21st Century Literature From The Philippines And The World PDF

21st Century Literature From The Philippines And The World INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE Etymology: the term derives from Latin word LITERA, which means letter or LITERATURA meaning “writing formed with letters,” although some definitions include spoken or sung texts. Def...

21st Century Literature From The Philippines And The World INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE Etymology: the term derives from Latin word LITERA, which means letter or LITERATURA meaning “writing formed with letters,” although some definitions include spoken or sung texts. Definition/Characteristics: - A body of written works. The name has traditionally been applied to those imaginative works of poetry and prose distinguished by the intentions of their authors and the perceived aesthetic excellence of their execution. - is a body of literary reproductions,containing imaginative language that realistically portrays thoughts, emotions, and experiences of the human conditions. - is a body of writing belonging to a given language or people. Types of Literature: - Oral - Written - Visual 3 Forms of Literature: - Prose: It is structures in sentences and paragraphs, which follows the natural speech of a language’s ordinary grammatical structures or typical writing conventions and formatting. It does not have any metrical structure or is not subjected to rigid rules. - It aims to convey information in a straightforward and direct manner. - Poetry: It evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience or a specific emotional response and is subjected to certain rules and standards of a poem. It is typically written in lines and stanzas, has rhythmic qualities, and often utilizes literary devices like metaphors, similes, etc. Examples: - Sonnet: A 14 line poem, written in iambic pentameter, employing one of several rhyme schemes, and adhering to tightly structured thematic Organization. - Haiku: A 3-line poem with 17 syllables, with a pattern of 5-7-5. - Limerick: A humorous 5-line poem. - Ode: A formal, ceremonious lyric poem that celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea. - Elegy: Often written to lament the dead, a mournful poem. - Epic: A long narrative poem, written about heroic deeds and significant events. - Ballad: A narrative poem that tells a story, often in a musical rhythm. - Drama: Specific mode of fiction represented in performance or intended for performance. It is written in the form of dialogue and stage directions. - Examples: play, opera, ballet, etc. - Performed in theater, radio, or television.  Value of studying Literature: - Exercises the imagination. - Transports us out of our current situation into other periods and places. - Enables us to see the world through the eyes of others. - It plays a fundamental role in the changing society. - Encourages contemplation which improves our language and vocabulary skills. - Helps us understand humanity. Literature & Perspective: - Characteristics of Literature: Imaginative, contains thoughts and emotions, and depicts experiences of human conditions. - Perspective: A way of thinking about and understanding something _____________________________________________________________________________________ Contextual Reading Approaches Biographical Context Terms: a. biography – (noun) a detailed account or narrative of a person written by someone else. b. autobiography – (noun)a narrative of a person written by himself or herself. c. belief system – (noun)the set of mutually supportive beliefs that define a person’s or society’s outlook on life or reality. d. confessional – (adj.) intimately autobiographical; characterized by openness and self-revelation. Definition: - Biographical Context: is formed by the beliefs, education, culture, and experiences of the author. Reasons to read using Biographical Context: - Understanding the author’s life can help you understand his or her work thoroughly. - Reading the authors’ autobiography or autobiography helps you see how much his experiences shape his or her work directly and indirectly. Biographical Strategies: - Research on what the author believes in and what he or she does not. - Analyze the author’s belief system is reflected in his or her work. - Look at the author’s other works and analyze if there is a pattern about the theme that is indicative of his life or beliefs. Questions: Reading Literature Through Biographical Context: - In what year was the text written and published? - Is there anything significant that happened in the author’s life during his time? - What were the circumstances that happened to the author before the writing of the text? - Are there characters and situations in the text that could be a representative of or are similar to the one’s in the author’s life? Note: - You should not assume that all works are confessional, biographical, or even true to life. - A literary text is according to the author’s perspective and will be heavily influenced by him or her, but it is not the only way of studying literature. Socio - Cultural Context Terms: a. literary theory – (noun) refers to different schools of thought and bodies of ideas that can be used as a tool in understanding literary context. b. socio-cultural – (adjective) relating to, or involving a combination of social and cultural factors. c. social order – (noun) the set or system of social structures, institutions, norms, customs that conserve, maintain, or enforce patterns of relations and behavior. d. ideology – (noun) a systematic body of concepts or beliefs about life or culture. Definition: - Socio-Cultural Context: refers to the idea that language, rather than existing in isolation, is closely linked to the culture and society in which it is used. Activities that can raise awareness of socio-cultural context include using stories, analyzing newspaper headlines and looking at slang and idiomatic language. - You look at the time frame or environment of the society when the literature was written. Reasons to read using Socio-Cultural Context: - Reading using the socio-cultural context helps you understand the social, economic, political, cultural forces affecting the work that you are reading. - Analyzing using the socio-cultural context of the text makes you examine the role of the audience (readers) in shaping literature. Questions: Reading through Socio-Cultural Context: - What is the relationship between the characters in the text to the society? - Does the text explicitly address issues of gender, race, or class? - Who has the power and who does not? - How does the story reflect the nation or its inhabitants? - What is the prevailing order? Does the text accept or challenge it. Literary Theories: a. Marxism - Literature shows class struggle and materialism. b. Feminism - A movement established by women that examines the role of women in the literature. c. Queer Perspective - Concerned with the third gender. d. Historicism - A perspective dealing with history that influenced the writing of literature. e. New Historicism - Focuses not only on the history when the literary text was written, but also how the history happened. Wherein it talks about its effect on society. f. Post Colonialism - A literary perspective that looks into the changes in the attitude of the colonies after the colonial period. Note: - Set aside your personal political ideologies. - Do your best to be unbiased in reading. Literary Context Terms: a. linguistic – (adj.) relating to language or the study language. b. syntax – (noun) the study of how linguistic elements form phrases, clauses or sentences. c. structuralism – (noun) literary theory that examines text to a larger structure. Definition: - Literary Context: refers to the context within the discourse, that is, the relationship between the words, phrases, sentences and even paragraphs. In other words, a linguistic context will not consider the social, situational aspects, or the psychological aspects. Reasons to read using Linguistic Context: - Reading the text on its own, regardless of the author’s biography and sociocultural context, may help you understand the literary text through analyzing the words,sentences, patterns, imagery of the text. - Analyzing the literary text’s grammar, syntax or phonemic pattern may help you find the meaning of the text within its form and help you interpret it by simply analyzing the content of the literary work. Strategies in reading through Linguistic Context: - Analyze the diction or choice of words in the text. - Examine the text’s syntax or use of sentences, clauses, phrases, line-cuts, etc. - Observe the use of the figurative language. - Analyzed the mood and tone of the text. - Observe the text’s overall structure. - Analyze the content of the text. Questions: Reading through Socio-Cultural Context - What were the striking words of the texts? - What nouns are the most prominent? Are these concrete or abstract nouns? - What about the verbs? Does the author use common words or lofty diction? Is there a word that has two meanings? - Are the sentences in the usual order of subject-predicate? - What literary devices were used? - What is the tone? Is the author happy about the subject? - What is the structure of the text? - Is there a theme? Note: - Some writers may not follow grammatical rules, and this kind of deviation can be used in your analysis? - The characteristic of the language in which the text was written may help in analyzing the text.