novels, movies, and other visual storytelling forms.

Literary Forms During Pre-Colonial Period

• Riddles are proverbs that demand an answer.
• Chants are used in witchcraft or enchantment, especially in remote places.
• Lagaylay is used on special occasions for the Pilarenos of Sorsogon.
• Legends are folklore consisting of narratives of human actions believed to have occurred in human history.
• Folktales are stories about life, adventure, love, horror, and humor that offer lessons.
• Epics are long narrative poems about heroic achievements or events.
• Folksongs mirror early forms of culture.

Philippine Literature in Different Periods: Spanish Period (1521-1871)

• Literature was classified as religious prose and poetry.
• There was Spanish influence on Philippine Literature.
• The first Filipino alphabet, BAYBAYIN, was replaced by the Roman alphabet.
• Teaching of Christian doctrine became the basis of religious practices.
• European legends and traditions were assimilated into songs, corridos, and moro-moro.
• Folk songs manifest Filipino artistic feelings and appreciation for love and beauty.
• Example folk songs include Pamulinawen, Dandasoy, Sarong Banggi, and Ati Cu Pung Singsing.
• Recreational plays in poetic form during the Spanish times include Cenaculo, Panunuluyan, Salubong, Embayoka, Lagaylay, and Zarzuela.

Period of Enlightenment (1872-1898)

• In the 19th century, Filipino intellectuals educated in Europe (Illustrados) wrote about colonization.

The Propaganda Movement (1872-1896)

• Spearheaded by middle-class intellectuals like Jose Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Antonio Luna, Mariano Ponce, Jose Maria Panganiban, and Pedro Paterno.
• Rizal's writings include Noli Me Tangere, El Filibusterismo, Mi Ultimo Adios, Sobre La Indolencia De Los Filipinos, and Filipinas Dentro de Cien Anos.
• Del Pilar's writings include Pagibig sa Tinubuang Lupa, Kaingat Kayo, and Dasalan at Tocsohan.
• Jaena's writings include Fray Botod, La Hija Del Fraile, Sa Mga Filipino, Everything is Hambug, and Talumpating Paggunita kay Kulumbus.

The American Regime (1898 - 1944)

• Americans influenced Filipino writers' use of the English language.
• Jose Garcia Villa became famous for his free verse.
• Literature was written in Spanish, Tagalog, and regional dialects.
• Writers in Tagalog lamented the country's conditions. Writers in English imitated American themes and methods.

The Japanese Period (1941-1945)

• Philippine literature was interrupted due to the Japanese conquest, halting Philippine literature in English.
• Newspapers not circulated except Tribune and Philippine Review
• Common themes in Filipino poetry were nationalism, country, love, life in the barrios, faith, religion, and arts.
• Three types of poems emerged: Haiku (17 syllables in three lines), Tanaga (short with measure and rhyme), and Karaniwang Anyo.
• Philippine literature in English experienced a dark period due to strict prohibitions.
• Philippine literature in Tagalog was revived.

Rebirth of Freedom (1946-1970)

• This period involved a "struggle of mind and spirit" and a desire to print.
• Literary writing in the vernacular became popular.
• Writers had better knowledge of their craft and engaged in political activism.

Period of Activism (1970-1972)

• Youth activism was due to domestic and worldwide causes, resulting in movements for reform.

Literary Revolution

• The youth expressed their sentiments and demanded government change through demonstrations and literature.

Period of the New Society (1972-1980)

• Started on September 21, 1972.
• The Carlos Palanca awards continued to promote literature.
• Poems focused on patience, native culture, nature, and surroundings.
• Newspapers emphasized economic progress, discipline, culture, and tourism over sensationalized news.
• Filipinos became interested in reading magazines and comics.

Period of the Third Republic (1981-1985)

• Martial Law was lifted on January 2, 1981, and the Philippines became a new nation.
• Poems were romantic and revolutionary.
• Songs dealt with themes like grief, poverty, aspirations for freedom, love of God, country, and fellow men.

Post EDSA I Revolution (1986-1999)

• The Filipino people regained independence after the People Power Revolution.
• Changes were evident in new Filipino songs, newspapers, speeches, and television programs.

21st Century Period

• New trends meet the needs of the new generation.
• 21st-century learners are required to be Information and Communication Technology-inclined.
• New codes or lingos add flavor to literary works.

21st Century Literary Genres

• Illustrated Novel: Story through text and images, with 50% of the narrative presented without words which spans all genres.
• Digi Fiction: Triple media literature combining books, movies/videos, and internet websites.
• Graphic Novels: Narrative in comic book format.

Manga

• Manga: Japanese word for comics used in English as a generic term for comics and graphic novels from Japan.

• Manga are considered an artistic storytelling style.

  • Shonen: Boy's Manga
  • Shojo: Girl's Manga
  • Seinen: Men's Manga
  • Josei: Women's Manga
  • Kodomo: Children's Manga

• Doodle Fiction involves literary works that incorporate doodle writing, drawings, and handwritten graphics.

• Text-Talk Novels: Narratives in blogs, email, and IM format, simulating social network exchanges.

• Chick Literature: Fiction addressing modern womanhood, typically featuring a woman protagonist and targeting young women readers.

Flash Fiction

• Flash Fiction: Very brief stories with plot and character development.
• The word count can range from six-word stories to 1000 words.

Science Fiction

• Sci-Fi: Speculative fiction dealing with imaginative concepts like futuristic science, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life.

Literary Devices

• Literal Language - The meaning is direct and exactly what it says.
• Figurative Language - Uses expressions and figures of speech to convey meaning non-literally.

Literary Techniques

• Literary Techniques: Methods authors use to express ideas and enhance impact, like foreshadowing, flashbacks, imagery, and symbolism.
  • Literary Devices: create effects and enhance language. Examples include metaphors, similes, personification, and alliteration.
  • Foreshadowing: Hints at future events to create suspense.
  • Imagery: Uses words to create vivid pictures in the reader's mind.
  • Symbolism: Uses objects, people, or words to represent ideas or themes.
  • Idiomatic Expression: A phrase with a non-literal meaning different from the word meanings.

Figures of Speech

• Figures of Speech: Rhetorical devices using creative language to convey meaning non-literally.
  • Simile - Compares two unrelated things using "like" or "as."
  • Metaphor - Compares two things indirectly without using "like" or "as."
  • Personification - Gives human characteristics to non-human things
  • Hyperbole - Exaggerates to emphasize or create a comic effect.
  • Onomatopoeia - Words that sound like what they describe.
  • Apostrophe - Directly addresses a nonexistent person or inanimate object.
  • Alliteration - Repetition of initial consonant sounds.

Reading Techniques

• Skimming - Reading rapidly for a general overview.
• Scanning - Reading rapidly to find specific facts.
• Intensive reading - "Reading to learn," involves detailed reading for deeper understanding.
• Extensive reading - "Learning to read," involves reading for enjoyment and developing general skills.

Reader's Response Approach

• Reader's Response Approach: Literary theory focusing on how readers create meaning.
  • Transactional Reader-Response Approach: Meaning created through transaction between reader and text, the reader's experiences shape interpretation.
  • Affective Reader-Response Approach: Focuses on emotions evoked in the reader.
  • Subjective Reader-Response: Readers make their own meaning based on individual experience.
  • Social Reader-Response Approach: Meaning shaped by the reader's culture and society.
  • Interpretive Communities Approach: Readers in interpretive communities share ways of interpreting texts depending on culture.
  • Psychological Reader-Response Approach: Emphasizes the reader's subconscious and psychological identity.
• Textual Reading Approach - This method looks at the piece and its literary devices in context and analyzes the style.

Contextual Reading Approach -

• This method looks beyond the page and tries to understand the themes and motivations of a text.
  • Biographical Context: Author's life influenced their writing (education, culture, beliefs).
  • Historical Context: Social, economic, political, and cultural conditions influence a piece.
  • Linguistic Context: Surrounding words/phrases and social settings help determine meaning.
  • It clarifies word meanings.
  • Readers understand nuances.
  • Enrichment of comprehension.

Asian Literature

• Chinese Literature:
  • Dates back thousands of years.

Establishment of woodblock printing during the Tang dynasty (from 618–907) and the invention of movable type printing during the Song dynasty (960–1279) gave rise to written Chinese literature - Classical Poetry: - Among the most important classics in Chinese literature is the Book of Changes, a divination manual based on eight trigrams. It existed during the Zhou dynasty. Reached its peak in the tang dynasty - Two distinguished poets of the period were Li Po (Li Bai), known for the romanticism of his poems, and Tu Fu, a Confucian moralist. - The Classic of Poetry - Is the earliest collection of poetry, consisting of 305 poems that included festival songs, hymns, and eulogies. - The Classic of History - is a collection of documents of speeches written by rulers and officials of the Zhou period. - The Classic of Rites - is a collection of texts that describes ancient rites and court ceremonies during the Zhou dynasty. It was written during the Warring States period. - The Spring and Autumn Annals - It is a chronological history of the state of Lu. It contains monthly narrations of important events during the rule of the twelve leaders of Lu. - The Analects of Confucius - It is a book of sayings recorded by his disciples. - Classical Prose - The Spring and Autumn periods contributed significantly to Chinese prose style.

• Mencius
  • Mencius was noted for his elegant diction, while Zhuang Zi was revered for his use of metaphorical, anecdotal, and allegorical style.
  • Vernacular fiction
    • Became popular after the 14th century. The greatest 18th century vernacular novel is Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin.
• Modern Chinese Literature
  • Modern Chinese literature began in the late Qing period (1895-1911), which was described as a period of active intellectual pursuits sparked by a nationalistic climate.
  • Modern Chinese Literature:
    • Chinese fiction became concerned with social problems, historical upheavals, and changing values.
    • Among the distinguished writers of the period are Li Boyuan, Liu E, and Zheng Peng.
    • One of the struggles of modern writers is the censorship imposed by the Chineses government on both journalism and literature, as evidenced by the blocking of certain websites and banning of some books from being sold in China.

Japanese Literary Periods

• The literature of Japan presents a rich source of beauty and new ideas highly significant to the West. The Western discovery of Japanese literature was aided by William George Aston's A History of Japanese Literature was first published in New York in 1899.
• Chinese elements are regarded as a true part of Japanese literature. The literary forms of China, as well as the ideographic forms, are at the root of Japanese literature.
• The Japanese have extensive literature spanning more than twelve centuries, which are divided into different period
• Archaic Period was marked by two events that were the prime importance to the development of literature in Japan:
  • a. Introduction of the art of writing (Kanji) from China
  • b. First propagation of Buddhist religion
• Nara Period was considered the Golden Age of Poetry, it began 710 AD when Nara was made the seat of the Mikado's government and ended 794 AD when the capital was moved to Nagaoka. It produced two important literary works: Kojiki or Records of Ancient Matters, which contain the early traditions of the Japanese race, mythology, and legendary history; and Man'yoshu or Collection of Ten Thousand Poems, the oldest extant anthology of Japanese poetry.
• Heian Period
  • considered the classical age of Japanese literature. It refers to the period when Kioto or Heian-jo (City of Peace) was the real seat of the government.
  • It was largely the work of women; thus, literature during this period was gentle and domestic.
• Kamakura-Muromachi
  • characterized by a constant state of warfare and turmoil and the decline of learning
  • This period saw the Buddhist monks as the chief maintainers of learning, the development of renga or lined verse, and the evolution of Noh drama, which consists of a one-act dance performed by male actors with extremely slow movements as they chant prose passages and sing verse sections.
• Edo Period
  • was more voluminous and had a far wider range of subjects. It was produced by the merchant class and was considered as bawdy and worldly.
  • Kabuki was developed, a popular Japanese theater form consisting of colorful background, lively and emotional music, dancing, and exaggerated acting. The period saw the perfection of Haiku, a poem with 17 syllables in three lines of five. The famous Haiku writers were Basho, Kobayashi Issa, and Yosa Buson.
• Meiji Era
  • Japan's reopening to the West and was a period of rapid industrialization.
• Haibun
  • Haibun, a kind of composition which combines prose and haiku, flourished during this period. Kioka, which literally means "mad poetry,” also emerged during this period.
• Modern Period
  • Modern Period, literature during this time is characterized by the denial of the worth of traditional writings and by themes of disaffection, loss of purpose, and coping with defeat as a result of World War II and Japan's defeat. Prominent writers like Kenzaburo Oe, Kobo Abe, Shizuko Todo, and Kazuo Ishiguro identified with the intellectual and moral issues in their attempt to raise social and political consciousness.
• In the 1980's
  • Japan established its prominence in the literary scene by producing the Manga which features retellings of ancient narratives and make use of modern experiences of the highly technological Japan. It became popular as a material for the leisure reading of children and young adults.

Indian Literature

• pertains not only to the literature of what we know as India today but also that of Pakistan and Bangladesh. Historically, these countries were considered one until the partition of India in 1947. In the case of literature, although no longer one, their literary tradition is unquestionably united.
• Sanskrit
  • an ancient language that was used for writing epics and religious texts. Though it is no longer used by the majority, it is still considered an important part of Indian cultural heritage that is at par with the Latin and Greek of the West.
• Most literary forms and works in Indian literature incorporate philosophical and religious concepts.
• Panchatantra
  • ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables of Sanskrit in verse and prose, arranged within a frame story.
  • It literally translates to Five Principles “Pancha" meaning five and "Tantra" meaning principles. often feature anthropomorphized animals with human characteristics. It has influenced Hindu culture and storytelling traditions around the world.
• Vedas- (meaning knowledge) considered to be the oldest Hindu writings are a collection of sacred books written in Sanskrit.
  • Rig Veda - (knowledge of the verses) is a collection of 1028 sacred hymns and is divided into ten books called Mandalas.
  • Yajur Veda - (knowledge of the sacrifice) is a handbook for priests in the performance of sacrificial rituals.
  • Sama Veda - (knowledge of the melodies) is a collection of chants and melodies drawn from the Rig Veda and are to be sung during worship.
  • Atharva Veda - (knowledge of the fire priest) is a collection of charms, spells, and hymns, largely outside the scope of worship and Vedic sacrifice.
• India prides itself as a civilization that holds some of the world's oldest epics: Mahabharata by Vyasa and Ramayana by Valmiki.
• Mahabharata
  • Mahabharata is a group of poems in one that narrates an ancient tale of war within a family caused by a desire for power. The entire text contains 100,000 lines, hence, it is considered as one of the longest literary masterpieces.
• The Ramayana
  • The Ramayana takes its story from an episode in the Mahabharata and gives it a romantic treatment in the form of Kavya or court poetry. It centers on the life and adventures of the couple Ramachandra and Sita.
  • The tale of Savitri is another narrative found in the Mahabharata. It is told to the exiled king of the Pandavas by way of consoling him for the plight of his much-tired queen Draupadi.
• Some of the notable contemporary authors of Indian literature include Arundhati Roy and Rabindranath Tagore. Roy was known for her famous novel, The God of Small Things (1997). It won the Man Booker Prize for fiction in 1997. Meanwhile, Tagore was awarded with the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, some of his writings include Manasi (1890), Chitrangada (1892), and Sonar Tari (The Golden Boat, 1894).

Explore the evolution of Japanese literature across the Heian, Kamakura-Muromachi, Edo, and Meiji periods. Understand literature's role in reflecting societal issues, eliciting emotions, and serving as a historical resource. Identify the characteristics and differences of diverse literature forms.