/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.3374760]

>currently know english and spanish
>been learning russian because russian literature gets my loins all tingly
>looking to start a new language soon

what asian language has the best literature?

[demiurge No.3374768]

sanskrit

if we're talking poetry too

[Anonymous No.3374774]

Japanese imo.
But that's because my thesis is about Japanese literature.

[Anonymous No.3374776]

中文

[Anonymous No.3374778]

The Other Great Civilization (vis-a-vis the West), with its own attendant historical, philosophical, and literary legacies, and a gorgeous poetic tradition spanning thousands of years
>Classical Chinese

Good but limited tier
>Japanese

Hipster tier
>Sanskrit

Mongrel race tier
>Korean, Southeast Asian

[Anonymous No.3374800]

>>3374778

You pose a very convincing case for Classical Chinese. Aside from its literary merits, how well does it translate into having a conversation with a street vendor in Chinatown?

[Anonymous No.3374810]

>>3374800
>eating food from Chinese street vendors
I shiggy

[Anonymous No.3374829]

>>3374810

>implying chinatown street vendors don't sell everything

food was honestly the last thing on my mind.

[bump No.3374853]

>>3374760
What are your favorite books in Spanish? What were the first books you read in Spanish?

[Anonymous No.3374859]

You can't go wrong with Japanese.
Many great writers like Soseki, Tanizaki, Mishima, Dazai and Akutagawa, to name a few.

[Anonymous No.3374874]

Korean - Easiest to learn. Don't have to deal with so many squiggles. No great history recorded in modern Korean.

Japanese - Mid-grade difficulty. Can learn conversational very quickly. Strong history, most Chinese texts can be found translated to Japanese with great accuracy. Started as Chinese, relatively easy transition into Chinese. Downside: Weeaboo.

Chinese - Most difficult to learn. Longest history, if you are interested in history, philosophy, or general academics, this is the best choice hands down. You would need to start with modern language and work back into classical. This will take a very very long time.

[Anonymous No.3374880]

>>3374853

Spanish is my native language, currently reading Las venas abiertas de América Latina. Admittedly, I haven't read enough to consider favorites though.

[Anonymous No.3375039]

>>3374874

Well I'm definitely going to weigh Chinese and Japanese out, they both really seem to have their strength and substance.

Anyone have anything to add to sway me towards one or the other?

[Anonymous No.3375056]

>>3375039
Chinese is great for philosophy and classical stuff.
Their 1910s-1920s literature is pretty solid too.

1910s-1950s Japanese literature is great in my opinion.

[demiurge No.3375096]

>>3374800
would be like speaking classical latin to your local taco seller

if you're not going to consider sanskrit (boo) then classical chinese is the best option. they have a great canon.

[Anonymous No.3377897]

>>3374774
I keep hearing about this thesis of yours, bitch. What's it about?

[Anonymous No.3377917]

>>3375039

Chinese is about 1000 times harder to learn

[Anonymous No.3377931]

>>3377897
I've only posted about it twice.
As I'm working on it, hoping that nobody would steal my idea (yeah, someone got his idea stolen last year), it will be about individualism in Japanese literature, and I will focus quite a lot on some semi-obscure Japanese poet.

[Anonymous No.3377935]

>>3375039
Japanese you can learn in a year or two.

Chinese you can learn to speak in a year or two, to read in several years.

Classical Chinese, probably never.

[Anonymous No.3377946]

>>3377931

[Anonymous No.3377975]

>>3377946
Nah, I actually have read japanese literature before discovering anime. I know that it's odd. I had the choice to do a thesis about modern Japan or modern China, then I picked modern Japan because contemporary Chinese scholars are shit at publishing books and research.

[Anonymous No.3378017]

>>3374760
Japanese has the best literature because the communists in China pretty much destroyed ever piece of heritage they had access prior to 1954

[Anonymous No.3378096]

>>3378017
>Japanese
>Best literature

What are the four great classics? What are the other two great classics? What are the myriad of religious texts that came from China (I Ching Tao Te Ching, Chuang Tzu, etc)?

And that's just ancient stuff. I will admit, Japan has better modern lit (imo), but as far as their entire canon goes? China wins easily.

[Anonymous No.3378145]

>>3374760
OP how do you learn different languages? Lessons?

[Anonymous No.3378157]

>>3378145
Learn the pronunciation
Learn the grammar rules
Drill vocabulary
Struggle though some novels in the target language
Watch tv shows in the target language (NOT cartoons)
etc.

[Anonymous No.3380375]

>>3378145
>>3378157

Pretty much this. It's all about immersing yourself in the language once you've got the basics down. If you've got people to speak to that's a plus, but watching movies/shows, reading books and listening to music works very well if it's shit that actually interests you.

[Anonymous No.3380517]

>>3374800
>Aside from its literary merits, how well does it translate into having a conversation with a street vendor in Chinatown?
Classical Chinese was never really meant to be spoken; it has developed as a kind of purely literary code.

[Anonymous No.3380521]

>>3374760
OP, here's something that the other dudes ignored to tell you:

If you just want to _read_ Chinese, you don't actually need to learn the whole language!

There's no point in learning pronunciation and writing if all you want is a gateway to reading the classics.

In fact, Classical Chinese has been specifically designed for this in mind. (At least originally.)

But if you want a real piece of advice: stick to Russian first. There's no possible way you'll be able to learn Russian and another language at the same time.