Semester 2

Study Guide

Personal Life• Born November 16, 1930 in Ogidi,

Nigeria• Died March 21, 2013 in Boston, MA • His father stopped practicing the Igbo

religion to become a Christian • Chinua was raised Christian, but had a

great respect for his ancestors’ beliefs

Career as a Writer• He writes in the Igbo style of oral tradition. • Chinua is now one of the most widely read

African authors around the world.• African social and political issues, as well as

traditional Igbo practices, are reflected in his writings.

Things Fall Apart• Written in the style of Igbo oral tradition • Reflects African village life before

Europeans colonized Nigeria in the late 1800s

• Actual colonization in Nigeria lasted from 1900-1960

Matsuo Basho

• 1644 - 1694 • Iga Province, Japan

Matsuo Basho

• Father was a low-ranking samurai so Basho joined the military and worked in the kitchens

• Became servant to Todo Yoshitada who shared his love of haikai no renga (a collaborative form of poetry which were opened with what is now called a haiku).

• In 1666 Yoshitada died suddenly. Basho gave up his ambition for samurai status and left home.

• After a time of wandering and semi-hermitude, he died peacefully from an illness in Osaka.

 A strange flowerA strange flowerfor birds and butterfliesthe autumn sky  

Yosa Buson

• 1716 - 1784 • Osaka, Japan

Yosa Buson

• One of the greatest names in haiku poetry • Was also an accomplished Bunjinga painter. Poetry

and painting affected each other in his art. • For 5 years he belonged to a haikai circle and

learned through Basho’s style of writing haikai poetry

• Buson emerged as the central figure of a haikai revival known as the "Return to Basho" movement. In 1776 his own poetry group built a clubhouse, the Bashoan (Basho Hut), for their haikai gatherings.

 Harvest moonHarvest moon--called at his house,he was digging potatoes. 

Kobayashi Issa

• 1763 - 1827 • Kashiwabara, Japan

Kobayashi Issa• Issa was born to a farming family and began writing in his childhood.

His mother died when he was very young and his father remarried a woman who mistreated him.

• In 1777 he went to Tokyo to study the Haiku form. He was forced to support himself by taking menial jobs before gaining entry into the Kasushika poetry school. At the age of 28 he was to be given a teaching post at the school but lasted just a year after it became clear that his modern style of haiku did not suit the teaching at the school.

• In 1812 Issa went home to confront his stepmother and brother who had dishonored his father’s will. He also married at this time, but his four children and wife all died by 1823.

• Later, married again and was blessed with a daughter born just after his death in 1827. He was seen as a rejuvinating influence on the Haiku form and has left a legacy of over 20,000 haikus, describing nature, life in everyday terms and sympathetic vulnerability.

A bath when you're born (His death poem)A bath when you're born,a bath when you die,how stupid.

Kabir

• 1440 - 1518 • Pratapgar, Uttar Pradesh, India

Kabir• Kabir was illiterate, so he composed and performed his

poems orally in Hindi.

• His verses often began with some strongly worded insult to get the attention of passers-by.

• Kabir’s style is in a period of revival of popularity. Over the past half century he has been considered the most accessible and understandable of the Indian saints, with a special influence over spiritual traditions.

• Kabir's legacy is today carried forward by the Kabir Panth ("Path of Kabir"), a religious community that recognizes him as its founder and is one of the Sant Mat sects (a religious group in Uttar Pradesh).

I. 13. mo ko kahân dhûnro bandeO SERVANT, where dost thou seek Me?Lo! I am beside thee.I am neither in temple nor in mosque: I am neither in Kaaba nor in Kailash:Neither am I in rites and ceremonies, nor in Yoga and renunciation.If thou art a true seeker, thou shalt at once see Me: thou shalt meet Me in a moment of time.Kabîr says, "O Sadhu! God is the breath of all breath."

Kumar Vishwas

• 10 February 1970- • Pilkhuwa, Uttar Pradesh, India

Kumar Vishwas

• Kumar only writes in Hindi. He is a poet, professor of Hindi literature, and a politician.

• He writes in the romantic style called Shringara-Ras.

 Only the proud can understand the pride of others,

Only firefly can understand the true meaning of darkness. 

It is in the depth of my love that I see you everywhere,But you think that love can only be expressed through exhibition.

Haruki Murakami

• Japanese writer who uses surrealism and magical realism in his writing

• Wrote Birthday Girl as a part of a collection of short stories

• Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1899 

• Died in Geneva, Switzerland in 1986 • Most of his popular work is from the

1940’s • Wrote short-stories, essays, poems • Was one of the early writers of the

Modernismo movement in South America

• Borges's works have contributed to philosophical literature and also to the fantasy genre

Modernismo (Modernism)

• Roughly from 1910-1960 • Started in Europe and moved across the Atlantic to

North and South America• Was a response to the Industrial Revolution and both

World Wars • It is characterized by:

1) Mystery 2) Self-consciousness (1st person point of view in narratives)3) Questioning decisions by humans/questioning human

rationality4) Magic in a real-world setting 5) Technology (or anything man-made, including social

practices) creating solitude and lonliness

Borges’ take on Modernism• Magical realism: magic elements are a natural

part in an otherwise mundane, realistic environment– Fantastical elements in a real-world setting– Deliberate withholding of information and

explanations about the fictitious world – Multiple planes of reality that take place in

inharmonious arenas of such opposites as urban and rural

– Create a sense of mystery – Offer political critique

Post-Modernism

• Marquez walks the line between modernism and post-modernism. He uses values from both philosophical movements in his work.

What is Post-Modernism?

• Modernism focuses on self-consciousness, magic in reality, skepticism of technology and machinery, and questions the actions of humans.

• Post-Modernism focuses on questioning oneself, questioning reality, and general distrust of grand theories (a.k.a. widely believed ideas like machismo).

• Colombian writter • Born March 6, 1927 – Died April 17, 2014• Won the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature • Wrote magical realist and surrealist stories

Vocab

• Purity - freedom from adulteration or contamination. (cleanness, clearness, clarity)

• Machismo - strong or aggressive masculine pride. (manliness, masculinity)

• Complicity - the state of being involved with others in an illegal activity or wrongdoing. (involvement, collaboration)