Learning

Define the meaning of World

Objectives:
Literature based on the survey of
literature.
Summarize thoughts about why some
literary authors are taught in schools
while others are not.
Appreciate literary works from
different country or region based on
context meaning.

Why World Literature?

World
Literature

What is World
Literature?
First, it may refer to the vast
literary production across the
world;
Second, it might only contain
what is deemed the best of
what the worlds literature can
offer.

What are selfcontradictory about

World Literature as
a concept?
World Literature is
the story of us as a
species.

The phrase world

literature comes
from the German
scholar and poet
Johann Wolfgang
von Goethes
phrase

IN 1827, he told
his disciple Johann
Peter Eckermann
that national
literature is no
longer of
importance. It is

Since the end of

the Cold War in the
late 1980s and
early 1990s, the
world has become
increasingly
global in terms of
economic aspects

David Damrosh
in What is World
Literature? (2003)
states that world
literature is not an
infinite,
ungraspable canon
of works but rather
a mode of

works as to
bodies of material,
available for
reading established
classics and new
discoveries alike.

It must be
pointed out that a
literary text may
cross borders
Following
reasons:
1. Artistic merit
of the literary

2. The political
situation
surrounding
the text ( the
text comes
from an
influential
country)

 Damrosch also
noted that the
world
literature is a
mode of
reading.

preparation do we
need
to
read
world
GROUP
EXERCISE
EXERCISE: BY PAIR.
literature,
#1
especially if a
literary work is
outside our literary
comfort zone?

The Case of Two Literary

Giants

Can you
identify
at least
one play
of
William
Shakesp
eare?

The Case of Two Literary

Giants

Why are
Filipinos
interested
in
Shakespear
e and his
works when
clearly ,

Can you identify who is the

poet of Gitanjali (Song of
Offerings)?
This
poet
happens to be
the first Asian
and first nonEuropean
to
be
awarded
the
Nobel
Prize
in
Literature.

 Tagore is a multitalented
artist who wrote an array
of novels, poems, plays and
stories
in his native
Bengali language.
He
acted
in
theater
and
composed music.
According to Ian Jacks
article, he described Tagore as

Tagore was a global

phenomenon, so why
is he neglected ? Why
indeed?

Group
Exercise #2
Form a group of three to
four members. Exchange
your views about why
Shakespeare is more
popularly discussed in
classes while Tagore is not
that popular to
contemporary readers.
After your discussion,

Therefore,
When reading a literary
work from a different
country or region, you may
need to read around the
text by considering the
following contexts, whatever
applies: culture, thought,
politics/government, social
structure, gender roles,

Group
Exercise
#3
GR
Group by pair and do the
following instruction:
1.Produce a copy of assigned
literary text (short
story/poem).
2.Collect 5-10 vocabulary
words and give its meaning.
3.Summarize the assigned
literary piece, according to

Subject: 21st Century Literature from Philippines and the

World
List of Group Members:_____________ Date:_________
Group Exercise #3
Answer:
1. List of 5-10 vocabulary words and its meaning (Table
form)
Words

Meaning

2. Summarize your interpretation on the assigned literary

piece, according to how you comprehend the story/ or
the message of the poem.

Subject: 21st Century Literature from Philippines and the

World
List of Group Members:_____________ Date:_________
Group Exercise #3
Answer:
3. How do you relate the literary text based on what you
have read and the meaning of world literature?
4. Do you appreciate literary works from different country
or region from the assigned short story/poem? Why?

QUIZ

Are you ready?

From what have you

learned on the lesson,
define in your own
words the meaning of
World literature?
(10 pts)

Thank you
for
listening