TAGALOG REGION LITERATURE

GEOGRAPHICAL AREA
• Tagalog literature has been born, cradled, nourished and peaked into fruition in the provinces of Southern Luzon,
Central Luzon and the present Metropolitan Manila or the National Capital Region.
• Tagalog region is the birthplace of a rich tradition of Philippine culture in language, politics, economy and
literature.
• The literary tradition in the Tagalog regions especially outstanding in the field of oral literature like bugtong (riddle),
proverbs, native songs. These oral literatures are always in poetic forms, usually seven-syllabic rhymes, so Asian
in form and perspective.
THE LITERARY TRADITION
• It is the pens of these men that shaped the political consciousness of the Filipinos.
• Balagtas could be said to have voiced out the first concept of nationhood in Philippine politics and literature in his
epic poem, Florante at Laura.
• This epic poems of Balagtas had inspired a generation of young writers of the period, like Marcelo H. del Pilar,
who spearheaded the Propaganda Movement in Europe and Jose Rizal, whose novels, Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo set the conflagration of revolutionary spirit and movement.
• In the contemporary Philippine society, Tagalog literature is continuing its role bequeathed upon it by historical
development.
• However, Tagalog literature now, more and more is given a new name— Filipino literature.
• Alamat – a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human
history and demonstrating human values, and which possesses certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude.
MGA BUGTONG
• Nang bata’y submarino, nang tumanda’y eroplano.
• Natuwa ang nawalan, nagalit ang nakakuha.
• Isang pindot ng daliri, impormasyo’y sari-sari.
• Kung si Kupido ang pakikinggan, ito ang pinakamahalagang bahagi ng katawan.
• Kadaldalan nito ay di nahihinto dapat patayin upang maglaho.
TAGALOG AUTHORS:
1. FRANSISCO “BALAGTAS” BALTAZAR
- Florante at Laura or Pinagdaanang Buhay ni Florante at Laura sa Kaharian ng Albanya, an awit (metrical
narrative poem with dodecasyllabic quatrains [12 syllables per line, 4 lines per stanza]) Balagtas' masterpiece
- La India elegante y el negrito amante – a short play in one part
2. JOSE RIZAL
- Ex. works: Noli Me Tangere, El Filibusterismo, Mi Ultimo Adios

3. NICK JOAQUIN
- Ex works: May Day Eve, The Woman Who Had to Navels, Tropical Gothic
4. CARLOS P. ROMULO
- Ex works: I Saw the Fall of the Philippines, I see the Philippines rise, I’m a Filipino

MUSLIM LITERATURE
MUSLIM LITERATURE
 A written Arabic literature began to be known with the collect of Koran, the sacred book of Islam, in Arabia in 17th
century A.D. with the spread of the Islamic faith into Asia, Africa and Europe, the Arabian language soon became
a major world language.
 Today it is read or understood by hundreds of millions of People. Even before the revelations of Muhammad were
collected in the Koran, however, the Arabs possessed a highly developed poetry, composed of recitation and
transmitted from generation to generation.
 The most famous examples are the elaborated odes, or qasdahs, of Mu’allagat (“the suspended odes”), beginning
with those of Imru’ Alqais. These poems reflected and praised the customs and values of the desert environment in
which they arose.
PRE-ISLAMIC
 The most celebrated poems of the pre-Islamic period were known as the Mu’allgqat ("the suspended"), reputedly
because they were considered sufficiently outstanding to be hung on the walls of the ka'ba in Makkah.
 The typical poem of this period is the Qasidah (ode), which normally consists of 70-80 pairs of half-lines.
Traditionally, they describe the nomadic life, opening with a lament at an abandoned camp for a lost love. The
second part praises the poet's horse or camel and describes a journey, with the hardships it entails
HISTORICAL PERIODS
A. Umayyad Period (A.D. 661-750)
Arabic prose literature was limited primarily to grammatical treatise, commentaries on the Koran, and compiling of
stories about Muhammad and his companions . The Umayyad poets, chief of whom were Al-Akhtal and Al-Farazdaq,
favored poetic forms such as love lyrics called (Ghazals) , wine songs and hunting poems . These forms the conditions of
life and manners found in territories conquered by Islam.
B. Abbasid Empire (750-1258)
In the early years of this empire, many forms were invented for Arabic literature , which then entered what is
generally regarded it’s greatest period of development and achievement. It is certain that the Persian influences contributed
significantly to this development. For example, translations from Persian , such as those of Ibn al-Muqaff‘, led to a new
refinement in Arabic prose called adab, often sprinkled with poetry and utilizing rhyme prose (saj’), the style of KORAN.
The greatest masters of adab were Al jahiz and Al Hariri. An inventive type of folk literature ,exemplified in “The Thousand
and One Nights” (popularly known as The Arabian Nights), drew upon the recitations of wandering storytellers called rawis.
Abu Nuwas was acknowledged as the foremost among the new poets who used the Arabic language with greater
freedom and imagination.
C. Modern Period
During the centuries of Ottoman Turkish domination, Arabic literature fall into decline. Not until the mid-19th
century was it revived by it’s intellectual movement known as Nahdah (―reawakening‖), which originated in Syria and
spread to Egypt. From being imitative to Europeans, Modern Arabic literature, both prose and poetry, has gradually freed
itself from centuries of neglect and has assumed it’s former place among the world’s greatest literatures.
OUSTANDING AMONG THE RECENT ARABIC NOVELISTS, DRAMATISTS, AND ESSAYISTS:
 - Tawfig al-Hakim,
- Nobelist NgaguibMahfouz, Taha Husayn
- Poets, Ihiya Abu Madi, Adonis , Ahmad Shawqi, Abu Shadi and Abbas al Aqqad
D. GOLDEN AGE OF ARABIC PROSE
Studded with names of brilliant writers such s the essayist al-Jahiz and Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi and the critic Ibn
Qucaybah. It was also during the period that the works of Abual-‗alaal-Ma‘arri become popular with his letters in Saj and
the Risalat al-Ghufran which pictures a visit to the other world.

ARABIC POETRY
ALL VERSES ARE DIVIDED INTO TYPES:
1. Occasional Poems – Consisting 2 to 20 lines whose themes are usually war and revenge and praise of one’s own tribe.
Various genres fall to this are:
• Elegies
• Praising the dead; the most famous type was Kansa.
• The Odes or Quasida
• Was an elaborate ode usually of 60 to 100 lines
• Themes were usually about exploits of narrator, his old passion, and descriptions of camp life in honor of his
patron. The oral transition of poems lasted for 350 yrs.
2. Collection or Anthologies – Al-Mu’allgqat, a group of pre-Islamic Odes.
3 KINDS OF COLLECTION
Al-Mu-Allkat means “suspended” because these poems were supposed to have been displayed by the Arabs on the
Kaaba at Mecca. These collections are ascribed to Hammed-al-Ravisya in 8th century A.D. by Amru Ul Kais “most
illustrious of Arabian poets”. Showed the nomadic life, views and philosophies, visions and their dreams arising from such
condition.

VISAYAN LITERATURE
Folk literature ranges from brief riddles, proverbs, ditties, ritual chants to elaborate love songs, tales and extensive
epics. A poem is called binalaybay and the tale is the asoy or the sugilanon.
Visayan Literature was an oral literature, and was not recorded by ethnographers who would have considered the
idea of oral literature a contradiction in terms. There was no evidence of every prose literature, but ordinary Visayan speech
was itself rich with metaphor and colorful imagery.
The simplest form of verse, ambahan it consists of unrhymed seven-syllable couplet which had to contain a
complete thought
A balak is a poetic debate between a man and a woman on the subject of love, while bilak is a poetic joust between
two individual in which they criticized each other’s physical or moral short comings, but were to expected to harbor no hard
feelings afterwards.
The noblest literary form was the siday or kandu. This was the most difficult all, long, sustained, repetitious, and
heavy with metaphor. A single one might take six hours to sing or the whole night through.
FAMOUS AUTHORS AND THEIR WORKS
1. MAGDALENA JALANDONI
 is known as the Grand Dame of Hiligaynon Literature. When she died in 1978, she left a body of works composed
of 32 novels, 122 short stories, seven novelettes, five corridos, eight narrative poems of 100-1000 stanzas each, 231
short lyrical poems, seven long plays,24 short plays and etc. Her famous ‘’ang guitara’’ is read in classrooms all
over the country today

2. AUGURIO ABETO (1900-1977):

• was an essayist in hiligaynon during the Golden Age of Hiligaynon Literature. He was also a municipal president
(modern equivalent to mayor) during 1940's. He is a composer of visayan song dandansoy as claimed by Negros,
was actually a composition from Culasi, which means dadansoy is a name of a boy. This song is about the singer
leaving dadansoy to go back to her hometown.

3. ERLINDA K. ALBURO:
 A profilic contemporary cebuano language scholar and promoter of the language. She is an active member of
Women in Literary Arts and writes poems both in english and cebuano. She teaches on anthropology of linguistics.
Some of her famous works are: Dulaang Cebuano(collection of cebuano plays) and Panulaang Cebuano, “Cebuano
Literature in the Philippines” which is an online publication in the website of the National Commission for Culture
and Arts, 2002.

4. DIOSDADO G. ALESNA (MAY 18, 1909):

 is a Cebuano Visayan writer. His recognized pen-names include Diody Mangloy, Rigor Tancredo, Reynaldo Lap,
Buntia, La Roca, Melendres, and Flordeliz Makaluluoy. Alesna was an educator and a civil servant. He created the
Cebuano verse form "siniloy" and has frequently won prizes, including the 1966 award for "Most Outstanding Poet
for the Last 10 Years" from Lubas sa Dagang Bisaya (LUDABI).
 Ang Gahom sa Awit (The Power of Song)
 Kalimti ug Biyai (Forget and Leave)
 Si Kristo sa Balabag (Christ on the Cross)

AMERICAN LITERATURE
American literature, the body of written works . Produced in the English language in the United States.
PURITAN/COLONIAL PERIOD (1650-1750)

 Genre/Style: Sermons, religious tracts, diaries, personal narratives, religious poems.

 Effect/Aspects: Instructive, reinforces authority of the Bible and the church. Very little imaginative literature was
produced.
 Historical Context: Puritan settlers fled England where they were being persecuted for their religious beliefs, and
came to New England to have religious freedom.
SOME FAMOUS WRITERS
1. ANNE BRADSTREET
• Her writing is characterized by the Puritan Plain Style (short words, direct statements, and references to ordinary,
everyday objects and events).
• She was the first North American to publish a book of poems, the first Woman and the first Puritan in North America
to publish! Born and educated in England, Anne Bradstreet was the daughter of an earl's estate manager.
2. COTTON MATHER
• No timeline of American colonial literature would be complete without mentioning Cotton Mather, the master
scholar. Third in the four-generation Mather dynasty of Massachusetts Bay, he wrote at length of New England in
over 500 books and pamphlets.
REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD/AGE OF REASON (1750-1800)
Overview of Revolutionary Period/Age of Reason
Genre/Style: Political Pamphlets, Travel Writing, and highly ornate persuasive writing.
Effect/Aspects: Patriotism and pride grows, creates unity about issues, and creates American character.
Historical Context: Encouraged Revolutionary War support.
SOME FAMOUS WRITERS
1. ABIGAIL ADAMS
• She wrote letters that campaigned for women’s rights. Her grandson, Charles Francis Adams, published The
Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail During the Revolution, which were just what they said they
were, letters written by Abigail and her husband.
2. THOMAS JEFFERSON
• Jefferson is best known for writing the Declaration of Independence, the document came about as people started
thinking for themselves and realized they wanted to be free from England’s rule.
3. THOMAS PAINE
• Paine wrote mostly pamphlets that would spur ideas and immediate action. In the document "The American Crisis,"
Paine wrote about the oppression that America suffered from Britain, and propelled America into a war with Britain.
ROMANTICISM (1800-1850)
Genre/Style: Character Sketches, Slave Narratives, Poetry, and short stories.
Effect/Aspects: Integrity of nature and freedom of imagination.
Historical Context: Publishing expands and industrial revolution brings new ideas.
SOME FAMOUS WRITERS
1. WASHINGTON IRVING
• Irving was the first “famous” American author; he’s also known as the “Father of American Literature.” He wrote
travel books, short stories, and satires. Some of his works include; Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle, and
Devil and Tom Walker.
2. EDGAR ALLAN POE
• Edgar Allan Poe was a southerner with a darkly metaphysical vision mixed with elements of realism, parody, and
burlesque (caricature or parody).
• He refined the short story genre and created detective fiction.
• Many of his stories foreshadow the genres of science fiction, horror, and fantasy so popular today.

TRANSCENDENTALISM (1840-1855)
Genre/Style: Poetry, Short Stories, and Novels.
Effect/Aspects: Idealists, individualism, and symbolism.
Historical Context: People still see stories of persecuted young girls forced apart from her true love.
SOME FAMOUS WRITERS
1. WALT WHITMAN
• Born on Long Island, New York, Walt Whitman was a part-time carpenter, whose brilliant, pioneering work
expressed the country's democratic spirit. Whitman was mostly self-taught, he left school at the age of 11 to go to
work. His Leaves of Grass (1855), which he rewrote and revised throughout his life, contains "Song of Myself,"
the most amazingly original poem ever written by an American.
REALISM (1855-1900)
Genre/Style: Novels, Short Stories, Objective Narrator, and does not tell reader how to interpret the story.
Effect/Aspects: Social and Aesthetic realism.
Historical Context: Civil War brought demand for a more true type of literature.
SOME FAMOUS WRITERS
1. MARK TWAIN
• Samuel Clemens, also known by his pen name of Mark Twain, grew up in the Mississippi River frontier town of
Hannibal, Missouri.
• Ernest Hemingway's well-known statement, that all of American literature comes from one great book: Twain's
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; shows Twain’s high place in the tradition.
• Twain's style, based on strong, realistic, everyday American speech, gave American writers a new appreciation for
their national voice. Twain was the first major author to come from the heart of the country, and he captured its
distinctive and humorous slang and iconoclasm.
2. STEPHEN CRANE
• Wrote The Red Badge of Courage
• Realism is often called "the faithful representation of reality”, and Crane writes about the war as if he were there,
even though he never saw battle.
HARLEM RENAISSANCE (1917-1935)
The Harlem Renaissance was the name given to the cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem
between the end of World War I and the middle of the 1930s. During this period Harlem was a cultural center, drawing
black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars. Many had come from the South, fleeing its oppressive
caste system in order to find a place where they could freely express their talents.
THE MODERNS (1900-1950)
Genre/Style: Novels, Plays, Poetry, experiments in writing styles, interior monologue, and stream of consciousness.
Effect/Aspects: Pursuit of American Dream, Admiration for America, Optimism, and Individual Importance.
Historical Context: Writers reflected the ideas of Darwin and Karl Marx, during WWI and WWII.
SOME FAMOUS WRITERS
1. T.S. ELLIOT
 • Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a wealthy family with ancestry in the northeastern United
States. He received the best education of any major American writer of his generation at Harvard College, the
Sorbonne, and Merton College of Oxford University. He studied Sanskrit and Oriental philosophy, which influenced
his poetry.
CONTEMPORARY (1946-PRESENT)
In the years since the Modernism period, American authors have begun to write from a plethora of genres.
Americans have realized that the best way to go is have many authors writing what ever it is they are best at.
SOME FAMOUS WRITERS
1. STEPHEN KING
• King writes novels that both frighten and intrigue. Some of his major works are; Carrie published in 1974; The
Shining, publishing in 1998; Salem's Lot, published in 1993; The Stand, published in 1991, and The Dark tower
Series.
2. ROBERT JORDAN
• He went to the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, where he received a degree in physics. Jordan’s
main area of expertise is in the genre of fantasy. He is currently in the process of writing a series of novel entitled
The Wheel of Time.

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.
• 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.
• Works from the renaissance: HAMLET BY SHAKESPEARE.
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.
• An essay concerning human understanding by John Locke.
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.
• WHEN WE TWO PARTED BY Lord Byron.

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.
• David Copperfield BY Charles Dickens.

ASIAN LITERATURE
1. Five Famous Asian authors you should know

 Bi Feiyu

 Yoko Okogawa

 Manu Joseph

 Tabish Khair

 Kenzaburō Ōe
2. It refers to the study of the literature of the people in:

 China
 India
 Japan
 Korea
 Other small nations surround them
3. Chinese civilization is the oldest civilizations in the world that dates back to the Shang Dynasty in 1765 B.C. It is known
as “The Red Dragon”. CHINA
4. The Chou Dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty of great intellectual activity and was in this period when the
philosophies of the Confucianism, Taoism and legalism originated. It is the longest dynasty in Chinese history which lasted
from 1122 B.C. To 256 B.C.
5. The Han Dynasty which succeeded after the collapse of the Chou strengthened the unity within the bureaucracy but
Confucianism was substituted for Legalism.
6. In more modern times, the author Lu Xun (1881–1936) is considered the founder of baihua literature in China
7. Confucius: perhaps the greatest philosopher of the world has known. One of the truly great men that China has produced.
The word Confucius is the westernized form of his name, which is Kung Fu-tze, Kung being his proper name, Fu signifying
revered, and tze signifying teacher.
8. Li Po (701 – 761), or Li tai Po, was one of the leading Chinese poets of the eighth century. His writings deal with the
good things of life and with the pathos of human destiny. With a striking vividness they treat of love, friendship, wine,
nature, and simple village living.
9. Po – Chu – I (722 – 846) was a well-known Chinese poet who represented the classical tradition in Chinese literature,
politics and morality.
10. India is the vast land in Southern Asia, extending from the Himalayan Mountains south to the tip of a great peninsula
that reaches from out into the Indian Ocean. It is known as “Land of prayer”.
INDIAN LITERATURE
11. The first characteristic we notice about Indian literature is that it is based on piety, a deeply religious spirit.
12. Dravidians- earliest people in India dating back to 3000 – 2500 B.C. Towards 2000 B.C.
13. Sanskrit- literature of India. The word “sanskrit” means cultivated or perfected. Vedas – the bible of the Indians.
14. Ramayana and Mahabharata are the most important epics of India. Ramayana – is about the reincarnation of the creator
god Vishnu in the person of Rama, who is the hero of the epic.
Mahabharata – deals with the other reincarnation of Vishnu in the person of Krishna. It is considered as the greatest epic of
India.
15. The Indians believe in reincarnation. The reincarnation of Vishnu are called Avatars, descending from the god.
16. Rig-Veda – made up of hymns in praise of the gods. The hymns are strong, energetic religions expressions comparable
to the Old Testament Psalms. ROOTS OF INDIAN LITERATURE
17. Upanishads- consists of a group of sketches, illustrations, explanations and critical comments on the religious thoughts
suggested by the poetic hymns of Rig-Veda.
18. The first great name in Indian drama is Bhasa. (13 plays are attributed to him.)
INDIAN DRAMA
19. Kalidasa – the greatest writer of plays. He is the author of Shakuntala. - he is called the brightest of the “nine gems of
genius”.
20. Shakuntala – it is a story of a king who goes hunting in the woods and meets a beautiful maiden named Shakuntala with
whom he falls in love.
21. Panchatantra (Five headings) – a book that said to contain the first fables ever written. Fables are stories of animals who
behave like human beings
22. Rabindranath Tagore – was a great Indian poet and dramatist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913
and was knighted by the british government in 1915.
23. Also known as “The Land of the Rising Sun”. The earliest writings from ancient Japan are: 1. The Records of Ancient
Matters in Kojiko (A.D. 712) 2. The Chronicles of Japan or Nihongi (A.D. 720) JAPAN
24. It is one of the major Oriental Literatures. Katakana – basic alphabet in Japan which consists 47 characters.
JAPANESE LITERATURE
25. Earliest Japanese Literary works:

 Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters)

 Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan)
26. Drama – favorite form of amusement.

 Noh play
 Joruri or puppet play
 Kabuki play
JAPANESE DRAMA
27. It is the national theater of Japan. NOH PLAY
28. The puppets are beautifully made and lifelike in size. The strings are expertly manipulated and the dialogue reastically
interpreted. THE PUPPET PLAY (DOLL THEATER)
29. The play of the masses. It is less intellectual, more realistic, even sensational. KABUKI PLAY
30. Manyo Shu (Collection of myriad leaves) – oldest collection of poetry. It was compiled in 800 A.D. The collection titled
One Hundred Persons was compiled much later. JAPANESE POETRY
31. Shortest form of Japanese poetry but most popular. It has seventeen- syllable poem in three lines of five, seven, and five
syllables. HAIKU
32. Example: Poetry and love will fill your heart forever, or rip it to shreds!
33. A five-line poem. The first and third line lines have five syllables each and the others seven, making a total of thirty-
one syllables per poem. TANAKA

 Example: O pine tree standing At the side of the stone house, When I look at you, It is like seeing face to face The
men of old time. - Hakutsu, from the Manyo Shu
35. For much of Korea's 1,500 years of literary history, it was written in Hanja.
KOREAN LITERATURE
36. Korea is home to the world's first metal and copper type, world's earliest known printed document and the world's
first featural script.
37. Hyangga was the first uniquely Korean form of poetry. Only twenty five survive.
38. Hyangga are characterized by a number of formal rules. The poems may consist of four, eight or ten lines. The ten-line
poems are the most developed, structured into three sections with four, four, and two lines respectively. Many of the ten-
line poems were written by Buddhist monks. And Buddhist themes predominate the poems. Another dominant theme was
"death". Many of the poems are eulogies to monks, to warriors, and to family members.
39. The Goryeo period was marked by a growing use of hanja characters. Hyangga largely disappeared as a form of Korean
literature, and "Goryeo gayo" (hangul: 고려가요, literally "Goryeo songs") became more popular.

40. The poetic form of the Goryeo songs is known as pyolgok or changga (hangul: 별곡). It is characterized by a refrain
either in the middle or at the end of each stanza. The refrain establishes a mood or tone that carries the melody and spirit of
the poem or links a poem composed of discrete parts with differing contents.
41. King Sejong himself is credited with a compilation of Buddhist songs.
42. Many novels of the 1920s centered on themes of the suffering of intellectuals. The lives of farmers were often depicted
as pathetic. As the Japanese government strengthened ideological coercion during the 1930s, Korean literature was directly
affected. Many novels of the time experimented with new literary styles and techniques.
43. King Sejong created the written language of hangul and announced it to the Korean people in the Hunminjeongeum
(Hangul:훈민정음, Hanja: 訓民正音), meaning 'The verbally right sounds meant to teach the people.'

44. Although most government officials and aristocrats opposed usage of hangul, lower classes embraced it, became literate,
and were able to communicate with one another in writing.
45. Korean prose literature can be divided into narratives, fiction, and literary miscellany. Narratives include myths, legends,
and folktales found in the written records. The principal sources of these narratives are the two great historical records
compiled in Classical Chinese during the Koryo era
ASIAN LITERATURE FAMOUS AUTHORS
1. BI FEIYU
 nominated for “Three Sisters“
 Bi Feiyu is well known in China as a novelist and screenwriter. He grew up in the Chinese countryside during the
Cultural Revolution. He once told an interviewer that as a child he had no toys – only nature. When he entered
college, he says, and began reading, he was shocked by the difference between books and real life and that is what
pushed him to become a novelist.
 "Three Sisters" tells the stories of three daughters of a lecherous Communist Party secretary as a vehicle for
exploring the difficult lives of women in Communist China in the 1970s and 80s.

2. MANU JOSEPH
 nominated for “Serious Men“
 Manu Joseph, deputy editor and Mumbai bureau chief of Open magazine, has been a journalist for 14 years.
 "Serious Men," his debut novel, is an exploration of questions of class in India. This novel tells the story of a Dalit
(untouchable) secretary who works for a high-class Brahmin at Bombay's Institute of Theory and Research and
invents stories about his disabled son in a desperate effort to advance socially.

3. TABISH KHAIR
 nominated for “The Thing About Thugs“
 The Indian poet-novelist Tabish Khair was born and educated in Bihar, India, but now lives mostly in Aarhus,
Denmark where he is a professor of English at the University of Aarhus. His books include "Babu Fictions" (2001)
and "The Bus Stopped" (2004).
 A lyrical writer whose prose is often called "poetic," Khair is also known for his reluctance to allow his work to be
categorized as representative of any kind of post-colonial Indian literary tradition. ("Can I represent anyone other
than myself?" he once asked an interviewer. "On what grounds can I speak for someone else?")
 "The Thing About Thugs" is set in Victorian England and tells the story of an Indian villager who travels to London
with an English captain and fascinates him with the story of his life as a murderous thug.

4. KENZABURŌ ŌE
 nominated for “The Changeling“
 Japanese Nobel laureate (1994) Kenzaburō Ōe has always credited French and American literature as important
influences in his creative development. (He says that he "willl carry to the grave" the impact of the copy of
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" given to him by his grandmother when he was a boy.) Another major
influence in Ōe's life has been his oldest son, Hikari, who was brain-damaged during his 1963 birth. Several of
Ōe's books feature characters based on his son.
 "The Changeling" takes the real-life suicide of film director Juzo Itami (who was also Ōe's close friend and
brother-in-law) and spins around it a roman à clef that takes the main characters back to their past and their
previous entanglement with a right-wing paramilitary group.