Representative Texts and Authors from Asia and Africa PDF

Representative Texts and Authors from Asia and Africa  Asia, the largest continent in the world, has a vast literary tradition in terms of scope and length of existence. Literature in the Eastern hemisphere prospered and mirrored the developments in religion, war, and polit...

Representative Texts and Authors from Asia and Africa  Asia, the largest continent in the world, has a vast literary tradition in terms of scope and length of existence. Literature in the Eastern hemisphere prospered and mirrored the developments in religion, war, and politics. It is wise to study the Asian literature by geographical region. East Asia China One of the world’s cradles of civilization, has started its unbroken literary tradition in the 14th century BCE. The preservation of the Chinese language (both spoken and written), has made the immeasurable prolonged existence of their literary traditions possible. It has retained its reputation by keeping the fundamentals of its identity intact. Poets like Du Fu, Li Po, and Wang Wei of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the finest era of Chinese literature, has produced world-renowned literary works. Chinese writers in modern times are still creative and productive and have kept the Chinese literary tradition prosperous. Du Fu He is also known as Tu fu. According to many literary critics, he was the greatest Chinese poet of all time. He wrote the poem “The Ballad of the Army Cats” which is about conscription—and with hidden satire that speaks of the noticeable luxury of the court. Li Po He is also known as Li Bai, a Chinese poet who is a competitor of Du Fu as China’s greatest poet. He was romantic in his personal life and his poetry. His works are known for its conversational tone and vivid imagery. He wrote thepoem “Alone and Drinking under the Moon” that deals with the ancient social custom of drinking.  Ballad Of The Army Cats Alone And Drinking Under The Wagons rattling and banging, Moon horses neighing and snorting, conscripts marching, each with bow and arrows at his hip, fathers and mothers, wives and children, running to see them off-- Amongst the flowers I so much dust kicked up you can't see Xian-yang Bridge! am alone with my pot of wine And the families pulling at their clothes, stamping feet in anger, blocking the way and weeping-- drinking by myself; then lifting ah, the sound of their wailing rises straight up to assault heaven. my cup I asked the moon And a passerby asks, "What's going on?" to drink with me, its reflection The soldier says simply, "This happens all the time. and mine in the wine cup, just From age fifteen some are sent to guard the north, the three of us; then I sigh and even at forty some work the army farms in the west. When they leave home, the village headman has to wrap their turbans for for the moon cannot drink, them; when they come back, white-haired, they're still guarding the frontier. and my shadow goes emptily The frontier posts run with blood enough to fill an ocean, along and the war-loving Emperor's dreams of conquest have still not ended. with me never saying a word; Hasn't he heard that in Han, east of the mountains, with no other friends here, I can there are two hundred prefectures, thousands and thousands of villages, growing nothing but thorns? but use these two for company; And even where there is a sturdy wife to handle hoe and plough, in the time of happiness, I the poor crops grow raggedly in haphazard fields. too must be happy with all It's even worse for the men of Qin; they're such good fighters around me; I sit and sing they're driven from battle to battle like dogs or chickens. and it is as if the moon Even though you were kind enough to ask, good sir, perhaps I shouldn't express such resentment. But take this winter, for instance, accompanies me; then if I they still haven't demobilized the troops of Guanxi, dance, it is my shadow that and the tax collectors are pressing everyone for land-fees-- dances along with me; while land-fees!--from where is that money supposed to come? still not drunk, I am glad Truly, it is an evil thing to bear a son these days, it is much better to have daughters; to make the moon and my at least you can marry a daughter to the neighbor, shadow but a son is born only to die, his body lost in the wild grass. into friends, but then when Has my lord seen the shores of the Kokonor? I have drunk too much, we The white bones lie there in drifts, uncollected. all part; yet these are New ghosts complain and old ghosts weep, under the lowering sky their voices cry out in the rain." friends I can always count on these who have no emotion  Wang Wei He was a poet, painter, musician, and statesman during the Tang dynasty (the golden ages of the Chinese cultural history). He was the established founder of the respected Southern school of painter-poets. Many of his best poems were inspired by the local landscape. Mo Yan He was a fictionist who won the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature. His first novel was “Red Sorghum”, and still his best-known work. It tells the story of the Chinese battling Japanese intruders as well as each other during the 1930s. It relates the story of a family in a rural area in Shandong Province during this turbulent time. Yu Hua He was a world-acclaimed short story writer and considered as a champion for Chinese meta-fictional or postmodernist writing. His widely acclaimed novel “To Live” describes the struggles endured by the son of a wealthy land-owner while historical events caused and extended by the Chinese Revolution are fundamentally altering the nature of Chinese society.  Red To sorghum live  Other authors: 1. Cao Yu - Thunderstorms (drama) 2. Pa Jin - Family (novel) 3. Wang Shou - Please Don't Call Me Human (novel) 4. Pu Songling - Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (short story) 5. Zhang Chenzhi - On a Gate Tower at Yuzhou (poetry) 6. Chu’u Yuan - Battle (poem)  Korea As early as the 4th century CE, Korean poets wrote literary pieces in Classical Chinese poetry then transformations happened at the 7th century. Hangul, Korean’s distinct writing system and national alphabet, is developed in the 15th century that gave new beginnings of Korean literature. In contemporary times, the Korean War has made a significantmark on Korean literaure In 1950, the themes present in the literary works are about alienation, conscience, disintegration, and self- identity. Ch’oe Nam-Seon He was considered a prominent historian, pioneering poet, and publisher in the Korean literature. He was also a leading member of the modern literary movement and became notable in pioneering modern Korean poetry. One of his works, the poem "The Ocean to the Youth” made him a widely acclaimed poet. The poem aimed to produce cultural reform. He sought to bring modern knowledge about the world to the youth of Korea. Yi Kwang-su He was also the one who launched the modern literary movement together with Ch’oe Nam-Seon. He was a novelist and wrote the first Korean novel “The Heartless” and became well-known because of it. It was a description of the crossroads at which Korea found itself, stranded between tradition and modernity, and undergoing conflict between social realities and traditional ideals. Kim Ok He was a Korean poet and included in the early modernism movement of Korean poetry. He wrote the first Korean collection of translation from Western poetry “The Dance of Agony” Yun Hunggil He was a South Korean novelist who won the 1977 Korean Literature Writers Award. He wrote the classic novel “Changma” (The Rainy Spell) that on a post-war family with two grandmothers and their shared grandson. Pak Kyongni She was a South Korean poet and novelist. She wrote the Korean’s masterpiece and internationally acclaimed 21-volume epic novel T’oji (“The Land”), wherein she chronicled the violent Korean history from 1897 to 1945. Japan It has a world-renowned poetic genre called haiku ( a short descriptive poem with 17 syllables) and the diverse forms of theatre Noh (traditional Japanese theatrical form and one of the oldest extant theatrical forms in the world) and Kabuki (traditional Japanese popular drama with singing and dancing performed in a highly stylized manner). Japanese literature reflects simple yet complex, imperfect yet abounding with beauty – the traditional Japanese cultural identity. In contemporary times, Western influences take part in the Japanese literature, specifically in the pioneering of modern Japanese novels, translations of the poetry,and reinventions of traditional Japanese poetic forms like haiku and tanka. Playwrights like Abe  Author Description He was a Japanese novelist and playwright and also known by the pseudonym of Abe Kimifusa. He wrote the best-known play "Tomodachi" (Friends) which is a story, with dark humor, reveals the Abe Kobo relationship with the other, and exposes the peculiarity of human relations in the present age. He also won the 1967 Akutagawa Award. He also won the 1951 Akutagawa Award for his short novel Kabe "The Wall" Kimitake Hiraoka Also known as Mashima Yukio  He was one of the finalists of the 1963 Nobel Prize for Literature and won numerous awards for his works. He wrote the novel “The Corporation for the best novel. “The Temple of the Golden Pavilion”, translated into the English language by Ivan Morris, based on the burning of the Reliquary (or Golden Pavilion) of Kinkaku-Ji in Kyoto by a young Buddhist acolyte in 1950. Known as the father of the japanese story. He wrote the short story “Rashomon” Ryūnosuke Akutagawa that recounts the encounter between a servant and an old woman in the dilapidated Rashōmon, the southern  He wrote the short story “Rashomon” that recounts the encounter between a servant and an old woman in the dilapidated Rashōmon, the southern gate of the then- ruined city of kyoto, w. where unclaimed corpses where sometimes dumped. The Akutagawa Prize, Japan’s premier literary award was named after him to honor his memory after he died by committing suicide. He was a Japanese novelist who won the international award Jerusalem Prize. He also won the Gunzou Literature Prize for Haruki Murakami his first novel “Hear the Wind Sing”. It featured episodes in the life of an unnamed protagonist and his friend, the Rat, who hang out at a bar. The unnamed protagonist reminisces and muses about life and intimacy. Murakami’s work has been translated into more than fifty languages.  Middle East Arabic literary tradition has been flourishing in the Middle East. Islam is the foundation of culture in this region - an essential component. Its literary tradition has grown and influenced others like Persian, Byzantine, and Andalusian traditions. In return, Arabic literature has also been influenced by other literary traditions of different countries.Even European literature followed and imitated Arabic literature. In contemporary times, Arabic writers experience difficulties in producing their literary texts due to the issue of freedom of expression and the tension between religious and secular movements. Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad He was an Egyptian poet, journalist, and literary critic, an innovator of the 20th-century Arabic poetry and criticism. He became famous for his Abqariyat series, a seven-book compilation that covers the life of seven of the most important Sahabah (the disciples and followers of Muhammad). Taha Hussein He was an Egyptian novelist, essayist, critic, and an outstanding figure in Egyptian literature. His nickname was “The Dean of Arabic Literature”. He wrote the novelized autobiography “The Days”, one of the most popular works of modern Arabic literature that deals with his childhood in a small village, then his studies in Egypt and France. Ali Ahmad Said Esber He is known also as Adonis as his pseudonym. He is an award-winning Syrian-born Lebanese poet, literary critic, and is a leader of the modernist movement in contemporary Arabic poetry. He was the recipient of numerous honors, including the 2011 Goethe Prize and the 2017 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International. Some of his famous poems are “First Poems” and “Leaves in the Wind”. Etgar Keret He is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and television. His 2019 Fly Already (“Glitch at the Edge of the Galaxy”) published in English won Israel’s prestigious Sapir Prize in Literature. Other essential texts for reading... AUTHORS 1. Last Simile (poem) Abid B Al-Abras 2. Lāmiyyāt ‘al-Arab (poem) Al-Shanfarā 3. Cities of Salt (novel) Abdul Rahman Munif 4. That Smell and Notes from Prison Sonallah Ibrahim (novel) 5. The People of the Cave (novel) Tawfiq al-Hakim 6. A Love Poem (poem) Umm Khalid Annumairiyya 7. Bin Barka Ally (novel) I Am The One Who Saw (Saddam City)(novel) Mahmoud Saeed 8. A Thousand Splendid Sun (novel) Khaled Hosseini  - The - The Genius Of Umar Days South and Southeast Asia  Hallmark writings such as Veda, the Brahmanas, and the Upanishads are the roots of Indian literature. As early as 1500 BCE, the Veda written in the Sanskrit language introduced the birth of Indian literary works. Around the 16th century, written literature in India appeared Kalidasa is a notable and famous Indian writer considered to be the Hindu Shakespeare. The literary traditions of Southeast Asia possess the influences of Buddhist, Thai, and English cultures, especially in Burma literature. Malaysian and Indonesian literature reflects a large part of the Sanskrit language and Islam culture. In contemporary times, India still manifests the impact of colonial rule through the presence of the English language in literary traditions. Numerous Indian writers like the Rabindranath Tagore, Prem Chand, Raja Rao, and R.K. Narayan are highly accomplished and internationally known. Southeast Asia literature presents themes on colonial and postcolonial experiences in Burmese literature and western literature influences in Thailand literature. Rabindranath Tagore He was a Bengali poet, short-story writer, song composer, playwright, essayist, and painter. He was referred to as “the Bard of Bengal”. He is a towering figure of world literature and the most famous modern Indian poet. He won the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature award for his book The English Gitanjali or Song Offerings. It is a volume of poetry which is a collection of devotional songs to the supreme. Dhanpat Rai Srivastava Also known by his pseudonym Prem Chand, he is a famous Indian author of novels and short stories of his modern Hindustani literature. He pioneered in adapting Indian themes to Western literary styles. He wrote the most popular Hindi novel “Godaan” (Cow Donation) and considered one of the greatest Hindi novels of modern Indian literature. Its theme was around the socio-economic deprivation as well as the exploitation of the village poor. Raja Rao He is an Indian writer of novels and short stories in the English language. His famous novel “The Serpent and the Rope”, a semi-autobiographical account of the narrator, a young intellectual Brahman, and his wife seeking spiritual truth in India, France, and England, recognized him as one of the fines Indian prose Stylists. It won him the Sahitya Akademi Award. He was also rewarded the Neustadt International Prize for Literature. His literary works in various genres had a significant contribution to Indian and to world literature. Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayan (R. K. Narayan) One of the finest Indian authors in the English language, he wrote the Sahitya Award- winning novel “The Guide” which was adapted for film and for Broadway. It was based on the fictional town in South India and describes the transformation of the protagonist from a tour guide to a spiritual guide and one of the greatest holy men of India. Chart Korbjitti He is the most successful Thai writer. He was recognized by his publication of his novel Khamphiphaksa (The Judgment). His novel was named as Book of the Year by Thailand's Literature Council and won him the S.E.A Write Award. He was awarded the National Artist in Literature (2004) and was among the honorees of the inaugural Silpathorn Award, given to Thai contemporary artists. Nguyen Du The best-loved poet and the father of Vietnamese literature, he was most known for his epic poem “The Tale of Kieu” that recounts the life, trials, and tribulations of Thuy Kieu, a beautiful and talented young woman, who has to sacrifice herself to save her family. She sells herself into marriage with a middle aged man, not knowing that he is a pimp, and is forced into prostitution. Tengku Amir Hamzah He was an Indonesian poet and National Hero of Indonesia. His poem collection “Nyangi Sunyi” is considered the most developed and shows the theme of God and His relationship to humanity, fate, dissatisfaction, and escape. Some literary critics think that the collection is an attempt to address the worldly problems of Amir. He was the only Indonesian poet recognized Other essential texts for reading... Central Asia Abdullah Qodiriy He was known by the pseudonym Julqunboy. He was one of the most influential Uzbek writers of the 20th century and Soviet playwright, poet, writer, and literary translator. His most famous work is the historical novel O’tgan kunlar (Days Gone By), the first Uzbek full-length novel. Mukhtar Auez-uli He was an early Soviet Kazakh writer and won recognition for the long novel “Abay” which is based on the life and poetry of Kunanbay-uli. Chingiz Aytmatov He was a Soviet and Kyrgyz author and the best-known figure in Kyrgyz and Russian literature. “Jamila”, his first major novel was told from the viewpoint of a fictional character that tells the story by looking back on his childhood. The story recounts the love between his new sister-in-law Jamilya and a local crippled young man, Daniyar, while Jamilya's husband, Sadyk, is "away at the front" (as a Soviet soldier during World War II). Directions: Fill in the blanks with the correct information. Write your answer on the space provided. ASIA East Asia Middle East The Ballad of the Army Cats by (1)____________ Abqariyat Series by Abba Mahmoud Alone and Drinking under the Moon by Li Po Al-Aqqad Red Sorghum by (2)_________________________ The Days by Tha Hussein To Live by Yu Hua First Poems by The Ocean to the Youth by Ch’oe Nam-Seon (5)___________________________ The Heartless by Yi Kwang-su Fly Already (Glitch at the Edge of the The Dance of Agony by Kim Ok Galaxy by Etgar Keret Changma by Yun Hunggil South and Southeast Asia T’oji (The Land) by Pak Kyongni Gitanjali or Song Offerings by Rabindranath Tagore (3)___________________ by Abe Kobo The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Kimitake Hiraoka (6)_________________________ by Prem Chand (4)_________________________ by Ryunosuke Akutagawa The Serpent and the Rope by Raja Hear the Wind Sing by Haruki Murakami Rao The Judgment by Chart Korbjitti (7)_________________________by Nguyen Du Nyangi Sunyi by Tengku Amir Hamzah Central Asia Days Gone By by Abdullah Qodiriy Abay by Mukhtar Auez-uli (8)____________________ by Chingiz Aytmatov Africa