Lesson 1: Features of Southeast Asian Literature (G8)

By Ann Trinidad-Pajarito

UNIT 13 Lesson 1:

Features of Southeast Asian Literature

OBJECTIVES:

​Some text here about the topic of discussion.

• identify the notable literary genres contributed by Southeast Asian writers.

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

Multiple Choice

it is related to public worship

• liturgical

• extant

• populist

• disparity

• social realism

Multiple Choice

refers to a great difference

• liturgical

• extant

• populist

• disparity

• social realism

Multiple Choice

refers to a government-sanctioned art in communist countries

based on the ideals of socialism

• liturgical

• extant

• populist

• disparity

• social realism

Multiple Choice

refers to an active revolt or uprising

• insurgency

• conspicuous

• populist

• disparity

• social realism

Multiple Choice

standing out so as to be clearly visible

• insurgency

• conspicuous

• populist

• disparity

• social realism

Multiple Choice

refers to a member or adherent of a political party seeking to represent

the interests of ordinary people

• liturgical

• extant

• populist

• disparity

• social realism

Multiple Choice

it means existing or surviving

• liturgical

• extant

• populist

• disparity

• social realism

General Classical Southeast Asian Literature

• ​Early Southeast Asian literature is based on regional identity and culture.

• When diversity was limited to trading, the oral literature bore the marks of the community.

• Subjects on belief, moral values, love, and nature were invariably common.

• Three major regions: Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese

​The Sanskrit Region

​

• Sanskrit - the Indian sub-continental classical language, the earliest inscriptions in Southeast Asia

• served as a liturgical language, e.g. Veda, the fundamental scriptures of Hinduism

• carried outside the Indian subcontinent to adjacent regions, which came under the influence of Indian culture: Tibet, China, and Southeast Asia from Thailand to Indonesia

• covers various aspects of life like art, science, literature, and many others

​The Pali Region

​

• Pali - the name given to the language of the texts of Buddhism

• claimed to be an actual speech of Buddha

• nature of literature in the Pali language - both religious and philosophical

• Most of the original teachings of Buddha are contained in Tipitika.

​Chinese Region

​

• As the northern part of Vietnam was colonized by the Han Empire in 111 B.C., Chinese authorities took over Vietnamese culture and education.

• The administrative language of Vietnam became Chinese.

• Even after the country achieved independence in 938, it continued to use literary Chinese.

• The earliest extant writings by Vietnamese authors were poems in Chinese.

​Contemporary Literature

• Brought about themes of modern literature:

  • A feeling of nationalistic pride to overcome invasions

  • The desire of the people to find solace in literature amidst change and struggles for power

  • The lack of wealth and patronage brought about the themes of modern literature

• Southeast Asia can be divided into (1) Burma; (2) Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia; (3) Vietnam; (4) Malaysia and Indonesia; and (5) the Philippines.

​Contemporary Literature - Burma (Myanmar)

​

• The introduction of printing into southern Myanmar prompted a development in Burmese writing.

• Under British govern (1875), the owners of printing presses distributed mainstream works like plays, later finishing with melodies and stage headings.

• The heartbreaking dramatizations of U Ku were well-known (1875 and 1885)

• The rise of principal Burmese books (1904) and scholarly magazines (1910) fortified the fame of short stories and serialized books.

​Contemporary Literature - Burma (Myanmar)

​

• Patriotism and anti-colonial topics were basic in writing (1920s to the 1940s). 

• Following Burmese freedom (1948), numerous authors endeavored to utilize writing to help make a populist society.

• After the military upset headed by U Ne Win (1962), the legislature constrained essayists to adjust the subjects and style of socialist realism. 

• The flexibility of articulation of ideas kept on disintegrating through the turn of the 21st century.

​Contemporary Literature - Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia

​

• The arts and literature of Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia are practically indistinguishable

• Their bodies of literature have similar sources: India, the indigenous Mon-Khmer human advancements, China, and Indonesia.

• French-supervised school instruction in Cambodia delivered an era of writers in the Khmer dialect starting in the early years of the twentieth century

​Contemporary Literature - Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia

​

• These new scholars wrote in exposition, representing subjects of normal Khmer individuals, set against situations from common Cambodian life.

• Late 1920s: the golden age in Thailand in which various journalists started to address social issues (e.g., polygamy, prostitution, social disparity, and social class) genuinely

​Contemporary Literature - Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia

​

• In the mid-20th century, customary Lao writing declined as religious schools were gradually supplanted by mainstream, government-supported education

• The decline was further exacerbated as the Lao came into expanding contact with Thailand and the West

​Contemporary Literature - Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia

​

• After Laos gained independence in 1954 and saw the flare-up of war, the arrangement and readership of writing in territories under the control of the imperial Lao government was limited to a little, instructed portion of the populace in Vientiane, the nation's capital.

• Impacted by French, Thai, and American fiction, creators in Vientiane delivered mainstream works displaying sentiment over the corrupt government, degrading Lao values.

​Contemporary Literature - Vietnam

​

• Twentieth-century Vietnamese literature met developments, advancements, and transformations as scholars saw the vanishing of their medieval past under French imperialism.

• Eventually, Vietnamese scholars attempted to create some intelligent framework to address this extreme redefinition of the country.

​Contemporary Literature - Vietnam

​

• Two most important literalists that impacted the nation:

  • the Tu Luc Van Doan ("Independent Literary Group"), driven by Khai Hung and Nhat Linh

  • the Tho Moi ("New Poetry") school, which included writers like Xuan Dieu, Che Lan Vien, Cu Huy Can, Bang Ba Lan, and Luu Trong Lu

• The two groups prevailed to throw off outdated Chinese writing styles, making enthusiastic compositions and verse writing in Quoc-ngu (Vietnamese writing system).

• ​Their disparities in characterizing Vietnamese patriotism prompted further extremes of right and left in later years.

​Contemporary Literature - Malaysia and Indonesia

​

• Javanese and Malay written works declined under the effect of Dutch control in the 18th and 19th centuries.

• A more current Indonesian writing in the 20th century emerged, firmly connecting to the patriotic development and to the new thought of a national dialect, Bahasa Indonesia.

• After 1920, a present-day Indonesian form of writing quickly appeared.

​Contemporary Literature - Malaysia and Indonesia

​

• Muhammad Yamin and other conspicuous writers were impacted by the structures and expressive methods of Romantic, Parnassian, and Symbolist verse from Europe. 

• Primary Indonesian books additionally showed up in the 1920s and '30s: ordinary works by Abdul Muis and others.

• The focal topic was the battle between the eras, the smothering weight of traditionalism, and the motivation for current advancement.

​Contemporary Literature - Malaysia and Indonesia

​

• In 1933, with the presence of the magazine Pudjangga Baru ("The New Writer"), another era of educated people began to evaluate whether to keep up conventional esteems or to deliberately acknowledge Western standards in order to build up a cutting edge Indonesian culture.

• This exchange was hindered by the Japanese control of Indonesia in 1942.

• This separated an era that was still firmly bound to Indonesia's pilgrim circumstance.

​Contemporary Literature - Malaysia and Indonesia

​

• With the Indonesian patriot upheaval of 1945, another era of intensely nationalistic and optimistic youthful journalists who promoted humanism emerged as leaders.

• Their motivation was Chairil Anwar, a prolific poet who died in 1949 at age 27.

• The most influential writer back then was Pramoedya Ananta Toer, whose assistance to the insurgency prompted his capture in 1947 by Dutch government.

• He composed the novel, Perburuan (The Fugitive, 1950), while detained.

​Contemporary Literature - Philippines

​

• A part of early modern Philippine literature was composed amid the American colonization.

• It was a declaration of post-Hispanic patriotism by the individuals who had either been uneducated in Spanish or had lived in the Bisaya-speaking communities, and whose standards conflicted with the American social trends.

• Modern literature was ruled by writers instructed and trained in the United States or England.

​Contemporary Literature - Philippines

​

• A large portion of these journalists came back to the Philippines to teach.

• With their qualifications and strong background, they impacted society greatly, especially the development of Philippine literature in English.

Multiple Choice

a literary group that sought to throw off outdated Chinese writing styles, making enthusiastic composition and verse writing in Quoc-ngu (the Vietnamese writing system).

• Sanskrit

• Tipitika

• Tu Luc Van Doan

• Pramoedya Ananta Toer

• Pujangga Baru

Multiple Choice

helped the insurgency that prompted his capture in 1947 by the Dutch government.

• Sanskrit

• Tipitika

• Tu Luc Van Doan

• Pramoedya Ananta Toer

• Pujangga Baru

Multiple Choice

the earliest inscriptions in Southeast Asia.

• Sanskrit

• Tipitika

• Tu Luc Van Doan

• Pramoedya Ananta Toer

• Pujangga Baru

Multiple Choice

contains the original teachings of Buddha

• Sanskrit

• Tipitika

• Tu Luc Van Doan

• Pramoedya Ananta Toer

• Pujangga Baru

Multiple Choice

the magazine that prompted the Indonesian writer’s evaluation on whether to keep their literary traditions or acknowledge Western standards.

• Sanskrit

• Tipitika

• Tu Luc Van Doan

• Pramoedya Ananta Toer

• Pujangga Baru