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Professor Ann Brueggen...

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Humanities World Literature Notes Professor Breuggen, 8/24/20-11/24/20 What is Literature? 

Helps experience things we haven’t gone through before

Apollo—Greek and Roman god of sun, god of minstrelsy (musicians) Chapman translated the Iliad and the Odyssey, Chapman’s translation made it exciting and relevant Darien—takes back to Greek gods Uses lots of imagery and metaphors to describe his personal experiences What Do We Do with Literature?  Take a literary work on its own terms  Assume there is a reason for everything  Remember that literary texts exist in time and times change o Constant moving, changing parts and ideas o Speak out of their own time period o Words’ meanings change (i.e. gay)

The Epic of Gilgamesh  

Classical period—ancient literature Called narrative poetry

What Was Gilgamesh First Written In?  Started as a written story with pieces of oral stories included  Written about 5,000 years ago  Written in cuneiform symbols (wedge-shape)  Business inventories were recorded in symbols usually (not literary works)  Written in verse like a poem (repeated lines)  There was a lack of vowels o Worked its way in with the Greeks around 900-800 BC  Set up in a class system o Dependent on those who did their work  Mesopotamia (Fertile Crescent)  Greek—beginning of democracy o Free, property-owning men could vote o Sparta—men and women trained, ready for war  Alexander the Great took over after the Greeks o World domination  Died at a young age

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Rome—beginning of republic o Senate, “house of commons,” magistrates

Gilgamesh’s Reign  King of Uruk  Tyrant-like o Bride spends first night with Gilgamesh o Hard on his people  My way or the highway o His people would plead to their gods  Create someone to challenge him  Enkidu What Do These Two Characters Have in Common?  Extremely strong (blessed by the gods)  Equally matched intellectually  Parallel given in an episode of Star Trek o Two captains, matched intellectually become friends when fighting off a common enemy Is Mortality a Blessing?  God created us to live forever with Him  Sin brought death upon us  Made us appreciate our life more  A blessing for Christians, disheartening for non-believers  A culture of leaving a legacy to your name The Epic  Gilgamesh was written almost immediately and then tweaked over time  Kinds of epics o Folk epic  Oral tradition (recited or sung) o Literary epic  Written by a specific author, usually borrowing the style and characteristics of the folk epic  The story is authentic to the author Important Folk Epics  Iliad (Greek)  Odyssey (Greek)  Aeneid (Latin)  Ulysses (Latin)  Gilgamesh (Babylonian)

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Exodus (Hebrew) Beowulf (Anglo-Saxon)

Epic Hero  Courageous  Successful in battle  Superhuman strength  Semi-divine ancestry  Desire for fame/glory  Unnatural birth/death  Goes on a quest/journey Epic Conflict  The plot centers on the hero’s struggle against an obstacle or a series of obstacles  Proves their strength, bravery, wisdom, and virtue Heroic Quest  Takes the form of a perilous journey in search of something of value to his people  Three phrases o Separation—breakaway from social order, beginning of quest o Initiation—retreat inward, chaotic events o Return—reintegration into society, came back as a more evolved person Epic Cycle  Plot—the events that make up a story Divine Intervention  Receives help from a god or supernatural force  Sometimes a god goes against the hero  Ex) Zeus, Hera, Apollo in the Iliad

Homer’s Iliad “The Story of Troy”   

Combat was raw, emotional, realistic (graphic) Descriptive—doesn’t take anybody’s emotions into account, what happened happened Shows tones through words

Times and Places  The world of the Iliad: The Ancient Mediterranean: Greece and Troy  The Age of Homer  The Trojan War: 10 years  The events in the Iliad: 47 days total, takes place in the last year of the Trojan War Age of Homer

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8th century BC (700s) Increase in trade and establishment of city-states Greeks learn how to write again o Had been able to then lose it Homeric epics appear—The Iliad and The Odyssey About the same time Assyrians conquer Samaria

Main Characters: Mortals  Greeks (The Achaeans) o Achilles o Agamemnon o Patroclus o Menelaus o Odysseus o Telamonian Ajax  Trojans (The Dardanians) o Paris o Hector o Glaucus o Sarpedon o Priam o Chryses The Narrative in the 24 Books of The Iliad  Approximately 10 years from departure Paris and Helen from Greece, the Mycenaeans go to war  24 books only cover 47 days of the 10-year siege of Troy o 1=20 days o 2-7=2 days o 8-10=1 day o 11-18=1 day o 19-22=1 day o 23-24=22 days  Homer’s Odyssey covers Odysseus’ ten-year journey home to Ithaca after the fall of Troy Main Characters: Gods and Goddesses (supports who?)  Zeus and the fates (not on a side)  Greek side o Thetis o Athena o Hera o Hermes o Poseidon

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Trojan side o Aphrodite o Apollo o Ares o Artemis o Leto

Subjects  Wrath, anger, rage (gr. Menis) o Main theme—first word in Book One o Self-centered rage and rampage  Honor (in the form of physical, tangible expressions) (gr. Time) o Prized possessions—women (concubines) o Shame-based culture (as opposed to guilt-based) o Booty, gifts, prizes (gr. Geras)  Glory/fame (gr. Kleos) o What other people say about you o Only thing you can leave behind for people to remember you by o Imperishable glory (gr. Kleos aphthiton)

Tang Poetry in Medieval China (618-906 AD) 

Du Fu Poetry (and Bai Juyi and Li Bai)

Tang Dynasty  Cultural confidence and of expression, initially  Innovation: tea, printing press (868 AD)  Most famous for its poetry Du Fu and His Poetry (712-770 AD)  Greatest of Chinese poets  Considered “poet historian” of Chinese literature  Versatility, spirit of the age, captured dramatic historical events  Not a historian—captures his emotions Tang Poetry  A form of social communication o Greeting/farewell o Gifts, thank yous, expressions of emotion  Records of journeys  Praise or criticism of the imperial court and its policies o Poem protects people’s feeling better (not an “off with their head” situation)  A cultural custom and a craft

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Considered “regulated poetry”—a verse form that requires syllables to symmetrically alternate vocal tonal patterns Tight, formal style Strong emphasis on the couplet—two lines of poetry that relate; a showcase for parallelism—two ideas are put together Natural imagery that hides the poem’s artfulness

Shakespeare Queen Elizabeth I  Born September 7, 1533  Crowned January 15, 1559  Died March 24, 1603 Shakespeare  Born April 23, 1564 (legend, not sure of exact date)  Wrote mostly between 1589 and 1613  Died April 23, 1616  All roles played by men of various ages  Actors looked down upon o Sponsored by a group to avoid being looked at as peasantry o Shakespeare’s troop invited to be sponsored by King James (monarch after Queen Elizabeth I) Globe Theatre  In a bad part of town, baited nobility to the worse parts to see a good play/good acting  Props used but no backdrops Elizabethan Fashion  Elizabeth chose to wear a corset  Hoops made waist look tiny  Wore hats or head coverings to protect from lice  Children dressed just like their parents The Tempest  Shakespeare’s last play, performed in 1611  First performed in King James I court, so includes… o Music o Dance o Pageantry  Role of the artist is explored in the character of Prospero and his magic  Action of play is in real time

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First published in First Folio in 1623 as the first play of the collection (considered his best play) o Dealt with more mature themes than some of his other plays Freytag’s Pyramid—plot structure o Exposition—Act One  Learn who everyone is o Complication—Act Two  Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, Adrian, Francisco, and others get separated  Alonso believes Ferdinand is dead (in mourning)  Sebastian fights for power (heir is thought to be dead)  Act Two, Scene Two is for comic relief  All three think they’re the only ones  All drunk by the end of the scene o Climax—Act Three  Prospero makes Ferdinand work for his love  Miranda offers to do the work, Ferdinand declines  Gonzalo tries to keep them involved  Ariel comes as a harpy (bird with female face) to point out their sins (Alonso, Sebastian, and others)  Sin—Prospero is usurped by his brother as duke of Milan o Resolution—Act Four  Prospero gives Ferdinand and Miranda his blessing  Wedding masque takes place  Power struggles o Conclusion—Act Five  Theme of forgiveness  Alonso forgiven, Ariel freed, magic books thrown into sea

Early Modern Japanese Literature     

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A Feudal society ruled by Tokugawata shoguns Rise of the merchant/artisan/commoner class because of rise of cities in that time o Competition of looks of homes and properties Coined money came into use in business transactions o Pay in some way rather than trading, evolving into an urban society Evolution to a more urban society Francis Xavier and his Jesuit order reached Japan with a desire to evangelize the people being especially sensitive to traditional Japanese beliefs and practices, persecution of Christians began in 1587 and by 1639 Christianity was banned Literacy expanded by mid-seventeenth century, Christian missionaries had brought updated printing methods Basho benefited from this rise of literacy

Matsu Basho  Life: 1644-November 28, 1694  Home: Ueno, in Iga Province, Japan  Profession: Teacher  Notoriety: Famous as a poet of the Edo Period in Japan Japanese Poetry  Rooted in Chinese-style poetry and classical waka poetry  Popular vulgar poetry: linked verse called haikai na renga o Vulgar—in the native language  Out of this came haiku  “Basho’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North, a poetic diary of his travels through northeastern Japan is a brilliant example of how the literary tradition could be recaptured and recast through a new poetic language, while preserving all the rich resonances of that tradition” The Narrow Road to the Deep North  Written about a five-month trip taken in 1689 with traveling companion Sora o Sora is a Buddhist priest  This literary piece depicted a pilgrimage to traditional famous poetic sites in Japan  Thus, intentionally a journey through Japanese literature also  “The Narrow Road to the Deep North is thus not a diary, but an idealized version of his travels” Haiku  A Japanese poem of seventeen syllables in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world  5-7-5 mora (syllables)  Can describe anything  Nature tends to be the subject  Often refers to a season of change  One dominant impression  Observation of the moment  Use of senses  Uses imagery primarily, paints a picture in a very compact passage  Written in present tense  Avoids similes and metaphors  Doesn’t rhyme My Example  Leaves among the trees  Colors all around our heads  Breathing in the scent...