The Contemporary World (1946- present)

• Contemporary World Literature


  • predominantly originated from the existentialist movement which was anchored on the responsibility and freedom of an individual
  • Latin American "Boom": Jorge Luis Borges (Argentinian) and Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombian); their works reflected two powerful literature movements: Social Realism and Magical Realism
• Social Realism


  Protests against oppression, other unjust social conditions
• Magical Realism


  Expands realism to include myth, magic, and other marvels of the natural world (with humor and irony)
• While other writers may claim that the Modern period still covers the end of World War II, it may actually overlap with the Contemporary World because most textbooks would just categorize post-war literature as modern or contemporary
• After WWII, the world made giant leaps in the advancement of science and technology which still continues to unfold to this day
• The end of colonialism after the end of World War II, the independence of other nations, the establishment of Third World Nations, the road to recovery for war-torn lands and the instigators of wars and international cooperation and conflict were the highlights of the contemporary period
• With human progress comes the birth of a new kind of philosophies and literary movements which would dominate the literary style of the contemporary period
• Contemporary literature


  Predominantly originated from the existentialist movement which was anchored on the responsibility and freedom of an individual
• The upsurge of literature in Latin America was so dramatic that it was labeled as the Latin American "Boom"
• Latin American writers


  • Jorge Luis Borges (Argentinian)
  • Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombian)
• Social Realism


  Often protests against oppression and other unjust social conditions
• Magical Realism


  Expands the category of realism to include myth, magic, and other marvels of the natural world, while using humor and irony