21ST Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

Literary Periods

What is literature?

 A body of written works

 Comes from the Latin word “litera” which means “letter”
 Derived from the Latin words “literatura” which means “writing” and “literatus” that denotes
“learning”
 Originated from oral traditions
 Imaginative works
 Deals with prose and poetry
 The content depends on the author.
 Portrayal and/or interpretation of human experience
 An art form and style of expression

Pre-Colonial Period (BC – 1564)

 This existed before the Spanish occupation in the 1500s.
 It is oral in nature and is full of lessons and ideas about life, its blessings and its consequences.
 It contains ideas from birth to the grave.
 Its oral characteristic gives the possibility for many alterations.
 In the Philippine context, no matter how it may be considered as altered, pre-colonial literature is
still revered to by many Filipinos.
 The sources are usually the local native town folk.

Forms of Literature

Oral Literature Folk Songs

• Riddles • Lullabies
• Proverbs • Drinking Songs
• Love Songs
Folk Tales • Songs of Death
• Myths • Religious Songs
• Legends
• Fables
• Epics

Oral Literature

Riddles (Mga Bugtong)

 These are statements that contain superficial words, but they function figuratively and as
metaphors, and are oftentimes in the form of questions.
 These demand deeper answers
 Deals with everyday life
 These usually have mundane things as answers.
 This is used in the past as a form of game in small or large gatherings.
Examples:
Bisaya
“Baboy sa lasang, (A wild pig in the forest)
Ang tunok puro lansang.” (Is covered with spikes)
Answer: Nangka (Jackfruit)
Chabacano
“Tagia que tagia, (You keep on slashing it)
Hende ta penetra.” (But it does not penetrate)
Answer: Agua (Water)

Proverbs (Mga Salawikain)

 These are statements that are considered as wise.
 These are usually given by parents or elders of the community.
 There is a belief that experience is the best teacher.
Examples:
Mandaya on “virginity”
“Yang ataog aw madugdug, (An egg once broken)
Di da mamauli.” (Will never be the same)

Tausug on “secret affairs”

“In lasa iban uba, (Love and cough)
Di hikatapuk.” (Cannot be hidden)

Folk songs
 These are folk lyrics that are usually chanted.
 These usually contain ideas on aspirations, hopes, everyday life and expressions of love for loved
ones.
 It is bounded by the learning of good morals.
 It is easy to understand because it is straightforward and not figurative in nature.

Lullabies
 These are locally known as Hele.
 Sung to put babies to sleep
 The content varies but usually they are about how hard life is and how parents hope that their
child will not experience the hardships of life.
Example of a lullaby:
Ilocano
 Maturog, duduayya (Go to sleep, dear little one)
 Maturog kad tay bunga, (Will my child please sleep)
 Tay lalaki nga napigsa (This strong boy)
 Ta inton dumakkel tay bunga, (So when the child grows big)
 Isunto aya tay mammati (He will obey)
 Tay amon a ibaga me. (Everything that we will say)

Drinking Songs
 These are locally known as Tagay.
 Sung during drinking sessions
Religious Songs
 These are songs or chants that are usually given during exorcisms and thanksgiving during good
harvest.
Love Songs
 To many Filipinos, these are known as Harana.
 It can also be called as courtship songs.
 Used by young men to capture the heart of the girl they love.
Songs of Death
 These are lamentations that contain the roll/list of good deeds that the dead has usually done to
immortalize his/her good image.
Folk Tales
 Mga kwentong bayan
 Stories of native Filipinos
 These deal with the power of nature and submission to a deity (Bathala), and how this deity is
responsible for the blessings and calamities.
 These also tackle about irresponsibility, lust, stupidity, deception, and fallibility that eventually
leads to instilling good morals.
Usual Themes:
Ceremonies needed to appease the deities Gods and goddesses
Pre and post apocalypse Heroes and heroines
Life and death Supernatural beings
Animals
Myths
 These tackle the natural to strange occurences of the Earth and how things were created with an
aim to give an explanation to things.
 Additional info: Bathala is for Tagalogs and the Gueurang for the Bikolanos. Paradise is known
as Maca, while Hell is Kasanaan.
Examples:
 The Story of Bathala
 Ang Pag-aaway in Dagat at Langit

Legends
 Through these, natives understood mysteries around them.
 Usually comes with a moral lesson that give credit to supernatural powers, occurrences, and other
out-of-this-world native imagination.
Examples:
 The Legend of Maria Makiling
 The Legend of Pinya
Fables
 Short or brief stories that cater the native Filipino children
 Usually bounded by good manners and right conduct
 Use animals as characters to represent a particular value or characteristic
Examples:
 Ang Koneho at ang Pagong
 The Grasshopper and the Ants
Epics
 These are lengthy narratives that are based on oral traditions.
 Contain encounters of fighters, stereotypical princes or heroes that save a damsel in distress.
Examples:
 Hinalawod
 Biag ni Lam-ang

Spanish Period (1565 – 1898)

 Spanish colonization of the Philippines started in 1565 during the time of Miguel Lopez de
Legaspi, the first Spanish governor-general in the Philippines. Literature started to flourish during
his time.
 The Filipinos were then called “Ladinos”, meaning they were latinized.
 Filipinos were called two things: “Taga-bayan” and “Taga-bukid” or “Taga-bundok”
 A taga-bayan is considered urbane and civilized and were easy range of the church and state.
 A taga-bukid or taga-bundok “Bruto Savage” (Savage Brute) or Indio, and were the ones who
lived far from the center of the Spanish power
Forms of Literature

Religious Literature
 Pasyon
 Senakulo
 Komedya
Secular or Non-Religious Literature
 Awit
 Korido
 Prose Narratives
Propaganda Literature
Revolutionary Literature

Religious Literature
 Revolves around the life and death of Jesus Christ
Pasyon
 It is about the passion (journey and suffering) and the death of Jesus Christ.
Senakulo
 It is the re-enactment of the Pasyon.
Komedya
 It depicts the European society through love and fame, but can also be a narrative about a
journey.
 Considered religious because it usually depicts the battle between the Christians and the Saracens
or the Moros.
Secular or Non-Religious Literature
 Revolves around tales of valiance and adventure.
Awit
 These are tales of chivalry where knight saves a princess. Florante at Laura is a good example.
Korido
 A metrical tale or a tale that follows the structure of a poem.
Prose Narratives
 These are easy to understand instructions intended to teach Filipinos on proper decorum but in the
literary light. Pagsusulatan ng Dalawang Binibini na si Urbana at Feliza is a good example.

Propaganda Literature
 These were in the forms of satire, editorials and new articles that aimed to attack the Spanish rule.
 The propaganda trinity composed of Dr. Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, and Graciano Lopez
Jaena.

Examples:
Graciano Lopez Jaena
 Ang Fray Botod – written in Jaro, Iloilo in 1876, six years after the Cavite Revolt. He exposed
how some of the friars were greedy, ambitious and immoral.
 La Hija Del Fraile and Everything is Hambug – explains the tragedy of marrying a Spaniard

Marcelo H. Del Pilar

 Kaiingat Kayo (Be Careful) – a humorous and sarcastic answer to Fr. Jose Rodriguez in the
novel Noli Mi Tangere. This was published in Barcelona in 1888. He used Dolores Manapat as
pen-name here.
 Dasalan at Tuksohan (Prayers and Jokes) – similar to catechism but sarcastically done.
Because of this Del Pilar was called “filibuster.” This work is done in admirable tone of
supplication and excellent use of Tagalog.
 Ang Kadakilaan ng Dios (God’s Greatness) – also like a catechism sarcastically done against
the parish priests. It also contains a philosophy of the power and intelligence of God and an
appreciation and love for nature.
Dr. Jose P. Rizal
 Noli Mi Tangere – this was the novel that gave spirit to the propaganda movement and paved the
way to the revolution against Spain. He courageously exposed the evils in the Spanish-run
government in the Philippines.

Revolutionary Literature
 These are literary works that sparked the revolution and resistance in the hearts of the Filipinos.
Examples:
Andres Bonifacio
 Katungkulang Gagawin ng mga Anak ng Bayan (Obligations of our Countrymen) – an
outline of obligations like the Ten Commandments. It is also called Ang Dekalogo.
 Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog (What the Tagalogs Should Know) – an essay outlining
the basic tenets of Bonifacio’s ideas on nationalism.
Emilio Jacinto
 Liwanag at Dilim (Light and Darkness) – a collection of essays on different subjects like
freedom, work, faith, government, and love for the country.

Apolinario Mabini
 El Desarollo y Caida de la Republica Filipina (The Rise and Fall of the Philippine Republic)
– this essay highlights the establishment of the Philippine republic and its subsequent doom due
to the disunity among the Filipinos.
Dr. Jose P. Rizal
 El Filibusterismo – this is a sequel to the Noli Mi Tangere. This exposed those in the
government and the church. However, the Noli has been dubbed the novel society while that of El
Fili is that of politics.
Publications:
 El Heraldo de la Revolucion (Herald of the Revolution) – printed the decrees of the
Revolutionary Government, news and works in Tagalog that aroused nationalism. This is the
official newspaper of the revolutionary government of Aguinaldo.
 La Independencia (The Independence) – an independent newspaper founded and edited by
General Antonio Luna.
 La Republica Filipina (The Philippine Republic) – a private newspaper edited by Pedro
Paterno.
 La Libertad (The Liberty) – another private newspaper edited by Clemente Zulueta.

American Period (1900 – 1941)

 The Philippines had a great leap in Education and Culture.
 The use of English alongside Filipino was practiced.
 The Philippine Public School System was introduced.
 Free public school instruction was given to the Filipinos.
 Literature was considered imitative of the American model. Instead of asking the students to
write originals, they follow the form of American poets.

Forms of Literature
 Poetry – during the American rule, poetry followed the style of the old, but had contents that
ranged from free writing to societal concerns under the Americans.
 Drama – was used to degrade the Spanish rule and to immortalize the heroism of the men who
fought under the Katipunan.
 Remake Novels – took up Dr. Jose Rizal’s portrayal of social conditions by colonial repression.

Poetry
Jose Corazon de Jesus (1832 – 1896)
 Popularly known as “Batute”, who created his own generation with his first book of poems.
Mga Gintong Dahon (1920)
 Were poems about non-traditional themes such as passion-slaying, grief-induced, insanity, and
lover’s suicide.

Sa Dakong Silangan (1928)

 Returned to the awit form
 Retold the history of the Philippines under the Spain, the coming of the U.S. under the guise of
friendship to take Philippines from Spain.

Drama
Severino Reyes (1861 – 1942)
 Spearheaded a movement to supplant Komedya with a new type of drama, the Sarsuwela – a
Filipino adaptation of the Spanish Zarzuela
 Example:
Walang Sugat (1902)
 A sarsuwela drawn from the period of revolution, depicting the cruelty and corruption of friars
and the heroism of the soldiers of the Katipunan.

Other successful sarsuwelas:

 Hindi Ako Patay (1903) by Juan Matapang Cruz

 Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas (1903) by Aurelio Tolentino
 An allegorical presentation of the history of the national struggle and how the U.S. frustrated the
Philippine revolution.
 Tanikalang Ginto (1902) by Juan Abad
 About Liwanag and K’Ulayaw, lovers who stood for freedom and the Filipinos

Remake Novels
Gabriel Beato Francisco (1850-1935)
 Best known for his trilogy of Fulgencia Galbillo (1907), Capitan Bensio (1907), and Alfaro (1909),
depicting the 30 years of colonial repression by the Spaniards.

Inigo Ed. Regalado (1888-1976)

 Madaling Araw (1909) was his first novel showing the complex interrelation of issues and people in
the contemporary Philippine society.

Juan Lauro Arciwas (1889-1928)

 Lalaking Uliran o Tulisan (1914), allusion to the colonial law that branded Filipino patriots as
bandits.