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	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 ]'s '']'' where it is suggested '']'' is Spain's national epic while Ireland's remains as yet unwritten: <blockquote>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.<ref>James Joyce. ''Ulysses'', Vintage Books, New York, 1961, 189 (p.192)</ref><br></blockquote>		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 ]'s '']'' where it is suggested '']'' is Spain's national epic while Ireland's remains as yet unwritten: <blockquote>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.<ref>James Joyce. ''Ulysses'', Vintage Books, New York, 1961, 189 (p.192)</ref><br></blockquote>

	==Prose epics by nation or region==
	Some prose works, while not strictly epic poetry, have an important place in the national consciousness of their nations. These include the following:
	*Arabs – '']''
	*Argentina –
	**'']'' by ]<ref>{{Cite web\|title=Gaucho literature {{!}} South American literature\|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/gaucho-literature\|access-date=2020-09-05\|website=Encyclopedia Britannica\|language=en}}</ref>
	*Australia -
	**'']'' by ]
	**'']'' by ]
	**'']'' by ]
	*Bulgaria –
	**'']''
	*Brazil –
	**], by ]
	**'']'', by ]
	**'']'', by ]
	*Britain –
	**'']''
	**'']''
	**'']''
	**], by ]
	**'']'' by ]
	*Canada –
	**'']''
	**'']''
	*Catalonia –
	**'']''
	**The Four Great Chronicles:
	***'']'' by ]
	***'']'' by ]
	***'']''
	***'']'' by ]
	**'']'', an epic romance, one of the best works of Catalan medieval literature.
	*Chile
	**'']'' by ], a 19th-century social realist romance novel on the Chilean revolution of the 1850s<ref>{{Cite journal\|last=SOMMER\|first=DORIS\|date=1989\|title=Foundational Fictions: When History Was Romance in Latin America\|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40548050\|journal=Salmagundi\|issue=82/83\|pages=111–141\|jstor=40548050\|issn=0036-3529}}</ref>
	*China
	** ] (impact across the ])
	*** '']''
	*** '']''
	*** '']''
	*** '']''
	**'']'' (novel)
	*Colombia –
	**'']'', (''One Hundred Years of Solitude'') a contemporary novel that parallels Colombian history in the fictional town of ].
	**'']'', (''The Vortex'') a contemporary novel with prosaic poetic interuldes that depicts life in the great pastures, the immensity and overwhelming nature of the ] and the appalling conditions under which workers in rubber factories toil.
	**'']'', (At God's Right Side) a ] novel depicting life and culture in the ]
	**'']'', a ] novel.
	*Denmark – '']'' by ] (the main inspiration to '']'' by ])
	*Ecuador
	**'']'' Romantico national novel written by ]
	*Egypt / Ancient Egyptians – '']''
	*England –
	**'']'' by ]
	*Ethiopia & Eritrea – '']''
	*Flanders (Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) –
	**'']'' ("The Lion of Flanders")
	*France
	** '']''
	** '']''
	** '']''
	** '']'' (a novel spanning a crucial era of French history)
	*Georgia
	**'']'' - ]
	**'']'' - ]
	**'']'' - ]
	*Germany
	**'']'' (a widely influential ] tragic novel)
	**'']'' by ]
	*Guatemala and Mexico – '']''
	*Scandinavia and Iceland – The '']'' by ]
	*Iceland - ]
	*Iran - ] by ]
	*Ireland
	**'']'' (Prose narration with poetic interludes)
	**'']'' (20th century adaptation of Homer's ''Odyssey'' by ])
	*Israel / Hebrews
	** – ] by ]
	** - ], ] and ] by ]
	** - ]
	*Italy –
	**'']'' by ]
	**'']'' by ]
	*Japan –
	**'']'' (''Genji Monogatari'') by ]
	**'']'' by ]
	*Korea – '']'' (prose with songs)
	*Malaysia –
	**'']''
	**'']''
	**'']''
	*Mayans – '']''
	*Mexico
	**''Visión de Anáhuac'' by ]
	**''Estas ruinas que ves'' by ]
	**''Clemencia'' by ]
	**''La muerte del tigre'' by ]
	**''El éxodo y las flores del camino'' by ]
	**'']'' by ]
	**'']'' by ]
	*Mongolia –
	**'']''
	**'']'' (]'s biography)
	*The Netherlands –
	**'']'' – ]
	**'']'' – ]
	*Norway – '']'' by ]
	*Pakistan - '']''
	*Poland
	**] – ]
	**'']'' – ]
	***'']''
	***'']''
	***'']''
	**'']'' – ]
	**] – ] {{Citation needed\|date=August 2013}}
	*Portugal – '']'' (see ])
	*Philippines
	**'']''
	**'']''
	**'']''
	**'']''
	**'']''
	**'']''
	*Russia –
	**'']'' – ]
	**'']''
	**'']'' and '']'' – ]
	**'']'' - ]
	**'']'' and '']'' - ]
	**'']'' - ]
	*Scotland –
	**'']'' – ]
	**'']'' – ]
	**'']'' - ]
	*Spain –
	**'']'' by ]
	**'']'' – ]
	*Sweden – '']''
	*Switzerland – '']''
	*Tatar – "]"<ref></ref>
	*Thailand –
	**'']'' ({{lang-th\|มหาชาติคำหลวง}}) (1492): The semi-prose rendition of ], a hagiographical tale regarding a previous life of ].
	**'']'' by ]
	*Turkic peoples –
	**'']''<ref></ref> (all ])
	**'']'' (] nations: ], ], ], Turcomans of Iraq, as well as Central Asia and other Turkic nations)
	**'']'' (] nations: ], ], ], and Turcomans of Iraq)
	**] legend (])
	**'']'' (] and ])
	**'']'' (Central Asia, Uighurs and other Turkic nations)
	*United States – (see also "]")
	**'']'' by American satirist ]
	**'']'', the 19th-century classic novel by ]
	**'']'' novel set in the ] by ]
	**'']'', by ].
	**'']'', by ].
	**'']'', by ].
	**'']'', by ].
	**'']'', by ]
	**], by ]
	**'']'', by ]
	**] by ] (] national epic in poetry and prose)<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
	*Venezuela – '']'' by ], a novel detailing the struggle between civilization and barbarism in early 20th century, as well as a psychological study of the Venezuelan plainsmen.
	*Wales – '']''

	==See also==		==See also==

Revision as of 08:10, 12 December 2020

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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 the British or Welsh. 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.

References

Paul Cohen, "In search of the Trojan Origins of French", in Fantasies of Troy, Classical Tales and the Social Imaginary in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, Alan Shepard, Stephen David Powell eds., published by the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2004, p. 65 sq., ISBN 0-7727-2025-8. "Like many of their counterparts across Europe, seventh-century scholars in France had invented a myth of the Trojan origins of Gaul" (p. 67)
Epic(in French) Liliane Kesteloot, University of Dakar
James Joyce. Ulysses, Vintage Books, New York, 1961, 189 (p.192)

External links

Full text epics in the original languages

v t e Nationalism
Development	Nationalism in Antiquity Nationalism in the Middle Ages Anthem Colours Flag Epic God Identity Language Music Myth Religion Sport Symbol Animal Emblem Flower Treasure
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Organizations	List of nationalist organizations Nationalist Clubs
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v t e National symbols (list)
Topics	Coat of arms Colour Deity Dish Emblem Father Flag Flower Myth Patron saint Personification Poetry Epic Poets Religion Sport
Lists	Animals birds Anthems Dances Founders Fruits Instruments Drinks liquors Mottos Trees
Galleries	Country coats of arms State flags

Worldview

Related terms

Basic beliefs / Beliefs
Collective consciousness / Collective unconscious
Conceptual system
Context
Conventional wisdom
Conventions
Cultural movement
Epic poetry / National epics / World folk-epics
Facts and factoids
Framing
Ideology
Life stance
Lifestyle
Memes / Memeplex
Mental model
Metanarrative
Mindset
Norms
Paradigm
Philosophical theory
Point of view
Presuppositions
Primal world beliefs
Reality tunnel
Schemata
School of thought
Set
Social reality
Theory of everything
Umwelt
Value system

Aspects

Biases	Academic Attentional Attitude polarization Belief Cognitive list Collective narcissism Confirmation Congruence Cryptomnesia Cultural Ethnocentrism Filter bubble Homophily In-group favoritism Magical thinking Media Observational error Observer-expectancy Selective exposure Selective perception Self-deception Self-fulfilling prophecy Clever Hans effect placebo effect wishful thinking Status quo Stereotyping ethnic
Change and maintenance	Activism Argument Argumentum ad populum Attitude change Brainwashing Censorship Charisma Circular reporting Cognitive dissonance Critical thinking Crowd manipulation Cultural dissonance Deprogramming Echo chamber Education religious values Euphemism Excommunication Fearmongering Historical revisionism negationism Ideological repression Indoctrination Manipulation (psychology) Media manipulation Media regulation Missionaries Moral entrepreneurship Persuasion Polite fiction Political engineering Propaganda Propaganda model Proselytism Psychological warfare Religious conversion forced Religious persecution Religious uniformity Revolutions Rhetoric Self-censorship Social change Social control Social engineering Social influence Social progress Suppression of dissent Systemic bias Woozle effect
Culture	Anthropology cultural social Calendars Ceremonies Coronations Cross-cultural psychology Cultural psychology Doctrine Employment / Serfdom / Slavery Families Funerals / Burial Games Holidays Hygiene ritual Identity (philosophy) cultural Institutions Liminality Liturgy Marriage Myth and ritual Oaths Pilgrimages Play Rites of passage secular Rituals Social class / Social status / Caste Symbols Symbolic boundaries Worship
Groupthink	Abilene paradox Bandwagon effect Collectives Collective behavior animal Collective effervescence Collective intelligence Conformity Consensus theory Crowd psychology Cults Culture-bound syndromes Deindividuation Doublethink Emergence Emotional contagion Entitativity False consensus effect Folie à deux Group action Group cohesiveness Group dynamics Group emotion Group polarization Groupshift Herd behavior Holism Hysterical contagion Information cascade In-group and out-group Invisible hand Lynching Majoritarianism / Mob rule Mass action Mass psychogenic illness Milieu control Mobbing Moral panic Peer pressure Pluralistic ignorance Political correctness Pseudoconsensus Scapegoating Self-organization Social action Social behavior Social emotions Social exclusion Social facilitation animal Social group Social proof Social psychology Sociology Spontaneous order Status quo Stigmergy Swarm behaviour System justification Viral phenomena
Knowledge	Axioms tacit assumptions Conceptual framework Epistemology outline Evidence anecdotal scientific Explanations Faith fideism Gnosis Intuition Meaning-making Memory Meta-knowledge Methodology Observation Observational learning Perception Reasoning fallacious logic Revelation Testimony Tradition folklore Truth consensus theory criteria World disclosure
Metaphysics	Ætiology Afterlife Anima mundi Causality Concepts Consciousness mind–body problem Cosmogony Cosmology religious Creation myth Deities existence Destiny Eschatology Everything / Nothing Evolution Existence Fiction / Nonfiction Free will Future History Ideas Idios kosmos Illusions Incarnation Information Intelligence Magic Matter Miracles Mythology comparative National mythoi Nature philosophical Ontology Origin myths political Otherworlds axes mundi Physics natural philosophy Problem of evil Reality Souls Spirit Supernature Teleology Theology Time Unobservables
Value	Aesthetic taste Aesthetic Almsgiving / Charity Altruism Autonomy Beauty Codes of conduct Comedy Common good Conscience Consent Creativity Disgust Duty Economics Ecstasy emotional religious Elegance Emotions Aesthetic Entertainment Eroticism Ethics Étiquette Family values Food and drink prohibitions unclean animals Golden Rule Guilt / Culpability Happiness Harmony Honour Human rights Judgement Justice Law jurisprudence religious Liberty political freedom Love Magnificence Maxims Meaning of life Morality public Obligations Peace Piety Praxeology Principles Punishment Qualities Repentance Reverence Rights Sexuality ethics Sin Social stigma Stewardship Styles Sublime, The Suffering Sympathy Taboo Theodicy Trust Unspoken rules Virtues and Vices Works of art Wrongdoing

Examples

Attitudes	Misanthropy Optimism Pessimism Reclusion Weltschmerz
Economic and political ideologies	Anarchism Authoritarianism Capitalism Christian democracy Collectivism Colonialism Communalism Communism Communitarianism Conservatism Constitutionalism Distributism Environmentalism Extremism Fanaticism Fascism Feminism Fundamentalism Globalism Green politics Imperialism Individualism Industrialisation Intellectualism Islamism Liberalism Libertarianism Masculism Militarism Monarchism Nationalism Pacifism Progressivism Radicalism Reformism Republicanism Sentientism Social democracy Socialism Utilitarianism Veganism
Religions	Baháʼí Buddhism Caodaism Cheondoism Chinese folk religion Christianity Eastern Orthodox Church Ethnic religions Hinduism Hòa Hảo Islam Jainism Judaism Korean shamanism Modern paganism Rastafari Secularity / Irreligion / Agnosticism / Atheism Shinto Sikhism Spiritism Taoism Tenrikyo Traditional African religions Unitarian Universalism Zoroastrianism
Schools of philosophy	Agriculturalism Aristotelianism Atomism Averroism Cartesianism Cārvāka Collectivism Confucianism / New Confucianism Critical theory Cynicism Cyrenaics Determinism Dualism Eleatics Empiricism Epicureanism Eretrian school Existentialism Fatalism Foundationalism Hedonism Hegelianism Hermeneutics Historicism / New historicism Holism Humanism / Renaissance humanism Idealism Illuminationism ʿIlm al-Kalām Individualism Ionian Kantianism / Neo-Kantianism Kokugaku Legalism Logicians Materialism Megarian school Modernism / Postmodernism Mohism Monism Natural law Naturalism (Chinese) Naturalism (Western) Nihilism Peripatetic Phenomenology Platonism / Neoplatonism Pluralism Positivism Pragmatism Pre-Socratic Pyrrhonism Pythagoreanism / Neopythagoreanism Rationalism Reductionism Scholasticism / Neo-scholasticism Sentientism Social constructionism Sophism Spinozism Stoicism Structuralism / Post-structuralism Thomism Transcendentalism Utilitarianism Yangism

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Revision as of 08:10, 12 December 2020

History

See also

References

External links