Writing Across Cultures

Before you graduate, please make sure all your work in turned in. Portfolios and written projects are due by the end of the week. Please make sure you turn your work by Friday, otherwise you will fail this marking period. Good luck to all of you during finals and into graduation. Have a great summer!

South Africa Located at the southern tip of Africa's great continent, South Africa, originally a Dutch colony (an important harbor--the Cape of Good Hope, later Cape Town). Later the discovery of diamonds ultimately lead to the Boer wars (as the Dutch, French, English, German, etc. battled over control of the area). White minority privilege caused strife as only about 4.5% of the rich, white ruling class had control of government policy. This lead to Apartheid (see below) which you have probably studied in Global. Here is some brief information about South Africa: South Africa Government Site and key issues the government is dealing with (a good place to look for ideas for conflict!) South African History: The Apartheid South African writers: Lionel Abrahams Peter Abrahams Nadine Gordimer Music of South Africa South African Arts Cinema of South Africa

Seven Wonders of India India Rich vs. Poor (documentary) India's Caste System (student project) Mahatma Ghandi: God is Life speech Ghandi (trailer) Ghandi (1982) Full Film India & Pakistan Gain Independence: Short Documentary (real footage) Indian Independence: 1947, August 15, midnight ( Midnight's Children ). Bollywood: Nightline documentary Bollywood: best song/dance of 2005 Bollywood: best song of 2009 Hinduism (documentary), part one A scene from Peter Brooks' film: The Mahabharata ( The Bhaghavad Gita ), 1989 The very excellent (and funny) animated film (entire film): Sita Sings the Blues , 2009 Vegetable Biryani: Cooking Show Sample Indian Hip Hop George Harrison's sitar lesson with legendary musician Ravi Shankar HOMEWORK: Please read any 2 stories from the African authors in Other Voices, Other Vistas . Response to the forum question due by Tuesday, June 12.

Salman Rushdie is another postcolonial writer. He was born in Mumbai in 1947. His second novel Midnight's Children was critically acclaimed and won the Booker Prize in 1981. His most controversial novel is The Satanic Verses which he caused controversy in the Islamic world due to the perceived irreverent depiction of the prophet Muhammad. Public burnings and firebombings of bookstores caused international bedlam. The book is still banned in several countries. Rushdie found sanctuary in England. The United Kingdom and Iran broke diplomatic relations over the Rushdie controversy and he still receives death-threats from militant Muslim fanatics concerning the novel. He was knighted in 2007 for his contribution to literature. He currently has ten novels and several collections of stories and non-fiction essays published. His style is often classified as magical realism mixed with historical fiction, and a dominant theme of his work is the story of the many connect

Eastern and Western traditions of thought have intersected throughout the ages, yet these cultures continue to influence each other. What is Western Thought and what is Eastern Thought? There are differences between the East and the West in the approach to answer the question: what is the meaning of life? Eastern religion would include the following types: • Hinduism • Buddhism • Taoism • Confucianism • Sikhism • Jainism • Islam (“near East”) • Ba’hai While philosophy differs from China to Japan to India to Tibet to Afghanistan, (etc.), there are some similarities that Eastern Philosophy shares. They are: 1. Generally, Eastern philosophy is more concerned with the whole and the cosmic than Western philosophy, while still being concerned with everyday life. Eastern philosophy tends to look “inward” as opposed to the West looking “outward.” 2. The West over emphasizes the individual, the East emphasizes the whole or group. The East tends to see the “interc