Chapter 4 Literature Review

                                                   

                               An  Overview of Chapter 4

Stone tablet of Gigamesh -https://www.ancient.eu/gilgamesh/

"Literature transmits incontrovertible condensed experience... from generation to generation. In this way literature becomes the living memory of a nation" - Alexander Solzhenitsyn

    Literature has a way of not only embedding itself in history but mirroring historical ideal/ events of their time periods. This way of embellishment is relevant to the quote above by Solzenitsyn where he talks about literature representing the experiences of generations as it evolves.  One literary idea that was prominent was the idea of identity or what of themselves or what of themselves they were able to leave that reperesented what or who they were.  This was an impulse relevant ththroughout history, an example being John steinback's character , Grampa Joad , from his 1939 work "The Grapes of Wrath". Grampa Joad dies of a stroke and his grandson plants a note on his grave stating his grandfather's name and cause of death but addittionally mentions the grandfather's poor background. This character is identified clearly but isn't expressed beond his poor back ground and cause of death. It leaves no record of him personally and is hollow in nature. 

          Epics is a key genre is literary heritage that focuses on a narrative that shows off the adventure of a strong hero without a neccessarily moral standpoint.An exampleof the narrative poems is "Gilgamesh" who is represented as a super human , undefeated and feared by gods. This indset might've been reflected by society who built their " myth heroes...to seem unconquerable as indeed they hoped their society was."( Janero & Altshuler , The Art of Being Human: The Humanities as a technique for living, 2011, p.70). Survival was a primary concern for this time period and they hoped to achieve this lifestyle. 

           One early piece of literature considered to be an earky masterpiece is Homer's "Iliad".  This epic introduced changes in the genre. This narrative poem shares it's roots in greek history and shows off the waging war between the Trojans and Greeks. What makes this story notable is despite it's cultural roots in a greek society, the storyfocuses on the a Trojan defender by the name of Hector . The literature shows off the flaws and fauts of Hector leading to his downfall and the tragedy of the story. Hector fights for the side of Trojans and is in belief that he is fighting for the right. He is shown to have flaws in his personality that isthe ironic cause of his death. Although dying by Achilles who fights for the Greeks, Achilles is not portrayed as the villain because he's also fighting for what he believes is right.This tragedy brings up the moral principal of how things are not always black and white. As it states in the text, "... real life is not a simple struggle between good and evil. " ( Janero & Altshuler , The Art of Being Human: The Humanities as a technique for living, 2011, p.74)

Wiiam shakespeare (c. 1564–1616)-https://www.biography.com/writer/william-shakespeare

          "The poet speaks to all men of that other life of theirs that they have smothered and forgotten" - Dame Edith Sitwell

                   Poetry can be found in several forms and styes. They follow a variety of themes aswell, some of these type of poetry are lyrical, sonnet, haiku, and religious. There are also different timelines of poetry throughout history. As the quote above from Sitwell reads, poetry can be very expressive and bring out emotions in humans that are usually kept down and not always expressed socially. 

             Lyrical poetry came about as a civilized pleasure in Rome and as an expressive poetry that conveys deep personal feelings. Sapho's "Ode to Aphrodite" is an example of lyrical poetry being expressed in themes of love. Another type of poetry is the sonnet. The sonnet was created by Italians in the early renaissance. It's a 14 linepoem that has had a number of variations in form throughout centuries. William Shakespeare is most notable for his uses of sonnets in Engish heritage which adopted a sortof iambic perimeter rhythm. Shakespeare's use of the five repetitions each line created an emotional effect and were notable as a great work of literature for their use of lyrics, scanning, metaphors, and conceits. Two more poetry are haiku and religious. Haiku were pioneered by Matsu Basho and is a form of japanese poetry. Haikus' are described as being " derived from direct observation of nature but in words that ordinary language canont match"  ( Janero & Altshuler , The Art of Being Human: The Humanities as a technique for living, 2011, p.81). Religious poetry are poetry that simply are means of praise to a deity . This use of poetry are common within religious spaces and alters where these deities are being primarily praised.

       As we know , poetry has also found it's roots throughout history. Premodernism poetry efers to poetry refers to poetry written in the last 100 years and can show historical values of those times. Within this premodernism is the poetry of the Harem renaissance and poetry in our daily life.

    "Fiction was invented the day Jonah arrived home and told his wife that he was three days late becuase he had been swallowed by a whale" - Gabriel Garcia Marquez 

                     Another form of literature is the novel. A novel is similiar to epics being that they are long narratives that convey a story. Every country and culture has produced some form of nove or has a widespread of certain novels and storytelling. Early wesern novels were especially flourished in spain . One of the first well known novelist was a man named Miguel de Cervantes  who was very popuar with his novel " Don Quixote". This novel inspired works of other novelists that were pubished around the time.

               American novels didn't have much recognition and were often put down for being american in general. Overtime novels in Americ started gaining recognition and gaining awrds for being amzing and literature changing works for there times. Some examples of these american novels are " The Great Gasby" by Scott Fitzgerald and Mark Twain's " Huckleberry Finn". These novels are imbedded in fiction. This idea reates back to the quote above by Marquez where he describes how , in a comedic way, how fiction came about. Although being a ridiculous quote, it's basically just saying that fiction came about as a way of twiting the truth or coming up with on top of the head scenarios that aren't true.

       Prior to the 19th century , children were an afterthought in novels but with the coming of the 20th century young heroes in literature started popping up. These novels recognized the troubles of children during the time and their mindset and used it as a narrative. These stories came about and were called coming of age novel for the children in these novels growing up and coming to terms with themselves and decisions they make. These novels tackle a wide variety of social qualms and at times depressing themes/ topics. As it states in the text, " ...writers invented the coming-of-age novel...which centers on the early stages of youthful consciousness and often painful transition to maturity."   ( Janero & Altshuler , The Art of Being Human: The Humanities as a technique for living, 2011, p.94)

       Similiar to the novel is the short story. Short stories are as the name states it to be and are shor narrative stories. They gain there recognition in the 19th century through magazine fiction. One author famous for his short stories is Edgar Allen poe who is known for his ominous and brooding themes in his stories. One thing shprt stories are known for is there ability to bring out an epiphany among it's readers and execute a message in it's short narrative.

Conclusion

         In conclusion, there are 3 major types of literature: poem, novel and short story. Over time these genres have evolved through history and have become classics and masterpieces throughout and with in their time periods.