National epic

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

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 CamÃµes celebrated Portugal as a naval power in his Os LusÃadas 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

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€"
- MartÃn Fierro by JosÃ© HernÃ¡ndez
- Facundo by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
Brazil â€"
- A ConfederaÃ§Ã£o dos Tamoios by GonÃ§alves de MagalhÃ£es
- Caramuru by Diogo Ãlvares 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 ZuÃ±iga
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 RÄmÃ¢yaá¹‡a
- 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€"
- Láº¡c Long QuÃ¢n myths
- De dat de nuoc myths
- Lá»¥c VÃ¢n TiÃªn
Cambodia â€" Reamker

Europe

Albania â€" Lahuta e MalcÃs (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€" Ð•Ð¿Ð¾Ð¿ÐµÑ Ð½Ð° Ð—Ð°Ð±Ñ€Ð°Ð²ÐµÐ½Ð¸Ñ‚Ðµ (Epic of the Forgotten) by Ivan VazovÂ ; ÐšÑŠÑ€Ð²Ð°Ð²Ð° ÐŸÐµÑÐµÐ½ (A Song of Blood) by Pencho Slaveykov
Catalonia â€" L'AtlÃ ntida (1877) and Canigou (1886) by Jacint Verdaguer
Croatia â€" Judita by Marko MaruliÄ‡; Vazetje Sigeta grada by Brne KarnarutiÄ‡; Osman by Ivan GunduliÄ‡; Gvozdansko by Ante TresiÄ‡ PaviÄiÄ‡
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 LÃ¶nnrot
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 MiklÃ³s ZrÃnyi
- The Flight of ZalÃ¡n (ZalÃ¡n futÃ¡sa) by MihÃ¡ly VÃ¶rÃ¶smarty
- The Death of King Buda (Buda halÃ¡la) by JÃ¡nos Arany
Iceland â€" The Poetic Edda
Ireland
- TÃ¡in BÃ³ CÃºailnge
- Fenian Cycle
- Lebor GabÃ¡la Ã‰renn
Italy â€"
- Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
- The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
- Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto
- Jerusalem Delivered by Torquato Tasso
Latvia â€" LÄÄplÄ"sis by Andrejs Pumpurs
Lithuania â€" The Seasons by Kristijonas Donelaitis
Luxembourg â€" RÃ©nert the Fox by Michel Rodange
Portugal â€" Os LusÃadas ("The Lusiads") by LuÃs de CamÃµes
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 PetroviÄ‡-NjegoÅ¡ (Serbian epic poetry)
Slovenia â€" Baptism on the Savica, by France PreÅ¡eren
Sorbs â€" Nawozenja (The Bridegroom) by Jakub Bart-Ä†iÅ¡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

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
  - CrÃ²nica de Bernat Desclot
  - CrÃ²nica de Ramon Muntaner
  - CrÃ²nica de Pere el CerimoniÃ³s
- 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 AÃ±os de Soledad, (One Hundred Years of Solitude) a contemporary novel that parallels Colombian history in the fictional town of Macondo.
- La VorÃ¡gine, (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
- MarÃa, a costumbrist novel.
Ecuador
- CumandÃ¡ Romantico national novel written by Juan LeÃ³n 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")
Germany â€" The Sorrows of Young Werther (a widely influential epistolary tragic novel)
Scandinavia and Iceland â€" The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson
Ireland
- TÃ¡in BÃ³ CÃºailnge (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€" AnykÅ¡ÄiÅ³ Å¡ilelis by Antanas Baranauskas
Mayans â€" Popol Vuh
Mexico
- VisiÃ³n de AnÃ¡huac by Alfonso Reyes
- Estas ruinas que ves by Jorge IbargÃ¼engoitia
- Clemencia by Ignacio Manuel Altamirano
- La muerte del tigre by Rosario Castellanos
- El Ã©xodo 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 BaÅ›Å„ â€" JÃ³zef Ignacy Kraszewski
- The Trilogy â€" Henryk Sienkiewicz
- ChÅ‚opi â€" WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Reymont
- Wesele â€" StanisÅ‚aw WyspiaÅ„ski
Portugal â€" PeregrinaÃ§Ã£o (see FernÃ£o 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€" DoÃ±a BÃ¡rbara
Wales â€" the Mabinogion

References

External links

Full text epics in the original languages

National epic

Sunday, March 1, 2015

National epic

History