I tend to agree with Joon on drama's dominance. A quick survey of literary cultures exemplifies that: the greatest pre-20th century Indian writers were either poets or dramatists--Kalidasa, Valmiki etc.; Chatterjee was known for his dramas as well as his plays; in Japan: alongside of Murasaki Shikibu et al you have to recognize Chikamatsu Montzaemon; in Germany Goethe, Kleist etc. come to mind; in Italy: Machiavelli was a dramatist; Manzoni was mainly a poet and dramatist except for his novel The Betrothed (admittedly is best known work); Alfieri was a poet and dramatist; Goldoni and Gozzi were dramatists; in England I don't think any comment is necessary; in America: our best early writers were poets--ok we didn't have any decent drama until Eugene O'Neill but that's one little country; China: poetry was pre-eminent at first until Journey to the West, The Water Margin etc. were written; France: might I remind you of Moliere, Corneille, Racine and many more? The first major Dutch writer I can think of was Jacob Cats--a poet; Spain had quite the dramatic golden age; Portugal perhaps less so; Russia has had an incredible cropping of talented novelists but Chekhov, Karamzin and Gogol still come to mind as authors not to be sneezed at. Nathan Freeburg
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