My subject for today is about world literature. The world as we know it is a big place. There are many different schools of world literature. What i mean by schools of thought is, this world that we live in has many different races of people. Which means that every race of people have there own literature. The Greeks had theirs anyone can go to any library, and read literature about different races such as who was here in the beginning. Was it you or those before you., my guess is it was people here way before you and i. At the Smithsonian Mueseum they have the skelton of the oldest human ever found by any group of archaeologist. Her name they called lucy, she was found in the land of Africa. Archaeologist suggest that she is the oldest of shelton remains ever found. She was a black woman, said to be Eve.
So my point is this is history a part of our literature, from around the world. The Greeks claim to be first but with that finding of lucy shelton the Greeks will just have to confess that they were not the first people. Hitler claim to be first or rather the chosen race of people. The Jews claim to be the chosen of God. A lot of different races of people claim this, guess what this is literature from every ones point of view. Which is literature out of different races from around the world as we know it.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
World Literature at its best!!!
World Liliterature has a significant meaning to life that's surrounded by diversity. World Literature allows for one to perceive other countriess of orgin in a different perspective other than your own. We learn World Lit to understand about other cultures through novels, non fiction books, poetry, articles and essays. All over the world including global, people have a different way of living. From religion to culture, World Literature allows me to understand other parts of the world and how their rules and regulations defer from my very own. It's interesting to intake what others are doing while I'm at work or school, what may be important to them at a certain time period may not be as important to me. Its shows how things change drastically over days, months, years, decades or centries.
World Literature should be important to everyone because at some point or another in this life, you'll maybe come in conatct with someone from Europe, Japan, Tiland or china for example. Their important beliefs may not be yours and its important to know how your beliefs may offend others or defend yourself. You may find that alot of other countries may have the same intrest and vaule and we can all come together as one to share those similarities. World Literature is the basic study of the WORLD!!!
World Literature should be important to everyone because at some point or another in this life, you'll maybe come in conatct with someone from Europe, Japan, Tiland or china for example. Their important beliefs may not be yours and its important to know how your beliefs may offend others or defend yourself. You may find that alot of other countries may have the same intrest and vaule and we can all come together as one to share those similarities. World Literature is the basic study of the WORLD!!!
What about World Lit?
When I decided to take world literature this semester, I didn't really have much of an idea of what to expect. Of course I already knew that I would be learining about world literature from 1650 to the present. But besides that, I was almost clueless as to what I was getting myself into. I had actually been asking around, trying to get other students to give me some kind of advice on what the class would be like and what kind of assignments would be given for homework. I tried to mentally prepare myself for the class by recalling all of the previous times that I had remembered being exposed to literature. The first thing that came to mind was being in 10th grade because I remember us having a literature textbook. I also recall reading well known stories by Shakespeare and analyzing stories and poems in depth. So I expected that the class would be similar to my highschool experience in some small way. When I had gotten through the first two classes of world lit. this semester, I realized that not only would this class teach me about different authors and their stories but that it was going to help me learn how to break things down and analyze in depth. This is the importance of world literature. It exposes you to a wide variety of authors and stories and in doing so it helps you to get a clearer understanding of what you read.
The purpose of studying World Lit.
Why study World Lit? Studying writing from the 1650s to present day is especially important because I believe that literature from this period has a relevance to modern society that ancient texts lack. Reading literature from this period gives us a deeper insight into contemporary historical events, and allows us to experience the consequences of those events first-hand. Also usually the more time spent on something, the better it is, so by 1650 we'd had a ton of practice.
...and it all began in a cave.
The Enlightenment was especially significant because it championed the importance of reason. Which gave rise to several important literary styles, and it emphasized the dual function of literature as entertainment and education. As quoted from page 98 of Volume D in our textbook, "Stage comedy and tragedy, the early novel, satire in prose and verse, didactic poetry, the philosophical tale: each form developed its own set of devices for creating pleasure as well as for involving audiences and readers in situations requiring moral choice." The satire from this period is especially educational, providing a sincere look into the social issues of the day.
Pictured: Sincerity
Often times it seems that literature is where revolutionary social ideas first manifest. The ethics visited in these works also had a great deal of influence on the contemporary world. Oroonoko is significant in that it not only challenged the ethics of slavery, but it was also written by a woman, which was rare for the time it was published. Many works from this period would seek to shed light on other societal double-standards. Moliere's Tartuffe, Swift's biting satire, and Voltaire's cynicism would seek out to "call attention to the deceptiveness and the possible misuses of social norms as well as to their necessity" (pg. 95). The cultural relevance of these ideas still persists today. In many cases the themes and messages in these books were being newly introduced into their cultures, or newly refined; and by reading these works we can gain a better appreciation for ideas that are commonplace in modern society.
The Enlightenment was especially significant because it championed the importance of reason. Which gave rise to several important literary styles, and it emphasized the dual function of literature as entertainment and education. As quoted from page 98 of Volume D in our textbook, "Stage comedy and tragedy, the early novel, satire in prose and verse, didactic poetry, the philosophical tale: each form developed its own set of devices for creating pleasure as well as for involving audiences and readers in situations requiring moral choice." The satire from this period is especially educational, providing a sincere look into the social issues of the day.
Often times it seems that literature is where revolutionary social ideas first manifest. The ethics visited in these works also had a great deal of influence on the contemporary world. Oroonoko is significant in that it not only challenged the ethics of slavery, but it was also written by a woman, which was rare for the time it was published. Many works from this period would seek to shed light on other societal double-standards. Moliere's Tartuffe, Swift's biting satire, and Voltaire's cynicism would seek out to "call attention to the deceptiveness and the possible misuses of social norms as well as to their necessity" (pg. 95). The cultural relevance of these ideas still persists today. In many cases the themes and messages in these books were being newly introduced into their cultures, or newly refined; and by reading these works we can gain a better appreciation for ideas that are commonplace in modern society.
What is the importance of World Literature?
To say whether we have a need for World Literature in today's society, first I would need to give a Definition of the term, something I had to actually look up myself. To sum up the definition that I Received from Wikipedia for World Literature would be the art of written work, literature can come from a specific time, genre, historical periods, political movements, gender, race, and/or nationality. World Literature gives us an insight on times that have passed or things that are happening or are going to happen in the world. World Lit is important because without the written content of the world everything could be hear-say, personal experience, storytelling, or television. World Literature gives a voice to all to express their opinion, experience, truths, lies, imaginations, and dreams, reality and information. Literature paints a worded picture of places and times that some would not be able to experience without the Literature.
World literature through another's eye
World literature from my perspective is the history of how writings from different cultures and ages were experienced to what individuals feel, how they live, understand, perceive in and out, and explore. Studying world literature is a major way to live inside the head and heart from different lifestyles, knowledges, and history that built the world for so many years. World literature gives people a chance to let go of their ethnocetrism by becoming a little apart of another one's standards and values from going into the mind and art of such a broad range of cultural writings. A person is custom to their own beginings and beliefs and tends to over look someone else's life understanding, so reading a piece of literature gives an open mind and heart for the reader from the writer. World literature is major way of life that educates the world apart from their own. The world comes more involved in eachother through world literature and it can become more broad to expand, as well as influence and subject to everyone else.
Who Cares?
Around many institutions of education, an age old question is asked "Why do I need to know this?" Most students in general do not understand the importance of reviewing the past. In many cases, students feel that history in no way affects their current lives and has no value.
Most historians and professors will agree with the statement, "If you don't know the past you are bound to repeat it". I believe this statement. Valuable information can be learned from the readings and teaching of the past. Literature is a great tool that can provide a consistent message of ones experiences that may be applied to daily life. For instance "The Diary of Anne Frank" gave an interesting depiction of a certain era which I would not want to repeat.
Although we may be uncertain of the authors true message, classic tales teach values that are a important in today's `society. Examples include the Bible, Romeo and Juliet, Of Mice and Men and the Scarlet Letter. All works of literature which are internationally known. Many of which individuals base what is acceptable in modern society.
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