LITERARY THEORIES

ARCHETYPAL/ MYTHOLOGICAL APPROACH

MYTH - demonstrations of the inner meaning of the universe and of human life

ARCHETYPE - a symbol, character, situation, or image that evokes a deep universal

response
- assumes that there is a collection of symbols, images, characters, and
motifs (i.e. archetypes) that evokes basically the same response in all
people;
- asserts that these archetypes are the source of much of literature's power

FORMALISTIC/ NEW CRITICISM APPROACH

Formalistic Approach
New criticism approach
How do you describe a setting or a character? (example question)
- all information essential to the interpretation of a work must be
found within the work itself
- interested in the work's setting, characters, symbols, and point of
view.

READER’S RESPONSE THEORY - The text itself has no meaning until it is read by a reader.
- The reader creates the meaning.
- analyzes the reader's role in the production of meaning
- denies the possibility that works are universal

HISTORICAL APPROACH - apply to a text specific historical information about the time
during which an author wrote
- social, political, economic, cultural, and/or intellectual
climate of the time

MORAL/ ETHICAL APPROACH - concerned with content and values

- determine whether a work conveys a lesson and whether it
can help readers lead better lives and improve their
understanding of the world

PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH - author’s mental and emotional traits

SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH - literary work cannot be separated from the social context
in which it was created

FEMINISTIC GENDER- - representations of women

CRITICISM APPROACH - power structures between men and women
 - the female/feminine experience
- while biology determines our sex, society determines our
gender
- EQUALITY – “the state of being equal, especially in statues,
rights, and opportunities.”

QUEER THEORY - "odd“

- "peculiar“
- "out of the ordinary"
- each sex comes with its own essential characteristics
- goes to the heart of a person’s identity, encouraging us to
ask ourselves this question over and over again: who am
I really?

CULTURAL APPROACH - examines social, economic, and political conditions that

effect institutions and products such as literature and
questions traditional value hierarchies

INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE AND KAPAMPANGAN CREATION MYTH

LITERATURE
- “Litera” – an acquaintance with letters
- It is a product of a particular culture that concretizes man’s array of values, emotions, actions, and
ideas
- Significant Human Experiences

LITERARY STANDARDS
 Universality – appeals to everyone

 Artistry – aesthetic appeal; sense of beauty

 Intellectual Value – critical thinking; mental processes of abstract and reasoning

 Suggestiveness – man’s emotional power to define symbolism; giving and evoking visions above and
beyond the plane of ordinary life and experiences

 Spiritual Value – the power to motivate and inspire

 Permanence – timeliness and timelessness

 Style – Peculiar ways on how man sees life

 PRE – COLONIAL ERA SPANISH – COLONIAL AMERICAN – CONTEMPORARY
(EARLY TIMES – 1564) ERA (1565 – 1898) COLONIAL ERA (1899 PERIOD (1946 –
–1945) PRESENT)

▪ Before the coming ▪ Spanish language ▪ Thomasites ▪ Malaya, Ilang-

of the Spaniards ▪ Alibata ▪ English Alphabet ilang, Sinagtala,
▪ First and longest Roman Alphabet ▪ Freedom of Liwayway, and
literary history ▪ Literary works Expression Bulaklak
▪ Discovery of skull focused on ▪ Freedom and ▪ 1987- 26 Letters
cap and a portion religion and Independence of English
of a jaw in Tabon social issues Alphabet to the
Cave in Palawan in ▪ Doctrina Modern Filipino
1962 Christiana (1953) Alphabet
▪ Oral literature – collection of
▪ Syllabary prayers
(Alibata/Baybayin) ▪ Indios – natives
– Sanskrit or Arabic ▪ Ladinos – native
Provenance literary writers
▪ 17 symbols, 5
vowels, 14
consonants

FORMATION OF THE WORLD

▪ “Pampangan Folklore” Alfredo Nicdao (1917)
▪ Pampanga
▪ homeland of the Kapampangans
▪ Kapampangan and Tagalog mythology mirror one another so much
▪ a very violent formation of the world over an extremely long period of time
▪ Pre-Cambrian Era
▪ Hadean Era

KAPAMPANGAN DEITIES

 Mangechay or Mangacha - the great elder; the creator of the Heavens; the ‘net weaver’
with the sky as his weaved fabric and at night the stars that
shine are the fabric holes.

 Aring Sinukûan - Kapampangan sun god of war and death, taught the early
inhabitants the industry of metallurgy, wood cutting, rice
culture and even waging war.

 Apûng Malyari - moon god who lives in Mt. Pinatubo and ruler of the eight
rivers.
 Tálâ - bright star, the one who introduced wet-rice culture.

 Munag Sumalâ - one of the children of Aring Sinukuan who represents dawn;
the golden serpent.
 Lakandanup - son of Aring Sinukuan, the god of gluttony and represents the
sun at noon time.

 Gatpanapun - son of Aring Sinukuan, the noble who only knew pleasure, his
name means ‘afternoon’ in Kapampangan language.
 Sisilim - child of Apûng Malyari, she represents dusk and is greeted by
the songs of the cicada upon her arrival; her name means dusk
or early evening in Kapampangan language.

 Galurâ - winged assistant of Aring Sinukuan, he is represented by a giant

eagle and believed to be the bringer of storms.
 Nága - are serpent deities known for their protective nature. Their
presence in structures are talismans against fire.
 Lakandanum - a variant of the Naga, known to rule the waters.

APU MALYARI (MT. PINATUBO)

MOUNT PINATUBO

• geographical center of the lands of the Aeta people for centuries and is the focus of their beliefs

APU MALYARI

• highest deity

• an omnipresent thought out the countryside.

ANIMISM

• a philosophical, religious or spiritual idea where souls or spirits exist not only in humans but also
in animals, plants, rocks, and natural phenomena such as thunder, geographic features such as
mountains or rivers, or other entities of the natural environment.

MANGANITOS

• the seers and ritual specialists whom can talk to Apo Malyari

• sees Mount Pinatubo as the place of beginnings of their personal guardian spirits

ANITOS

• the friendly ones

• are benevolent spirits, live like human beings, occupies a place they call home and provide a
helping hand when they can.

• if angered or disturbed their homes, they will send disease and bad luck on your way
 KAMANAS

• the evil counterparts

• roam with no special place such as home

• known to send disease and death for no known reason

If you are a Manganito, what would you infer about the volcano’s unrest?

Apo Malyari was upset that the ecological equilibrium of the area was imbalanced due to human’s
abuse. One particular item that he was upset about was the drilling of some test bores by the
Philippine National Oil Company in 1989. The company was exploring the possibility of tapping the
Geothermal capability of the area.

The Manganitos appeal to the Philippine government for a white cow to be sacrificed and offered to
Apo Malyari. The government did not act upon the request.

MYTHOLOGICAL AND ACHETYPAL APPROACH

o every story is a retelling or reflection on one of the great stories from the “collective
unconscious”
o Collective unconscious - a set of primal memories common to the human race, existing below
each person’s conscious mind.

ARCHETYPE
Archein + Typos = Archetype
“a symbol, usually an image, which recurs as an element of one’s literary experiences as a whole”
EXAMPLES OF ARCHETYPES
A. Images
1. Water:
◇ The sea
◇ The rivers
2. Sun:
◇ Rising Sun
◇ Setting Sun
3. Colors
4. Circle: wholeness/unity and yin-yang
5. Serpent
6. Garden
7. Tree

B. Archetypal Motifs/Patterns

1. Creation

- perhaps the most important of all the archetypal motifs.

2. Immortality

- Escape from time

- cyclical time
3. Hero Archetypes

- the quest
- the trainee
- sacrificial scapegoat
C. Archetypes as Genres

1. Spring= Comedy

2. Summer= Romance

3. Fall= Tragedy

4. Winter= Irony

POETRY
▧ Patterned form of verbal or written expression of ideas

▧ Oldest literary form

▧ Implied meanings

▧ More musical

SENSE OF THE POEM

Denotation

- is the dictionary meaning of the word.

Connotation

- is the implied meaning associated with the word beyond its dictionary definition.

Imagery

- is the use of sensory details that appeal to one or more of the five senses.

Figurative Language
 - Figures of Speech are specific devices that use words, phrases, and sentences in a non-literal
definition but, rather, give meanings in abstractions.

Imagery

- “The strawberries were blood- red with ripeness and almost scraped the ground on a long line
of wild bushes.”

HAIKU or HOKKU

▧ composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables

▧ originated from the Japanese hokku

 the opening section of a longer renga sequence

 The 17th-century Japanese haiku master Basho was born Matsuo Kinsaku

PRE – SPANISH PERIOD

✢ Folkloric tradition- oral literature

✢ No surviving record of folklore- oral nature & Spanish indifference to indigenous literature
✢ Legends
✢ Sinukwan

Folksongs
✢ Basulto ‐ contains vague, metaphorical or allusive words familiar to
herdsmen pasturing their carabaos, cows, and goats. E.g.
“Tinanam kung Kamantigi”
✢ Pamuri ‐ from “buri” which means “like”/songs of love.
‐ Ex. Aruy! Katimyas na Nitang Dalaga.
✢ Pang-obra ‐ songs in praise of labor/ work
✢ Paninta ‐ “sinta” for family and friends
✢ Goso ‐ sung by youth groups at the eve of All Souls Day
✢ Polosa ‐ singer picks bits of information from his listeners’ looks or
backgrounds and the general environment and extemporaneously
includes them in the lyrics
✢ Tumaila ‐ Kapampangan lullaby, sung by mothers to put their babies to sleep

✢ Karagatan ‐ ancient and poetic literary game performed during the wakes
based on the loss of a ring belonging to a princess in mid-sea.
✢ Duplo ‐ is of Spanish origin. It is a poetical game amounting to a contest in
both poetic powers of expression and general cultural knowledge.
✢ Sapatya ‐ form of poetical joust; this time the verse is sung and the
participants dance to the beat of their castanets.
✢ Diparan ‐ folkloric aphorisms or proverbs which embody well-known truths
or common facts ascertained by experience or observation.
✢ Bulaklakan ‐ sung during wakes to pray the soul of the dead person and to
give console to the family

SPANISH PERIOD
I. Religious Literature
✢ Pasion ‐ 5 lines per stanza, 8 syllables with monorhyming scheme.

✢ Kumidya ‐ “Comedia” deals with the romances of high-born ladies and

princesses literally strewn with military skirmishes between
Christians and Moros.

✢ Kuriru ‐ derivative of “Corrido”- romance or light poetic composition

in assonants with the accompaniment of the guitar for light
entertainment.
✢ Zarzuela ‐ a song drama interspersed with dialogue- led to the Golden
period of drama

READER’S RESPONSE THEORY

focuses on the reader’s experience.

READER = ACTIVE AGENT

- It can be connected to poststructuralism’s emphasis on the role of the reader in actively

constructing texts rather than passively consuming them.
- A text has no meaning before a reader experiences— reads it.
- make meaning out of both purely personal reactions and inherited or culturally conditioned
ways of reading

WEDDING DANCE
AMADOR DAGUIO
• Born in Ilocos province in 1912
• Began writing poetry in high school
• Taught at a number of schools in the Philippines
• Lawyer, editor, reporter, and public relations officer
• He seeks to establish a pure Filipino voice, distinct from its colonizers to his works.

Summary
Awiyao and Lumnay were husband and wife for seven years, but now the husband has to marry
another woman, Madulimay, because Lumnay was not able to give him a child. (In their culture in the
mountains during those times, having a child to follow after the husband’s name was a must.) On the
night of the wedding, Awiyao goes to his and Lumnay’s house to personally invite her to the traditional
wedding dance.

However, Lumnay, the best dancer in the entire tribe, refuses to go. Then, during their conversation,
it is revealed that both of them still love each other, but because of their tribe’s custom, they have to
separate. Awiyao goes back to the wedding, to the wedding dance, after being fetched by some friends.
Lumnay wants to follow, partly because of the dance, and partly because she wants to put a stop to
their tribe’s tradition of having to marry another partner just to have a child.

1. Character and Setting

2. Plot

3. Conflict and Point of View

4. Theme and Tone/Mood

5. Symbols

6. Moral/Lesson

MAJOR CHARACTERS
 Lumnay

‐ Awiyao’s former wife who is still in love with him, despite the fact he married another.

 Awiyao

‐ The lead male in the story who loves Lumnay, but left her because she didn’t produce
children for him.

 Madulimay

‐ Awiyao’s new, younger wife, with whom he hopes to have children.

Two Major Types of Characters

 Protagonist

 Antagonist

PLOT
EXPOSITION

The story started when Awiyao went to his and Lumnay's house to invite his ex-wife to join the dance.

RISING ACTION

Things get complicated when they start talking, and she can't let go of Awiyao.

CLIMAX
So much intense felt in the story when they both stated that they do not want any other man or women
for them. Lumnay goes out to stop not only the wedding dance but their tradition.

FALLING ACTION

When Lumnay and Awiyao have to follow their Tribe's Custom.

DENOUEMENT

When Awiyao was fetched by his friends and he had no choice but to go back to the wedding dance.
Lumnay went to the mountains.

CONFLICT
Man vs. Society

The lead characters have to follow their tribe’s custom.

Other Types of Conflict

 Man vs. Man

 Man vs. Himself

 Man vs. Nature

 Man vs. Technology

POINT OF VIEW
Third Person Omniscient Limited

Use of the pronouns they, she, he, it, etc.

We know what the characters know and what the author allows him/her to tell us. We can see the
thoughts and feelings of characters if the author chooses to reveal them to us.

Other Types of Point of View

 Omniscient

 First Person Point of View

SYMBOLS
Gangsas
 ‐ The gangsas are culturally important. The sound of the gangsas represents the man in the
wedding ceremony. Like the gangsas, they are strong and provide a beat to the dance, or a "beat
to life“.
Dancing
‐ Culturally, the dancing is a celebration of happiness. It is also a show of sexuality by the women.
Because Lumnay has not produced a child, she feels ashamed to dance and show herself to the
other men, as she believes no one will look at her.
The Fire
‐ The fire or flames signify the burning intensity of both love and hate that Lumnay feels in the
situation. When Awiyao stirs the embers in Lumnay’s dark hut, he stirs up both of these feelings
in her. Later, as Lumnay watches the bonfire from afar, her physical distance from the fire
reflects her emotional separation from the man she loves.
The Beads
‐ The beads in the story symbolize the promise that Awiyao made to Lumnay. They are also very
precious and are worth 20 fields. The fact that Awiyao gives them to Lumnay shows that he
cherishes her, and that he still believes she has worth. Although Lumnay rejects the hut and field
Awiayo offers her, she accepts the beads, suggesting her desire to remain connected to Awiyao.
The Floor
‐ A number of times the narrator draws the reader’s attention to the rattan floor as Lumnay pulls
it apart. This is symbolic of their marriage unraveling.

The Night
‐ The nighttime setting symbolically adds to the darkness and isolation that Lumnay feels as she
runs away from the village. As she works her way up the dark mountain alone, she is unable to
envision a path to the future. The reader, too, is left in darkness with the unresolved ending.

TONE/MOOD
Sad and intense

THEME
True love never dies.

MORAL/LESSON
If you truly love a person, you must let them take the road to happiness, no matter how painful
it is.