Q4 W2 - Representative Text and Authors from ASIA

• China is one of the world’s cradles of civilization
• The preservation of the Chinese language (both spoken and written) has made the immeasurable prolonged existence of their literary traditions possible
• The Tang Dynasty (618-907) is considered the finest era of Chinese literature
• Themes present in Korean literary works in 1950

  • Alienation
  • Conscience
  • Disintegration
  • Self-identity
• Hangul


  Gave new beginnings to Korean literature
• Japan has a rich and unique literary history
• Japanese literary genres


  • Haiku
  • Noh
  • Kabuki
• Haiku


  A world-renowned poetic genre in Japan
• Noh


  A traditional Japanese form of theatre
• Kabuki


  A traditional Japanese popular drama with singing and dancing
• Abe Kobo


  A Japanese novelist and playwright
• Kimitake Hiraoka


  Known by the pseudonym Mishima Yukio
• Haruki Murakami


  A Japanese novelist known for his work translated into more than fifty languages
• Du Fu is often described as a poet-historian, conveying emotional impact and import of political and social issues
• Li Po is Du Fu's competitor and wrote occasional verse and poems about his own life, known for clear imagery and conversational tone
• Yu Hua is a world-acclaimed short story writer and a champion for Chinese meta-fictional or postmodernist writing
• Ch’oe Nam-Seon is considered a prominent historian, pioneering poet, and publisher
• Yi Kwang-su is notable in pioneering modern Korean poetry
• Kim Eok launched the modern literary movement and wrote the first Korean novel "The Heartless"
• Kim Eok introduced foreign literary theories to Korea and pursued Western-style free verse
• Abe Kobo wrote the best-known play "Tomodachi" (Friends)
• Kimitake Hiraoka won the 1967 Akutagawa Award
• Haruki Murakami won the Jerusalem Prize and the Gunzou Literature Prize
• Murakami won the Omiuri Prize for the best novel
• Murakami won the Jerusalem Prize
• Murakami won the Gunzou Literature Prize for his first novel "Hear the Wind Sing"
• Murakami's work has been translated into more than fifty languages
• Literary traditions of Southeast Asia possess influences of

  • Buddhist
  • Thai
  • English
• Malaysian and Indonesian literature reflect

  • A large part of the Sanskrit language and Islam culture
• Themes presented in Southeast Asian literature

  • Colonial and postcolonial experiences
• South and Southeast Asian Authors

  • Rabindranath Tagore
  • Nguyen Du
  • Chart Korbjitti
• Rabindranath Tagore is referred to as "the Bard of Bengal"
• Rabindranath Tagore won the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature award for his book "Gitanjali" or "Song Offerings"
• Nguyen Du is the best-loved poet and the father of Vietnamese literature
• Nguyen Du is most known for his epic "The Tale of Kieu" that recounts the life, trials, and tribulations of a beautiful and talented young woman who has to sacrifice herself to save her family
• Chart Korbjitti is the most successful Thai writer
• Chart Korbjitti was awarded the National Artist in Literature in 2004
• Central Asian Authors


  • Abdullah Qodiriy
  • Mukhtar Auez-uli
  • Chingiz Aytmatov
• Abdullah Qodiriy is an Uzbek writer known by the pseudonym Julqunboy
• Abdullah Qodiriy's most famous work is the historical novel "Days Gone By", the first Uzbek full-length novel