Vol. Teach. XX - Literature

        This text is a summary of  three:  "Impact of Literature on Human Behaviour, and Importance of Learning Literature, its Significance." and "Role of Internet in Providing Online Material."  Both written by Nibedita Prydarshini, and published in December 2010 at Articlesbase.com .

        The other has the title of, "The Right to Literature." from the master of literature Antonio Candido. By the way, this text is a reference to literature and human rights.

          Literature is the study of human nature. We see human nature through tragedy and romance, joy and sorrow, in epiphanies and denial, in moments of heroism and moments of cowardice. Literature teaches us to analyse character, allow us to reach inside his/her mind to see what shapes his/her beliefs and how one relate to other. Those who understand literature can learn from it, the most about the thought of the period, in literature the spirit of age gains embodiment and shape and the man of truly sensitive perception can deduce the whole intellectual life of a period. Literature is the thought provoking, it allow us to raise question and give us a deeper understand of issues and situation. Literature allow its reader to grasp the meaning of human conflict. In a era of modern media, people are misled in to think that every question or problem has its quick answer or solution. Literature confirms the real complexity of human experience.

          Literature is a form of art, it is capable of bringing about different emotions and general sense of "spiritual wellbeing". Studying literature can be an eye-opening experience. Though literature is taught in schools, this topic could be learned online. Courses begin with a general survey then get more specific with studies on author and works from various literary periods. There are many online sources that not only have works available, but also have study guides or informative essays that can help understand literature.

          The function of literature related to the complexity of nature, including that explain its humanizing role, the literature developed in us the share of humanity to the extent that makes us more understanding and open to our fellows, is when we do know feelings and society and take a position about them. In this is we thought when it comes the reality of human rights, starting from a social analysis and seeks to rectify its inequities. In Brazil, the literature engaged in a task linked to human rights was clear in moments of  the naturalism, but gained real force in the decade of 1930, this was due to the fact that the social novel passed from simple rhetoric complaint or mere description to a kind of corrosive critical. The fight for human rights covers the struggle for a state of things in which everyone should have access to culture. A fair society presupposes respect to human rights and fruition of art and literature in all types and all levels, both are inalienable rights.

A Literary Deficit

    This report was published at Economist.com on Dec.10th 2011, this is a summary and the title is above.

         Illiteracy and poverty once denied the pleasure of reading to many Latin Americans. That should no longer be the case: a quarter of Mexicans born before 1950 are officially classed illiterate but only 2% of those under 30. And less than a third of Latin Americans now live below the poverty line, compared with half in 1990. The newspaper business  has  taken note. Paid-for daily newspaper circulation   in L. A.   rose by 5%  ( 21% in Brazil) between 2005 and 2009, according to the World Association of Newspaper and news publishers.  In books, the picture is more mixed. Publishers are churning out more new titles than ever. Sales in Brazil, the biggest market are rising. Things are less bright in the Spanish-speaking countries. In Mexico and Argentina,  L. A. `s second and third markets, books sales have been falling.

    The stagnation has deeper roots. Headline statistics flatter the reading prowess of L. A. International tests show that almost half the region`s secondary-school pupils fall to reach the minimum acceptable level of litaracy, according to the OECD.

     One answer is to make books more available. Mexico has 7,000 public libraries and 4,100 ¨reading rooms¨ in which volunteers are given a set of 100 books to lend at churches or workplaces. ¨We have to tell people that putting a book on the table is as important as putting bread on the table,¨ says Socorro Venegas from the sate cultural agency. Colombia, too has a large network of public libraries.

      The small size of the market means that books have traditionally been sold like luxury goods in L.A. Spain has one bookshop for every 10,000 people. By contrast, Argentina has one for every 20,000. Brazil has one for every 50,000 and Mexico one for every 70,000. Other places are book deserts. That helps to explain the popularity of fairs. A fifth of Mexicans, but only a tenth of Brazilians, say these are where they get most of their books.  Publishers explain the high price of books as a consequence of short print-runs and the high cost of imported paper. Absurdly, in Mexico the English version of ¨The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo¨, can be bought more cheaply than its Spanish version.

      Technology has been slow to disrupt this low-volume, high-margin business. Internet bookselling has been hampered by relatively low levels of broadband penetration and poor postal services.

       Amazon ( and its Kindle e-reader) has plans to enter Chile, Argentina and Brazil.

Why Foxconn`s iPad Deal is Wrong for Brazil

      This report was published at Foreignaffairs.com at October 28,2011 and was written by Ronaldo Lemos (Director of the Center for Technology and Society at FGV), this is a summary and the title is above.


      On October 13, Brasilia reached an agreement with Foxconn, the largest global manufacturer of eletronic components, to build iPad in Brazil. Backed by a $12 billion investment drawn in part from BNDES. The country`s business class celebrated the deal, which has long been marred by excessive protectionism and a deficit of engineers. Unfortunately, their optimism is misguided: Even if the production goes off without a hitch (a big if), the iPad will not put Brazil on a path to becoming an technology giant.
      Although Brazil has moved away from its protectionist tendencies of the past, challenges to technology development are still considerable. When Brazilian President spoke about the agreement in may, she said it would create 100,000 jobs, 20% for engineers. But Brazil might not even have 20,000 engineers available to hire. A study indicates that Brazil is fast approaching an engineering deficit, especially considering that if professional migration and the present growth continue, some 330,000 engineers will be in demand by 2015.
       But staking the future of Brazil`s technology sector on Apple`s device - as opposed to focusing on affordable technology that could be consumed by more people domestically - will not encourage development. Exporting the iPad to markets abroad may not work. Moreover, because Apple tightly controls the iPad`s technology, foxconn`s plant will hardly lay the foundations for long-term innovation through the spread of technological prowess.
        Take for example, the Chinese manufactures Wei and Eyo, each of which produces its own iPad spin-off. Both companies produces technology items that are either unknown or rejected by traditional reviewers but are hugely popular among lower-income consumers. In Brazil, they sell for only $140 (as opposed to the iPad $930).
       Brazil` s technology sector would do well to learn from Chinese companies, which operate in clusters based on an open-hardware policy of sharing designs and circuits. This encourages new business, makes manufacturing easier, and keeps the cost of the final product down. Their affordable products are not merely copycats, as many reviewers insist.
       One solution would be to create a media lab - a collaborative research initiative among universities, companies, and government - aimed at meeting the technology needs of low-income populations through original, cheap designs in hardware and software.
       Brazil could also provide incentives for local companies to partner with many global manufactures besides Foxconn to produce low-cost products under an open-hardware policy. There are plenty of international researchers, engineers and designers passionate about this goal - people like Nicholas Negroponte, the co-founder of the MIT media lab, who has been championing the One Laptop per Child project for years. With little cost, Brasilia could attract talents to Brazil and offer them partneship with universities and local business.