Your question: Afro-Asian literature

This was a question from the popular Very very basic Afro-Asian Literature resources page.

Anonymous asked:

excuse me,I'm just a li'l bit confused

Is afro-asian literature different from asian and african?

I answered:

Hi, anonymous.

"Afro-Asian Literature" the 2nd year subject in high schools in the Philippines is not different from African and Asian literature. Literature from those two continents are taught in the same year level.

Although I see what may cause confusion. The term looks like it refers to literature by people of African and Asian heritage, but not in the context of the Philippine educational system.

Noli Me Tangere guides

Because my first post on Noli just pointed to the free full text, here are links to some of the study guides online for it:

• Viloria.com: Buod ng Noli Me Tangere (Chapter Summaries in Tagalog)
• Webmanila.com: TOC Noli Me Tangere Chapter Summaries and Notes (in English, but incomplete as of this posting)
• Knowledgerush.com: Noli Me Tangere
• Wikipilipinas: Noli Me Tangere

As always, these resources are just a guide. Let them help you form your own analysis of the text -- learning how to do that is more important. :)

Dekada '70 resources

I've never read Lualhati Bautista's Dekada '70, a novel about a family's struggles during the martial law regime. Apparently it's required in some schools, but it wasn't in mine.

For the sake of those who have to read it (and maybe some who just want to), here are a few resources:

• Dekada '70 (novel) Wikipedia entry
• Dekada '70 (nobela) Tagalog Wikipedia entry
• Dekada '70 book review at The Edsa Revolution website
• Dekada '70 (film) Wikipedia entry
• "Who's afraid of Lualhati Bautista?" by Abet Zialcita, at Inquirer.net

If you have 100 pesos or so to spare, you can get a copy at your nearest bookstore, because as far as I know it's always in print.

Very very basic Afro-Asian Literature resources

A subject called "Afro-Asian Literature" is taught to sophomores as part of the high school curriculum in the Philippines. In my experience, we weren't required to read more than what the textbook (Gems in Afro-Asian Literature) contained. I won't be surprised if that's the case for many schools today still.

While reading selected stories from the Philippines and other countries was fun and enriching, it's hard to understand based on that book alone how diverse Asian literature is, much more if you add African literature.

Here are links to more links... just so you know that English 2 is not the end of it.

• African literature Wikipedia entry
• African literature MSN Encarta entry
• Africanlit.com - Essays on African literature
• "Literature of Asia" Wikipedia entry - links to Arabian lit, Chinese lit, Japanese lit, Indian lit, and others
• Asian Literature Resources compiled by Judith S. Ames

Ibong Adarna links

Ibong Adarna is the enchanted bird from the Philippine korido of the same name. The story itself is an old-fashioned epic starring a sick king and his three sons, searching for a cure in the form of the Ibong Adarna. The bird's songs could either heal people or make them fall asleep (and its droppings turned the sleeping people to stone).

This is required reading for high school freshmen.

• Ibong Adarna English Wikipedia entry
• Ibong Adarna Tagalog Wikipedia entry (quite short, needs some help)
• Illustrated Tagalog komiks Ibong Adarna for download at seasite.niu.edu
• Ibong Adarna study notes at viloria.com
• Ibong Adarna Wikipilipinas entry

Florante at Laura

Florante at Laura by Francisco Balagtas is required reading for the Filipino language and literature subject in second year high school. Being asked to stage it in class is very common, and was in fact one of the highlights of my sophomore year.

• Florante at Laura Wikipedia entry
• Summary of Florante at Laura in English at viloria.com
• Buod ng Florante at Laura at dkny's angelfire site
• Free Florante at Laura ebook at Project Gutenberg - beware though, it's a 1921 version and it retains some antiquated Tagalog spelling rules. Sample passage:

Salamat sa iyo, ó nánasang írog,
cong halagahán mo itóng aquing pagod,
ang tulâ ma,i, bucál nang bait na capós,
paquiquinaban~gan nang ibig tumaróc.

El Fili study guides

OK, so I never finished reading El Filibusterismo, Jose Rizal's sequel to Noli Me Tangere. I got by reading a study guide in the form of a cheap comic book. If I were a student today, I would have tried a little harder.

• El Fili chapter summaries, in Tagalog at www.viloria.com
• Full text of "The Reign of Greed", Charles Derbyshire's El Filibusterismo translation at joserizal.info
• "Foreignness and Vengeance": On Rizal's "El Filibusterismo", a paper by Vicente Rafael
• El Fili Wikipedia entry

Philippine creation myths

Professor D.L. Ashliman at the University of Pittsburgh has compiled Philippine creation myths on his online library of folk tales and mythology.

Translated into English, there are creation stories with Igorot, Bagobo, Tagalog origins, and more. The major source used is a 1916 book called Philippine Folk Tales by Mabel Cook Cole.

Not exactly "Malakas at Maganda," but it's an additional reference in case you're doing research on alamat.

Noli Me Tangere, a 1912 English translation

From the archives of Project Gutenberg, here is The Social Cancer, A Complete English Version of Noli Me Tangere, translated by Charles Derbyshire from the original work of Jose Rizal.

It contains a Translator's Introduction, which describes the Philippines under Spanish rule, Rizal's life, and the context of the novel. If you're writing a Noli book report, the introduction is worth looking at for more insights to guide you. Beware, though -- the translator uses words like "apogee" and "halcyon" -- an online dictionary would come in handy!

There have been many other (possibly better) translations published after this one, but if you need a Noli English version and don't mind when it's from, then at least this is free.