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Southeast Asian Literature

Philippines, Vietnamese,
Indonesian, Thailand, Burma,
Laos

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Introductions
Role of Literature in the community
that reads them
Different Genres
Themes
Highlights from the different
countries

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Topics of Discussion

Roles
Literature is Education
Literature is Hope
Literature is a subversive act

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Literature is Hope

Even in hopelessness there is


hope (Prof. Grant Olson)
Poem (Burma) Lets Go to Tahiti
Short Story (Vietnamese) To Live
Novel (Philippines) Noli Me
Tangere

Writers hope to bring the spirit of


reform into all spheres of life
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Literature is Education

Living History
Gives a voice to the people
Conveys quality of life
Geography - Rural vs. Urban
Shows people land and relate to it

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Demonstrate in Culture
Shows how complex everything is
Pictures ethnic conflict

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Literature is Education

Explores relationship between Men


and Women and identifies gender
role
Political Power and its corruption

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Literature is a
Subversive Act

A medium for change


Writers and Readers alike join in
the act
Promotes Social Responsibility
and Social Consciousness

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Genres

Traditional Oral Literature- Folktales,


Proverbs, Riddles, legends
Religious Narratives and LiteratureBuddhist Codes and verses, Jataka
Tales
Narrative Poetry - Epic Stories

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Non-narrative Poetry - songs, love


poems etc.
Historical Novels
Contemporary Literature - novels,
short stories, poems,

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Themes

Animals and Forest


Supernatural/Mythical Beings and
their journeys
Gender Roles

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Strong Familial Relationship,


loyalty and Identity, Ethnocentricity
Prostitution
Rural vs. Urban

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Poignancy of Love Relationship


Wheels of Fate
Importance of Reciprocity
Struggles between humanity and
poverty

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Strength of Human Character


Political Corruption
Nationalism and anti-colonialism

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Other themes

Fortune Telling
Karma, Justice, Responsibility and
Retribution
Nature, Society, and Humanity
uniting together

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Sadness of life
River is life and society
the will to love

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Philippines

Literature based on expressive


Culture
epics
myths
legends,

tales
riddles, proverbs and rituals
balagtasan
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Philippine Epics

Cultural Values and Universal


Themes of Epic Poetry
Miraculous birth of the hero
his precocious strength
magical powers

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herculean deeds
extraterestial journeys to the
underworld and sky world
his death and resuscitation

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Epic of Romance
Epic of Migration

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Vietnam Literature

Rich, varied expressing over the


centuries.
Depicts humor, realism, and irony
of the Vietnamese people

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Themes

Oriental Philosophy - a system that


harmonizes the natural and social
world that includes humanity in the
center uniting with nature and
society.

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Oriental Philosophy discovered not


only the three directions of time
(past, present, future) but also a
4th direction - the direction of
spiritual life.

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Oriental Philosophy that


Influence Vn Literature
Buddhism
Confucianism
Taoism - that is mainly a
combination of folk beliefs and
high regard of nature
Animism (10th Century - where
strong winds, the waters, and the
mountain were worshipped

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Principal Tenets of this 4


Oriental Philosophy

Nature and society and humanity


unite with one another in a
harmony of beauty. The link of
human generations and thousands
of living creatures never ends.
(Phuc Cu De, 1999)

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NONE turns HAVE - NONE means


endless, boundless, immense,
infinite, numberless in moving and
changing movements and the
developing process of everything.

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HAVE is not simply possessive in


meaning but it means the limitation
of changing and the developing
process ofeverything. (Phuc Cu
De, 1999)

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Man = Great Universe = Great


Nature and Society
Nature, Society, and Humanity
Unite with one Another in a
harmony of beauty.
The link of human generations
and thousand of living creatures
never ends.

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Genres

Anonymous Literature (Oral)


Legends
Proverbs
Songs that depicts aspects of
traditional society

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Folk Literature (17th and 18th


century)
Fables
Satirical and narrative poems
Verse Novels

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Verse Novels
first verse has 6 feet
2nd verse has 8 feet
6th character of the second verse
rhymes with the last character of
the first verse
these novels are recited and sung
from village to village

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Texts indicate chinese influence,


chinese characters (Tom language)
and chinese conception of literary
style

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Modern Literature - texts are evidence of


realism as a repurcussion of 30+ of war
it also shows a literary dichotomy
created by the partition of Vietnam in
1954.
Through literature, writers hoped to
bring the spirit of reform into all spheres
of Vietnamese life.

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Thailand

Religion
Jataka Tales a.k.a Aesops Fables
Fate and Karma
Buddhist Concepts of Merit and
Demerit
The Theme of Rice - gather as
much as you need for one day

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Indonesian

Ramayana - The Journey of Rama


Purpose: To conquer evil with
good
Important Notions: Meditation,
Power of Language,
Hierarchy/caste

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Laos

Secular texts - much richer than


religious texts

popular and classical lietrature are


well known at all levels of society
although authors names are
unknown and texts are undated and
undatable
1. Stories, legends and poem of oral
tradition are satirical in tone
Stories called sysva have strong
moral and education content

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3. Tales that comment on the naivety of the


peasantry, the greediness of the wealthy and
the demands of the royalty
4. Judicial stories which include
commentaries on ancient Lao codes
5. Historical Legends - e.g. History of Khun
Purom which recount the legendary migration
of the Tai Peoples from China to Luang
Prabang

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6. Poetry that are predominantly Buddhist


and inspired to the licentious
7. Classical Lao Literature - written in prose
and verse form, lenghty and not original.
Themes include handsome priest, the
heroin is a beautiful princess and the
antagonist a demon. There is also a Lao
version of the Ramayana

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Burma

Buddhism
Anti-government, expose of
government corruption

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