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Sunday, March 1, 2015

A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation; not necessarily a nation state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group with aspirations to independence or autonomy. National epics frequently recount the origin of a nation, a part of its history, or a crucial event in the development of national identity such as other national symbols. In a broader sense, a national epic may simply be an epic in the national language which the people or government of that nation are particularly proud of. It is distinct from a pan-national epic which is taken as representative of a larger cultural or linguistic group than a nation or a nation-state.

History


National epic

In medieval times Homer's Iliad was taken to be based on historical facts, and the Trojan War came to be considered as seminal in the genealogies of European monarchies. Virgil's Aeneid was taken to be the Roman equivalent of the Iliad, starting from the Fall of Troy and leading up to the birth of the young Roman nation. According to the then prevailing conception of history, empires were born and died in organic succession and correspondences existed between the past and the present. Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th century classically inspired Historia Regum Britanniae, for example, fulfilled this function for Britain. Just as kings longed to emulate great leaders of the past, Alexander or Caesar, it was a temptation for poets to become a new Homer or Virgil. In 16th century Portugal, Luis de Camões celebrated Portugal as a naval power in his Os Lusíadas while Pierre de Ronsard set out to write La Franciade, an epic meant to be the Gallic equivalent of Virgil's poem that also traced back France's ancestry to Trojan princes.

The emergence of a national ethos, however, preceded the coining of the phrase national epic, which seems to originate with Romantic nationalism. Where no obvious national epic existed, the "Romantic spirit" was motivated to fill it. An early example of poetry that was invented to fill a perceived gap in "national" myth is Ossian, the narrator and supposed author of a cycle of poems by James Macpherson, which Macpherson claimed to have translated from ancient sources in Scottish Gaelic. However, many national epics (including Macpherson's Ossian) antedate 19th-century romanticism.

In the early 20th century, the phrase no longer necessarily applies to an epic poem, and occurs to describe a literary work that readers and critics agree is emblematical of the literature of a nation, without necessarily including details from that nation's historical background. In this context the phrase has definitely positive connotations, as for example in James Joyce's Ulysses where it is suggested Don Quixote is Spain's national epic while Ireland's remains as yet unwritten:

They remind one of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Our national epic has yet to be written, Dr Sigerson says. Moore is the man for it. A knight of the rueful countenance here in Dublin.

Poetic epics


National epic

Examples of epics that have been enlisted as "national" include:

Africa

  • Egypt / Ancient Egyptians â€" Story of Sinuhe
  • Ethiopia â€" Kebra Nagast
  • Mali â€" Epic of Sundiata
  • Nigeria â€"
    • Epic of Bayajidda
    • Itan
    • Tale of Eri

Americas

  • Argentina â€"
    • Martín Fierro by José Hernández
    • Facundo by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
  • Brazil â€"
    • A Confederação dos Tamoios by Gonçalves de Magalhães
    • Caramuru by Diogo Álvares Correia
  • Canada â€"
    • Flint and Feather by Pauline Johnson
    • Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (shared with the United States)
  • Chile â€" La Araucana/The Araucaniad by Alonso de Ercilla y Zuñiga
  • Guatemala and Mexico-
    • Popol Vuh
  • Mexico
    • Ma zan moquetzacan by Nezahualcoyotl
  • United States
    • none / no consensus

Asia

  • Arabs â€" Arabian Nights
  • Georgia â€" The Knight in the Panther's Skin by Shota Rustaveli
  • Indian subcontinent
    • India / Nepal / Bhutan / Ancient Hindus
      • Mahabharata
      • Ramayana
      • Tirukkural
    • Pakistan
      • Hamzanama
    • Sri Lanka
      • Mahavamsa
  • Iran and Persian speakers in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, also Azerbayjan, Turkey, Iraq, Armenia, Pakistan, India.
    • Shahnameh (legends and history of Iran from earliest times to the end of the Sassanid Empire)
    • Tabaristan â€" Hojabr soltan (?)
  • Iraq / Babylonians / Mesopotamia â€" Epic of Gilgamesh
  • Indonesia
    • Kakawin Rāmâyaṇa
    • Ramakavaca
  • Israel / Hebrews â€" Book of Job (and other poetic sections of the Tanakh, i.e. the Hebrew Bible)
  • Japan
    • The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Taketori Monogatari)
    • The Tale of the Heike (Heike Monogatari)
  • Kipchaks (e.g. in Tatarstan) â€" Chora Batir
  • Korea
    • Jewang Ungi by Yi Seung-hyu
  • Kyrgyz people â€" Epic of Manas
  • Laos â€" Phra Lak Phra Lam
  • Malaysia â€"
    • Hikayat Damak
    • Hikayat Hang Tuah
    • Hikayat Seri Rama
    • Sejarah Melayu
  • Mongols (Kalmyks and Oirats) â€" Epic of Jangar
    • The Secret History of the Mongols
  • Myanmar â€" Yama Zatdaw
  • Philippines â€"
    • Biag ni Lam-ang
    • Florante at Laura
    • Hinilawod
      • Labaw Donggon, sometimes read separately from the larger corpus of the Hinilawod
    • Hudhud
    • Ibalon
    • Ibong Adarna
    • Indarapatra at Sulayman
    • Maradia Lawana
    • Ullalim
  • Tibet â€" Epic of King Gesar
  • Thailand â€" Ramakien
  • Vietnam â€"
    • Lạc Long Quân myths
    • De dat de nuoc myths
    • Lục Vân Tiên
  • Cambodia â€" Reamker

Europe

  • Albania â€" Lahuta e Malcís (The Highland Lute) by Gjergj Fishta
  • Ancient Rome â€" Aeneid by Virgil
  • Armenia â€" Daredevils of Sassoun (also known as "Sasuntsi Davit" after its main character, David of Sasun)
  • Belgium / Flanders â€" De Leeuw van Vlaanderen ("The Lion of Flanders")
  • Bulgaria â€" Епопея на Забравените (Epic of the Forgotten) by Ivan Vazov ; Кървава Песен (A Song of Blood) by Pencho Slaveykov
  • Catalonia â€" L'Atlàntida (1877) and Canigou (1886) by Jacint Verdaguer
  • Croatia â€" Judita by Marko Marulić; Vazetje Sigeta grada by Brne Karnarutić; Osman by Ivan Gundulić; Gvozdansko by Ante Tresić Pavičić
  • Denmark â€" Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus (the main inspiration to Hamlet by Shakespeare)
  • England
    • The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser
    • Paradise Lost by John Milton
    • Beowulf
  • Estonia â€" Kalevipoeg by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald
  • Europe and Western civilization generally â€" Iliad and Odyssey by Homer and Aeneid by Virgil
  • Finland â€" Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot
  • France â€" La Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland) about Roland/Orlando.
  • Galicia (Spain) â€" Os Eoas by Eduardo Pondal
  • Georgia â€" The Knight in the Panther's Skin by Shota Rustaveli
  • Germany â€" Nibelungenlied
  • Greece, Ancient (Hellas and Mediterranean Greek colonies) â€" Iliad and Odyssey by Homer
  • Greece (Byzantine Empire) â€" Digenes Akritas
  • Hungary
    • Siege of Sziget (Szigeti Veszedelem) by Miklós Zrínyi
    • The Flight of Zalán (Zalán futása) by Mihály Vörösmarty
    • The Death of King Buda (Buda halála) by János Arany
  • Iceland â€" The Poetic Edda
  • Ireland
    • Táin Bó Cúailnge
    • Fenian Cycle
    • Lebor Gabála Érenn
  • Italy â€"
    • Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
    • The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
    • Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto
    • Jerusalem Delivered by Torquato Tasso
  • Latvia â€" LāčplÄ"sis by Andrejs Pumpurs
  • Lithuania â€" The Seasons by Kristijonas Donelaitis
  • Luxembourg â€" Rénert the Fox by Michel Rodange
  • Portugal â€" Os Lusíadas ("The Lusiads") by Luís de Camões
  • Poland â€" Pan Tadeusz by Adam Mickiewicz
  • Romania â€" MioriÈ›a
  • Russia â€"
    • The Tale of Igor's Campaign
    • Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin
  • Scotland â€" The Brus by John Barbour; Ossian by James Macpherson
  • Serbia and Montenegro â€" The Mountain Wreath by Petar II Petrović-NjegoÅ¡ (Serbian epic poetry)
  • Slovenia â€" Baptism on the Savica, by France PreÅ¡eren
  • Sorbs â€" Nawozenja (The Bridegroom) by Jakub Bart-ĆiÅ¡inski
  • Spain â€"
    • Cantar de Mio Cid
    • Mocedades de Rodrigo
    • La Celestina by Fernando de Rojas
    • La Araucana by Alonso de Ercilla (shared with Chile)
  • Udmurts â€" Dorvyzhy
  • Wales â€" Mabinogion

Prose epics


National epic

Some prose works, while not strictly epic poetry, have an important place in the national consciousness of their nations. These include the following:

  • Britain â€"
    • Historia Regum Britanniae
    • Le Morte d'Arthur
    • The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
    • The Lord of the Rings
    • Moby-Dick
  • Canada â€"
    • Anne of Green Gables
    • Wacousta
  • Catalonia â€"
      • Gesta comitum Barcinonensium
    • The Four Great Chronicles:
      • Llibre dels fets
      • Crònica de Bernat Desclot
      • Crònica de Ramon Muntaner
      • Crònica de Pere el Cerimoniós
    • Tirant lo Blanch, an epic romance, one of the best works of Catalan medieval literature.
  • China
    • Four Great Classical Novels (impact across the East Asian cultural sphere)
      • Romance of the Three Kingdoms
      • Water Margin
      • Journey to the West
      • Dream of the Red Chamber
    • Fengshen Yanyi (novel)
  • Colombia â€"
    • Cien Años de Soledad, (One Hundred Years of Solitude) a contemporary novel that parallels Colombian history in the fictional town of Macondo.
    • La Vorágine, (The Vortex) a contemporary novel with prosaic poetic interuldes that depicts life in the great pastures, the immensity and overwhelming nature of the Amazon jungle and the appalling conditions under which workers in rubber factories toil.
    • En la diestra de Dios padre, (At God's Right Side) a costumbrist novel depicting life and culture in the Paisa Region
    • María, a costumbrist novel.
  • Ecuador
    • Cumandá Romantico national novel written by Juan León Mera
  • England â€"
    • The Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede
  • Ethiopia â€" Kebra Nagast
  • Flanders (Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) â€"
    • De Leeuw van Vlaanderen ("The Lion of Flanders")
  • France
    • Historia Francorum
    • Les Misérables (a novel spanning a crucial era of French history)
  • Germany â€" The Sorrows of Young Werther (a widely influential epistolary tragic novel)
  • Scandinavia and Iceland â€" The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson
  • Ireland
    • Táin Bó Cúailnge (Prose narration with poetic interludes)
    • Ulysses (20th century adaptation of Homer's Odyssey by James Joyce)
  • Israel / Hebrews â€" Book of Exodus (along with rest of the Tanakh, i.e. the Hebrew Bible; especially the Torah)
  • Italy â€"
    • The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
  • Japan â€"
    • The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari) by Murasaki Shikibu
  • Korea â€" Samguk Yusa (prose with songs)
  • Lithuania â€" Anykščių Å¡ilelis by Antanas Baranauskas
  • Mayans â€" Popol Vuh
  • Mexico
    • Visión de Anáhuac by Alfonso Reyes
    • Estas ruinas que ves by Jorge Ibargüengoitia
    • Clemencia by Ignacio Manuel Altamirano
    • La muerte del tigre by Rosario Castellanos
    • El éxodo y las flores del camino by Amado Nervo
    • Gringo viejo by Carlos Fuentes
  • Mongolia â€"
    • Borte Chino
    • The Secret History of the Mongols (Genghis Khan's biography)
  • Netherlands
    • Van den vos Reynaerde â€" (The local Netherlandic tale about the trickster fox Reynard) by an anonymous 13th century Dutch writer)
    • Max Havelaar â€" Multatuli
    • De avonden â€" Gerard Reve
  • Norway â€" Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson
  • Poland
    • Stara Baśń â€" Józef Ignacy Kraszewski
    • The Trilogy â€" Henryk Sienkiewicz
    • ChÅ‚opi â€" WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Reymont
    • Wesele â€" StanisÅ‚aw WyspiaÅ„ski
  • Portugal â€" Peregrinação (see Fernão Mendes Pinto)
  • Philippines
    • Maragtas
    • Noli Me Tangere
    • El filibusterismo
    • Banaag at Sikat
    • Mga Ibong Mandaragit
    • Luha ng Buwaya
  • Russia â€"
    • Primary Chronicle â€" Nestor the Chronicler
    • Zadonshchina
    • War and Peace and Anna Karenina â€" Leo Tolstoy
  • Scotland â€"
    • Scots Wha Hae â€" Robert Burns
    • Sunset Song â€" Lewis Grassic Gibbon
  • Spain â€"
    • Don Quixote â€" Miguel de Cervantes
  • Sweden â€" The Emigrant Cycle
  • Switzerland â€" William Tell
  • Tatar â€" "Chora Batir"
  • Turkic peoples â€"
    • Alpamysh (all Central Asia)
    • Book of Dede Korkut (Oghuz nations: Azerbaijan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turcomans of Iraq, as well as Central Asia and other Turkic nations)
    • Oghuz-nameh (Oghuz nations: Azerbaijan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Turcomans of Iraq)
    • Ergenekon legend (Turkey)
    • Koroglu (Azerbaijan and Turkey)
    • Kutadgu Bilig (Central Asia, Uighurs and other Turkic nations)
  • United States â€" Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
  • Venezuela â€" Doña Bárbara
  • Wales â€" the Mabinogion

See also


National epic
  • Civil religion
  • Epic film
  • Epic poetry
  • Founding myth
  • Great American Novel
  • List of national poets
  • List of world folk-epics
  • National myth
  • Philippe-Alexandre Le Brun de Charmettes

References


National epic

External links


National epic
  • Full text epics in the original languages

National epic
 
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