Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
MIMAROPA REGION
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF CALAPAN CITY
ORIENTAL MINDORO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
J.P. RIZAL ST., SAN VICENTE EAST, CALAPAN CITY

Realism, Existentialism and

Postmodernism in 21st Century European Literature

Testing the Waters

Write X if the statement is about realism, Y if the statement is about existentialism and Z
if the statement is about postmodernism. Write your answers before each item.

1. ______ - It is concerned with capturing the everyday in all its minutest details.
2. ______ - It questions the self’s coming to life and its purpose on living.
3. ______ - It signifies the breakdown of the boundary between external world and
individual consciousness.
4. ______ - It denotes a lifelike, immediate quality.
5. ______ - It is characterized by the use of metafiction, unreliable narration, self-
reflexivity, intertextuality, and which often thematizes both historical and political issues.

Sailing
Europe has greatly impacted world literature as its literature involves works in various
languages: English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Polish, German, Italian, Modern Greek,
Czech, Russian, Bosnian, Scandinavian and Irish. The timeline for European literature
below could help us better understand 21st century literary movements in Europe.

Among the different European literary movements, Realism and

Existentialism both still retain in the 21st century of European literature together with an
emerging genre, the Postmodernism. The table on the next page could help us better
understand the different characteristics and highlights of the three movements
mentioned.
Guided Practice

For our guided practice, let us extract excerpts from The Apologizer by Milan Kundera
and identify whether they are proof of realism, existentialism or postmodernism.

1.

This excerpt is proof of realism in such a way that it deals with both the reality of girls’
fashion trends, which is the show of skin and boy’s thinking towards this. Majority of girls
nowadays prefer this fashion trend while boys are torn between the thoughts of
disturbance and captivation.
2.
This presents maximalism as support to postmodernism. It could be understood that
Alain’s mother has deviated readers’ attention from her son’s personal dilemma and
sentiments to mankind’s situations on large, even mentioning human rights. Apart from
this support, maximalism is also present in the entirety of the text through its use of
subchapters and wide range of literary techniques via figurative language.

A. Realism and Existentialism

Directions: Write L before the excerpt if it is a proof of realism and M if it is a proof of

existentialism. Write your reason for saying so on the blanks provided after the
statement.

1. _______ - “Since you insist, I’ll tell you: your mother never wanted you to be born. She
never wanted you to be around here, to be burying yourself in that easy chair where
you’re so comfortable. She wanted nothing to do with you. so now do you understand?”

2. ________ - “Don’t protest, and let me apologize,” he said. “I’m an apologizer. That’s the
way you made me, you and he. And, as such, as an apologizer, I’m happy. I feel good
when we apologize to each other, you and I. Isn’t it lovely, apologizing to each other?”

3. ________ - Traffic was slow, and he heard: “I want to be sure that there’s no confusion
between you and me, that we understand each other completely -” He had to brake. A
pedestrian had slipped between cars to cross the street and turned toward Alain with a
threatening gesture.

4. ________ - But what’s going on? Has she forgotten her resolve? Why does she not
drown herself, since the person who tried to rob her of her death is no longer alive? Why,
now that she is free, does she no longer seek to die? The person who tried to impose life
on her has died from drowning, and the person she was trying to kill in her belly is still
alive. The idea of suicide is ruled out forever. No repeats. The young man is dead, the
fetus is alive.

5. ________ - Everything has changed. Instead of diving down beneath the water, she
raises her head and breathes deeply to collect her strength. He is already in front of her.
It’s a young fellow, a teenager, who hopes to be famous, to have his pictures in the
papers. He just keeps repeating, “Stop! Stop!” He’s already reaching a hand toward her,
and she, rather than evading it, grasps it, grips it tight, and pulls it (and him) down
toward the depths of the river.

B. Postmodernism

Directions: Write N before the excerpt if it is a proof of postmodernism and O if you think
that it is not a proof of postmodernism. If you wrote N, write your reason for saying so on
the blanks provided after the statement.

1. _______ - If a man (or an era) sees the breasts as the center of female seductive power,
how does one describe and define the particularity of that erotic orientation? He
improvised an answer: sanctification of woman, the Virgin Mary suckling Jesus, the male
sex on the on its knees before the noble mission of the female sex.

2. ________ - “Quit your apologies! What do you know about life, my little idiot! Can I call
you idiot? Yes, don’t be angry; in my own opinion, you are an idiot! And you know where
your idiocy comes from? From your goodness! Your ridiculous goodness!”

3. ________ - “And you’re wrong. The person who apologizes is declaring himself guilty.
And if you declare yourself guilty, you encourage the other to go insulting you, blaming
you, publicly, unto death. Such are the inevitable consequences of the first apology.”

4. ________ - “I saw the infinite spread of its branches come down like a gigantic
cloudburst, and – understand me – what I was dreaming of wasn’t the end of human
history, the abolition of any future; no, no, what I wanted was the total disappearance of
mankind, together with its future and its past, with its beginning and its end, along with
the whole span of its existence, with all its memory, with Nero and Napoleon, with
Buddha and Jesus.”
5. ________ - Alain was silent; then he said, in a quiet voice: “What is it that you feel guilty
for? For not having had the strength to prevent my birth? Or for not reconciling yourself
to my life, which, as it happens, is actually not so bad?”

C. Be Your Own Kind of Animagus

The Harry Potter Series is a known 21st century European literature written by JK
Rowling. Part of its fame as 21st century European literature is its use of magic which
includes the presentation of Animagus. An animagus is a witch or wizard who could
transform into an animal appropriate to his/her skills and abilities and back to human
form at his/her will. Now your task is to illustrate your own kind of animagus fit to your
skills and abilities. Below your animagus illustration, answer the questions stated.

1. What special ability do you have as an animagus? (3 points)

2. When do you find it appropriate to transform to an animal and transform back to

human? Why do you think so? (3 points)

3. What special role do you play as an animagus when it comes to caring for the
environment? (3 points)