World Lit II Fall 2010 Dr. Ramos

God-Kings and God-Emperors have all the control: no separation of Church and State Roman empire Christianized under Emperor Constantine the Great ( AD) – the religious foundation of the importance of the individual begins to spread Fall of the Roman Empire around AD, Middle Ages begins: Church determines EVERYTHING, including what a Christian is. Around 1500 – rise of Protestantism, Renaissance (regaining of “lost” – that is, hidden – ancient knowledge), and rise of “democratic” based on old Roman and Greek philosophical ideals (ironically preserved by Islamic philosophers!)

 progress v. tradition  Moderns v. Ancients  reason v. passion  the ideal v. the actual, ◦ AKA appearance v. reality  human nature as universal

 The Individual vs. Social institutions   Personal feelings / passions vs. Unemotional logic   Simple life  Genius  Originality and imagination  Science and progress: both and   Innocence v. experience – a process that every individual needs to go through

Realism: – a truthful representation of contemporary society “as it is.” Elements of Realism – Contemporary society: an increasingly complicated and urban society – Middle/lower class heroes, especially the Middle Class: neither the poor, rural folk nor the rich aristocracy

 Nationalism:  having one’s own country  Industrial Revolution:  progress in technology, new non-farming jobs  Scientific viewpoint:  technology is good  Religion:  inner feeling vs. traditional moral system  Naturalism:  objective, scientific study and description of nature

Personal & private vs. social & public New, rich middle class vs. old, bankrupt aristocratic class Realistic portrayals of human emotion and reason, “as it is” in contemporary society New, middle-class lifestyle that makes the person uncomfortable with himself and herself Importance of work to keep your mind off of “things”. Jobs and money

◦ Interrogation of reality  questions the way things are in society and in human nature, “how we know what we know” ◦ Globalization  Earth as one, complicated, diverse urban society ◦ Cultural Parochialism  Local, unique social and ethnic customs and manners ◦ Pluralism  Many points of view: culture, language, customs, countries  Globalization v. Cultural Parochialism *can* lead to a Pluralist point of view  “rich hybridity”  Postcolonialism (3 rd World Countries after the 1 st World has left)

Imperial Cultural Parochialism v. Native Cultural Parochialism ◦ Loyalty to one’s cultural parochialism – can become zealotry Pluralism and Globalization ◦ A “global” citizen – belonging nowhere and/or everywhere ◦ A “plural” person – a hyphenated person Consciousness v. unconsciousness ◦ Appearance v. Reality ◦ Importance of work to get one’s mind off of personal troubles

 Charles Darwin: biologist – evolution of species  Auguste Comte & Karl Marx: philosophers – rational materialism, “scientific method [explains] everything” & “rational systems [answers] social ills”  Friedrich Nietzsche: philosopher – extreme individualism, “the Ubermensch”  Henri Bergson & Sigmund Freud: psychologists – the consciousness and unconsciousness, “irrational” means of knowledge  Ferdinand de Saussure & Ludwig Wittgenstein: philosophers – deconstructionism, words as labels & NOT as the things themselves  Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre: philosophers – existentialism, choice gives meaning to existence