LAOS Genres and Themes Genres w Religious Literature
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LAOS Genres and Themes
Genres w Religious Literature • Theravada Buddhist Canonical Texts • short texts aimed at explaining the practical advantages of pious deeds • texts ediying lessons regarding the gods, the saints, and the sites containing relics of the buddha
w Secular texts - much richer thatn religious texts • popular and classical lietrature are well known at all levels of society although authors names are unknown and texts are undated and undatable • 1. Stories, legends and poem of oral tradition are satirical in tone • Stories called sysva have strong moral and education content
• 3. Tales that comment on the naivety of the peasantry, the greediness of the wealthy and the demands of the royalty • 4. Judicial stories which include commentaries on ancient Lao codes e. g Tales of Nantantai - a lso version of the Indian Pancatantra • 5. Historical Legends - e. g. Hostory of Khun Purom which recount the legendary migration of the Tai Peoples from Chinca to Luang Prabang
• 6. Poetry that are predominantly Buddhist and inspired to the licentious • 7. Classical Lao Literature - written in prose and verse form, lenghty and not original. Themes include handsome priest, the heroin is a beautiful princess and the antagonist a demon. There is also a Lao version of the Ramayana
• 8. Political Writings - 1960’s as the beginning of Modern Literature – Pro-western Regime vs Socialist Regime – Modern Literature - soap opera novels, humorous stories, other poorly written works of social criticizm that featured dishonest officials and scheming politicians
w Since 1975 - the only modern Lao Literature appears to consists of work urging the consolidation of socialism and emphasizing ideology and internationalism.
TAI Minorities w Tai minorities of Laos has very rich literature preserved in manuscripts from. • Magical and astrological texts • Juridical texts that are divided into small chapters describing specific cases and presenting appropriate decision
• Tai Pharmaceutical Texts dealing with treatment of certain illness by medicianl plants and other preparations. Additional texts of this sort list supernatural origins of illnessed and give remedies. • Rich Religious Literature include rituals, prayers, texts written in praise of spirits
• Popular and classical texts include epics, stories, legends and cosmographical works. These works present visions of the creation of the worlds proper to each particual group.