Around the World in Eight Pages

A Closer Look at Where the World Literature Comes From

By Cat Holland

FranceFast Facts

• Traditionally considered part of the Western literary tradition.

• Epileptic by David B. makes reference to the Algerian War.• Algeria was a French territory at the

outset of the war.• The civil war took place from 1954-

1962 between Christian/Jewish and Muslim groups.

• The Christians and Jews won militarily, but lost from a diplomatic/propagandistic standpoint.

• Algeria gains independence in 1962.

Sweeping GeneralizationFrench characters constantly smoke

cigarettes.

IranFast Facts

• “The word ‘Iran’ was derived from ‘Aryana Vaejo,’ which means ‘the origin of the Aryans…in the sixth century B.C. Iran was referred to as Persia – it’s Greek name – until 1935’” (from the Introduction to Persepolis).

• Currently an “Islamic Republic” under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.• A place of political turmoil; the

results of the 2009 election were disputed; incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner and protesters were met with violence from the government.

Sweeping GeneralizationsIran has been invaded a lot; probably

because of its location; they don’t call it the Middle East for nothing.

VietnamFast Facts

• The Vietnam War was a civil war between the North (Communist) and the South (Democratic); the Americans jumped into the midst of things.

• Historically, Vietnam was once a French colony called French Indochina.

• Propaganda in Communist North sounds familiar, “There were frenzied campaigns championing the ‘Three Alerts’ and ‘Three Responsibilities,’ and harshest, the ‘Three Don’ts,’ which forbade sex, love, or marriage among the young people” – The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh, page 131.

Sweeping GeneralizationThere was lasting ecological and psychological impacts on the countryside and the population; the nation is still healing from the war.

JapanFast Facts

• History dominated by long periods of isolation followed by influence from the outside world.

• Japan has the longest average life expectancy of any country in the world.

• There is a divide between people with a more Western cultural perspective and those who are more traditional and conservative. Spirited Away is loosely based on this divide – the little girl’s parents drive a Western car and wear Western clothing, then eat Western food—and turn into pigs. It is up to their daughter to learn about traditional values and save them, and to develop her identity.

Ancient Mesopotamia (Iraq)Fast Facts

• “Mesopotamia” comes from the word “between the rivers”; referring to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers

• Widely known as the “cradle of civilization”

• Written language developed here for the first time in history.

• The Epic of Gilgamesh was originally written in cuneiform script, a wedge-shaped script of pictograms that represents the Sumerian language. • This epic is comparable to many

familiar Greek and Roman myths—though it has a distinctly Sumerian flavor to it!

Spokane Reservation – Wellpinit, WAFast Facts

• Spokane means “children of the sun”.• Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True

Diary of a Part Time Indian was born here. Most of his books take place on or near the reservation.

• Created in part because of the Dawes Act of 1887.• It was intended to break up tribal

reservations and assimilate natives as farmers.

• Individual natives were given plots of land and the US government would hold that land in trust for 25 years, during which the owners could learn farming without being penalized by taxation.

• This policy was largely unsuccessful—many of the land parcels were unsuitable for farming, and most American Indians didn’t want to abandon their traditional way of life.

Universal Themes in World Literature

• Much of the literature is written about (and probably by) outcasts, or people who are marginalized by their own society.

• When the author comes from the dominant group within their society, they do not try to “catch the reader up” about what life is like for them. Authors from minority groups often do a bit of explaining about history or offer background information. – Authors make assumptions about audiences, and write to suit

that audience. • There is always some kind of tension built into the narrative.

– i.e. between modern and traditional, between the minority culture and the dominant one, between individual desire and responsibility to one’s country or government.