What Literature Teaches About Different Cultures - 1827 Words

Our world is full of hundreds of cultures, scattered all over the place, but when we can’t travel to every country on earth, how can we find out about these cultures. We can learn a tremendous amount about a culture, just through studying their literature. First of all, we can learn a great amount about their basic culture; their everyday life. We can also learn what kind of society they live in now, and what kind they did live in hundreds of years ago. And finally we can learn about their history simply from studying their culture. Culture isn’t only defined as a country’s history or what kind of society they live in, it’s also about simple things like what you eat, or what kind of bed you have, or what you believe in. Culture can†¦show more content†¦Korean culture believes that tradition is everything in literature, using the same metaphors or subjects for writing and putting them into you’re own poems is considered a very good thing to do. We can see this in many poems; Koreans use symbols and imagery to represent different things in their poems, a lot of poems talk about a river, a flower, or rolling hills, these all mean that time continues, a chrysanthemum or an orchid in a poems means virtue. There are many symbols that are in Korean poems that we see over and over again, this shows that in Korean culture tradition is beautiful. Korea is ruled under a Confucianist society, and has been for over five hundred years, it’s a little more relaxed now, but the ideas of Confucianism are still there. When you’re in a Confucianist society there is the idea of â€Å"Law vs. Ritual† this means that people have internalized the idea of not breaking the law, up to 99% of Koreans don’t even know what would happen if they broke the law because they know you just â€Å"don’t do it†. This is present in the film â€Å"Joint Security Area† (JSA), the Koreans have internalized the idea that you do not cross the line that separates North and South Korea. Relationships in Korea have been shaped around the idea of Confucianism. In Korea the Caste System is still present to this day; however it is not as strong as it used to be. In the Caste System you should only talkShow MoreRelatedI believe that mythology should still be taught in schools, although with less of an emphasis and600 Words   |  3 Pagesschools, although with less of an emphasis and across more cultures. Myths are important parts of literature, and have complexity that is different than normal novels. Also, myths teach about the culture of their time, as well as how people lived and what they believed. Along these lines, I think that other cultures’ myths should also be taught, as they also teach about the people of their time. Mythology is an important form of literature that has been around thousands of years. For example, â€Å"theRead MoreAnalysis Of Lolita s Tehran Is A Memoir By Azar Nafisi1484 Words   |  6 Pageslife struggle of people, especially women living in Iran during revolution. Nafisi is a literature professor who has started her own secret class with seven former students. The class meets once a week and discusses different works of the western literature. In Iran women were were not allowed to read western literature and the ones who read these novels  were punished. Iranian government considered western culture bad for their women. The meetings became significant of their own existence and purposeRead MoreMaya Angelou Essay1019 Words   |  5 PagesMaya Angelou is an American author who is known for her poetry and novels that lyrically illustrate the experiences of African Americans and also acts as a spokesperson for black pride and heritage (St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Cult ure). 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Especially, now days in the education system without Shakespeare, English and the American literature as we know it today would not be the same as he is known to be the creator of modern literature. Today, Williams Shakespeare is being taught not only in the English- speaking countries but also in non-English Speaking countriesRead MoreS.E. Hinton Will Change History781 Words   |  3 Pagescultural literacy such as her first book that showed readers about adolescences trying to survive in the world. According to Antoine Wilson’s biography â€Å"†¦you should know about S.E. Hinton is that the â€Å"S. E.† stands for Susan Eloise, and that Susan Eloise is a woman†(Wilson 7). The life of a remarkable woman who changed history forever was born on July 22, 1948 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In an in interview with Globe and Mail, S. E. Hinton talks about her most successful novel The Outsiders. Directly from theRead MoreWhat Does Literature Encourage Us For Other Cultures?1537 Words   |  7 PagesTo what extent does literature encourage us to be more accepting of other cultures? A human’s right lies in the amount of confidence and personality that is fostered by their culture. Essentially, individual are the product of their culture. It moulds and forms an individual into a unique shape, different from any other. Culture allows one to think, speak, and dance in a particular manner, which is why it is important. It can be defined as the characteristics and knowledge of a specific group of