A thesis on the pecularities of Asian literature

Importance of Asian Literature
The historical experiences of people in Asia have been interwoven for centuries if not millennia, owing to their close and vast geography as well as years of trade and conquests.

Naturally, while each Asian country has a unique literary style, their literature also reflects the similarities in their customs and traditions, struggles and successes, even their philosophies in life, giving the rest of the world a better understanding of Asian culture.

This is hugely important especially to Western people in the past since they did not know a lot of Asia, much less its people’s ways of living, due to both their geographic and cultural distances.

The differences between Western and Eastern culture manifests even until today. However, Asian literature brings their people’s lives straight from reality to the pages that then take their stories into the hearts of others worldwide, where they somehow find a common ground of shared experiences. Asian literature goes to show that despite the distance and differences, we are all connected through the tales that we have in common with each other.

Not only does Asian literature give us an original and fresh take on people’s experiences, but it also contributes to our collective perception of life through the morals and philosophies that their literary pieces embody. One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of Arabian folk tales, is the epitome of the value-centered pieces of Asian literature. In its hundreds of stories, just as many moral lessons can be gleaned. To name a few, Aladdin’s Wonderful Lamp teaches us the meaning of identity and how it is based on merit, not wealth; Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves characterizes loyalty, honesty, and generosity; The Tale of the Hunchback calls out to the persistence of truth and our conscience.

Asian literature has also aided the spread of Asian spirituality, heightening the major religions that we know and are a part of until today—all of which started in the continent itself: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam having originated from West Asia, Hinduism and Buddhism from the South, and Confucianism and Taoism from the East. Examples of literary texts that support religions range from the Tao Te Ching that exemplifies Taoism, the Analects that epitomizes Confucianism, to the Sanskrit epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata that are important to Hinduism, amongst many others that knit the patchwork of Asian religions.

Asian literature has impacted our lives, whether we know it or not. It is there in the way that we view certain aspects of life—such as struggles, injustices, death—, and it is there in the way that we treat life itself. Throughout the years and until today, all over the world, Asian literature has helped shape our ideals and lifestyles. It is only right that we trace the origins of such a powerful medium that has moved our minds.