#Hausa tales

[rrcraft-and-lore]

Once upon a time

Everyone knows once upon a time, but did you know that countless cultures have their variation of how classic stories begin, and one one from Welsh is, "A long time ago," similar to a few others from other cultures that go, "A long long time ago."

But, some, like Lithuanian go: "Beyond nine seas, beyond nine lagoons," similar to the Czech, "Beyond seven mountain ranges, beyond seven rivers."

These are some variations from Arab texts: This happened or maybe it did not. The time is long past and much is forgot.

There was or there was not—is anything sure or certain but the greatness of Allah?—a king so powerful that man and Djinn bowed before him.

This is how many Hausa tales are begun “A story, a story. Let it go, let it come.”

And of course, we have one that is a combination and modern invention that has become part of media culture and storied greatness: "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away." <3

These are just some. But it's been among the most wonderful part of my research before I began putting down the first words for Tales of Tremaine. But the art of storytelling is one of the most human things there is. It's central to us, and it has passed long and far by tongue and time over lands and through cultures. Some beginnings are so similar to each other, some not so much.

But then you see the threads between them in the stories, the themes, tropes, archetypes, motifs. But the traditions span the world. They are old. They are cool. And they are beautiful.

And storytelling is one of the gifts that connects us all, like music, and other arts.

[go-ro]

Common trope in Sudanic tales is a good that the hero can get only after having washed his feet in water from Medina.

In this particular fairy tale, p. 73-74 in Manuel langue haoussa, an older woman who can miraculously procure large amounts of food out of thin air, is said to have one foot in Mecca and one foot in Borno. Is this because Borno is a center of Islamic learning or because she is from borno?

[hadeth]

 عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ "‏ إِيَّاكُمْ وَالظَّنَّ، فَإِنَّ الظَّنَّ أَكْذَبُ الْحَدِيثِ، وَلاَ تَحَسَّسُوا، وَلاَ تَجَسَّسُوا، وَلاَ تَنَاجَشُوا، وَلاَ تَحَاسَدُوا، وَلاَ تَبَاغَضُوا، وَلاَ تَدَابَرُوا، وَكُونُوا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ إِخْوَانًا ‏"‏‏.‏ صحيح البخاري ومسلم حديث ٦٠٦٦ - ٢٥٦٣

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the worst of false tales. and do not look for the others' faults, and do not do spying on one another, and do not practice Najsh, and do not be jealous of one another and do not hate one another, and do not desert (stop talking to) one another. And O, Allah's worshipers! Be brothers!" Sahih al-Bukhari 6066 In-book reference : Book 78, Hadith 96 - Sahih Muslim 2563a In-book reference : Book 45, Hadith 35

حثَّتِ الشَّريعةُ على الإصلاحِ بيْن المسلِمينَ وتَوطيدِ الأُخوَّةِ والاجتماعِ بيْنهم، ونَهَتْ عَنْ كلِّ ما يَدْعو لِلفُرقَةِ والتَّباغُضِ والعَداوةِ. وفي هذا الحديثِ يَنْهى النَّبيُّ صلَّى اللهُ عليه وسلَّم ويُحَذِّرُ مِن بعضِ ما يُؤدِّي إلى هذه الفُرقَةِ والعَداوةِ والتَّباغضِ؛ فحذَّر صلَّى اللهُ عليه وسلَّم مِنَ الظَّنِّ، وهو تُهمةٌ تقَعُ في القَلبِ بلا دَليلٍ، يعني سُوءَ الظَّنِّ بِالمسلِمين، والحديثَ بما لم يُتيقَّنْ مِنَ الأخبارِ، وقال: «إنَّ الظَّنَّ أكذبُ الحديثِ»، أي: يَقعُ الكذبُ في الظَّنِّ أكثرَ مِن وُقوعِه في الكلامِ، وقيلَ: المرادُ بأكذَبِ الحديثِ: حَديثُ النَّفْسِ؛ لأنَّه يكونُ بإلْقاءِ الشَّيطانِ في نفْسِ الإنسانِ. وقيل: إنَّ إثْمَ هذا الكَذِبِ أزْيدُ مِن إثمِ الحديثِ الكاذبِ، أو إنَّ المَظنوناتِ يقَعُ الكذِبُ فيها أكثرَ مِن المَجزوماتِ. ونَهى النَّبيُّ صلَّى اللهُ عليه وسلَّم عن التَّ��سُّسِ فقال: «وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا»، والتَّجسُّسُ: البحثُ عَنِ العَوراتِ والسَّيِّئاتِ، والسَّعيُ في كشْفِ سَترِ اللهِ عن عِبادِه، ويُستثنَى منه ما لو تَعيَّنَ ذلك طَريقًا لإنقاذِ إنسانٍ مِن هَلاكٍ أو نحْوِه؛ كأنْ يُخبِرَ أحدُهم بأنَّ فلانًا خَلا برجُلٍ ليَقتُلَه. ثمَّ قال: «وَلا تَحَسَّسُوا» والتَّحسُّسُ: هو طَلَبُ مَعرفةِ الأخبارِ والأحوالِ الغائبةِ، «وَلا تَباغَضُوا» والمرادُ: النَّهيُ عن تَعاطي أسبابِ البَغضاءِ والكراهيةِ، والانسياقِ وَراءَها، وفِعلِ ما يُسبِّبُ العَداوةَ بيْنهم؛ لِمَا في تَباغُضِهم منَ التَّفرُّقِ المذمومِ، «وكُونوا إخوانًا» كما أراد اللهُ لكم؛ حيث جعَلَكم إخوةً في الدِّينِ، وهي رابِطةٌ تلتَئِمُ بها العلاقاتُ بين النَّاسِ، وتَزيدُ المحبَّةَ والأُلفَةَ بيْنهم، كما قال اللهُ تعالَى: {إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ} [الحجرات: 10] الدرر السنية.

Hadith Translation/ Explanation : English French Spanish Turkish Urdu Indonesian Bosnian Russian Bengali Chinese Persian Tagalog Indian Kurdish Hausa Portuguese Malayalam Telgu Swahili Tamil Burmese German Japanese Pashto Assamese Albanian: https://hadeethenc.com/en/browse/hadith/5332

قال أبو سليمان الخطابى: قوله: (إياكم والظن) فإنه أراد النهى عن تحقيق ظن السوء وتصديقه دون مايهجس بالقلب من خواطر الظنون فإنها لاتملك، قال الله تعالى: (إن بعض الظن أثم (فلم يجعل الظن كله إثمًا.قال غيره: فنهى عليه السلام أن تحقق على أخيك ظن السوء إذا كان الخير غالبًا عليه. وروى عن عمر أنه قال: لايحل لمسلم يسمع من أخيه كلمة أن يظن بها سوء وهو يجد لها فى شىء من الخير مصدرًا... والنهي عن التباغض والتدابر، وما أمرهم النبي عليه السلام فعليهم العمل به ومانهاهم عنه فعليهم الانتهاء عنه، غير موسع عليهم مخالفة إلا أن يخبرهم عليه السلام أن مخرج أمره لهم ونهيه على وجه الندب والإرشاد، وقد تقدم فى باب الحب فى الله قوله (صلى الله عليه وسلم) : (والذى نفسى بيده لاتدخلون الجنة حتى تؤمنوا، ولاتؤمنوا حتى تحابوا) . فذلك أن أمره عليه السلام ونهيه فى هذا الحديث على الوجوب، وقال أبو الدرداء: (ألا أخبركم بخير لكم من الصدقة والصيام: صلاح ذات البين، وإن البغضة هى الحالقة) لأن فى تباغضهم افتراق كلمتهم وتشتت أمرهم، وفى ذلك ظهور عدوهم عليهم ودروس دينهم. وفيه: النهى عن الحسد على النعم، وقد نهى الله عباده المؤمنين عن أن يتمنوا مافضل الله به بعضهم على بعض وأمرهم أن يسألوه من فضله، وقد أجاز النبى الحسد فى الخير، وسيأتى هذا المعنى فى كتاب التمنى، إن شاء الله تعالى. وفيه: النهى عن التجسس وهو البحث عن باطن أمور الناس وأكثر ما يقال ذلك فى السر. وقال ابن الأعرابى وأبو عمرو الشيبانى: الجاسوس: صاحب سر، والناموس: صاحب سر الخير.وقال سليمان الخطابى: وأما التحسس بالحاء فقد اختلف فى تفسيره فقال بعضهم: هو كالتجسس سواء، وقرأ الحسن: ولا تحسسوا ومنهم من فرق بينهما، وروى الأوزاعى عن يحى بن أبى كثير أنه قال: التجسس: البحث عن عورات المسلمين، والتحسس: الاستماع لحديث القوم. وقال أبو عمر: التحسس بالحاء أن تطلبه لنفسك، وبالجيم أن تكون رسولا لغيرك. وقال صاحب العين: دابرت الرجل: عاديته، ومنه قولهم جعلته دبر أذنى أى خلفها..شرح ابن بطال على البخاري

قَوْلُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ (وَلَا تَنَافَسُوا وَلَا تَحَاسَدُوا) قَدْ قَدَّمْنَا أَنَّ الْحَسَدَ تَمَنِّي زَوَالِ النِّعْمَةِ وَأَمَّا الْمُنَافَسَةُ وَالتَّنَافُسُ فَمَعْنَاهُمَا الرَّغْبَةُ في الشئ وَفِي الِانْفِرَادِ بِهِ وَنَافَسْتُهُ مُنَافَسَةً إِذَا رَغِبْتُ فيما رغب فيه قيل مَعْنَى الْحَدِيثِ التَّبَارِي فِي الرَّغْبَةِ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَأَسْبَابِهَا وَحُظُوظِهَا  ... شرح النووي على مسلم

 أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال كونوا عباد الله إخوانا كما أمركم يعني أنه يجب على الإنسان أن يكون أخا لأخيه، بالمعنى المطابق للأخوة، لا يكن عدوا له، فإن بعض الناس إذا صار بينه وبين أخيه معاملة وساء الظن بينهما في هذه المعاملة اتخذه عدوا، وهذا لا يجوز، الواجب أن الإنسان يكون أخا لأخيه، في المحبة والألفة وعدم التعرض له بالسوء والدفاع عن عرضه وغير ذلك من مقتضيات الأخوة المسلم أخو المسلم لا يظلمه ولا يحقره ولا يكذبه ... وهذا الحديث الذي ذكره المؤلف بألفاظه، ينبغي للإنسان أن يتخذه مسارا له ومنهجا يسير عليه ويبني عليه حياته فإنه جامع لكثير من مسائل الأخلاق التي إذا تجنبها الإنسان حصل على خير كثير والله الموفق. شرح رياض الصالحين لابن عثيمين

[brookston]

Holidays 7.17

Holidays

Air Conditioner Day

Constitution Day (South Korea)

Crank Call Day

Disneyland Day

Ethnographer’s Day (Russia)

Feast of the Clockless NowEver

Flag Day (Norway)

Glioblastoma Awareness Day

Guelaguetza (Primer Lunes; Mexico)

International Firgun Day

International HIV Prevention Day

International Tim Brooke-Taylor Day (UK)

King’s Day (Lesotho)

National Air Conditioner Day

National Asshole Awareness Day

National Cory Day

National Heart-Brain Disorders Awareness Day

National Lottery Day

National Physiatry Day (Philippines)

National Secretary Day (Mexico)

National Tattoo Day

National Voice Actor Day

President’s Day (Botswana)

Purity Day

717 Day (Pennsylvania)

Sewing Machine Day

Spanish Civil War Anniversary Day

Tims Camp Day

TWA Flight 800 Crash Anniversary Day

U Tirot Sing Day (Meghalaya, India)

Victims of Baton Rouge, Louisiana Attack Day

Wear Crazy Socks to Work Day

Wheat Day (French Republic)

World Day for International Justice

World Emoji Day

World Tattoo Day

Wrong Way Corrigan Day

Yellow Pig Day (Celebrating the Number 17)

Yellow Submarine Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Indie Beer Shop Day (UK)

National Peach Ice Cream Day

Independence & Related Days

Constitution Day (South Korea; 1948)

July Revolution Anniversary Day (Iraq; 1958)

Negaunee Republic (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Slovakia (Remembrance Day; from Czechoslovakia, 1992)

3rd Wednesday in July

Bump Day [3rd Wednesday]

International Balloon Dog Day [3rd Wednesday]

National Hot Dog Day [Wednesday closest to 19th; also 3.30 & 9.10]

Take Your Poet to Work Day [3rd Wednesday]

Weekly Holidays beginning July 17 (3rd Week of July)

Hemingway Look Alike Days (thru 7.21)

National Baby Food Week (thru 7.20)

National Ventriloquism Week (thru 7.20)

Festivals Beginning July 17, 2024

Big Sky Country State Fair (Bozeman, Montana) [thru 7.21]

Crested Butte Wine + Food Festival (Crested Butte, Colorado) [thru 7.21]

Mattoon Bagelfest (Mattoon, Illinois) [thru 7.20]

National Baby Food Festival (Freemont, Michigan) [thru 7.20]

Perseid Meteor Showers (thru 8.24)

Raspberry Festival (Hopkins, Minnesota) [thru 7.21]

Wabasha County Fair (Plainview, Minnesota) [thru 7.20]

Feast Days

Alexius of Rome (Western Church)

Amaterasu-Omikami (Shinto; China; Everyday Wicca)

Andrew Zorard (Christian; Saint)

Ba-Maguje's Day (Hausa; on Eid al-Fitr)

Berenice Abbot (Artology)

Boccaccio (Positivist; Saint)

Caligula Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Clement of Okhrida and His Companions (Christian; Saints)

Cynehelm (Christian; Saint)

Cynllo (Christian; Saint)

Ennodius (Christian; Saint)

Erle Stanley Gardner (Writerism)

Feast of the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne

Feast of the Holy Royal Martyrs of Russia

Festival for Victoria and Virtus (Goddess of Victory & God of Bravery in Warfare; Ancient Rome)

Furgus Fuzz (Muppetism)

Gion Matsuri (Japan)

Hermann Huppen (Artology)

Holiday Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Inácio de Azevedo (Christian; Saint)

Jadwiga of Poland (Christian; Saint)

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (Artology)

Jowls (Muppetism)

Kenelm (Nun’s Priest Tale; Canterbury Tales)

Kurman Ait Day (Kyrgyzstan)

Leo IV, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Lyonel Feininger (Artology)

Magnus Felix Ennodius (Christian; Saint)

Many Benner (Artology)

Marcellina (Christian; Saint & Virgin)

Martyrs of Compiègne (Christian; Saint)

Nerses Lampronatsi (Christian; Saint)

Paul Delaroche (Artology)

Pavel Peter Gojdič, Blessed (Greek Catholic Church)

Petal-Hopping for Hopeless Cases (Shamanism)

Piatus of Tournai (Christian; Saint)

Quino (Artology)

Romanov sainthood (Russian Orthodox Church)

Shmuel Agnon (Writerism)

Skinny Dipping Day (Pastafarian)

Solstitium XII (Pagan)

Speratus and His Companions (Christian; Martyrs)

Turninus (Christian; Saint)

Why Not? Day (Pastafarian)

William White (Episcopal Church))

Islamic Lunar Holidays

Ashura (Islamic) [Began at Sundown Last Night; 10th Day of Muharram] (a.k.a. ... 

Achoura (Algeria)

Ashorra (Parts of India)

Ashoura (Lebanon)

Ashura Holiday (Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia)

Muharram (Parts of India)

Remembrance of Muharram

Tamkharit (Senegal)

Tamxarit (Gambia)

Tasoua Hosseini (Iran)

Tasu’a

Yaum-e-Ashur (Pakistan)

Yawmul Ashura (Gambia)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [26 of 37]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [40 of 57]

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [19 of 30]

Premieres

All You Need Is Love, by The Beatles (US Song; 1967)

Ant-Man (Film; 2015)

Arthur (Film; 1981)

A Bullet for Cinderella, by John D. MacDonald (Novel; 1955)

The Case of the Velvet Claws, by Erle Stanley Gardner (Novel; 1933) [Perry Mason #1]

Cherokee, recorded by Charlie Barnet (Song; 1939)

The Dark Knight Rises, by Hans Zimmer (Soundtrack Album; 2012)

Disneyland, in Anaheim, California (Theme Park; 1955)

Egghead Rides Again (WB MM Cartoon; 1937)

Endless Love (Film; 1981)

(500) Days of Summer (Film; 2009)

From Up on Poppy Hill (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 2011)

Greyfriars Bobby (Film; 1961)

Horse Play (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1967)

James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl (Novel; 1961)

Jungle Cruise (Disneyland Ride; 1955)

The Mask of Zorro (Film; 1998)

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (Disneyland Ride; 1955)

Multiplicity (Film; 1996)

My Cousin Rachel, by Daphne du Maurier (Novel; 1951)

My Neighbors the Yamahas (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 1999)

North by Northwest (Film; 1959)

Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag, by James Brown (Song; 1965)

RoboCop (Film; 1987)

The Secret World of Arietty (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 2010)

Skinfolks (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1964)

So Nude, So Dead, by Ed McBain (Novel; 1952)

Splash Mountain (Disneyland Ride; 1989)

Surf Bored (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1953)

Trainwreck (Film; 2015)

The Truce Hurts (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1948)

Turbo (Animated Film; 2013)

Victory Through Air Power (Documentary Film; 1943)

Water Music, by George Frederic Handel (Orchestral Movements; 1717)

Who Goes There? (a.k.a. The Thing), by John W. Campbell Jr. (Novel; 1938)

Yellow Submarine (UK Animated Film; 1968)

You’re the Worst (TV Series; 2014)

Today’s Name Days

Alexius, Charlotte, Donata, Gabriella (Austria)

Marin, Marina (Bulgaria)

Aleksije, Branimir, Leo, Nadan, Rufina (Croatia)

Martina (Czech Republic)

Alecius (Denmark)

Meeme, Meemo (Estonia)

Ossi, Ossian (Finland)

Arlette, Charlotte, Marcelline (France)

Alexis, Charlotte, Gabriella (Germany)

Alexandra, Aliki, Marina (Greece)

Elek, Endre (Hungary)

Alessio, Marina (Italy)

Ainārs, Aleksejs, Aleksis (Latvia)

Aleksas, Darius, Girėnas, Vaiga (Lithuania)

Gorm, Guttorm (Norway)

Aleksander, Aleksy, Andrzej, Bogdan, Dzierżykraj, Januaria, Julietta, Leon, Marceli, Marcelina, Maria Magdalena (Poland)

Bohuslav (Slovakia)

Alejo, Alexis, Jacinto, Marcelina (Spain)

Bruno (Sweden)

Codie, Codey, Cody, Dakota, Dakotah, Ismael, Kody, Vesta (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 199 of 2024; 167 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of Week 29 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 11 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Xin-Wei), Day 12 (Ren-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 11 Tammuz 5784

Islamic: 10 Muharram 1446

J Cal: 19 Red; Fryday [19 of 30]

Julian: 4 July 2024

Moon: 83%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 2 Dante (8th Month) [Boccaccio]

Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 28 of 94)

Week: 3rd Week of July

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 27 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 7.17

Holidays

Air Conditioner Day

Constitution Day (South Korea)

Crank Call Day

Disneyland Day

Ethnographer’s Day (Russia)

Feast of the Clockless NowEver

Flag Day (Norway)

Glioblastoma Awareness Day

Guelaguetza (Primer Lunes; Mexico)

International Firgun Day

International HIV Prevention Day

International Tim Brooke-Taylor Day (UK)

King’s Day (Lesotho)

National Air Conditioner Day

National Asshole Awareness Day

National Cory Day

National Heart-Brain Disorders Awareness Day

National Lottery Day

National Physiatry Day (Philippines)

National Secretary Day (Mexico)

National Tattoo Day

National Voice Actor Day

President’s Day (Botswana)

Purity Day

717 Day (Pennsylvania)

Sewing Machine Day

Spanish Civil War Anniversary Day

Tims Camp Day

TWA Flight 800 Crash Anniversary Day

U Tirot Sing Day (Meghalaya, India)

Victims of Baton Rouge, Louisiana Attack Day

Wear Crazy Socks to Work Day

Wheat Day (French Republic)

World Day for International Justice

World Emoji Day

World Tattoo Day

Wrong Way Corrigan Day

Yellow Pig Day (Celebrating the Number 17)

Yellow Submarine Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Indie Beer Shop Day (UK)

National Peach Ice Cream Day

Independence & Related Days

Constitution Day (South Korea; 1948)

July Revolution Anniversary Day (Iraq; 1958)

Negaunee Republic (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Slovakia (Remembrance Day; from Czechoslovakia, 1992)

3rd Wednesday in July

Bump Day [3rd Wednesday]

International Balloon Dog Day [3rd Wednesday]

National Hot Dog Day [Wednesday closest to 19th; also 3.30 & 9.10]

Take Your Poet to Work Day [3rd Wednesday]

Weekly Holidays beginning July 17 (3rd Week of July)

Hemingway Look Alike Days (thru 7.21)

National Baby Food Week (thru 7.20)

National Ventriloquism Week (thru 7.20)

Festivals Beginning July 17, 2024

Big Sky Country State Fair (Bozeman, Montana) [thru 7.21]

Crested Butte Wine + Food Festival (Crested Butte, Colorado) [thru 7.21]

Mattoon Bagelfest (Mattoon, Illinois) [thru 7.20]

National Baby Food Festival (Freemont, Michigan) [thru 7.20]

Perseid Meteor Showers (thru 8.24)

Raspberry Festival (Hopkins, Minnesota) [thru 7.21]

Wabasha County Fair (Plainview, Minnesota) [thru 7.20]

Feast Days

Alexius of Rome (Western Church)

Amaterasu-Omikami (Shinto; China; Everyday Wicca)

Andrew Zorard (Christian; Saint)

Ba-Maguje's Day (Hausa; on Eid al-Fitr)

Berenice Abbot (Artology)

Boccaccio (Positivist; Saint)

Caligula Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Clement of Okhrida and His Companions (Christian; Saints)

Cynehelm (Christian; Saint)

Cynllo (Christian; Saint)

Ennodius (Christian; Saint)

Erle Stanley Gardner (Writerism)

Feast of the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne

Feast of the Holy Royal Martyrs of Russia

Festival for Victoria and Virtus (Goddess of Victory & God of Bravery in Warfare; Ancient Rome)

Furgus Fuzz (Muppetism)

Gion Matsuri (Japan)

Hermann Huppen (Artology)

Holiday Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Inácio de Azevedo (Christian; Saint)

Jadwiga of Poland (Christian; Saint)

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (Artology)

Jowls (Muppetism)

Kenelm (Nun’s Priest Tale; Canterbury Tales)

Kurman Ait Day (Kyrgyzstan)

Leo IV, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Lyonel Feininger (Artology)

Magnus Felix Ennodius (Christian; Saint)

Many Benner (Artology)

Marcellina (Christian; Saint & Virgin)

Martyrs of Compiègne (Christian; Saint)

Nerses Lampronatsi (Christian; Saint)

Paul Delaroche (Artology)

Pavel Peter Gojdič, Blessed (Greek Catholic Church)

Petal-Hopping for Hopeless Cases (Shamanism)

Piatus of Tournai (Christian; Saint)

Quino (Artology)

Romanov sainthood (Russian Orthodox Church)

Shmuel Agnon (Writerism)

Skinny Dipping Day (Pastafarian)

Solstitium XII (Pagan)

Speratus and His Companions (Christian; Martyrs)

Turninus (Christian; Saint)

Why Not? Day (Pastafarian)

William White (Episcopal Church))

Islamic Lunar Holidays

Ashura (Islamic) [Began at Sundown Last Night; 10th Day of Muharram] (a.k.a. ... 

Achoura (Algeria)

Ashorra (Parts of India)

Ashoura (Lebanon)

Ashura Holiday (Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia)

Muharram (Parts of India)

Remembrance of Muharram

Tamkharit (Senegal)

Tamxarit (Gambia)

Tasoua Hosseini (Iran)

Tasu’a

Yaum-e-Ashur (Pakistan)

Yawmul Ashura (Gambia)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [26 of 37]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [40 of 57]

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [19 of 30]

Premieres

All You Need Is Love, by The Beatles (US Song; 1967)

Ant-Man (Film; 2015)

Arthur (Film; 1981)

A Bullet for Cinderella, by John D. MacDonald (Novel; 1955)

The Case of the Velvet Claws, by Erle Stanley Gardner (Novel; 1933) [Perry Mason #1]

Cherokee, recorded by Charlie Barnet (Song; 1939)

The Dark Knight Rises, by Hans Zimmer (Soundtrack Album; 2012)

Disneyland, in Anaheim, California (Theme Park; 1955)

Egghead Rides Again (WB MM Cartoon; 1937)

Endless Love (Film; 1981)

(500) Days of Summer (Film; 2009)

From Up on Poppy Hill (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 2011)

Greyfriars Bobby (Film; 1961)

Horse Play (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1967)

James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl (Novel; 1961)

Jungle Cruise (Disneyland Ride; 1955)

The Mask of Zorro (Film; 1998)

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (Disneyland Ride; 1955)

Multiplicity (Film; 1996)

My Cousin Rachel, by Daphne du Maurier (Novel; 1951)

My Neighbors the Yamahas (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 1999)

North by Northwest (Film; 1959)

Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag, by James Brown (Song; 1965)

RoboCop (Film; 1987)

The Secret World of Arietty (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 2010)

Skinfolks (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1964)

So Nude, So Dead, by Ed McBain (Novel; 1952)

Splash Mountain (Disneyland Ride; 1989)

Surf Bored (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1953)

Trainwreck (Film; 2015)

The Truce Hurts (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1948)

Turbo (Animated Film; 2013)

Victory Through Air Power (Documentary Film; 1943)

Water Music, by George Frederic Handel (Orchestral Movements; 1717)

Who Goes There? (a.k.a. The Thing), by John W. Campbell Jr. (Novel; 1938)

Yellow Submarine (UK Animated Film; 1968)

You’re the Worst (TV Series; 2014)

Today’s Name Days

Alexius, Charlotte, Donata, Gabriella (Austria)

Marin, Marina (Bulgaria)

Aleksije, Branimir, Leo, Nadan, Rufina (Croatia)

Martina (Czech Republic)

Alecius (Denmark)

Meeme, Meemo (Estonia)

Ossi, Ossian (Finland)

Arlette, Charlotte, Marcelline (France)

Alexis, Charlotte, Gabriella (Germany)

Alexandra, Aliki, Marina (Greece)

Elek, Endre (Hungary)

Alessio, Marina (Italy)

Ainārs, Aleksejs, Aleksis (Latvia)

Aleksas, Darius, Girėnas, Vaiga (Lithuania)

Gorm, Guttorm (Norway)

Aleksander, Aleksy, Andrzej, Bogdan, Dzierżykraj, Januaria, Julietta, Leon, Marceli, Marcelina, Maria Magdalena (Poland)

Bohuslav (Slovakia)

Alejo, Alexis, Jacinto, Marcelina (Spain)

Bruno (Sweden)

Codie, Codey, Cody, Dakota, Dakotah, Ismael, Kody, Vesta (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 199 of 2024; 167 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of Week 29 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 11 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Xin-Wei), Day 12 (Ren-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 11 Tammuz 5784

Islamic: 10 Muharram 1446

J Cal: 19 Red; Fryday [19 of 30]

Julian: 4 July 2024

Moon: 83%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 2 Dante (8th Month) [Boccaccio]

Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 28 of 94)

Week: 3rd Week of July

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 27 of 31)

[ariel-seagull-wings]

SOME MORE FAIRY TALE ENDING VERSES

@themousefromfantasyland @princesssarisa @the-blue-fairie @softlytowardthesun @amalthea9 @superkingofpriderock @angelixgutz @faintingheroine @giuliettaluce

"Snip, snap, snout, 

This tale's told out"

(England)

"Colorín, colorado,

Este cuento se ha acabado."

(Spain)

"Off with the rat's head."

(Hausa verse from Nigeria and Benin)

 "Long tale, narrow way,

I've finished, so now say your say." 

(Italy)

"I hope you won't fail

To be pleased by my tale.

For a potful of butter,

I tell you another."

(Russia)

"That very same day, they celebrated their wedding and invited all the people of the neighboring towns. But as for me, I arrived too late and had to sit under the table, where I received only kicks and bones. What did you do that day?"

(Corsica)

"They put on the dog and high did they soar, They saw me not, I stood behind the door."

(Italy, Calvino, "King Crin," 60)

"They had a big feast. I was there, under the table. They threw me a bone, which hit me on the nose and stuck for good." 

(Italy, Calvino, The Little Shepherd, 26)

"And there they lived a life happy and long,

But nothing did they ever give me for my song."

(Italy, Calvino, The Sorceress's Head, 308)

"Merrily through life they went,

But were only content

To give me one cent

I never spent."

(Apple Girl, 310)

"They sat down and ate and drank their fill,

while here we are, dying of thirst."

(Ari-Ari, Donkey, Donkey, Money, Money! 441)

"Then everyone, including Emile and Cannelora, took his bride home, and there was great rejoicing throughout the kingdom. Poor girls were given the means for a fine wedding, but poor little me was not present, so here I am empty-handed"

(Italy, Calvino, Cannelora, 474)

"They danced and sang and ate and ate,

But us they gave not e'en a blessed date." 

(Italy, Calvino, The Handmade King, 493)

"And they remained emperor and empress their whole life long, while we are still as poor as ever."

(The Two Sea Merchants, 616)

"They were all made princes,

While I've stayed as poor a soul as ever." 

(Italy, Calvino, The Twelve Oxen, 50)

"Their life was happy and long;

But we, poor we, sing another song."

(Italy, Calvino, The Foppish King, 675)

"A few days later the two young people were married. At the wedding banquet they served radish preserves, peeled mice, skinned cats, and fried monkeys. They ate that, and enough was left over for tomorrow. To top off everything was a sprig of rosemary, token of remembrance, but nobody thought to say to me so much as "Have a glass of wine!" 

(Italy, Calvino, Invisible Grandfather, 106)

Source:

[womenofwonder]

RWBY characters races for AUs set in our world.

How I’m going to do this: three things. The first, the city they live in Remnant. This is the least important because that leaves us with only five…maybe six places compared to our world’s hundreds of countries.

The second will be the original of their names, which they’ll have to keep in the AUs, meaning that they need some culture background for them.

The third will be their fairy tale origins.

So to start, Ruby Rose:

She lives in Vale, which is similar to France (I’ll explain why in another post maybe), but technically grew up in patch, a small island off the coast of Vale. I have no idea about Patch’s culture as we hardly ever see it, so I’m going to skip this one. We also don’t know if either Summer or Taiyang was originally from Vale.

We know Taiyang is Chinese from his name, so I’m going to say she’s half Chinese. I also wrote a western au once and really love the idea of Taiyang being an Asian Redneck…so I think I’m going to say Ruby is very, very southern just because that would be adorable.

But if you don’t want that idea I generally see Taiyang being either Asian-American or Asian-French, or Asian-British if your doing a HP AU. Summer is harder to pin down, but Red Riding Hood was originally an Italian fable, so I’m going to have her be Italian or Italian-American.

Weiss:

Weiss is German, although making her simply white America/British would work. I could see her being Russian too in some AU because Atlas fits well as Russia. For American works, Pennsylvania has quite the German population and coal mines, so that works pretty well for her.

Blake is really complicated. From Remment Australia which is culturally SEA (south East Asian), has an English name but parents with a Hindu-inspired names, but neither looking vaguely Indian. I’m going to assume her family are immigrants (as they are in cannon I think) to Australia, maybe even changed their name to help them fit in. Immigrants from where? Well, India is an option, but I like to think Malaysia. They have a large Indian and Chinese population, and I like to think Blake is a mixture of Chinese, Malay, and Indian ethnicities, from Malaysia and immigrated to Australia. And if you think this is crazy or unrealistic, you haven’t seen anything yet. The sheer mix of cultures I’ve seen growing up as an ex-pat is insane. This isn’t too crazy.

For Yang, we already have Taiyang as an Asian red-neck. Or at least I do. Raven and Qrow are going to be a little harder to pin down, but I’m think bandits getting replaced by mafia. Which mafia? I don’t know, take you’re pick. Branwen is Welsh, but I can’t think of a Welsh mafia. Coming from Mistral I would see them as being Triad, not Yakuza because Raven’s gang is famous for being less than coordinated.

If you need a logical reason for Yang having blonde hair, Taiyang could be only half Chinese, half blonde (blonde is race right?).

Either way I see Raven operating in an American city like New York or Detroit.

This would mean Yang is fully Chinese ethnically.

JNPR:

Jaune’s name and inspiration are all French. However his mother does come from Mistral (I think), so I do see him being half Chinese, but nationally French. It’s also funny to imagine him with a French accent.

Pyrrha: she’s Greek or maybe Greek-American with her parents being recent immigrants. Argus seems to Remnent-Greece and her name and fairy tale are greek.

Nora: she should be Scandinavian. I feel like in a MCU AU she’s Thor’s daughter. But she also grew up as a street rat in Mistral, which is hard to fit in our world. Therefore I’m going to have her in America, the great melting pot (and also America seems to be more like Mistral than any other Remnent king with our state system), and she going to ethically Scandinavian but knowing nothing of her culture due to her upbringing.

Ren: obviously Chinese, but I might have him be American-Chinese to fit his story nicely in with Nora’s.

Others:

Coco: we’re all ignoring that she’s based off Coco Channel, so let’s make her a LA girl

Velvet: Australia, because of the accent. Or maybe English because that is her story origin

Fox: he’s difficult, because tribes are pretty rare in modern AUs. But his story could work for various things. He’s one of the few black characters so he could come from practically any African tribe (I’m currently going with Hausa because it’s one of the few I know anything about). His name is based off ‘the fox and the hound’ which is a rare American story, so he could also be from a Native American tribe if you want the AU to be more American-based.

Yatsuhashi: Japanese, this one is thankfully easy.

Sun: Chinese. He comes from a tribe as well, but I can’t think of any nomadic Chinese tribes except the Uyghurs. Making Sun a Uyghur doesn’t make much sense but it will serve to piss off certain people on the internet. And now this is going to be taken down, isn’t it? Oh wait, this is tumbrl. This is anarchy. It won’t. Forgot why I liked this place for a second.

Scarlet: sorry for the rambling there. Anyway, Scarlet is definitely English. “I hope I don’t get sand in my shoes.”

Sage: well, he’s black, but other then that we have nothing to go one. He’s also from Mistral but that doesn’t really work? If Mistral is America as well as China I guess we can make him African American. Or whatever else works best for the AU. He might be Indian too now that I think of it. Or even Maori. Really options are limitless here.

Neptune: Yeah, so probably just American, but does have both a French last name and an Italian first name. So probably ethically American (aka white mutt). Also he lives near a port, I think I’m gonna gone with him being from Tacoma Washington because I am.

Flynt: African American

Neon: Japanese-American because of her meme (it started as part of Japanese pop song on YouTube, the latter of which is America summed up in one invention)

Oscar: Hispanic-American, he just looks it. And I’m guessing he lives in Kansas for obvious reasons. His last name isn’t Hispanic but their could be a lot of reasons for that. Or he could be Native American (Pawnee, Cheyenne, and Osage are all Native American tribes in Kansas).

Penny: well if she’s still a robot she probably stays white, but if you want her human in this AU she might end up being half black as Pietro is, although she also could just be adopted. I guess the later makes more sense, huh? I figure she’s American, with her dad working with a ‘well meaning’ but ultimately corrupt government. Probably living in DC, as that has both the government and the poverty issues.

Emerald: oohh, boy. This is hard. Sustrai is Basque, and Aladdin is a French addition to an Arabian story, she herself is dark skinned with anime features that are super unhelpful for this sorta thing.

I have three ideas. Brazilian, mostly as there’s no South American themed RWBY characters I can think of, and it’s diverse enough that someone looking like Emerald would fit. Secondly, for American centered stories she’s just an orphan with no idea of her ethnicity. Or she could be African, Indian, Pacific Islander, or Hispanic or some mixture between those four. It’s honestly really hard to tell. In my fanfic she’s from Suriname and ethnically 1/4 Indian, 1/2 Creole, and 1/4 Javanese.

Ilia: Sioux (Native American). Ilia means a lot of things in a lot of different languages, and Amitola mean rainbow in Sioux, so I decided to just stick with that.

Mercury: American, white mutt American. I’m guessing New York or Philli for where he grew up, it seems like a place where he’d be comfortable

Neo: the new novel reveals her father lived in vale (btw I haven’t read it, I’m just getting this off the internet) and her mother was a assassin who’s origins aren’t known. She doesn’t really have a fairy tale. So I’m going to go with British or French (thank RWBY thoughts for the first one) although in an American AU she works as just a white American.

Robyn: depends on what Atlas is in this AU, but probably German or American.

Qrow: I already mentioned he’s probably Chinese due to being from Mistral. It’s a bit weird to think of him as Asian, but not as weird as it to think of Raven as white, so I’ll take it. Although I do like the idea of him being American Irish, that’s fun.

Winter: whatever Atlas is in this AU, German or American, although British and Russian would work well too.

Maria: Mexican

Salem: If you want a AU where she’s just a normal person then New England or Italian for her story origin

Watts: British

Tyrian: uh…I have no idea, but he looks white. And he kinda has a British accent? I want him to be southern for the accent tho. Probably just another crazy American

Cinder: her fairy tale is French but her origin is Chinese. Also, Cinderella doesn’t really have an origin, it’s an ancient story with every culture having at least one Cinderella story. So I’m going to say Chinese.

Hazel: American, from the Midwest. He’s darkish so maybe he’s a POC? Part Native American or Hispanic? Idk or really care I can’t stand Hazel

Roman Torchwick: American-Italian, he runs/works for the mafia

Ozpin: American because of the whole wizard-of-Oz-thing or French, because he seems to have come from Vale.

Glynda: American or French for the same reasons Ozpin is

Oobleck: Jewish American (because Dr. Seuss was)

Professor Port: Russian, due to his fairy tale, or English, due to his style

Taiyang: already said he’s a red-neck Asian.

Raven: depending on whether you want her to be white or not, either Chinese or Irish American, like I already said.

Cordovin: Karen

Ironwood: again, depends on Atlas in the AU. Either American or German…maybe Russian

Clover: Irish-American (or German, obviously the ace-ops depend on where Atlas is. I’m just going to do the rest of them assuming Atlas is American because Germany isn’t that diverse)

Harriet: African-American, I guess. It kinda messes with the story because Harriet is supposed to be privileged, which doesn’t really work in this AU, but she’s also obviously black.

Elm: Just normal American, maybe greek-American because of the Aesop fable themes

Vine: Tibetan based on his design

Marrow: either African-American or Pakistani/Indian-American. (I’m personally going for Pakistani)

Klein: english. All butlers are English. It’s a rule.

Pietro: African-American

Johanna: Pakistani or Indian American

Fiona: Jewish-American (kinda random but while she’s obviously white she also needs to be a minority for the Faunus thing to work)

May: normal upper glass American/German

Ghira: Half Malay, Half Indian, from Malaysia but immigrated to Australia later in life

Kali: half Chinese, half Indian, but also from Malaysia

Adam: much like Fiona I’m going to assume he’s Jewish due to him being white but still needing to be a minority. German or American, again, depending on where Atlas is. Or he could be Chinese, even though it doesn’t work with his name, due to the theory that he was trafficked much like Cinder. I’m going with ethically Jewish though

Sienna Khan: Indian

Huh, I actually finished that. I’m pretty sure I was accidentally racist multiple times and apologize in advance,

I’m exhausted and starving and not thinking straight. But anyway, here it is. Your very messy guide to modern RWBY AUs. I swear this was insane to sort out.

[rhyanneee]

World’s Literature

A. Southeast Asia

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” ―  J.R.R. Tolkein

Southeast Asia is composed of eleven countries of impressive diversity in religion, culture and history: Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Based on my research, the predominant themes of Southeast Asian arts have been religion and national history. In religion the main interest was not so much in actual doctrine but in the life and personality of the Buddha and the personalities and lives of the Hindu gods. In national history the interest was in the legendary heroes of the past, and this theme appeared only after the great empires had fallen and the memories of their glory and power remained. The Buddha image, which went through various stages of development, remained the favorite motif of sculpture and painting. The depiction of scenes from his previous lives in fresco and relief sculpture also had the purpose of teaching the Buddhist ethics to the people, as the Jatakas emphasized certain moral virtues of the Buddha in his previous lives; it also gave an opportunity to the artist to introduce local color by using, as background, scenes from his own contemporary time. The depiction of scenes from the Hindu epics also had the same purpose and gave the same opportunity to the artist. Many figures from the Buddhist and Hindu scriptures, such as gods and goddesses, heroes and princesses, hermits and magicians, demons and dragons, flying horses and winged maidens, became fused with similar native figures, and, gradually, folklore plots became merged in the general religious themes.

B. East Asia

“Only the very weak-minded refuse to be influenced by literature and poetry.” ― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel

East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. According to my research, some of the themes in East Asia literature are Immortality, Unfaithfulness, Disrespect in the Society, Abused Marriages & Families, Religion, Traditional Practices, Traditional Beliefs and Social Class. Some of the books in East Asia were concerned of the ethical practices that were common in their society. Some of them are about “respect.” Respect is one of the most cherished virtues in the society, and many of the East Asian literatures have always expressed this in different ways, especially the need to respect the elderly and those in power. Another common theme that comes out of the books focuses on the abused marriages. In the two cases, we witness marriage partners engaging in abusive acts against their wives or husbands. There are so many books which possesses such styles and themes in literature.

C. South and West Asia

“There is no surer foundation for a beautiful friendship than a mutual taste in literature.” ― P.G. Wodehouse

South Asia or Southern Asia is the southern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The West Asia region comprises of 12 member countries; Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, State of Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Based on my research, the peoples of South Asia have had a continuous literature from the first appearance in the Punjab of a branch of the Indo-European-speaking peoples who also settled all of Europe and Iran. In India this branch of Indo-Aryans, as they are usually called, met earlier inhabitants with different languages and no doubt a different culture—possibly a culture akin to that of the Indus Valley civilization, which had a script, and perhaps a literature of its own, of which nothing is known. Certain to have been settled in India were peoples who spoke languages of Dravidian origin, as well as other languages, called Munda, now preserved only by aboriginal tribes, which show affinities with the languages of Southeast Asia. In the Hellenistic period literature and culture flourished in Western Asia. Traditional literary forms such as lists continued to be produced by the native population and were adapted by the new rulers. While there is little evidence for the creation of new narrative literature, which may in part be due to the fragmentary nature of our sources, existing epics, wisdom texts, and folktales were retold, rewritten, and transmitted. Greeks living in Western Asia created historiographical, ethnographical, and geographical works about their surroundings, inspiring in turn the Babylonian priest Berossus to write a reference work on Babylonia in Greek. Much as during the Persian Empire, political instability and changes in power led to a diverse and independent culture of writing. Continuity in all genres, writing systems, and languages remains the most important characteristic of Western Asian literature at least to the beginning of the Christian era.

D. Anglo-America and Europe

“Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life.” ― Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet

Anglo-America most often refers to a region in the Americas in which English is a main language and British culture and the British Empire have had significant historical, ethnic, linguistic and cultural impact. Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia and is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east. Based on my research, like other national literatures, American literature was shaped by the history of the country that produced it. For almost a century and a half, America was merely a group of colonies scattered along the eastern seaboard of the North American continent—colonies from which a few hardy souls tentatively ventured westward. After a successful rebellion against the motherland, America became the United States, a nation. By the end of the 19th century this nation extended southward to the Gulf of Mexico, northward to the 49th parallel, and westward to the Pacific. By the end of the 19th century, too, it had taken its place among the powers of the world—its fortunes so interrelated with those of other nations that inevitably it became involved in two world wars and, following these conflicts, with the problems of Europe and East Asia. Meanwhile, the rise of science and industry, as well as changes in ways of thinking and feeling, wrought many modifications in people’s lives. All these factors in the development of the United States molded the literature of the country. Western European literature could be viewed as a parade of movements—Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, Futurism, Structuralism, and so on indefinitely. European literature refers to the literature of Europe. European literature includes literature in many languages; among the most important of the modern written works are those in English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Polish, German, Italian, Modern Greek, Czech and Russian and works by the Scandinavians and Irish. Important classical and medieval traditions are those in Ancient Greek, Latin, Old Norse , Medieval French and the Italian Tuscan dialect of the renaissance. European literature, also known as Western literature, is the literature written in the context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, as several geographically or historically related languages. Diverse as they are, European literatures, like Indo-European languages, are parts of a common heritage belonging to a race of proud nations which boast the likes of Homer who wrote Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil who wrote the Aeneid, Dante who wrote Divine Comedy, Chaucer who wrote Canterbury Tales. These, and other literary masterpieces form part of what we call as Western Canon.

E. Africa

“Literature is a textually transmitted disease, normally contracted in childhood.” ― Jane Yolen

Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area and 20% of its land area. With 1.3 billion people as of 2018, it accounts for about 16% of the world's human population. Based on my research about Africa’s Literature. Afro-Asiatic and African languages together with works written by Africans in European languages. Traditional written literature, which is limited to a smaller geographic area than is oral literature, is most characteristic of those sub-Saharan cultures that have participated in the cultures of the Mediterranean. In particular, there are written literatures in both Hausa and Arabic, created by the scholars of what is now northern Nigeria, and the Somali people have produced a traditional written literature. There are also works written in Geʿez (Ethiopic) and Amharic, two of the languages of Ethiopia, which is the one part of Africa where Christianity has been practiced long enough to be considered traditional. Works written in European languages date primarily from the 20th century onward. The literature of South Africa in English and Afrikaans is also covered in a separate article, South African literature.

F. Latin America

“Literature is news that stays news.” ― Ezra Pound

Latin America is a group of countries and dependencies in the Western Hemisphere where Romance languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, and French are predominantly spoken. According to my research about Latin America’s Literature. Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, and Emerging Literary Trends. The Latin American wars of Independence that occurred in the early nineteenth century in Latin America led to literary themes of identity, resistance, and human rights. Latin American literature, the national literatures of the Spanish-speaking countries of the Western Hemisphere. Historically, it also includes the literary expression of the highly developed American Indian civilizations conquered by the Spaniards. Over the years, Latin American literature has developed a rich and complex diversity of themes, forms, creative idioms, and styles. A concise survey of its development is provided here. For a history of literature written in Portuguese in Brazil, see Brazilian literature. Latin American literature refers to written and oral works created by authors in parts of North America, South America, and the Caribbean. Latin American authors usually write in Spanish, Portuguese, English, or a language native to their specific country. Latin American writers working in the United States can be classified as writing Latin American literature too. Latin American literature has a rich history starting in the Pre-Colombian period and working all the way up to modern day. With each period of Latin American history, came a genre that dominated the field. In this lesson, we will look at the main periods of Latin American literature, the genres that fueled those periods, and authors who are well known in Latin American literature.

Source: 

Wikipedia, Britannica, Google and Online Library.

Saunar, Rhenz Rhyanne 11 - St. Alypius

[nicolesophia]

WORLD LITERATURE

     World literature is used to refer to a literature being circulated outside the country where it was published, and it’s pretty sure that everyone nowadays is very familiar with literature, because, who isn’t? People these days lives their daily lives with literature, surely, it surrounds our lives. Ever wonder if there’s an occurrence one day in our life, a day without literature? Will we able to live with it? Well, I don’t think so, after all, literature is our life. Now, before we go to the topic, lets have a brief introduction about when did the literature began.

     The literature began early before 17th century, and ever since that time, it had a big impact from all over the world, it almost had taken up the whole world, a world of literature, indeed. And since the literature continues to expand, its dominant themes and styles of each literature around the world, expands, as well. And of course, up until today, there are still many more surprising notions about the literature all over the world!  

     Today, I’ll show you different dominant themes and styles of literature from Southeast Asia, East Asia, South and West Asia, Anglo-America and Europe, Africa, and Latin America. I hope that in the end, you’ll learn something new about the different themes and styles from around the world.

1.       SOUTHEAST ASIA LITERATURE

     Southeast Asia consists of 11 countries in total, these are Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. All of these countries were colonized by the other countries, except Thailand, that’s why most of their literary works were mostly influenced by the countries who colonized them. Just like in the Philippines,  The Philippines were colonized by the Spaniards, Japanese, and Americans; however most of the literature here in the Philippines were predominantly influenced by the Spaniards for they colonized the country for 333 years.

      The Southeast Asian literature’s dominant theme are mainly diaspora (diasporic) theme. Diasporic theme focuses on stories outside the country where the writer is, it also talks about the experiences of an immigrant in a foreign country. Some example of a diasporic theme literature is “Banyaga: A song of War” by Charlson Ong, the story is about how Ernesto (protagonist) struggles living outside the country he came from, and fun fact, the author Charlson Ong’s relation with the main character is that they shared the same experiences! It’s like the author tells his very own life story in the presence of Ernesto as the character. “Banyaga: A Song of War” as well, portrays the Filipino culture, as the author being half Filipino.

2.       East Asia Literature

     East Asia consists of 8 countries in total, these are China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mongolia, and Macao. Without a doubt, East Asia is the most popular region in the whole world because of the countries it consists of. Mainly, the East Asia literature were mostly influenced by the Chinese writers; commonly, the China is the building block of the counties in the East Asia, on a fact that most of the East Asia country were colonized by the Chinese. With all of the 8 countries, the Chines and Japanese literature is the most prominent among the East Asia literature.

     However, the Japanese literature has a different style, too. Their literature is mostly fond of ambiguous theme, wherein it has a deep meaning and sometimes, the reader wouldn’t get the meaning of it if you are from other countries or city in Japan. The Japanese literature is also well-known for its Haiku and Tanka poems.

     Some example of the East Asia literature is Seol Gongchan-jeon (The Tale of Seol Gongchan), korean literature written by Chae Su, the novel was written during the early Joseon era and was originally written in classical Chinese text. The story of said novel is about a person being possessed by the dead spirit who tells story from the underworld. But, the said novel was banned during its era of publication.

     Other example of the East Asia literature is a Tanka poem from the Japanese literature. Tanka poems are mostly commonly written as an expression of love and/or gratitude, it may, as well a self-reflection poem.

Narukami no sukoshi toyomite

(A faint clap of thunder)

sashi kumori

     (Clouded skies)

Ame mo furanu ka?

     (Perhaps rain comes)

Kimi wo todomemu

     (If so, will you stay here with me?)

Narukami no sukoshi toyomite

     (A faint clap of thunder)

furazu to mo

     (Even if rain comes not)

warewa tomaramu

     (I will stay here)

imoshi todomeba

     (Together with you)

3.       South and West Asia Literature

     The South and West Asia consists of 17 countries, mostly the Middle East region, these countries are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Apparently, the South and West Asia is commonly known for their own films, “Bollywood” rather than other literature. However, they do, of course have a unique styles and themes of literature.

     Literature from the 21st Century Middle East circumscribes a lot assortments of genres, it, as well talks about human experiences oftentimes through a realist manners. Also, what makes their literature unique is that they have or includes their own traditions and practices of their culture.

     One example of South and West Asia Literature is “White Tiger” a novel written by an Indian author named Aravin Adiga. It talks about the life of an Indian in the light and darkness, although most part of the novel focusses on India of darkness.  Also, the novel has a darkly humorous perspective of Indian’s struggles in life.  Here’s some excerpt from the novel “The White Tiger”

“In fact, each time when great men like you visit our country I say it. Not that I have anything against great men. In my way, sir, I consider myself one of your kind. But whenever I see our prime minister and his distinguished sidekicks drive to the airport in black cars and get out and do namastes before you in front of a TV camera and tell you about how moral and saintly India is, I have to say that thing in English.”

4.       Anglo-America and Europe Literature

     The Anglo-America is a large region that covers up 14 countries in total, these are Canada, United States, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Guyana, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. And as we all know, Europe is a large continent that consists a lot of countries, well, we’ll not go to far with mentioning all those countries. The Anglo-American literature is closely linked to traditional English, since the American was colonized by the English, they adapted their literature, as well and was influenced by the English writers. However, the history of their literature is too wide, it covers up from the Old English until the Contemporary era.

     In spite of that Anglo- American combined literature, the American literature is imposing to be separated to the Anglo (English), but why? The American literature has a distinct characteristic which evolves through eras and such; them, too have their own unique feature, themes, and styles of literature. In short, they have their own, so, for them, what is the essences of being together with the Anglo?

     One of the greatest author in the Anglo-America is who we all know, William Shakespeare. With his one of the famous works “Romeo and Juliet” we can mirror the traditional style of Anglo-America literature that somewhat related to their culture, as well. Here’s some excerpt from the classic story “Romeo and Juliet”.

”’Tis but thy name that is my enemy;

Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.           

What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,         

Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part

Belonging to a man. O! be some other name:

]What’s in a name? that which we call a rose       

By any other name would smell as sweet;           

So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,     

Retain that dear perfection which he owes

Without that title. Romeo, doff

 thy name;         

And for that name, which is no part of thee,

Take all myself”

     On the other hand, European literature includes writing for some dialects; among the most significant of the cutting edge composed works are those in English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Polish, German, Italian, Modern Greek, Czech and Russian and works by the Scandinavians and Irish. Significant old style and archaic customs are those in Ancient Greek, Latin, Old Norse, Medieval French and the Italian Tuscan tongue of the renaissance. Moreover, the literature was written with regards to Western culture in the dialects of Europe, as a few topographically or verifiably related dialects. Various as they seem to be, European literature, as Indo-European dialects, are portions of a typical legacy having a place with a race of pleased countries which brag any semblance of Homer who composed Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil who composed the Aeneid, Dante who composed Divine Comedy, Chaucer who composed Canterbury Tales. These, and other abstract works of art structure part of what we call as Western Canon.

 5.       African Literature

     The Africa consists of 54 countries in total, however, the African literature has a unique theme and styles. Their literature often to be relevant to its colonial background, and also connected to their traditions and culture, which makes their literature more unique. In addition, their literatures are often known as subversive and expressive contents.

     Moreover, oral and composed narrating conventions have had an equal turn of events, and from multiple points of view they have affected one another. Old Egyptian recorders, early Hausa and Swahili copyists and memorizers, and contemporary scholars of famous novellas have been the conspicuous and essential momentary figures in the development from oral to abstract customs. What occurred among the Hausa and Swahili was happening somewhere else in Africa—among the Fulani, in northern Ghana among the Guang, in Senegal among the Tukulor and Wolof, and in Madagascar and Somalia.

     One of the most famous African novel is entitled “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart exhaustively envisions how the Nigerian Igbo people group worked preceding expansionism. The divisions in this network go with the deplorable fall of the legend, Okonkwo, whose chivalrous however careless remain against expansionism closes in a forlorn self-destruction. Achebe's astuteness is adequate to move perusers past recriminations or authentic fault, since the Igbo people group adjusts to oblige Christianity and new types of pioneer administration. Similarly as the novel's title cites Yeats' sonnet The Second Coming, Achebe's African way of thinking of equilibrium in everything runs after a millennial association with Western innovation. Here’s some excerpt from the novel “Things Fall Apart”

“The drums beat and the flutes sang and the spectators held their breath. Amalinze was a wily craftsman, but Okonkwo was as slippery as a fish in water. Every nerve and every muscle stood out on their arms, on their backs and their thighs, and one almost heard them stretching to breaking point. In the end, Okonkwo threw the Cat”

6.       Latin American Literature

     The Latin America is generally consists of all the countries in South America, in addition to Mexico, Central America, and the Islands of the Caribbean, indeed, there’s also a lot of country in the Latin America region. The Latin American mostly adapted their literature from the Aztecs and Mayans, two of the great ancient civilizations of our world, also, the themes of their literature are usually characterized by mysticism, magic, uniqueness, raw creativity, and wonder. Them, too give way and introduced “magical realism”.

      Magical realism is a classification of writing that portrays this present reality as having a propensity of sorcery or dream. Mystical authenticity is a piece of the authenticity classification of fiction. Inside a work of supernatural authenticity, the world is as yet grounded in reality, however fantastical components are viewed as ordinary in this world. It is different from what we know “fantasy”.

     One example of a magical realism novel is ”House of Spirits(La casa de los Espíritus)” written by Isabel Allende. The novel was published in 1982, Isabel Allende's presentation novel narratives the violent political occasions of post provincial Chile, through the lives of four ages of the rich Trueba family. The extraordinary is available from the start, with Allende portraying the supernatural capacities of one of the novel's principle heroes, Clara. Expect ghosts blended into the consistently, time shifts in the story and signs being figured it out. A genuine show-stopper, of the sorcery authenticity classification, yet additionally of women's activist and Chilean writing. Here’s some excerpt from the novel ”House of Spirits(La casa de los Espíritus)”

“That was Marcos’s longest trip. He returned with a shipment of enormous boxes that were piled in the far courtyard, between the chicken coop and the woodshed, until the winter was over. At the first signs of spring he had them transferred to the parade grounds, a huge park where people would gather to watch the soldiers file by on Independence Day, with the goosestep they had learned from the Prussians. When the crates were opened, they were found to contain loose bits of wood, metal, and painted cloth. Marcos spent two weeks assembling the contents according to an instruction manual written in English, which he was able to decipher thanks to his invincible imagination and a small dictionary. When the job was finished, it turned out to be a bird of prehistoric dimensions, with the face of a furious eagle, wings that moved, and a propeller on its back.”

          With all of that, it may be seem that different regions from the world has their very own unique way in terms of literature, all of the literature around the world is really fascinating and amazing. Now that I’ve shown you the different dominant themes and styles of literature from Southeast Asia, East Asia, South and West Asia, Anglo-America and Europe, Africa, and Latin America. I hope that you’ve  learned something new and surprising thing about the different themes and styles from around the world!

[lifeoflitposts]

African Literature

African literature, the body of traditional oral and written literatures in Afro-Asiatic and African languages along with works written by Africans in European languages. Traditional written literature, which is proscribed to a smaller region than is oral literature, is most characteristic of these sub-Saharan cultures that have participated within the cultures of the Mediterranean. specifically, there are written literatures in both Hausa and Arabic, created by the students of what's now northern Nigeria, and therefore the Somali people have produced a standard written literature. There also are works written in Geʿez (Ethiopic) and Amharic, two of the languages of Ethiopia, which is that the one a part of Africa where Christianity has been practiced long enough to be considered traditional. Works written in European languages date primarily from the 20th century onward. The literature of African nation in English and Afrikaans is additionally covered during a separate article, South African literature. confer African theatre.

The relationship between oral and written traditions and particularly between oral and modern written literatures is one in every of great complexity and not a matter of straightforward evolution. Modern African literatures were born within the educational systems imposed by colonialism, with models drawn from Europe instead of existing African traditions. But the African oral traditions exerted their own influence on these literatures.

Oral Traditions

- the nature of storytelling 

The narrator talks, time breakdowns, and the individuals from the crowd are within the sight of history. It is a period of veils. Reality, the present, is here, yet with dangerous passionate pictures giving it a specific situation. This is the narrator's craft: to cover the past, making it secretive, apparently unavailable. Be that as it may, it is blocked off just to one's current mind; it is consistently accessible to one's central core, one's feelings. The narrator consolidates the crowd's current waking state and its previous state of semi awareness, thus the crowd strolls again ever, joining its ancestors. Also, history, in every case in excess of a scholarly subject, becomes for the crowd a falling of time. History turns into the crowd's memory and a methods for remembering of an uncertain and profoundly dark past.

The Riddle 

In the riddle, two things are compared differently, and sometimes unlikely. The obvious thing that happens during this analogy is that the problem is resolved and then solved. But there is something more important here, concerning the riddle as a figurative form: the riddle is composed of two sets and during the riddling process, the elements of each set are transferred to the other. On the surface, the riddle seems to be largely an analytical rather than a poetic practice.  But through its imagery and the tension between the two sets, the imagination of the audience is also engaged. As they seek the solution to the riddle, the audience itself becomes a part of the images and therefore—and most significantly—of the metaphorical transformation.

The Lyric 

People were those who Broke for me the string. Therefore, The place became like this to me, On account of it, Because the string was that which broke for me. Therefore, The place does not feel to me, As the place used to feel to me, On account of it. For, The place feels as if it stood open before me, Because the string has broken for me. Therefore, The place does not feel pleasant to me, On account of it. (a San poem, from W.H.I. Bleek and L.C. Lloyd, Specimens of Bushman Folklore [1911])

The images in African lyric act in dynamic fashion, establishing nonliteral relationships among the literary composition, then it's that riddling is that the motor of the lyric. And, as in riddles, therefore additionally in lyric: trope often involves and invokes contradiction in terms. within the lyric, it's as if the singer were handicraft a group of riddles into one richly rough literary composition, the series of riddling connections accountable for the final word expertise of the literary composition. The singer organizes and controls the emotions of the audience as he consistently works his manner through the degree of the literary composition, rigorously establishing the connective threads that bring the separate nonliteral sets into the poem’s totality. None of the separate riddling relationships exists unmarried from those others that compose the literary composition. As these riddling relationships act and weave, the writer brings the audience to a detailed, intense sense of the that means of the literary composition. every riddling relationship provides associate degree emotional clue to the style of the literary composition. any clues to that means square measure discovered by the audience within the metric aspects of the literary composition, the manner the writer organizes the photographs, the riddling organization itself, and also the sound of the singer’s voice similarly because the movement of the singer’s body. As within the riddle, everything within the lyric is directed to the revelation of trope.Grammar Check

The Proverb 

The African proverb seems initially to be a hackneyed expression, a trite leftover repeated until it loses all force. But proverb is also performance, it is also metaphor, and it is in its performance and metaphorical aspects that it achieves its power. In one sense, the experience of a proverb is similar to that of a riddle and a lyric poem: different images are brought into a relationship that is novel, that provides insight. When one experiences proverbs in appropriate contexts, rather than in isolation, they come to life. In the riddle the poser provides the two sides of the metaphor. In lyric poetry the two sides are present in the poem but in a complex way; the members of the audience derive their aesthetic experience from comprehending that complexity. The words of the proverb are by themselves only one part of the metaphorical experience. The other side of the riddle is not to be found in the same way it is in the riddle and the lyric. The proverb establishes ties with its metaphorical equivalent in the real life of the members of the audience or with the wisdom of the past. The words of the proverb are a riddle waiting to happen. And when it happens, the African proverb ceases to be a grouping of tired words.

The Tale 

The riddle, lyric, and proverb are the substances which might be on the dynamic centre of the story. The riddle incorporates inside it the opportunities of metaphor; and the proverb elaborates the metaphorical opportunities while the snap shots of the story are made lyrical—this is, while they may be rhythmically organized. Such snap shots are drawn mainly from repertories: from the modern world (those are the sensible snap shots) and from the historical tradition (those are the myth snap shots). These diverse snap shots are introduced collectively all through a storytelling overall performance via way of means of their rhythmic employer. Because the myth snap shots have the potential to elicit sturdy emotional reactions from individuals of the target target market, those feelings are the uncooked cloth this is woven into the photo employer via way of means of the patterning. The target target market thereby turns into an integral a part of the tale via way of means of turning into part of the metaphorical system that movements to meaning. And meaning, therefore, is a whole lot extra complicated than an apparent homily that can be without problems to be had at the floor of the story.

Heroic Poetry 

Hero who surpasses other heroes! Swallow that disappears in the clouds, Others disappearing into the heavens! Son of Menzi! Viper of Ndaba! Erect, ready to strike, It strikes the shields of men! Father of the cock! Why did it disappear over the mountains? It annihilated men! That is Shaka, Son of Senzangakhona, Of whom it is said, Bayede! You are an elephant! (from a heroic poem dedicated to the Zulu chief Shaka)

It is in heroic poetry, or panegyric, that lyric and picture come into their maximum apparent union. As withinside the story and as withinside the lyric, riddle, and proverb, the essence of panegyric is metaphor, even though the metaphorical connections are occasionally rather obscure. History is extra sincerely obtrusive in panegyric, however it stays fragmented records, rejoined in line with the poetic intentions of the bard. Obvious metaphorical connections are regularly made among ancient personages or occasions and pictures of animals, for example. The fable factors of this type of poetry are to be determined in its construction, withinside the merging of the actual and the animal in metaphorical ways. It is inside this metaphorical context that the hero is defined and assessed. As in other kinds of oral tradition, feelings related to each ancient and non historical pictures are on the coronary heart of that means in panegyric. It is the lyrical rhythm of panegyric that works such feelings into form. In the process, records is reprocessed and given new that means withinside the context of current experience. It is a twin activity: records is thereby redefined on the identical time that it shapes reviews of the present.

The Epic 

In the epic may be observed the merging of diverse often unrelated tales, the metaphorical apparatus, the controlling mechanism observed withinside the riddle and lyric, the proverb, and heroic poetry to shape a bigger narrative. All of this centres at the man or woman of the hero and a sluggish revelation of his frailty, uncertainties, and torments; he regularly dies, or is deeply troubled, withinside the method of bringing the way of life into a brand new dispensation regularly prefigured in his resurrection or his entering knowledge. The legendary transformation as a result of the author gods and way of life heroes is reproduced exactly withinside the acts and the cyclical, tortured actions of the hero.

An epic can be constructed round a genealogical system, with components of it evolved and decorated right into a story. The epic, just like the heroic poem, incorporates historic references together with place-names and events; withinside the heroic poem those aren't substantially evolved. When they're evolved in an epic, they're constructed now no longer round records however round a fictional story. The fictional story ties the historic episode, person, or place-call to the cultural records of the people. In an oral society, oral genres consist of records (the heroic poem) and imaginative story (the story). The epic combines the two, linking the historic episode to the imaginative story. Sometimes, fantasy is likewise part of epic, with emphasis on origins. The story, the heroic poem, records, and fantasy are mixed with inside the epic. In an echo of the story—in which the emphasis is typically on a vital however continually nonhistorical man or woman—a unmarried historic or nonhistorical man or woman is the centre of the epic. And on the center of the epic is that equal engine composed of the riddle, the lyric, and the proverb.

Oral Traditions And The Written Word

Oral and written storytelling traditions have had a parallel development, and in lots of approaches they have got stimulated every different. Ancient Egyptian scribes, early Hausa and Swahili copyists and memorizers, and cutting-edge writers of famous novellas were the apparent and important transitional figures withinside the motion from oral to literary traditions. What came about many of the Hausa and Swahili turned into happening some place else in Africa—many of the Fulani, in northern Ghana many of the Guang, in Senegal many of the Tukulor and Wolof, and in Madagascar and Somalia.

The linkage between oral tradition and the written phrase is most manifestly visible in pulp literature: the Onitsha marketplace literature of Nigeria; the famous fiction of Accra, Ghana; the famous love and detective literature of Nairobi; the visualizing of tale withinside the complicated comedian strips bought in stores in Cape Town. But the linkage is likewise a important feature of more-critical and more-complicated fiction. One can not completely respect the works of Chinua Achebe or Ousmane Sembene without putting them into the context of Africa’s classical period, its oral tradition. To be sure, the Arabic, English, French, and Portuguese literary traditions together with Christianity and Islam and different consequences of colonialism in Africa additionally had a dynamic effect on African literature, however African writers tailored the ones alien traditions and made them their very own with the aid of using putting them into those African classical frames.

History and Myth

As is the case with the oral tradition, written literature is a mixture of the actual and the fantastic. It combines, on the only hand, the actual (the present day international) and records (the sensible international of the past) and, at the other, myth and hero, with metaphor being the agent of transformation. This is the alchemy of the literary experience. Literature is atomized, fragmented records. Transformation is the critical pastime of the tale, its dynamic movement. The author is inspecting the connection of the reader with the sector and with records. In the manner of this examination, the author invents characters and occasions that correspond to records however aren't records. At the centre of the tale is myth, the delusion element, a individual or occasion that actions past reality, even though it's far constantly rooted withinside the actual. In the oral story that is actually the delusion individual; so it's far, in a complex, refracted way, in written literature.

The influence of oral traditions on modern writers

Themes withinside the literary traditions of current Africa are labored out often in the strictures laid down with the aid of using the imported religions Christianity and Islam and in the conflict among conventional and modern, among rural and newly city, among genders, and among generations. The oral tradition is truly obvious withinside the popular literature of the market and the important city centres, created with the aid of using literary storytellers who're manipulating the unique substances a lot as oral storytellers do, on the identical time closing devoted to the tradition. Some of the early writers sharpened their writing talents with the aid of using translating works into African languages; others amassed oral tradition; maximum skilled their apprenticeships in a single manner or every other in the contexts of residing oral traditions.

Literatures In African Languages

Ethiopian

Ethiopian literatures are composed in numerous languages: Geʿez, Amharic, Tigrinya, Tigré, Oromo, and Harari. Most of the literature in Ethiopia has been in Geʿez and Amharic. The classical language is Geʿez, however through the years Geʿez literature have become the area of a small part of the population. The extra common spoken language, Amharic, have become great while it became used for political and spiritual functions to attain a bigger a part of the population.

Hausa

The first novels written in Hausa had been the end result of a opposition released in 1933 via way of means of the Translation Bureau in northern Nigeria. One year later the bureau published Muhammadu Bello’s Gandoki, wherein its hero, Gandoki, struggles towards the British colonial regime. Bello does in Gandoki what many writers had been doing in different components of Africa for the duration of this period: he experiments with shape and content. His novel blends the Hausa oral lifestyle and the novel, ensuing in a tale patterned at the heroic cycle; it additionally introduces a robust thread of Islamic history. Didactic elements, however, are awkwardly interposed and seriously dilute Gandoki’s aesthetic content (as frequently took place in different in addition experimental African novels). But Bello’s efforts might finally provide upward push to a extra state-of-the-art lifestyle of novel writing in Hausa. His experimentation might additionally discover its maximum a success expression in Amos Tutola’s English-language novel The Palm-Wine Drinkard (1952).

Shona 

The fundamental Shona creator of novels at some stage in the twentieth century was Patrick Chakaipa. His Karikoga gumiremiseve (1958; “Karikoga and His Ten Arrows”) is a mix of fantasy (it's miles primarily based totally on a story from the Shona oral way of life) and history, a love tale that specialize in conflicts among Shona and Ndebele peoples. Pfumo reropa (1961; “The Spear of Blood”) depicts the risks of the misuse of energy in conventional times: a chief, Ndyire, manipulates the conventional machine to his personal egocentric advantage. This novel resembles the Nyanga epic Mwindo: a son of the chief, Tanganeropa, escapes his father’s murderous wrath to go back later and conquer the tyrant. Christianity will become a subject in Chakaipa 1/3 novel, Rudo ibofu (1962; “Love Is Blind”), having to do with the battle among way of life and Christianity: Rowesai is crushed with the aid of using her father whilst she makes a decision to turn out to be a nun. She is later mauled with the aid of using a leopard. At a dramatic and climactic movement, she returns domestic as a nun, and her father converts to Christianity. Garandichauya (1963; “I Shall Return”) and Dzasukwa mwana-asina-hembe (1967; “Dzasukwa Beer-for-Sale”) attention on cutting-edge city lifestyles and its vicissitudes. In the former, Matamba, a boy from the country, falls into the clutches of a prostitute, Muchaneta. When he returns to his rural domestic, having been rendered moneyless with the aid of using Muchaneta and blinded with the aid of using her male friends, he reveals his spouse anticipating him. In the latter, the corrosive consequences of colonialism on Shona way of life are dramatized.

Somali 

Hikmad Soomaali (“Somali Wisdom”), a collection of traditional stories in the Somali language recorded by Muuse Xaaji Ismaaciil Galaal, was published in 1956. Shire Jaamac Axmed published materials from the Somali oral tradition as Gabayo, maahmaah, iyo sheekooyin yaryar (1965; “Poems, Proverbs, and Short Stories”). He also edited a literary journal, Iftiinka aqoonta (“Light of Education”), and published two short novels in 1973: Halgankiii nolosha (“Life Struggle”), dealing with the traditional past in negative terms, and Rooxaan (“The Spirits”). Further stories from the oral tradition were written down and published in Cabdulqaadir F. Bootaan’s Murti iyo sheekooyin (1973; “Traditional Wisdom and Stories”) and Muuse Cumar Islaam’s Sheekooyin Soomaaliyeed (1973; “Somali Stories”).

Poetry is a major form of expression in the Somali oral tradition. Its different types include the gabay, usually chanted, the jiifto, also chanted and usually moody, the geeraar, short and dealing with war, the buraambur, composed by women, the heello, or balwo, made up of short love poems and popular on the radio, and the hees, popular poetry. Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan (Mohammed Abdullah Hassan) created poetry as a weapon, mainly in the oral tradition. Farah Nuur, Qamaan Bulhan, and Salaan Arrabey were also well-known poets. Abdillahi Muuse created didactic poems; Ismaaʿiil Mire and Sheikh Aqib Abdullah Jama composed religious poetry. Ilmi Bowndheri wrote love poetry.

Southern Sotho 

Southern Sotho is one of the reliable languages of South Africa and is a member of the Bantu/Nguni own circle of relatives of languages. It is spoken via way of means of approximately five million human beings in Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zambia.

Southern Sotho is likewise called Sotho, Sesotho or Southern Sesotho. The local call of the language is seSotho [sɪ̀sʊ́tʰʊ̀], which means "language of the Sotho human beings", who name themselves Basotho.

The first written shape of Southern Sotho changed into devised via way of means of Thomas Arbousset, Eugene Casalis and Constant Gosselin, French missionaries of the Paris Evangelical Mission, who arrived in Lesotho in 1833. The first grammar book, Etudes sur los angeles Langue Sechuana via way of means of Casalis, changed into posted in 1841.

Swahili 

The call Swahili comes from the Arabic word سَوَاحِل (sawāḥil), the plural of سَاحِل‏ (sāḥil - boundary, coast) and means "coastal dwellers". The prefix ki- is connected to nouns withinside the noun elegance that consists of languages, so Kiswahili means "coastal language".

Swahili consists of pretty a piece of vocabulary of Arabic foundation due to touch with Arabic-speakme buyers and and population of the Swahili Coast - the coastal vicinity of Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique, and islands which includes Zanzibar and Comoros. There also are phrases of German, Portuguese, English, Hindi and French foundation in Swahili because of touch with buyers, slavers and colonial officials.

The earliest recognised portions of writing, withinside the Arabic script, in Swahili are letters courting from 1711, and the earliest recognised manuscript, a poetic epic entitled Utendi wa Tambuka (The History of Tambuka), dates from 1728. During the the nineteenth century Swahili changed into used as the principle language of management through the European colonial powers in East Africa and below their impact the Latin alphabet changed into an increasing number of used to jot down it. The first Swahili newspaper, Habari ya Mwezi, changed into posted through missionaries in 1895.

Xhosa

The first piece of Xhosa writing become a hymn written withinside the early nineteenth century via way of means of Ntsikana. The Bible become translated among the 1820s and 1859. Lovedale Press become set up withinside the nineteenth century via way of means of the London Missionary Society. In 1837 the Wesleyans posted a journal, Umshumayeli Indaba (“The Preacher’s News”), which ran to 1841. Lovedale, the Scots mission, become the centre of early Xhosa writing. Ikhwezi become produced throughout the years 1844 and 1845. The Wesleyan missionaries began out a mag in 1850, Isithunywa Senyanga (“The Monthly Messenger”); its book become interrupted via way of means of one of the frontier wars. A month-to-month in each Xhosa and English, Indaba (“The News”), edited via way of means of William Govan, ran from 1862 till 1865; it become succeeded via way of means of The Kaffir Express in 1876, to get replaced via way of means of Isigidimi samaXhosa (“The Xhosa Messenger”), in Xhosa only. John Tengo Jabavu and William Gqoba had been its editors. It ceased book with Gqoba’s loss of life in 1888. Imvo Zabantsundu (“Opinions of the Africans”) become a newspaper edited via way of means of Jabavu, who become assisted via way of means of John Knox Bokwe. Izwi Labantu (“The Voice of the People”) started out book in 1897 with Nathaniel Cyril Mhala as its editor; it become financially assisted via way of means of Cecil Rhodes, who had resigned as high minister of Cape Colony in 1896. Much early Xhosa prose and poetry regarded in those periodicals.

Yoruba 

In a tale from the Yoruba oral tradition, a boy actions farther and farther far far from home. With the help of a myth person, a fox, the boy is capable of meet the demanding situations set through ominous oba (kings) in 3 kingdoms, every a extra distance from the boy’s home. The fox turns into the storyteller’s approach of exposing the growing knowledge of the boy, who gradually loses his innocence and actions to manhood. This oral story is the framework for the best-recognized paintings in Yoruba and the maximum substantial contribution of the Yoruba language to fiction: D.O. Fagunwa’s Ogboju ode ninu igbo irunmale (1938; The Forest of a Thousand Daemons), which includes myth and practical pics alongside non secular didacticism and Bunyanesque allegory, all positioned inside a body tale that echoes that of The Thousand and One Nights. The novel very correctly combines the literary and oral forces at paintings amongst Yoruba artists of the time. Its significant person is Akara-ogun. He actions right into a woodland 3 times, whenever confronting myth characters and whenever concerned in a hard task. In the end, he and his fans visit a smart guy who well-known shows to them the gathered knowledge in their adventures. The paintings changed into a hit and changed into accompanied through others, all written in a comparable way: Igbo olodumare (1949; “The Jungle of the Almighty”), Ireke-Onibudo (1949), and Irinkerindo ninu Igbo Elegbeje (1954; “Irinkerindo the Hunter withinside the Town of Igbo Elegbeje”; Eng. trans. Expedition to the Mount of Thought), all wealthy combos of Yoruba and Western pics and influences. Fagunwa’s very last novel, Adiitu olodumare (1961; “God’s Mystery-Knot”), positioned a greater present day tale into the acquainted myth framework: which will assist his poverty-afflicted dad and mom, the significant person, Adiitu, trips right into a woodland, struggles with creatures of the woodland, and unearths his dad and mom useless whilst he returns home. He actions into heaven in a dream, wherein he encounters his dad and mom. He falls in love with Iyunade, and they're marooned on an island, wherein he saves her. When they get to their home, a chum of Adiitu tries to spoil the relationship, however ultimately they're married. Realism is confronted with myth withinside the shape of the tale, withinside the characters, and withinside the events. This aggregate of a folktale with a sensible body found out new opportunities to Yoruba writers.

Zulu

Like maximum different African literatures, Zulu literature of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries falls into awesome categories, one involved with traditional (Zulu) existence and customs, the opposite with Christianity. These wide regions of early literary interest blended withinside the Thirties in an creative literature that centered on a war that profoundly preoccupied southern African writers for decades—the war among the urban, Christian, Westernized milieu and the traditional, in large part rural African past.

There had been early translations of the Christian scriptures withinside the mid-nineteenth century. Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress became additionally translated and posted in parts (1868 and 1895). Magema kaMagwaza Fuze’s Abantu abamnyama lapha bavela ngakhona (“Where the Black People Came From”) became posted in 1922. Written works on Zulu customs additionally appeared, which include Petros Lamula’s Isabelo sikaZulu (1936; “Zulu Heritage”) and T.Z. Masondo’s Amasiko esiZulu (1940; “Zulu Customs”). R.H. Thembu’s story uMamazane (1947) consists of references to Zulu tradition. Cyril Lincoln Sibusiso Nyembezi and Otty Ezrom Howard Mandlakayise Nxumalo compiled Zulu customs, as did Leonhard L.J. Mncwango, Moses John Ngcobo, and M.A. Xaba. Violet Dube’s Woza nazo (1935; “Come with Stories”), Alan Hamilton S. Mbata and Garland Clement S. Mdhladhla’s uChakijana bogcololo umphephethi wezinduku zabafo (1927; “Chakijana the Clever One, the Medicator of the Men’s Fighting Sticks”), and F.L.A. Ntuli’s Izinganekwane nezindaba ezindala (1939; “Oral Narratives and Ancient Traditions”) are compilations of oral stories. Nyembezi accumulated and annotated Zulu and Swati heroic poems in Izibongo zamakhosi (1958; “Heroic Poems of the Chiefs”), and E.I.S. Mdhladhla’s uMgcogcoma (1947; “Here and There”) incorporates Zulu narratives.

Literatures In European And European-Derived Languages

Afrikaans

Afrikaans literature in South Africa may be regarded withinside the context of Dutch literary tradition or South African literary tradition. Within an African context, Afrikaans literature may be for all time at the outside. As is the case with the language, it's far stuck in an identification disaster that changed into created irrevocably via way of means of the fiercely defended political and cultural identification of the Dutch settlers who arrived in South Africa in 1652 and whose descendants, collectively with English-talking whites, took over the authorities in 1948, and then the notorious device of apartheid changed into enshrined in legal guidelines that might be demolished most effective withinside the early 1990s. The conservative department of the Afrikaner human beings, usually the maximum severa and the maximum powerful, changed into in warfare at some stage in the 20th century with a skilled and developing institution of younger poets and novelists, such as C. Louis Leipoldt and Breyten Breytenbach, who sought to develop the confines of an an increasing number of constrained human beings and literature. The records of Afrikaans literature is the records of the Afrikaners, an alien human beings whose literature is a sworn statement to that nation of alienation.

English 

Early works in English in western Africa encompass a Liberian novel, Love in Ebony: A West African Romance, posted in 1932 with the aid of using Charles Cooper (pseudonym Varfelli Karlee), in addition to such works of Ghanaian pulp literature as J. Benibengor Blay’s Emelia’s Promise and Fulfilment (1944). R.E. Obeng, a Ghanaian, wrote Eighteenpence (1941), an early paintings at the struggle among African and European cultures. Other early famous writers in Ghana encompass Asare Konadu, Efua Sutherland, and Kwesi Brew. The Nigerian Amos Tutuola wrote The Palm-Wine Drinkard and His Dead Palm-Wine Tapster withinside the Deads’ Town (1952), its production revealing a clean linkage among the oral and literary traditions. In it the hero actions to Deads’ Town to convey his tapster lower back to the land of the living; the elixir that the hero brings lower back from the land of the dead, however, is an egg this is death-dealing as truly as it's miles life-giving. Tutuola is trustworthy to oral tradition, however he locations the conventional touring story into a totally cutting-edge framework.

French

In the paintings of the earliest African writers in French may be determined the issues that run thru this literature to the existing day. These issues need to do with African lifestyle, with French colonialism and the displacement of Africans each bodily and spiritually from their local lifestyle, with tries to mixture the French and the African traditions, and with post independence efforts to piece the shards of African lifestyle and the French colonial revel in into a brand new reality.

Portuguese 

The literature in Portuguese of Cape Verde often focuses on the affinities and the strains between Portugal and Cape Verde. Escapism is a theme in some of the poetry. In the classical phase of Cape Verdean literature, from the late 19th century to the first half of the 20th, poets such as José Lopes da Silva (Saudades da pátria [1952; “Homesickness”]) emphasized Europe. Januário Leite (Poesias [1952]) and Mário Pinto (Ensaios poéticos [1911; “Poetic Essays”]) wrote nationalistic poetry. Other early poets include Pedro Monteiro Cardoso, who published Jardim das Hespérides in 1926, and Eugénio Tavares, who was among the first Cape Verdean writers to publish in Crioulo, the Portuguese creole language widely used on the islands. António Pedro wrote a book of exotic poems published in 1929. These early classical poets struggled with the tension between Europe and Africa and between the Portuguese language and Crioulo, the Portuguese creole used on the islands. Brazil was also to become a crucial theme.

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Story Ideas I posted on Soompi for K-dramas.

Posted November 14, 2020. I worked on these with some other Korean adoptees. Posting here to document it. Triple back up is not a bad idea when you do this type of thing. Elevator Pitch:

- Alt Joseon History Reverse Drama Harem set after the Imjin War, Women-centric (I suggested it last round, but I'm making it more attractive)

- Heart-warming adoptee tale set with Jaebeol family as the birth family.

Reverse Alt Joseon history Harem (I left historical research notes in for you to further research too).

After the Imjin War, Prince Gwanghae declared an "Honorable Women's list", which made the Queen Dowager upset with him and the crown prince (In real history he used the excuse of less arable land because of Japanese invasion to give land from widows to men, so they could get royal titles. In Nepal, in the mountains, less land has also meant that for some peoples there, the women marry a group of brothers who rotate time with the wife, guaranteeing land to her and them). So, she deposed him and installed the daughter of the Royal Consort Ui to the throne of Joseon. Joseon has been a Matriarchy ever since then with women ruling the throne and a harem to match. All of the key positions have been ruled by women. Men have to get permission to divorce, they cannot own land, and they are put on cycles per month rotation to favor their wife, who have all the power. Since then, the merit-based system has somewhat fallen apart with men severely devalued. Men are considered weaker than women in every aspect-- not as smart, frivolous, fixated on material possessions (like hair, clothes, make up, etc and landing a good woman with money), unable to learn anything other than etiquette on how to properly serve women, unable to do military affairs, unable to do magic (Based on harnessing spirits and Mugyo) [I suppose one could have a male-based magic system too that more subtle maybe based on Buddhism? since men imported Buddhism to Korea], can't do ancestor rituals but must provide the food, widows are expected to die (because who will take care of the men and provide for them if their breadwinner is gone?), and much physically weaker. They are devalued if they can't marry by the time they are 30 because they are viewed as much less virile. They are there to lead women astray from their husbands in the minds of society, and they are the ones punished for faults. If they rape or are accused of rape, they are met with death. They are considered peacocks for decoration and fill the brothels and red districts. They are allowed dance and to do street dramas, but this is considered a lesser art form compared to the lavish palace versions. Queen of Joseon, considered the most beautiful such that all the women want to imitate her... with her curly hair and freckles, is on the throne and has amassed a large portion of the men, leaving many of the Noble women unmarried. Her harem has grown huge with mostly pretty boys she's selected. She has lavish palace dances every day with pretty boys from her harem to entertain her. She also has them perform plays [Can reference previous dramas and do anachronistic references] for her more lavish than the next. The Prime Minister, has been supporting her habits to distract her from her duties while controlling the throne. The Prime Minister, while she has one husband and one concubine has been neglecting her husband and spending all her time with her concubine. There is a rebellion swelling against them... *** Extended version: In the midst of this, there are Portuguese traders that have come to shore with black men who are slaves, come to do trade (this really happened in Korean history). One of the slaves comes to the court to help refine the map of Africa (Gangnido was done in 1402 and Portuguese contact with Japan happened in 1543, so it's not that far fetched according to history). While helping the Minister of Arts, they fall in love with each other. She teaches him Korean, and he teaches her about his part of Africa. He comes from West Africa. (Hausa [Queen Amina died in 1610], maybe and maybe give him a Korean name later?) There, both men and women can be tribal leaders and share responsibilities. He comes to teach her that both men and women can be equal. The court grants him his freedom for his services, and he stays and marries this woman, despite objections, who, then becomes a part of the resistance against the Queen.

The Heads of the resistance is none other than the Prime Minister's concubine, not the Prime Minister's husband, who has been loyal this entire time. (Delaying this discovery is a good idea) Tired of having to service the Prime Minister every night, and entertain her, he has been leading a double life. He wants men in control again. The other conspirator is the Queen's top consort, who looks like a bumbling fool with his love of jokes (especially dry humor), stupid puns, food (though not fat, just fancy food), and has tried to look as useless and tolerant of the system as possible. But he loves his Queen deeply, which is why he wants to end the system and ask for equality. They have been meeting and arguing at an eating establishment since Royals aren't let into Red Districts, where a widowed lovable Halmeoni (You can get her to sell Subway sandwiches to camera, etc for laughs. Subway and Quiznos have a sense of humor... so why not ask if they are willing? Since it's alt history--make winks to the audience that you know it's not accurate.) has been slowly learning all of the court secrets... which is how the Queen learns of their dirty plots. The person who wanted this scenario fleshed out also wants the Queen to be... "Queen can’t be too flaky- forgetful to a fault, yea. Clumsy . Cold, a bit snarky, always on edge and with quite an appetite.  Forgiving of the wrong folks. Always looking for good in them but not trusting. Independent and she has to drive a black carriage!"

How this concludes, with equality, crushing the rebellion, or with men, again, taking power and thus making everyone question what was better is up to you, if you choose this idea. Five Act or 기승전결 is up to you. (Or mix them).

Suggested issues to include (and why you might want to write this) and errata:

Can challenge current Korean issues of spousal abuse, feminism, gender issues (Such as nonbinary people), trans (Such as transmen), Make Mugyo a state religion since it was supported a lot by women during Joseon (also supported LGBTQIA, past and present. Baksu~~) And also challenge our understanding of history by adding in people like Lady Jang Gye Hyang (1598-1680), who would be against the current government and for rule by men, mention mention Heo Nanseorheon (Pre-Imjin war... she needs a drama done about her because she's always overshadowed by her brothers and made into a brat, rather than a full character and an intelligent woman, which she was). ImYunjidang (1721-1793) and Kang Chonggildang (1772-1832) for example... also aren't often mentioned figures. There were historical figures in real life that were for and against the new Joseon order of Neo Confucianism, though many of the women that spoke out had their papers burned by the patriarchy. Inserting those figures historically sageuk have been resistant to insert because it goes against the ideas of Joseon being an idealistic patriarchy might add spice to the drama. One can also challenge the idea that "traditional" values are male dominated by pointing out that widows in Joseon pre-Imjin war could own land and pass it to their daughters unchallenged, that LGBTQIA was more widely accepted, and that there were great Queens before that like Seondeok by upholding them as the rule, rather than the exception as reasons why the Matriarchy is "superior" to the previous Patriarchy.

One of the women who helped with this premise likes Lee Min Ho a lot....  lol She'd probably request that the Prime Minister's Concubine be Lee Min Ho. (He hasn't done a Joseon historical drama in a while and I think he could play both sides well--warm and sweet and then cold and callous...).

Probably needs a woman to write this one versed in feminism and history or a woman and man team. I hope it passes the Bechdel test (Two women talk about something other than men, preferably more than one time), the Mako Mori Test (Women have a motivation other than romance or the man and doesn't degrade over time). and the Sexy Lamp test (The women have agency to make decisions, face consequences and rescue themselves)... there is no fridging--i.e. killing characters without knowing them solely to motivate the main characters to do something,  and makes us think deeper about gender issues, feminism, etc. I suppose if the writer hits really hard on social issues, it would be probably JTBC material (who haven't done a Historical drama in a while). Tonally, I was hoping for a mixture of laughs and thinking about the issues more deeply, and some tight action to keep us guessing. If you want to argue marketability: I saw Romance of the Tiger and Rose (China) and Ooku by Fumi Yoshinaga. And a friend of mine (also Korean) wanted a drama with her and her (drama) harem of guys, so... we want a Korean commentary on feminism done this way, but with sharper feminism and more imagination attached. Covering modern feminist issues is fine since it's fantasy. Be transgressive.

BTW, for sponsorship: (since the costumes might cost extra, etc) easy... cosmetics advertised by men, done anachronistically to camera, on purpose. Other plugs can be done this way too... which would sell the product, but also make people question gender roles at the same time. Or you can also do plugs this way and suddenly gender them, making people question how this item is "male" or "female". Like a brush, or a wall, drink, sandwich (lol Quiznos and Subway), etc. can be called "Masculine" or "feminine" and be sold to camera, if the sponsors cooperate. (Sold by Pretty Boy actors to the audience... there's a good chance.) This should get you to at most episode 6, if it's paced well and you plotted the rest of the angles. If it's action-filled with lots of twists then the basic scenario will get you through to episode 4. The twists can come later.

And the other one was invented between me and another Korean adoptee...

Elevator Pitch: Heart-warming adoptee tale set with Jaebeol family as the birth family.

Twenty-five years ago, there were identical twins born to the same mother, but because her petition to get a paternity test failed from a Jaebeol family, she was forced by her lover's family to give them up for adoption, despite her best efforts to get into the single mother's homes (the adoption agency ones are pretty terrible because they try to wear down the women into giving up their children and seats are very few at the government ones). A woman had been stalking her while pregnant in order to give up her children for a kickback from the adoption agencies and from the family itself (There were KBS and MBC reports about it in the early 2000's), so with major heartbreak, she decided to give them up. However, her lover never knew this was a case.

The children were split up. One went to the United States, was adopted to a white family, and the other was adopted to Korean family, but never told they were adopted.

In the current time, the US adoptee, has been working for a year and a half to get her dual citizenship. She has a degree in Business accounting and is a very warm person. Despite her talents, she is teaching English in Suwon. She has an allergy to allium (Garlic, onions, etc), which makes it hard on her to eat Korean food. Every time she eats it, she gets gas and a tummy ache. She is constantly mocked by the ajumma in restaurants over it. She does not speak very fluent Korean and only knows Kindergarten Korean. She also often has delusions from Korean dramas as being real. Intelligent, smart, but has a hard time proving it to the Koreans around her because of her lack of language skills. People keep commenting on how she's single, but she finds it hard to date anyone once they find out she is adopted, so thinks she has no roots. Her records were sealed by the military. (US Military adoption is like that) So she takes a trip to Daegu's police station to get a DNA test. Meanwhile...

Meanwhile her twin has grown up in a steady Korean family, but there are things that never quite matched about her story and the family she's lived with. Their profession aspirations are totally different from hers, everyone else has a baby picture, but she doesn't. That feeling of "Jeong" sometimes feels like it's missing. The neighbors talk behind their hands when she passes them. This is when she accidentally discovers the truth talking to a neighborhood recycling Halmeoni. Unlike her twin, she has no allergy to allium and loves it. She mainly works at PC Bang and menial jobs and never really aspired to much because she's always felt like she didn't really truly belong.

*** Extended Pitch At the same time, their father has become the head of the company and a major CEO of a conglomerate. He is unaware of the twins' existence... so there are lots of passing shots between the family members as we get to know them. The company politics have become tricky because the father's seat was never really guaranteed. He still thinks about his lover from time to time, but his seat has become more and more unsure as he's opted adamantly out of marriage. The twin's mother is working at a small time job, and is forced to keep silent about the time she's tried very hard to forget. People shame her if they find out she had children.

When the twins finally get to remeet because of DNA, this shakes up their father's position and his company. The family secrets come out and the mystery of who sent the mysterious woman to stalk their mother starts to unfold, not only the secrets of the company, but of their father and mother's relationship, and of the family relations. But in the middle of this is that feeling of "Jeong" or instant belonging. (I don't think the love of the adoptive family should be diminished or it should be written like if you have more family, you have less love... but that there are things that connect people in different ways and the drama explores those ways of connection and disconnection.)

Issues that can be covered: Single Motherhood, Paternity testing (There was a recent Korean case on this and also another case about 10 years ago, where an adoptee found out they (male) were the son of a Jaebeol person, but the family refused any contact, etc--should be in Korean as well.), Economic differences, what Pres. Kim Dae Jeong called Adoption as the "brain drain" of South Korea (He said it on film, too, just before the reforms <3 Still my favorite president), Prejudices against foreigners, adoptees, and addressing the fact that finding family is difficult because of the shame around adoption and it's not instant. A person can start at 13, and still go through a ton of work and hoops to try to get any info. (The Korean agencies can also be mean/overworked with one person working all of the cases, like for HOLT and ESWS it's this way.) Also can address problems like how cousins can want to find each other, but get blocked because of adoption (You can't marry up to Second Cousins, but if you're adopted, you can't find your extended family members, even if you had connection to them in the past and they know you exist and they aren't allowed to search for you either because the agencies and law block them). Agencies lying that children are either dead, or that they never got communication, when they have. There is a story I know where a mother inquired every year about her child and wrote letters and then the agencies told her they got nothing, and then the matching adoptee wrote every year too, hoping to find their mother and equally got nothing. The agency lied to both of them. Also the old proxy system before it got outlawed where women would stalk pregnant single women to get records. (It's updated to the lawyer proxy system where lawyers stalk single women).

Warmth, not makjang, emphasis on Jeong and nunchi... and Warm and Fuzzy in the end at least... with spurts of humor interspersed would be nice.

Personally, I think if MBC or KBS is willing to help with the footage from the Proxy system report in the early 2000's where women were stalked by other women, those are the networks to pitch it to. It's up their ally. If not... cable. (I love SBS, too, no lies, but they didn't do a report back in the day.) Oh and make it 16 episodes-ish. Not family drama. We don't watch family dramas for length reasons...

[go-ro]

African American folktale similar to a Hausa tale found in Manuel de langue haoussa.

[latter-day-saint-nick]

Here‘s a list of all the books with queer protagonists I’ve read this year. While I do actively seek those out, there are several books on here that I didn’t know had queer themes when I picked them up from the library and then I was pleasantly surprised by lesbians. I‘ll avoid spoilers except when discussing trigger warnings.

 Kaleidoscope Song by Fox Benwell

Neo, a South African teenager, is obsessed with music of any kind. Her love of music brings her together with the singer of a local band and they have a passionate relationship that they must keep secret. The descriptions of Neo‘s life and her tendency to hear music in everything are beautiful and dynamic. The author included a list of the songs Neo is listening to throughout the book, so I was introduced to a lot of cool music from South Africa and other places. TW: Corrective rape and Bury Your Gays. This is a book by a queer (albeit white British, rather than black South African) author writing about a very real problem that exists within our communities, so it feels different to when a cishet author kills off a queer character just for shock value. I still can‘t help feeling that he could have made the same point without having the character die – just have her be injured. Still, I loved pretty much everything else about the book, so it gets a tentative recommendation from me.

The Mermaid’s Daughter by Ann Claycomb

25-year-old opera student Kathleen tries to cope with the constant pain in her feet, nightmares about having her tongue cut out, and desperate yearning for the sea. With the help of her girlfriend Harry she delves into her family history to uncover the secret of a curse spanning generations of women. What’s nice about this book is that Kathleen and Harry’s relationship is accepted by all their family and friends without question, so if you want to read a nice wlw fantasy story with no homophobia, this one’s for you. TW: Some discussion of suicide, but nothing too graphic.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

A teenage lesbian is sent to conversion therapy by her religious aunt. This is basically a coming-of-age story as the title character comes to terms with her identity and the death of her parents. It’s considered an important work of LGBT YA literature, so I really wanted to like it more than I did. Most of the first half of the novel deals with Cameron’s everyday life in her small town in Montana, which was, to be honest, rather boring to me. The pace of the story picks up a bit once she gets sent to conversion therapy, but even then it’s slower and less eventful than I would have liked. But since it is a popular book, that’s probably just me. I did like that the two best friends she makes at the therapy camp are a disabled girl and an indigenous boy, two types of people that are not often represented in queer fiction, so that’s something. TW: Conversion therapy and self-harm.

Proud by Juno Dawson

This is a collection of poems and stories about queerness aimed at a YA audience, and each one is a pure delight! These stories detail moments of joy and pride that make you feel happy and hopeful about being queer. They include a high school retelling of Pride and Prejudice with lesbians, a nonbinary kid and his D&D group on a quest to disrupt the gender binary at their school, a magical phoenix leading a Chinese girl to find love, and gay penguins. All stories, poems and illustrations are by queer writers and artists. Seriously, I cannot recommend this collection enough!

Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moïra Fowley-Doyle

An Irish magical realist story about three girls who perform a spell to find things that they have lost. The spell appears to have wider consequences than they expected, bringing to light things that should have stayed lost. This book has three narrators, two of whom are wlw. It treads a nice line between fantasy and reality, and has some pretty good plot twists. Also, there’s a crossword at the end, which is awesome. More books should come with crosswords.

Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword and Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

A space opera trilogy set in the distant future about the embodiment of a ship’s AI who seeks revenge against the ruler of a colonialist empire who destroyed her ship and killed her beloved captain. This is not beginner’s sci-fi, as it is very complex and intricate, but if you’re fine with a bit of a heavier read, you’ll be rewarded with some very interesting concepts. What makes this series queer is that the Raadch empire has no concept of gender and uses female pronouns for everyone. This makes every romantic relationship queer by default, whether we are aware of the characters’ sexes or not. I found it particularly enjoyable when Breq, the protagonist, tried to communicate in different languages that have gendered pronouns, which she had to navigate carefully in order not to offend people. She tries to look for outward clues of gender, such as hairstyles, chest size, facial hair or Adam’s apples, but even then often gets it wrong, because these things are not always consistent. That is just a great depiction of how arbitrary ideas of binary sexual characteristics tend to be. Also, I guess technically Breq is aroace, but since she’s not human, I’m not sure if she can be considered the best representation, though she is a very likeable character that I enjoyed following.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

These books are a lot of fun! They’re historical adventure stories with a bit of fantasy thrown in, featuring disaster bisexual Henry Montague, his snarky aroace sister Felicity and his best friend Percy whom he is secretly in love with. In the first book, the three teenagers are sent on a tour of Europe for various reasons, but they quickly abandon the planned route when they get embroiled in a plot involving theft and alchemy. The second book details Felicity’s further attempts to become a doctor, which leads her to reunite with an old friend and chase a tale of fantastical creatures.

The Spy with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke

Technically I read this one late last year, but whatever. I just wanted to put it on the list to have an excuse to talk about it. It’s about two Jewish siblings with magic powers who are recruited during World War II to take part in a secret project to fight the Nazis. Both siblings turn out to be queer: the brother is gay and demisexual, while the sister is bisexual, and they each have a love interest. This book is an independent prequel to The Girl with the Red Balloon, which takes place in East Berlin during the time of the Wall, and is just as good, albeit not as gay.

We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

This book tends to be classified as fantasy, because it takes place in an alternate, Latin-American-inspired world, with a distinct history, culture and religion, but there’s no magic at all, so I’m not sure it counts. But I digress. The country of Medio is built on classism and acute xenophobia. But by hiding her status as an illegal immigrant, Daniela, a girl from a poor background, manages to rise to the top of her class at her elite finishing school and become the first wife of one of the most powerful young men in the country. But her new comfortable status is threatened when she is pressured to join a group of rebels who fight for equality. At the same time, she also finds herself falling for her husband’s second wife. Obviously, this book’s political message is very topical, but beyond that, it’s just a very good story, with a well fleshed-out fictional world and great characters. This is the first in a series, with the sequel, We Unleash the Merciless Storm, coming out in February.

All Out: The No Longer Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages by Saundra Mitchell

A very nice collection of short stories about various queer teenagers in different historical settings, from a medieval monastery to an American suburb on New Year’s Eve in 1999. Most of the stories are realist, but there are a few ghosts and witches to be found in-between. What I found particularly notable about this book is that it featured several asexual characters, which you don’t often see in collections like this. I definitely recommend it.

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

This is a thoughtful, heart-warming life story about a woman growing up during the civil war in Nigeria. After Ijeoma, a Christian Igbo girl, is sent away from home, she finds her first love in Amina, a Muslim Hausa. Even after they are found out and separated, Ijeoma doesn’t quite understand what’s so shameful about their love. Still, as she grows older, she attempts to fit into a heteronormative society while also connecting with the things and people that make her happy. TW: Homophobic violence, including an attack on a gay nightclub. The novel makes up for this by having a remarkably happy ending.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

A young man in Victorian London finds a mysterious watch on his pillow, with no idea how it got there. This sets into motion a strange series of events, which leads him to a lonely Japanese watchmaker, to whom he finds himself increasingly drawn. This is an unusual novel that treads the line between historical fiction, fantasy and sci-fi. Most of the characters are morally grey and have complex motivations, but are still likable. I just really enjoy stories that take place in this time period, particularly when they are this thoughtfully written and don’t just take the prejudices of the past for granted.

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

A YA book about a transgender teenager, written by a transgender author. After her mother decides that she is not safe in her hometown anymore, high school senior Amanda moves in with her dad in a town where nobody knows her and she can try to go stealth. But even as she is making friends and experiencing romance for the first time, she constantly worries about what will happen if her secret comes out. It’s a fairly standard story about being transgender, really, but as it comes from a trans author, it feels a lot more personal and less voyeuristic than these stories tend to be when coming from a cisgender perspective. Amanda is a sympathetic and compelling character. TW: This book deals with a number of upsetting themes, including transphobic violence, being forcibly outed and suicide. There is a flashback to Amanda’s pre-transition suicide attempt, which I found particularly triggering. I also wish she could have come out on her own terms, instead of being outed in front of the whole school by someone she thought she could trust. It is still a pretty good book, but it can be very upsetting at times.

As I Descended by Robin Talley

A loose retelling of Macbeth that takes place in a boarding school in Virginia and involves two queer couples. The supernatural elements of the play are amplified in a wonderfully creepy way, and the characters are complex and realistic, so you understand their motivations, even when they do bad things. TW: Out of the five queer characters in the novel, three die, two of them by suicide.

A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss and EG Keller

A charming picture book about the Vice President’s pet bunny who falls in love with another boy bunny and wants to hop around at his side for the rest of his life. This book was written as a screw you to Mike Pence, but even so it is a genuinely nice kid’s book that deals with homosexuality and marriage equality in a way that is appropriate for young children. The illustrations are incredibly cute as well.

Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente

A very strange, surreal tale about four people (most of whom are queer in some way) exploring a magical city that you can enter in your dreams by sleeping with someone who has been there before. I wanted to like this one more than I did, because I really love Catherynne Valente’s Fairyland books for children. But while some of the dreamlike imagery is cool and pretty, I found a lot of it weirdly uncomfortable, along with the frequent sex scenes.

The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein

15-year-old Julia is home for the summer at her parents’ ancestral mansion in Scotland and gets involved with a plot about theft, disappearance and possibly murder. She also has her first crushes – on a man working at her parents’ estate and a young Traveller girl, respectively. This is a prequel to Code Name Verity, which has the same protagonist, though her bisexuality isn’t really alluded to in that, which is why I’ve kept it off the list, even though it is an excellent book. The Pearl Thief is pretty good as well, though it is a bit strange to read after you’ve already read Verity and know that this carefree teenage character is going to grow up to be a spy in World War II and be tortured in a Nazi prison. Do read both books, though. They are great.

Gut Symmetries by Jeanette Winterson

A young scientist falls in love with the wife of the man she’s having an affair with. There’s speculation about quantum mechanics and interconnectedness, all wrapped in very poetic language. To be perfectly honest, I really didn’t get it, so I have no idea what any of it means. But at least the main character is bisexual and polyamorous (and possibly genderfluid – I’m not sure).

Queer Africa by Makhosazana Xaba and Karen Martin

A collection of short stories by queer African writers, discussing themes like love, sex, marriage, family and homophobia. The attitudes towards queerness in these different countries varies. In many of them, homosexuality is illegal, even though same-sex relationships used to be respected before the interference of Western colonialism. In any case, these stories are an interesting and oftentimes beautiful examination of queerness from a non-Western point of view, some joyous and some tragic. TW: The second to last story is about incest.

[brookston]

Holidays 7.17

Holidays

Air Conditioner Day

Constitution Day (South Korea)

Crank Call Day

Disneyland Day

Ethnographer’s Day (Russia)

Feast of the Clockless NowEver

Flag Day (Norway)

Guelaguetza (Primer Lunes; Mexico)

International Firgun Day

International HIV Prevention Day

International Tim Brooke-Taylor Day (UK)

King’s Day (Lesotho)

National Air Conditioner Day

National Asshole Awareness Day

National Cory Day

National Heart-Brain Disorders Awareness Day

National Lottery Day

National Physiatry Day (Philippines)

National Tattoo Day

National Voice Actor Day

President’s Day (Botswana)

717 Day (Pennsylvania)

Sewing Machine Day

TWA Flight 800 Crash Anniversary Day

U Tirot Sing Day (Meghalaya, India)

Victims of Baton Rouge, Louisiana Attack Day

Wear Crazy Socks to Work Day

Wheat Day (French Republic)

World Day for International Justice

World Emoji Day

Wrong Way Corrigan Day

Yellow Pig Day (Celebrating the Number 17)

Yellow Submarine Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Indie Beer Shop Day (UK)

National Peach Ice Cream Day

3rd Monday in July

Global Hug For Your Kids Day [3rd Monday]

Guelaguetza (a.k.a. Festival of Lunes del Cerro; Oaxaca, Mexico) [Monday after 16th]

Marine Day (Japan) [3rd Monday]

Munoz-Rivera Day (f.k.a. Birthday of Don Luis Muñoz Rivera; Puerto Rico Day) [3rd Monday]

National Get Out of the Doghouse Day [3rd Monday]

National Prosecco Week begins [3rd Monday]

Perseids Meteor Shower begins [Varies; thru 8.24]

Umi No Hi (Ocean Day/Marine Day; Japan) [3rd Monday]

Independence Days

Negaunee Republic (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Slovakia (Remembrance Day; from Czechoslovakia, 1992)

Feast Days

Alexius of Rome (Western Church)

Andrew Zorard (Christian; Saint)

Ba-Maguje's Day (Hausa; on Eid al-Fitr)

Boccaccio (Positivist; Saint)

Caligula Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Cynehelm (Christian; Saint)

Cynllo (Christian; Saint)

Ennodius (Christian; Saint)

Feast of the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne

Feast of the Holy Royal Martyrs of Russia

Festival for Victoria and Virtus (Goddess of Victory & God of Bravery in Warfare; Ancient Rome)

Furgus Fuzz (Muppetism)

Gion Matsuri (Japan)

Inácio de Azevedo (Christian; Saint)

Jadwiga of Poland (Christian; Saint)

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (Artology)

Jowls (Muppetism)

Kenelm (Nun’s Priest Tale; Canterbury Tales)

Kurman Ait Day (Kyrgyzstan)

Magnus Felix Ennodius (Christian; Saint)

Marcellina (Christian; Saint)

Martyrs of Compiègne (Christian; Saint)

Pavel Peter Gojdič, Blessed (Greek Catholic Church)

Piatus of Tournai (Christian; Saint)

Leo IV, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Romanov sainthood (Russian Orthodox Church)

Skinny Dipping Day (Pastafarian)

Solstitium XII (Pagan)

Speratus and companions (Christian; Martyrs)

Turninus (Christian; Saint)

Why Not? Day (Pastafarian)

William White (Episcopal Church))

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [26 of 37]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [40 of 57]

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [19 of 30]

Premieres

All You Need Is Love, by The Beatles (US Song; 1967)

Ant-Man (Film; 2015)

Arthur (Film; 1981)

The Case of the Velvet Claws, by Erle Stanley Gardner (Novel; 1933) [Perry Mason #1]

Cherokee, recorded by Charlie Barnet (Song; 1939)

The Dark Knight Rises, by Hans Zimmer (Soundtrack Album; 2012)

Disneyland, in Anaheim, California (Theme Park; 1955)

Egghead Rides Again (WB MM Cartoon; 1937)

Endless Love (Film; 1981)

(500) Days of Summer (Film; 2009)

From Up on Poppy Hill (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 2011)

Greyfriars Bobby (Film; 1961)

James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl (Novel; 1961)

Jungle Cruise (Disneyland Ride; 1955)

The Mask of Zorro (Film; 1998)

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (Disneyland Ride; 1955)

Multiplicity (Film; 1996)

My Neighbors the Yamahas (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 1999)

North by Northwest (Film; 1959)

Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag, by James Brown (Song; 1965)

RoboCop (Film; 1987)

The Secret World of Arietty (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 2010)

Splash Mountain (Disneyland Ride; 1989)

Trainwreck (Film; 2015)

Turbo (Animated Film; 2013)

Victory Through Air Power (Documentary Film; 1943)

Water Music, by George Frederic Handel (Orchestral Movements; 1717)

Who Goes There? (a.k.a. The Thing), by John W. Campbell Jr. (Novel; 1938)

Yellow Submarine (UK Animated Film; 1968)

You’re the Worst (TV Series; 2014)

Today’s Name Days

Alexius, Charlotte, Donata, Gabriella (Austria)

Marin, Marina (Bulgaria)

Aleksije, Branimir, Leo, Nadan, Rufina (Croatia)

Martina (Czech Republic)

Alecius (Denmark)

Meeme, Meemo (Estonia)

Ossi, Ossian (Finland)

Arlette, Charlotte, Marcelline (France)

Alexis, Charlotte, Gabriella (Germany)

Alexandra, Aliki, Marina (Greece)

Elek, Endre (Hungary)

Alessio, Marina (Italy)

Ainārs, Aleksejs, Aleksis (Latvia)

Aleksas, Darius, Girėnas, Vaiga (Lithuania)

Gorm, Guttorm (Norway)

Aleksander, Aleksy, Andrzej, Bogdan, Dzierżykraj, Januaria, Julietta, Leon, Marceli, Marcelina, Maria Magdalena (Poland)

Bohuslav (Slovakia)

Alejo, Alexis, Jacinto, Marcelina (Spain)

Bruno (Sweden)

Codie, Codey, Cody, Dakota, Dakotah, Ismael, Kody, Vesta (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 198 of 2024; 167 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 29 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 8 of 28]

Chinese: Month 5 (Wu-Wu), Day 30 (Bing-Zi)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 28 Tammuz 5783

Islamic: 28 Dhu al-Hijjah 1444

J Cal: 18 Lux; Foursday [18 of 30]

Julian: 4 July 2023

Moon: 0%: New Moon

Positivist: 2 Dante (8th Month) [Boccaccio]

Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 4 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 27 of 94)

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 27 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 7.17

Holidays

Air Conditioner Day

Constitution Day (South Korea)

Crank Call Day

Disneyland Day

Ethnographer’s Day (Russia)

Feast of the Clockless NowEver

Flag Day (Norway)

Guelaguetza (Primer Lunes; Mexico)

International Firgun Day

International HIV Prevention Day

International Tim Brooke-Taylor Day (UK)

King’s Day (Lesotho)

National Air Conditioner Day

National Asshole Awareness Day

National Cory Day

National Heart-Brain Disorders Awareness Day

National Lottery Day

National Physiatry Day (Philippines)

National Tattoo Day

National Voice Actor Day

President’s Day (Botswana)

717 Day (Pennsylvania)

Sewing Machine Day

TWA Flight 800 Crash Anniversary Day

U Tirot Sing Day (Meghalaya, India)

Victims of Baton Rouge, Louisiana Attack Day

Wear Crazy Socks to Work Day

Wheat Day (French Republic)

World Day for International Justice

World Emoji Day

Wrong Way Corrigan Day

Yellow Pig Day (Celebrating the Number 17)

Yellow Submarine Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Indie Beer Shop Day (UK)

National Peach Ice Cream Day

3rd Monday in July

Global Hug For Your Kids Day [3rd Monday]

Guelaguetza (a.k.a. Festival of Lunes del Cerro; Oaxaca, Mexico) [Monday after 16th]

Marine Day (Japan) [3rd Monday]

Munoz-Rivera Day (f.k.a. Birthday of Don Luis Muñoz Rivera; Puerto Rico Day) [3rd Monday]

National Get Out of the Doghouse Day [3rd Monday]

National Prosecco Week begins [3rd Monday]

Perseids Meteor Shower begins [Varies; thru 8.24]

Umi No Hi (Ocean Day/Marine Day; Japan) [3rd Monday]

Independence Days

Negaunee Republic (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Slovakia (Remembrance Day; from Czechoslovakia, 1992)

Feast Days

Alexius of Rome (Western Church)

Andrew Zorard (Christian; Saint)

Ba-Maguje's Day (Hausa; on Eid al-Fitr)

Boccaccio (Positivist; Saint)

Caligula Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Cynehelm (Christian; Saint)

Cynllo (Christian; Saint)

Ennodius (Christian; Saint)

Feast of the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne

Feast of the Holy Royal Martyrs of Russia

Festival for Victoria and Virtus (Goddess of Victory & God of Bravery in Warfare; Ancient Rome)

Furgus Fuzz (Muppetism)

Gion Matsuri (Japan)

Inácio de Azevedo (Christian; Saint)

Jadwiga of Poland (Christian; Saint)

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (Artology)

Jowls (Muppetism)

Kenelm (Nun’s Priest Tale; Canterbury Tales)

Kurman Ait Day (Kyrgyzstan)

Magnus Felix Ennodius (Christian; Saint)

Marcellina (Christian; Saint)

Martyrs of Compiègne (Christian; Saint)

Pavel Peter Gojdič, Blessed (Greek Catholic Church)

Piatus of Tournai (Christian; Saint)

Leo IV, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Romanov sainthood (Russian Orthodox Church)

Skinny Dipping Day (Pastafarian)

Solstitium XII (Pagan)

Speratus and companions (Christian; Martyrs)

Turninus (Christian; Saint)

Why Not? Day (Pastafarian)

William White (Episcopal Church))

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [26 of 37]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [40 of 57]

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [19 of 30]

Premieres

All You Need Is Love, by The Beatles (US Song; 1967)

Ant-Man (Film; 2015)

Arthur (Film; 1981)

The Case of the Velvet Claws, by Erle Stanley Gardner (Novel; 1933) [Perry Mason #1]

Cherokee, recorded by Charlie Barnet (Song; 1939)

The Dark Knight Rises, by Hans Zimmer (Soundtrack Album; 2012)

Disneyland, in Anaheim, California (Theme Park; 1955)

Egghead Rides Again (WB MM Cartoon; 1937)

Endless Love (Film; 1981)

(500) Days of Summer (Film; 2009)

From Up on Poppy Hill (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 2011)

Greyfriars Bobby (Film; 1961)

James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl (Novel; 1961)

Jungle Cruise (Disneyland Ride; 1955)

The Mask of Zorro (Film; 1998)

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (Disneyland Ride; 1955)

Multiplicity (Film; 1996)

My Neighbors the Yamahas (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 1999)

North by Northwest (Film; 1959)

Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag, by James Brown (Song; 1965)

RoboCop (Film; 1987)

The Secret World of Arietty (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 2010)

Splash Mountain (Disneyland Ride; 1989)

Trainwreck (Film; 2015)

Turbo (Animated Film; 2013)

Victory Through Air Power (Documentary Film; 1943)

Water Music, by George Frederic Handel (Orchestral Movements; 1717)

Who Goes There? (a.k.a. The Thing), by John W. Campbell Jr. (Novel; 1938)

Yellow Submarine (UK Animated Film; 1968)

You’re the Worst (TV Series; 2014)

Today’s Name Days

Alexius, Charlotte, Donata, Gabriella (Austria)

Marin, Marina (Bulgaria)

Aleksije, Branimir, Leo, Nadan, Rufina (Croatia)

Martina (Czech Republic)

Alecius (Denmark)

Meeme, Meemo (Estonia)

Ossi, Ossian (Finland)

Arlette, Charlotte, Marcelline (France)

Alexis, Charlotte, Gabriella (Germany)

Alexandra, Aliki, Marina (Greece)

Elek, Endre (Hungary)

Alessio, Marina (Italy)

Ainārs, Aleksejs, Aleksis (Latvia)

Aleksas, Darius, Girėnas, Vaiga (Lithuania)

Gorm, Guttorm (Norway)

Aleksander, Aleksy, Andrzej, Bogdan, Dzierżykraj, Januaria, Julietta, Leon, Marceli, Marcelina, Maria Magdalena (Poland)

Bohuslav (Slovakia)

Alejo, Alexis, Jacinto, Marcelina (Spain)

Bruno (Sweden)

Codie, Codey, Cody, Dakota, Dakotah, Ismael, Kody, Vesta (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 198 of 2024; 167 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 29 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 8 of 28]

Chinese: Month 5 (Wu-Wu), Day 30 (Bing-Zi)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 28 Tammuz 5783

Islamic: 28 Dhu al-Hijjah 1444

J Cal: 18 Lux; Foursday [18 of 30]

Julian: 4 July 2023

Moon: 0%: New Moon

Positivist: 2 Dante (8th Month) [Boccaccio]

Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 4 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 27 of 94)

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 27 of 31)

[mythicallore]

... What was that sound?

"This happens all the time," says Darren Evans, a bystander joining the paranormal investigating team of Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures. The target: Zozo, an ancient demon who makes his presence known by rapping on walls and moving objects, and might be doing so in the empty hallway upstairs.

Evans isn't rattled by the sound; he's used to his house making strange noises. For years, he claims that Zozo has stalked, harassed, and tormented his family. Evans even claims to have been possessed by Zozo, who is an ancient supernatural presence who has wormed his way through history, wreaking havoc on participants since the pre-Biblical days. Evans is a self-proclaimed "Zozologist," who regularly tells his stories at paranormal conventions, on supernatural-themed podcasts, and across 236 pages in a recent book. For this television appearance, he's leading a team into the darkness, into the unknown.

Zozo's origin story is riddled with supposition, fabrication, and a hive-mind belief system that keeps his power alive and thriving -- despite giant gaps in its history. But since 2009, Zozo has been a popular internet fixture, so notorious that he's inspired feature films, books, podcasts, and been the focus of entire episodes of both the aforementioned Ghost Adventures and SyFy's Paranormal Witness. A YouTube search of "Zozo demon" turns up more than 80,000 results, with videos ranging from emotional personal encounters to timeline histories to alleged, full-on possessions. Internet lore has one explanation for how it crept out of the shadows; facts tell us something very different.

The demon's story is intertwined with Darren Evans, a man whose stringent belief in the unseen -- and whose obsession with Led Zeppelin -- helped birth a modern urban legend that gains traction with each passing year, its foothold coagulating into an accepted, inescapable truth.

Who is Zozo?

The Zozo demon (sometimes stylized as ZoZo or ZOZO) is a mysterious trickster entity known for stalking people through Ouija boards. Those who claim they've made contact with Zozo – who also goes by Zaza, Mama, Oz, Zo, Za, and Abacus – say he often shows himself by guiding the planchette into figure-8 formations, before frantically zooming back and forth between the "Z" and "O." His interactions start out friendly, but grow malicious; he's known for cursing at and threatening contactees, sometimes personally. While he's often wrangled by a Ouija board, some believe that saying his name out loud can also summon Zozo from the depths of hell.

Zozo believers claim the demon has ancient origins, either African or Sumerian, depending who you ask. While those claims can't be substantiated (they may be confusing Zozo for Pazuzu, a Mesopotamian wind demon who famously appeared in The Exorcist), a supernatural entity called "Zozo" was referenced in the 1818 French text Le Dictionnaire Infernal. The demonological encyclopedia, written by French author Jacques Auguste Simon Collin de Plancy, recounts the story of a young village girl who claimed she'd been possessed by three demons named Mimi, Zozo, and Crapoulet.

But according to the website The Paranormal Scholar, accurately translating the text of Le Dictionnaire Infernal shows that the girl's story was faked. "She rattled nonsense," de Plancy wrote, adding that the girl had been publicly beaten years before for faking possession, and was eventually imprisoned for her fibs. He goes on to describe what he believed to be genuine cases of demonic activity, ending the Zozo extract with the sentence: "Nonetheless, there are real cases of possession."

Zozo's first-known textual appearance was technically a non-appearance, but this hasn't stopped people from using Le Dictionnaire Infernal as "proof" of Zozo's existence. A number of websites and videos still cite it as fact, bolstering the belief that Zozo predates the event that seemingly willed him into existence.

Darren Evans (right) on a 2014 episode of Ghost Adventures | Travel Channel

A legend is born

In 2009, an Oklahoma man named Darren Evans recounting his experience with a demon named "ZOZO" on a website called True Ghost Tales. In the post, Evans admits to an adolescent fascination with the occult, citing many Ouija board incidents through the years. But Zozo, he said, was different. The entity consistently showed itself to Evans, "too many times to count," pretending to be a kind spirit before shifting into threatening language, including curses in what "looked like Latin or Hebrew."

"I was genuinely fascinated and startled by how many times 'ZOZO' showed up, even in many different states and many different Ouija boards," Evans wrote. He claimed that the demon also made threats against his toddler daughter, nearly drowning her in a bathtub and later infecting her with a mysterious illness. "We almost lost her, and that was when I began to suspect demonic attack."

Evans' post garnered a great deal of interest, with other readers alleging similar Ouija encounters with Zozo. He eventually set up a website to collect stories, which steadily gained popularity. A film production company called One World Studios took notice of Evans story, acquired the rights, and in 2012, released the independent feature I Am ZoZo, which featured a cameo appearance by Evans. A YouTube video promoting the film -- titled "Scariest Ouija Board Demon ZOZO Possessed Girl" -- went viral; it currently has more than 5 million views. The comments still debate its validity, despite a promoted link to rent I Am ZoZo below the video's description. "Oh my gosh, [you're] not meant to joke with this. She was laughing and insulting Zozo, so that's why this happened," one comments reads. "The thing was going around in a figure eight. That's bad," says another.

In 2014, Evans and his family appeared on an episode of the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures. The show's paranormal team, led by host Zak Bagans, visited Evans' house in Oklahoma, which he claimed to be plagued by Zozo. During interviews, he added new details to his original story, including the temporary blinding of his daughter, which he blamed on the demon.

In 2016, Evans co-authored a book, The Zozo Phenomenon, with leading paranormal expert Rosemary Ellen Guiley. He once again added new details about his first encounter with Zozo, claiming that he came in contact with Zozo in 1982 after discovering a Ouija board in his then-girlfriend's basement. Engraved on the back? "ZOZO."

According to The Paranormal Scholar, earlier that year in a phone interview with a New Jersey newspaper, Evans told the same story about a mysterious Zozo-engraved Ouija board, only that time, he claimed "Zozo" was written on the front, "where 'Ouija' is normally written," not on the back. Both of these mentions were the first time in the seven years that Evans had been talking about Zozo that he mentioned an engraved board.

The Zoso symbol from 'Led Zeppelin IV' | Atlantic Recording Company

The part where one of the most legendary rock bands of all time factors in

As if the cracks in Evans' story weren't enough, The Paranormal Scholar uncovered another fascinating revelation: the "Zozo" font on the cover of Evans's The Zozo Phenomenon appeared to be lifted from the "Zoso" symbol, an ancient glyph representing Saturn that was widely used by Led Zeppelin frontman Jimmy Page. Though Page has never revealed what Zoso means to him personally, it's possible that his being a Capricorn -- a sign ruled by Saturn -- has something to do with it.

Evans also happened to be an on-the-record mega-fan of Led Zeppelin, a band long been associated with Satanism and demonology. For a time, his Zozo website even linked directly to the official Zeppelin website and had a link to purchase Jimmy Page's autobiography.

Evans, for his part, has attempted to counter the claims that he fabricated his story. He claims the root word "Zo" -- appearing in both Zozo and Zoso -- has some sort of "magical power," which he believes explains its recurring nature. In a blog post from earlier this year, he posted more historical "proof" of Zozo's existence, once again citing Le Dictionnaire Infernal and a Nigerian paranormal website, Nairaland, where in 2005 a user named Makaveli wrote of a friend's encounter with a demon called "Zo-Zo." (Curiously, in the Nigerian languages Hausa and Igbo, "Zozo" translates to "come up.") He found mention of a demon named Zozo in a 1966 play by Jacques Audiberti, and in an 1876 issue of the Catholic Review, where Saint Bernardino of Siena mentions a "Mass of Zozo," some sort of Satanic ritual.

There's little consistency between Evans's personal accounts and his sourced material that relates any one Zozo to the other. Furthermore, none of these instances explain why, before Evans' 2009 True Ghost Tales post, "Zozo demon" yielded next to zero results in Google's search function. If Zozo encounters are such a shared experience, no one felt comfortable enough sharing their own run-ins until Evans came forward with his viral anecdote.

A scene from I Am Zozo | Image Entertainment

Zozo lives on

Even with such traceable and flimsy origins, Zozo lives on in the collective subconscious, seemingly unstoppable. Like Slender Man and other Creepypasta concoctions, his mythology is so entrenched in the niche corners of the web that you'd be hard-pressed to convince believers in his non-existence. From Reddit to YouTube vlogs to message boards, many people remain utterly convinced that they've had Ouija board run-ins with Zozo.

In the 1970s, scientists attempted this on a large scale with a project known as the "Philip experiment." Hoping to manifest a nonexistent "ghost" through fear responses, the scientists created a fictional character named Philip and held a séance with a test group. After feeding the group Philip's story, they tried to conjure his spirit. The experiment was successful: through sheer force of belief, the participants felt the table vibrate, heard rapping sounds, and said they sensed a presence.

Zozo could be like Philip, a presence people decided to believe in and have now willed into existence. It's strikingly similar to Slender Man, who, despite being wholly and obviously fictional, inspired two Wisconsin schoolgirls to stab their friend, hoping to sacrifice her to the figure they were convinced was real.

Perhaps Zozo is real, and Darren Evans is merely the conduit through which we were introduced to him. In lore, demons are known to disappear for long stretches; it's possible his 2009 emergence was by some hellish design, and he's here to prey on the specific fears of a new generation, one who can spread his word through the viral capillaries of the internet, where any unsuspecting soul might stumble on his wrath.