PHILIPPINE LITERATURE

(ENG 318)

THE MODERN PERIOD

1960-1974

By 1960 Philippine Literature in English had finished its period of tutelage and imitation. The
literary skill and originality of the Middle Period had also passed. A modern period of literature was
beginning.

This new period of development was characterized by a growing sense of nationalism and by a
deeper search for identity. These themes were reflected in the writers of the 1960s. In that decade most
writers revealed a sharper perception of their own country and the problems it was undergoing.

In 1960 the Republic Cultural Heritage Awards for Literature were started. The purpose of these
annual awards was “To initiate a movement for greater and more dedicated efforts in cultural
advancement to complement the country’s program of economic development.”

The first winner was Nestor Vicente M. Gonzalez, for his book, The Bamboo Dancers (1959),
since translated into Russian. In some ways the Cultural Heritage Awards were the Republic’s
counterpart of the prewar Commonwealth Literary Awards of 1940.

The first Pro Patria Awards for literature were presented in 1961. The winners that year were
Jose Garcia Villa, N.V.M. Gonzalez and Wilfredo Ma. Guerrero.

In 1962, the first Asian writer’s conference was held in Baguio under the auspices of the
Philippine center of International P.E.N. A few years later, in 1966, the United Poets International was
established in Quezon City and Amado M. Yuzon became its first president.

Wystan Hugh Auden, in 1948, wrote a long philosophical poem entitled “The Age of Anxiety.” In
this title Auden sounded the dominant tone of much literature in the 1960s. In that decade the Filipino
writers frequently wrote to raise questions rather than to propose answers. Leonard Casper described
this period well when he wrote, “In the wary twentieth century, a story is often the experiencing of
one’s inexperience.”

The simple romantic themes of the early period, and even the middle period, gave way to
themes of confusion and violence in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Among the modern writers could be
detected different schools of thought. One group stressed the proletarian form of literature which had
been introduced by Salvador P. Lopez in the 1930s and 1940s.

Among this group were included: Efren Reyes Abueg, Rio Alma, Jose Lacaba, Ricardo Lee,
Bienvinido Lumbera, Rogelio Mangabas, Ninotchka Rosca, and Rogelio Sikat. This writer aimed at social
reform and revolution through their literature. Their motto might be summed up as “Literature from the
Masses, for the Masses.”

Submitted by:

Vanessa T. Sindingan

Submitted to:

Fortunato Gedalanga Ph.D.