Part Three

450 Pages·2016·13.41 MB·English

Compact Anthology of
Wo r l d
l i t e r a t u r e
Pa r t T h r e e
The Renaissance
Editor-in-Chief:
laura Getty, PhD
Co-Editor:
KyounGhye Kwon, PhD
Dahlonega, GA
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Table of Contents
C 10: K 1
hapter orea
Various Poets, Sijo Poetry 2
The Tale of Hong Gil-Dong 4
C 11: e 11
hapter urope
Don Quixote 12
Gargantua and Pantagruel 128
Hamlet 145
The Journals of Christopher Columbus 261
The Prince 320
The Tempest 327
Utopia 392
C 12: N a 401
hapter ative meriCa
Myths of the Cherokee 401
Aw-aw-tam Indian Nights: The Myths and Legends of the Pimas 414
B 439
iBliography
a 441
ppeNdix
Acknowledgements
This anthology is the product of a Complete College Georgia grant, and I would like to thank the Board of Re-
gents of the University System of Georgia for making this project possible. Many individuals at the University Press
of North Georgia worked long hours on various aspects of the anthology, and I appreciate their time and effort; in
particular, I would like to thank Corey Parson, managing editor, for her professionalism and support during this
long process. Terri E. Bell, senior library assistant/ copyright compliance at UNG-Dahlonega, had the vital job of
checking copyrights and researching the public domain content for this open access project, and I am grateful for
her hard work and dedication.
Written by Editor-in-Chief Laura J. Getty, Ph.D.
A large part of my portion of this textbook came to fruition while time-traveling with my World Literature I
students to familiar and unfamiliar places in the Ancient, Middle Ages, and Renaissance periods. I am first grate-
ful for those students’ participation and insights, and I give special thanks to Dr. Joyce Stavick, head of the English
Department at UNG, who kindly arranged for me to teach those classes during the time of my writing. This text-
book could not have been made possible without our past, present, and future students who are willing to take the
journey to different parts of the world in different times.
Important acknowledgments go to the Complete College Georgia Grant that critically funded this project. I
also express my sincere gratitude to Dr. B. J. Robinson, director of the university press, for her thoughtful leader-
ship, Dr. Deborah Prosser, dean of libraries, for providing helpful feedback, and Terri E. Bell, senior library assis-
tant, for her extensive work on public domain research and copyright compliance, as well as to the anonymous
peer-reviewers. My gratitude also goes to Dr. Laura Getty, editor-in-chief, with her seasoned teaching experience
and broad knowledge. I am also grateful to Corey Parson, managing editor, Amy Beard, assistant managing editor,
and Matthew Pardue, project editor, for their tireless work. Last but not least, I thank my family for their support
and understanding during the time I spent on this project.
Despite multiple examinations of this textbook, there may be errors and areas of improvement. Fortunately,
this online textbook can be periodically updated. I hope that this textbook will be of good use to students and
teachers alike.
Written by Co-editor Kyounghye Kwon, Ph.D.
Introduction
In the European context, the Renaissance is traditionally dated from Christopher Columbus reaching North
America in 1492 C.E. Of course, since Columbus thought that he had reached the East Indies (from which mistake
the native peoples of the Americas came to be called “Indians”), it wasn’t until 1513 C.E., when the conquistador
Balboa crossed the isthmus of Panama and saw the Pacific Ocean, that Europeans began to grasp fully the enormity
of what had been discovered: two continents about which they knew nothing. In some ways, the European perspec-
tive of the world had just turned upside down. Everything that was “known” before could potentially be questioned,
leading to various reactions in literature: Throw rules to the wind (as Francois Rabelais does in his Gargantua and
Pantagruel), speculate about the ways that society could—or should—change (as Miguel de Cervantes does in
his Don Quixote and Thomas More does in his Utopia), or try to explain the New World in the context of the Old
World (as Shakespeare does in The Tempest).
As mentioned in Part Two, the Renaissance is a European concept at its heart: the re-naissance (re-birth) of
classical Greek and Roman literature and culture. There is a certain egotism in naming one’s own time period, but
even more so in naming the previous time period: According to Renaissance writers, everything after the classical
period and before the Renaissance is that stuff in the middle—the Middle Ages. Such a perspective tells us very lit-
tle about medieval authors, but it reveals a great deal about Renaissance writers. The world is always changing, but
the “world upside down” concept separates the time periods. In Machiavelli’s The Prince, the author asserts that the
uncertainty of the times call for a strong (dictatorial) leader, who will impose order. In Cervantes’ Don Quixote, the
title character attempts to be a knight in shining armor to restore order. Although presented as insane, Don Quix-
ote’s actions—to help the weak and defend the good—take place in an environment where helping others seems
old-fashioned. The critique of society is a biting one.
Culturally, Europe saw several important changes, including the widespread use of the printing press (with the
accompanying rise in literacy rates). The availability of books made possible the idea of a Renaissance man, cel-
ebrated by Rabelais and others. Guns and cannons altered the landscape for a hero; since bullets could penetrate
a knight’s armor, soldiers began to take center stage. As Cervantes writes about someone clinging to the ideals of
knighthood, he himself lived in a world where he was shot in the hand during the Battle of Lepanto.
Worldwide, the spread of books and writing led to the recording of oral stories. Since the stories had been in
circulation for a long time before they were written down, there is very little that is Renaissance about these works
by the European definition. The act of writing them down, however, sometimes was itself a world upside down
experience, since the means of recording the stories came from outside cultures. In Guatemala, the Popol Vuh
survived as a written document because Christian missionaries were teaching the Mayans to translate the Bible;
instead, one scribe used the new writing system to preserve the Mayan origin story. In Africa, the Epic of Sundiata/
Sonjara may have been first recorded during the Renaissance, but it still exists as an oral story to the present day. In
Asia, the Renaissance time period does not correspond particularly well with the dates of the various literary move-
ments, which continued to focus on poetry and the emerging genres of prose narratives and drama.
For students:
The works in this section are meant to be compared and contrasted. Consider the following questions while reading:
• What views of the New World and the Old World do we find in Renaissance literature? What do we learn
about the writers who present those views?
• How does the definition of leadership change in works such as The Prince, Hamlet, and Don Quixote?
• What do we learn about heroism in the Renaissance? How has it changed?
• What concepts of morality do we find in Gargantua and Pantagruel, Hamlet, and The Prince?
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Compact Anthology of World Literature
The texts also can be compared and contrasted with earlier time periods:
• What are the differences among ancient world warriors, medieval knights, and Renaissance soldiers? How
does that affect the Renaissance definition of a hero?
• How has the view of authority (and authority figures) changed from the Ancient World to the Renaissance?
• How has the role of women in society changed over time in these works? In what ways has it not changed?
• Culture shock: How would Hamlet react if he were dropped into the Iliad? What would the characters in
the Iliad think about him, and why? How would the situation change if Hamlet were dropped into the Tale
of Genji?
Written by Laura J. Getty
ii
10
Korea
This chapter introduces two prominent examples from the Joseon (also spelled as Chosŏn) Dynasty (1392-
1897) in Korea: the Korean indigenous poetic form called “sijo” and The Tale of Hong Gil-Dong (1612), one of the
first novels written in Hangeul (also spelled “Hangul”), the Korean alphabet. Joseon, a Confucian society that lasted
for about five centuries, was the last dynasty before Korea’s modernization.
In Joseon literature, what is notable is the invention (1443) and promulgation (1446) of Hangeul, the Korean
alphabet, by Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty, who reigned from 1418 to 1450. Before Han-
geul, Koreans did not have an indigenous written system that matched their oral language, and mostly borrowed
Chinese letters for writing. After the popularization of Hangeul, however, Korean indigenous literature in Korean
blossomed.
The Joseon Dynasty was also a monarchial society based on a class system that consisted of yangban (“noble
men,” such as scholars, landlords, rulers, and generals), jung-in (professionals, such as doctors, mathematicians, and
translators), sang-in (merchants), and nobi (servants) in order of hierarchy from top to bottom. Furthermore, while
it allowed patriarchal polygamy, the Confucian Joseon Dynasty limited the rights of the concubines and their
children in inheritance and opportunities for social mobility. The Tale of Hong Gil-Dong deals with this social
contradiction and focuses on social discriminations against, and condescension for, the children of concubines.
There has been inconsistency in the Romanization of the
Korean language. Before 2000, the McCune-Reischauer system
was the official system for South Korea. South Korea adopted the
Revised Romanization of Korean in 2000, but there is still some
inconsistency because some people continued to use the previous
system or do not consult a standardized system. In this chapter,
the 2000 Revised Romanization of Korean is used, but some other
common variations are indicated.
As you read, consider the following questions:
• Select and examine a theme in a sijo poem. What idea
does it suggest, and what surprising twist does it display at
the end? If you detect any humor or wit, can you explain
those elements as well?
• Because sijo blossomed during the Joseon Dynasty, which
officially adopted Confucianism, some traditional sijo
reflect Confucian themes, such as loyalty. Examine if a
particular verse reflects, subverts, and/or avoids Confu-
cian ideas.
• How would you compose your own sijo in English?
• Take a look at the image of the original text in Hangeul, the
Korean alphabet, in the following website (http://www.korea.
Image 10.1: Sejong the Great | The king of Joseon
net/AboutKorea/History/The-Beginnings-of-the-Countrys-His- sits on his throne.
tory). Given that Korea had long been in a tributary rela-
tionship with China, imported philosophies from China, Author: User “Mammique”
Source: Wikimedia Commons
and used Chinese letters for important documents until
License: GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL)
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Compact Anthology of World Literature
Korea’s own alphabet became popular, what implications might The Tale of Hong Gil-Dong have as one of the
earliest novels in Korean about Korean issues?
• In what ways do you think Hong Gil-Dong’s ideas and actions were subversive and progressive, yet at the
same time limited by his society?
• Examine the text for any traces of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Catholicism, all of which Heo
Gyun had access to during his time.
• If you are familiar with the Chinese classic The Water Margin, compare the Chinese classic and Heo
Gyun’s novel.
• Develop an argument about the character Hong Gil-Dong, considering his drive for self-fulfillment and the
actions he takes. Which character in other literary traditions can he be compared to?
• You can watch a part of the TV drama adaptation (no English subtitles) in the following website (https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH5pFNKnn8Q), which corresponds to the beginning of the tale of Hong Gil-
Dong. How do you think this video clip dramatizes the novel?
For more information, see the following sources:
• Go to the following website for a brief history of Korea
and the map of Korea over time. You will find the map
of Joseon on this page, which is generally the same as the
current map of Korea.
http://www.korea.net/AboutKorea/Korea-at-a-Glance/History
• For more instructions on how to write sijo in English, go
to http://www.sejongsociety.org/korean_theme/sijo/sijo_more.
html
• For a greater understanding of sijo, watch David McCann’s
three videos:
http://sejongsociety.org/videos/sijo/sijo_teaching_form_of_
sijo_md_fl.htm
http://sejongsociety.org/videos/sijo/sijo_teaching_history_of_
sijo_md_fl.htm
http://sejongsociety.org/videos/sijo/sijo_teaching_chungsan-
lee_md_fl.htm
• For examples of contemporary sijo (in English), see the
Image 10.2: Hunmin jeong-eum | A Korean writing
following Sejong Cultural Society’s websites: manual for teaching the language’s native.
http://www.sejongculturalsociety.org/writing/past/2014/win-
ners/sijo.php#1 Author: User “PuzzletChung”
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: Public Domain
Written by Kyounghye Kwon
SIjo Poetry
First used ca. 1000 C.E.
Korea
The sijo (pronounced “shee-jo”) is a Korean indigenous poetic form, which first emerged around the middle of the
Goryeo Period (918-1392), was active during the Joseon Period (1392-1897), and is still practiced today. It is the best
example of Korean indigenous poetry and is comparable to other poetic traditions, especially those in East Asia.
The sijo is a three-line Korean poetic form, traditionally meant to be sung and recited, dealing with various
themes, such as the philosophical, pastoral, and personal. The first line is usually written in a 3-4-4-4 syllable
pattern and introduces an idea. The second line is usually written in a 3-4-4-4 syllable pattern and develops the idea.
2
Sijo Poetry
Image 10.3: “A Beautiful Woman”
| A picture by Sin Yunbok, a famous
painter of the Joseon dynasty. The
The third line is usually written in a 3-5-4-3 syllable pattern and provides a twist on the initial idea in the first half and a
imange is also associated with
resolution in the second half of the line. As there have been many variations, the number of syllables is flexible in sijo. Hwang Jini (also spelled Chini or
However, for its musicality, it is important to have four distinct syllabic groups in each line, which are further divided into Chin-i), whose name means “Bright
the first half and the second half. When reciting, slight pauses should mark the space between each group, as well as the Moon.”
space between the first half and the second half.
Author: User “Kindahypertonic”
Selected poems here represent well-known traditional sijo poems. Yun Seondo (1587-1671) is regarded as the sijo
Source: Wikimedia Commons
master in Korea, along with Chung Chul, for producing a number of exemplary pieces. Yun was a scholar, government
License: Public Domain
official, and tutor to princes at the royal court, and he produced most of his famous poetry while in political exile.
Chung Chul (1536-1594) was a Confucian scholar who wrote a great number of elegant sijo. Hwang Chin-i (1506-
c1567) was a gisaeng (female entertainer) whose professional name was Myeongwal (“bright moon”). She was famous
for her beauty and her talent at poetry, literature, music, dance, and calligraphy. Yi Sun-shin (1545-1598) was a naval
commander who won victories against the Japanese navy during the war with Japan between 1592 and 1598. Chŏng
Mong-ju (1338-1392) was a Confucian scholar who refused to betray his king in the Goryeo Kingdom when Korea
was transitioning from the Goryeo Kingdom to the Joseon Dynasty. Kim Chang-up (1658-1721), Yang Sa-Eun (1517-
1584), and Im Che (1549-1587) were all writers during the Joseon Dynasty.
Written by Kyounghye Kwon
readings:
Sijo Poem
License: CC BY-SA
Hwang Jin-I, Translated by David R. McCann
I will break in two the long strong back
of this long midwinter night,
Roll it up and put it away
under the springtime coverlet.
And the night that my loved one comes back again
I will unroll it to lengthen the time.
the first stanza of “Song of (My) Five Friends”
License: CC BY-SA
Yun Seondo, Translated by Larry Gross
You ask how many friends I have? Water and stone, bamboo and pine.
The moon rising over the eastern hill is a joyful comrade.
Besides these five companions, what other pleasure should I ask
• Yun Seondo (also spelled Yun Sŏndo)’s full poem can be found here:
http://www.webring.org/l/rd?ring=sijowebring;id=3;url=http%3A%2F%2Fthewordshop.tripod.com%2FSijo%2F
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Compact Anthology of World Literature
the first verse from the spring sequence of the poems
about the changing seasons
License: CC BY-SA
Yun Seondo, Translated by Larry Gross
Sun lights up the hill behind, mist rises on the channel ahead.
Push the boat, push the boat!
The night tide has gone out, the morning tide is coming in.
Jigukchong, jigukchong, eosawa!
Untamed flowers along the shore reach out to the far village.
the traditional sijo poems by Chung Chul, Kim Chang-Up, U-taek, yang Sa eun,
Hwang jini (also spelled Hwang Chin-i), Im Che, yi Wonik, yun Sundo,
and others, as well as examples of contemporary sijo:
• Go to the link and read these poems:
http://www.sejongculturalsociety.org/writing/current/resources/sijo_samples.php
Sijo poems by yi Sun-shin and Chŏng Mong-ju
• Go to the link and scroll down the page to read these poems:
http://chosonkorea.org/index.php/culture/literature/sijopoetry
tHe tALe oF HonG GIL-DonG
Heo Gyun (1569-1618 C.E.)
First published in 1612 C.E.
Korea
The Tale of Hong Gil-Dong (also spelled “Hong Kil Tong” and pronounced as such), one of the earliest novels in
Korean, was written by Heo Gyun (also spelled “Hŏ Kyun” or “Huh Kyun”) during the Joseon Dyansty (1392-1897).
Although the novel, first published in 1612, is set during the reign of King Sejong (1418- 1450), it is inspired by an
actual robber named Hong Gil-Dong during the reign of King Yeonsan-gun (1494-1506) and is also seen as par-
tially inspired by The Water Margin, a Chinese classic generally attributed to Shi Nai’an (ca. 1296–1372). Heo Gyun
was an unorthodox thinker. Despite the Confucian state ideology of the Joseon Dynasty, he developed interests in
Buddhism, Taoism, and possibly even Catholicism. He criticized social and governmental corruption and contra-
diction, and he argued for equal employment opportunities that would not discriminate against the children of
concubines. This novel is noted for its social criticism.
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