23 April — World Book Day It is a date chosen by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) to celebrate books, encourage reading, honor authors and reflect on their legal rights. This date was chosen in tribute to the writers Miguel de Cervantes, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and William Shakespearewho died on April 23, 1616.
On that day, great works of world literature are remembered, discussed and revered. It is an opportunity to celebrate the titles of consecrated authorssuch as: Safo, Miguel de Cervantes, Mary Shelley, Machado de Assis, Thomas Mann, James Joyce, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Clarice Lispector and Caio Fernando Abreu.
Read too: April 2 — International Children’s Book Day
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Why is April 23 World Book and Copyright Day?
The day April 23 was chosen to be the World Book and Copyright Day by Unesco, in its XXVIII General Conference, held in 1995. honors the writers Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare, who, coincidentally, died on April 23, 1616.
The book, source of knowledge, reflection and entertainment, is a haven for readers.
- Inca Garcilaso de la Vega: was born in Cusco, Peru, on April 12, 1539. His father was Spanish and his mother was a first cousin of Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor. In 1605, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega published, in Portugal, his first work: La Florida del inca. History of the late Hernando de Soto, governor and captain general of the kingdom of Florida, and other heroic Spanish and Indian horsemen. However, his best-known work is General History of Peru. The writer died on April 23, 1616.
- Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra: was born on the probable date of September 29, 1547, in the Spanish municipality of Alcalá de Henares. the sonnet A la muerte de la reina doña Isabel de Valois, published in 1569, supposedly, was his first poetic work. However, success only came in 1605, when the writer published The ingenious nobleman Don Quijote de la Mancha. He died on April 23, 1616.
- William Shakespeare: was born in the year 1564, in Stratford, England, supposedly on the 23rd of April. Coincidentally, in 1616, he died, it is believed, on the same day as his birth. He wrote 38 plays, two narrative poems and 154 sonnets. His plays are known worldwide, such as: Hamlet, Cheese and guava, King Lear It is Othello. He was a poet, playwright and actor.
Don’t stop now… There’s more after the publicity 😉
What is celebrated on World Book and Copyright Day?
At XXVIII UNESCO General Conferencein 1995, the choice of a day to commemorate the book worldwide received the following justification:
“The General Conference, considering that the book has historically been the most powerful element in the dissemination of knowledge and the most effective means for its conservation, that any initiative that promotes its dissemination will opportunely result not only in the cultural enrichment of those who have access to it, but at the maximum development of collective sensibilities in relation to the world’s cultural heritage and the inspiration of behaviors of understanding, tolerance and dialogue.”|1|
In your 2018 messagein celebration of World Book Day, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay commented:
“When we celebrate the book, we celebrate activities — writing, reading, translating, publishing — through which human beings rise and fulfill themselves; and we celebrate, fundamentally, the freedoms that make them possible. The book is the meeting point of the most essential human freedoms, namely freedom of expression and publishing.”
According to her:
“It is our duty to protect these freedoms around the world, promoting reading and writing to fight illiteracy and poverty, strengthen the bulwarks of peace as well as protect and value book professions and professionals.”
The 23rd of April, therefore, honors readers, translators, editors, finally, all those involved with the book, either in its production or in its reception (reading). It is also the opportunity to celebrate the authornot just as an artist, but as a holder of legal rights to his works.
The © symbol is widely known as an indicator that a certain work is copyrighted (copyright).
A discussion regarding copyright on literary, scientific and artistic works was marked by two important events: the Universal Copyright Convention, which took place in 1952, and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, in 1986. Book and Copyright, in 1995, the opportunity to reflect on the subject annually.
On World Book Day, therefore, all countries are invited to honor world literature, reflect on the importance of readingthink about stimulation mechanisms and access to itdiscuss the works of the great names in literature, introduce new authors to the world, and raise readers’ awareness of copyright.
Read too: Material culture and immaterial culture: differences, characteristics, examples
10 Books You Can’t Miss
To celebrate World Book Day, here are 10 titles you can’t miss.
1. full snippetsby Sappho
The poet Safo was born in island of Lesbosat Ancient Greece, country where he lived between the 7th century BC. C. and VI a. W. His work has arrived fragmented to our days.whereas your single complete poem It is Ode to Aphrodite. So the book full snippets brings the complete work (and in pieces) of the author.
On the life of Sappho, not much concrete information. His biography ends up being composed based on clues contained in his work, a poetry that, according to Manuel Pulquério|2|: “it is at the service of expressing a world of feelings, from the ecstasy of loving passion and the tenderness of family life to irony, revolt and anger, but it is love that constitutes the main source of its inspiration”.
two. Don Quixoteby Miguel de Cervantes
The romance Don Quixoteby Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), tells the adventures of a gentleman who, after reading countless chivalric novels, begins to confuse fiction with reality. The Knight of the Sad Figure, Don Quixote de la Mancha, manages to convince the naive Sancho Panza, who seeks money and glory, to be his squire. And to complete the fantastic reality created by his madness, he also finds a lady to love, the idealized Dulcinea, a fantasy love. From then on, he will live several adventures alongside his squire.
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are famous literary characters around the world.
The story of Don Quixote has already been adapted several times for children and young people. Who has never heard of the crazy Don Quixote, who fought against windmills because he thought they were giants, mounted on his horse Rocinante, in love with Dulcinea and accompanied by his faithful squire Sancho Panza? The original novel, in its entirety, is extensive and divided into two parts, both of which tell the adventures of the hero, in a frankly ironic tone.
Considered the greatest work of Spanish literature and a classic of world literature, the book is a satire on medieval chivalric novels. Thus, it ironizes the figure of the hero and the idealized woman, since the protagonist does not have the physical gifts of a hero and neither does the beloved Dulcinea, in fact a farmer, possess the refinement of a lady.
See too: Troubadourism – literary movement contemporary to chivalry novels
3. frankensteinby Mary Shelley
The Science Fiction Romance frankenstein (or the modern Prometheus), by the British writer Mary Shelley (1797-1851), emerged in a challenge posed by the romantic poet Lord Byron (1788-1824): the writing of a horror story. With this inspiration, Shelley’s book tells the story of Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his creature (a being made with parts of corpses), which, abandoned by its creator, needs to figure out how to survive on its own.
The plot thickens when the creature asks Dr. Frankenstein to create her a companion. When the scientist decides not to make the same mistake, he becomes the target of the relentless revenge of the monster he created – an Adam without Eve or a modern Prometheus (in Greek mythology, Prometheus rebels against the god of gods, Zeus).
The book frankenstein can be read as a warning about the dangers of human interference in nature, which leads to an ethical discussion about the limits of science. It can also be understood as a metaphor for artistic creation itself: the conflicting relationship between author and work.
4. Quincas Borbaby Machado de Assis
Quincas Borba is a novel that is part of the realistic phase of the Brazilian writer Machado de Assis (1839-1908). It tells the story of Rubião, a teacher in Barbacena, who receives an inheritance from his friend, the philosopher Quincas Borbawith the following condition: take care of the philosopher’s dog, which has the same name as the owner. So, the irony So characteristic of the author is already presented in the title of the work, as it is not known whether it refers to the dog, its owner or both.
Rubião moves to Rio de Janeiro, where the couple lives Sofia and Cristiano Palha. She, with her husband’s connivance, seduces the naive Rubião in order to get money for his business. In addition to this couple, Rubião is exploited by all the “friends” who surround him. The book, therefore, shows, in the game of interests, human corruption. The fact is that wealth goes to the former teacher’s head, who begins to suffer a gradual process of going crazy.
5. Death in Veniceby Thomas Mann
Death in Venicebook by the German writer and Nobel Prize in Literature Thomas Mann (1875-1955), shows the passion of an old writer, Gustav von Aschenbach, for the teenager Tadzio, in frank dialogue with the so-called “Greek pederasty”|3| of Antiquity. Like this, the artist has an idealized love for the youngis fascinated by its beauty and youth.
Tadzio is therefore a metaphor for art, the beauty that the artist sought throughout his life (which was at its end) and that he found embodied in a teenager. In this perspective, the cult of ideal beautyso characteristic of ancient Greek art, is taken up on the basis of Gustav von Aschenbach’s idolization of the handsome Tadzio.
6. Ulyssesby James Joyce
Ulyssesmasterpiece by the Irish writer James Joyce (1882-1941), is a monumental work given its size and experimental character. A work full of neologisms, with streams of consciousness (the character’s thought process), which reports, in more than a thousand pages (depending on the edition), a day in the life of Dubliners (capital of Ireland), with the main character Leopold Bloom, an extremely common man, who can be understood as the modern hero (Ulysses or Odysseus). The book, therefore, dialogues with the work Odysseyby the Greek writer Homer.
7. Admirable new worldby Aldous Huxley
The book Admirable new worldby the English writer Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), was published by…