Afro – Asian Literature

What is Literature?
 a body of written works. The name has traditionally been applied to those
imaginative works of poetry and prose distinguished by the intentions of their
authors and the perceived aesthetic excellence of their execution.
 Derive from the Latin littera, “a letter of the alphabet,” literature is first and
foremost humankind’s entire body of writing; after that it is the body of
writing belonging to a given language or people; then it is individual pieces of
writing.
 Oral Vs. Written literature
 Fiction Vs. Nonfiction
 Poetry Vs. Prose
 Setting
 Place - Geographical location. Where is the action of the story taking place?•
 Time - When is the story taking place? (historical period, time of day, year, etc.)•
 Weather Conditions - Is it rainy, sunny, stormy, etc.?•
 Social Conditions -What is the daily life of the characters like? Does the story contain local
color (writing that focuses on the speech, dress, mannerisms, customs, etc. of a particular
place)?•
 Mood or Atmosphere - What feeling is created at the beginning of the story? Is it bright and
cheerful or dark and frightening?
 Character
 Character is a person, or sometimes even an animal, who takes part in the action of a short
story or a piece of literary work.•
 Main characters - those who are most important in the story•
 Minor characters - usually static or unchanging
 Characters According to Principality 1.Protagonist • is the character with whom the reader
empathizes 2.Antagonist • is the character that goes against the protagonist
 Characters According to Development 1.Dynamic• a character that exhibits noticeable
development 2.Static• a character who exhibits no changes and development
 Plot
 It is the sequence of events in a story or play.
Five Stages
a) Introduction - The beginning of the story where the characters and
the setting is revealed.
b) Rising Action - This is where the events in the story become
complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed(events between
the introduction and climax).
c) Climax - This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of
the story. The reader wonders what will happen next; will the
conflict be resolved or not?
d) Falling action - The events and complications begin to resolve
themselves. The reader knows what has happened next and if the
conflict was resolved or not(events between climax and
denouement).
e) Denouement - This is the outcome or untangling of events in the
story.
 Conflict
 Conflict is the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and makes the plot move.
Two Major Types
1. External - A struggle with a force outside ones self.
2. Internal - A struggle within ones self; a person must make some decision, overcome pain, quiet their temper,
resist an urge, etc.
 External
a. man vs. man- a type of conflict where one character in the story has a problem with one or more of the other
characters
b. man vs. society- a type of conflict where a character has a conflict or problem with some element of society-the
school, the law, the accepted way of doing things, and so on.
c. man vs. nature- a type of conflict where a character has a problem with some natural happening snowstorm,
typhoon, avalanche, bitter cold, or any elements common to nature
 Internal
man vs. self-is a type of conflict where a character has trouble deciding what to do in a particular situation
 Point of view
 The angle from which the story is told.
Types:
1. First-Person POV - The story is told by the protagonist or one of the characters who
interacts closely with the protagonist or other characters (using pronouns I, me, we, etc).
2. Stream of Consciousness - The story is told so that the reader feels as if they are inside the
head of one character and knows all their thoughts and reactions.
3. Third-Person Omniscient POV (third person) - The narrator tells the story from an all-
knowing point of view. He can move from character to character, event to event, having
free access to the thoughts, feelings and motivations of his characters and he introduces
information where and when he chooses.
AFRICA • It is the second largest
continent (after Asia), covering
about one-fifth of the total land
surface of Earth. The continent is
bounded on the west by the Atlantic
Ocean, on the north by the
Mediterranean Sea, on the east by
the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean,
and on the south by the mingling
waters of the Atlantic and Indian
oceans.
• ETYMOLOGY: The name Africa
came into Western use through the
Romans, who used the name Africa
terra – “land of the Afri” (plural, or
“Afer” singular) – for the northern
part of the continent, as the
province of Africa with its capital
Carthage, corresponding to modern-
day Tunisia.
ASIA • Asia is bounded by the
Arctic Ocean to the north, the
Pacific Ocean to the east, the Indian
Ocean to the south, the Red Sea (as
well as the inland seas of the
Atlantic Ocean – the Mediterranean
and the Black) to the southwest, and
Europe to the west.

• ETYMOLOGY: The word Asia

 The background of Afro-Asian literature dates to the very beginning when the first mixed race
individual began writing.
 Earlier written documents were based on stories passed by word of mouth.
 Literary works were handed by mouth from generation to generation to entertain, educate and
remind the people about their past, heroic deeds of their people, ancestry and culture.
 It also teaches people and allow them to learn about different experiences and cultures from all
over the world.
 What is Afro – Asian Literature?

 Generally, literary works of Afro-Asian tell people about the unique struggles and successes of
Afro-Asian people.
 • GENRES: playwriting, poems, prose
 POEMS – tell about the history and culture of the Afro-Asian people. Today, Afro-Asians still
express their creativity and honor their culture by crafting beautiful poems such as haikus,
ballads or sonnets. PLAYWRIGHTS – celebrate their own culture and ancestry by setting
plays in the past and referencing historical events in their storylines. When performed, this will
feature backdrops and costumes which will reflects the culture and unique spirit of Afro-Asian
people.
 COMMON THEMES IN AFRO-ASIAN
LITERATURE

 Afro-Asian literature shares several common themes between African and

 How my brother Leon brought home a wife by