Introduction to Philippine Literature

WHAT IS LITERATURE?

defined by the Oxford Advanced Dictionary:

➔ The writing or the study of books, etc., valued as works of art (drama, fiction, essays,
poetry, biography) contrasted with technical books and journalism
➔ All the writings of a country or a period
➔ Printed material describing or advertising e.g. pamphlets
➔ Books dealing with special subjects: travel, poultry farming.

Maximo Ramos — in his paper entitled "Literature as a Maker of Myths" considers

literature to mean "art written in memorable language on a memorable subject."

E.A. Manuel — defines Literature as "any artistic creative piece, whether written or
oral, which we can enjoy it repeatedly."

I.V. Malian — asserts that "all things around you that have been fashioned by man, as
distinguished from the phenomenon of nature, are forms of art; and since the Humanities is
the study of art subjects, everything artistically created by man, when contemplated for
its aesthetic and even its functional value will automatically fall under the scope
Humanities, one of which is literature."

—Literature is one of the seven basic art disciplines that make up the humanities, the
others being painting, sculpture, architecture, music and dance, theatre, and the
cinema.

THE FUNCTIONS/USES OF LITERATURE

A. Literature as a vehicle for self-expression

— The universal feeling of love is found in almost all the artistic creations of Mankind;
and it shows in all art forms, especially in literature.

B. Literature as a recorder of national history and its social and political upheavals

—In our country, momentous events have been recorded by writers, artists, and
communicators alike
 C. Literature as a tool for cultural transmission

—Our literature is a statement of ourselves as a people. It is through literature that the

cultural heritage of a people is passed on from one generation to the next.

D. Literature: Showcase of National Identity

Among the Arts, music has the most pronounced role in showcasing

national identity, although fashion may also vie for the role

THE DIFFERENT TIME FRAMES IN PHIL LITERATURE

A. Philippine Pre-Colonial Literature

— oral, simple and bucolic - just as simple and bucolic as the people that created
them.

— prose consisted of tales, myths, and legends, fables, and narratives in verse or in
prose as the epics of the regions.

— poetry consisted of riddles, proverbs or wise sayings, epigrams and folksongs

(savage, naked, tribal)

— telling kilometric stories about the lives and exploits of their folk heroes in
narratives, now called epics

— enjoyment consisted of the playing of guessing games now called riddles (bugtong)

— inventing myths and legends, tales, fables, and stories to explain the whys and
hows of natural happenings and phenomena

B. Literature During the Spanish Era (1565-1898)

— influence on our literature.

1. ALIBATA was replaced by the Roman alphabet.

2. The teaching of the Christian Doctrine became the basis of religious practices.

3. The Spanish language lent many of its words to our language.

4. European legends and traditions brought here became assimilated in our songs,
corridos, and moro-moros.

5. Ancient literature was collected and translated to Tagalog and other dialects.

6. Many grammar books were printed in Filipino, like Tagalog, Ilocano and Visayan

7. Our periodicals during these times gained a religious tone.

C. The American Regime (1898-1942; 1943-1961)

— Filipino resistance to American Colonization which began on in 1898 when Spain

ceded

the Philippines to America, officially ended. Thus began the acculturation of the
Filipino into a verisimilitude of the American way of life.

● A New Language

— Unlike the Spaniards, the Americans went into an intensive effort to

propagate their language - American English

● An Egalitarian Public School System

— establishment of the public school system, egalitarian in nature, was an

added factor that facilitated the linguistic change

● The Mushrooming of Newspapers and Periodicals

 — The publication of quite a number of newspapers and periodicals gave
added impetus to the development of Philippine literature in English and a
sprinkling of Spanish and the vernaculars.

● Period of Imitation, Changes in Content and Style

— The early literary outputs were characterized as parochial in content.

Fiction and drama dealt with simple conflict in oneself and romantic love affairs.

● A Steady Growth in Form

— "Novel writing was among the first arts to be attempted by the Filipino
writers

● The Literature of the New Society (1971- 1980)

— The government itself led in the publication of the literary outputs of

poets, fictionists, essayists, playwrights, and historians alike.

● TADHANA: The History of the Filipino People

— Supposed to be written in 19 books, the series was never finished as

envisioned.

● The Democratic Revolution in The Philippines

— this book argues the particularity of the Philippine Martial Law.

● THE NEW PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC: A Third World Approach to Democracy

(1982)

— United States Relations, and Philippine foreign relations with other

countries of the world relations that should veer towards an authentic
Philippine sovereignty.

● FIVE YEARS OF THE NEW SOCIETY (1978)

 — This book contains his report card - his evaluation of what has been
achieved during the first five years of Martial Law.

● PHILIPPINE PAPERS (Essays)

— These are pamphlets containing essays which reflect the thinking of

Filipino intellectuals

● THE MANILA REVIEW: The Philippine Journal of Literature and the Arts

— a quarterly publication of the Department of Public Information.

Produced by the Bureau of National and Foreign Information

● THE ARCHIPELAGO: The International Magazine of the Philippines

— "a soft-key publication that informs rather than persuades, which

charmingly captures in issue after issue the unique charm of the Filipino people
and their enchanting islands."

● The Drama and other Related Arts

—Philippine drama found not only a venue but also support and
encouragement from the government.

D. Period of the Third Republic (1981-1985)

— many people seethed with rebellion and

protest because of the continued oppression and suppression.

— people’s voices could no longer be contained. became bolder and their voices were
raised in dissent.
 E. Contemporary Literature of the Philippines

— The flowering of Philippine literature in the various languages continued

—Filipino writers has become more conscious of their art with the proliferation of
writers’ workshops here and abroad

Eight Critical Lenses through Which Readers Can View Texts

1. Reader Response Lens

Definition: Reading a text for personal meaning

Questions and Strategies:

1. In what ways is the text familiar to your life? Think of events in the story, the types of
characters, or the setting… Can you relate to it on a personal level?

2. In what ways is the text different than your life?

3. How did the text affect you?

4. How has the text increased your interest in the subject matter?

5. How has the text changed your worldview?

2. Socio-Economic Lens

Definition: Reading a text for its socio-economic issues

Questions and Strategies:

1. Explore the way different demographics are represented in texts.

2. What world view does the text represent?

3. What does the text say about class structures?

4. Analyze the social effects of the text.

 3. Historical Lens

Definition: Reading a text for its contextual significance. This would include information about
the author, his or her historical moment.

Questions and Strategies:

1. Research the author’s life and relate the information to the text. Why did the author
write it? What is the author’s worldview?

2. If the author is writing on a debatable issue does he or she give proper

consideration to all sides

of the debate? Does he or she seem to have a bias?

3. Research the author’s time (political history, intellectual history, economic history,
etc.) and relate this information to the work.

4. Upon reading the text, how has your view on the given historical event changed?

4. Gender Lens

Definition: Reading a text for its gender related issues or attitudes towards gender. The
assumption here is that men and women are different: they write differently, read differently,
and write about their reading differently.

Questions and Strategies:

1. Consider the gender of the author and the characters: what role does gender play in
the text?

2. Observe how gender stereotypes might be reinforced or undermined. Try to see

how the text reflects or distorts the place men or women have in society.

3. Imagine reading the text from the point of view of someone from the opposite
gender.

5. Race Lens

Definition: Reading a text for it issues of race, heritage, and ethnicity.

Questions and Strategies:

1. Analyze how the text discusses race, heritage, and ethnicity. Or, consider what
images of “others” are presented in the text. How are these “others” portrayed?
 2. Are there any unfair stereotypes? Are there any generalities that hold truth?

3. Analyze the text for how it deals with cultural conflicts, particularly between majority
and minority groups.

6. Psychological Lens

Definition: Reading a text for patterns in human behavior. While everyone’s formative history
is different in particulars, there are basic recurrent patterns of development for most people.

Questions and Strategies:

1. Is the way the characters act believable?

2. Why do certain characters act the way they do?

3. Think of what is a general viewpoint on life for children, youth, young adult,
middle-aged, or elderly people. Do the characters follow the patterns associated with
these groups?

4. Think of the range of human emotions. How do they come to play in the text?

(happiness, anger, depression, indifference, confusion, etc.)

5. What did you think of any moral/ethical choices that the characters made? What
would you have done?

6. Think about the broader social issues the text attempts to address.

7. New Criticism Lens

Definition: Reading a text for the unity and complexity of its form. The focus should be on the
text itself.

Questions and Strategies:

1. What types of symbolism are in the text?

2. What themes recur throughout the text?

3. Were the plot and subplots believable?

4. Where could the story go from here?

5. What did you think of the ending?

 6. What is the great strength -- or most noticeable weakness – of the text?

7. Does the story fit an archetype? How do those “types” manifest themselves?

8. Spiritual Lens

Definition: Reading a text for its spiritual and faith related issues

Questions and Strategies:

1. Analyze the text for its issues as they relate to one’s faith in a higher being.

2. Compare aspects of the text as they relate to religious writings/scriptures.

3. If one believes in a higher being or creator, how does that creator speak to the
reader through the text?

4. What does the text say about various world religions?

5. What does the text say about faith? Grace? Love? Forgiveness? Hope?

————————————————————————————————————————

Literary Theories: A Sampling of Critical Lenses

Theories were developed as a means to understand the various ways people read texts.

COMMON SCHOOLS OF LITERARY THEORY

● Archetypal Criticism

— signifies narrative designs, character types, or images that are said to be

identifiable in a wide variety of works of literature, as well as in myths,dreams, and
even ritualized modes of social behavior.

—The archetypal similarities within these

diverse phenomena are held to reflect a set of universal, primitive, and elemental
patterns, whose effective embodiment in a literary work evokes a profound response
from the reader.

● Feminist Criticism

—sees cultural and economic disabilities in a "patriarchal" society that have hindered
or prevented women from realizing their creative possibilities.Assumptions and
concepts:

1. Our civilization is pervasively patriarchal.

2. The concepts of "gender" are largely cultural constructs, effected by the

omnipresent patriarchal biases of our civilization.

3. This patriarchal ideology also pervades those writings that have been
considered great literature.

● Marxist Criticism

—grounds theory and practice on the economic and cultural theory of Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels, especially on the following claims:

1. The evolving history of humanity, its institutions and its ways of thinking are
determined by the changing mode of its "material production"

2. Historical changes in the fundamental mode of production effect essential

changes both in the constitution and power relations of social classes,
which carry on a conflict for economic, political, and social advantage.

3. A Marxist critic typically undertakes to "explain" the literature in any era by

revealing the economic, and class of the way an author writes, and to
examine the relation of the text to the social reality of that time and place.

● New Criticism
— directed against the prevailing concern of critics with the lives and psychology of
authors, with social background, and with literary history. Points of view and
procedures:

1. A poem should be treated as primarily poetry and should be regarded as an

independent and self-sufficient object.

2. close reading: The detailed and subtle analysis of the complex interrelations
and ambiguities of the component within a work.

3. The principles are basically verbal. That is, literature is conceived to be a

special kind of language. The key concepts of this criticism deal with the
meanings and interactions of words, figures of speech, and symbols

● Psychological and Psychoanalytic Criticism

—deals with a work of literature primarily as an expression, in fictional form, of the

personality, state of mind, feelings,and desires of its author. The assumption is that a
work of literature is correlated with its author's mental traits.

1. Reference to the author's personality is used to explain and interpret a

literary work.

2. Reference to literary works is made in order to establish, biographically, the

personality of the author.

3. The mode of reading a literary work itself is a way of experiencing the

distinctive subjectivity or consciousness of its author.

● Reader-Response Criticism

— does not designate any one critical theory, but focuses on the activity of reading a
work of literature. Shift from the traditional conception of a work as an achieved
structure of meanings to the responses of readers as their eyes follow a text.
 —This is the school of thought most students seem to adhere to. Proponents believe
that literature has no objective meaning or existence.

● Deconstruction

—the most difficult critical theory for people to understand. It was developed by some
very smart people who declare that literature means nothing because language means
nothing.

● Historical Criticism

—Using this theory requires that you apply to a text specific historical information
about the time during which an author wrote.

● Structuralism

— Structuralism is a theory that concentrates completely on the text, bringing nothing

else to it. It . Structuralism investigates the kinds of patterns that are built up and
broken down within a text and uses them to get at an interpretation of that text.

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FILIPINO CONTEMPORARY WRITERS

1. JOEY DALISAY JR.

—List of works:
● Novel

-Killing Time in a Warm Place, 1992

-Soledad's Sister, 2008

● Plays

-Madilimang Gabi saLaot at Iba Pang -MgaDulangLigawnaPag-Ibig, 1993

-PagsabogngLiwanag/Aninag, Anino, 1996

-AngButihingBabaengTimog/Mac Malicsi, TNT, 1997

● Screenplays

-TayongDalawa, 1994

-Miguelito, 1995

-Saranggola, 1999

● Nonfiction

-The Best of Barfly, 1997

-The Lavas: A Filipino Family, 1999

-Man Overboard, 2005

- "Wash: Only a Bookkeeper", 2009

- "Builder of Bridges: The Rudy Cuenca Story," 2010

● Other books

-Kasaysayan: The Story of the Filipino People , 1998

-The Filipino Flag, 2004

 -Journeys with Light: The Vision of -Jaime Zobel, 2005

2. KATRINA TUVERA

—List of works:

● Books:

-The Jupiter Effect

-Testament and Other Story

3. MIGUEL SYJUCO

—List of works:

● Books:

-Ilustrado

-I Was The President's Mistress

4. LOUIE MAR GANGCUAGCO

—List of works:

● Books

-Orosa-Nakpil, Malate

-Gee, My Grades Are Terrific: A Students Guide to Academic Excellence

5. LUALHATI BAUTISTA

—List of works:

● Works

-Gapo

-Dekada 70

-Bata, Bata, PanoKaGinawa

-Bulaklaksa City Jail

-Kung Mahahawi Man angUlap

6. F. SIONIL JOSE

—List of works:

● NOVELS:

-Po-on

-The Pretenders

-My Brother, My Executioner

-Mass

-Tree

-Gagamba

-Sin
7. BOB ONG

mystery man

—List of works:

● BOOKS:

-ABNKKBSNPLAko?!

-BakitBaligtadMagbasangLibroangmgFilipino

-AngPaboritongLibroniHudas

-AlamatngGubat

-Stainless Longganisa

-Macarthur

-Kapitan Sino

-AngmgaKaibiganni Mama Susan

8. GINA APOSTOL

—List of works:

● Works

-Bibliolepsy

-Charlie Chan is Dead 2

-The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata

9. LAKAMBINI A. SITOY
 —List of works:

● WORKS:

-Sweet Haven

-Mens Rea and Other Stories

-Jungle Planet

10. FH BATACAN

—List of works:

● Smaller and Smaller Circles

Types of Literature that flourished during the different periods of Philippine Literature
in English

1. The American Regime (1898-1941)

• poetry
• stories
• plays
• essays
• novels
• news writing

-Their writings clearly depicted their love of country and their longings for independence.
-Used Spanish and Tagalog languages
-In 1910, English and Vernaculars have been included in texts.
-Spanish writers won’t to write on nationalism like honoring Rizal and other heroes.
-Tagalog continued in their lamentations on the conditions of the country and their attempts to
arouse love for one's native tongue.
-English imitated the themes and methods of the Americans.
2. The Period of Re-orientation (1898-1910)
- Writers of this period were still adjusting to the newfound freedom after the paralyzing
effect of repression of thought and speech under the Spanish regime.
- Not much was produced during this period and what literature was produced was not
much of literary worth. The first attempts in English were in two periodicals of this time:
(a) Renacimiento Filipino: founded in Manila by Rafael Palma in 1901.
(b) Philippines Free Press: established in Manila in 1905 by R. McCullough Dick and D.
Theo
Rogers.
• Poetry
SURSUM CORDA (1907) – Justo Juliano

3. The Period of Imitation (1910-1924) - imitating American and British models

• Short story writing – (e.g. Dead Stars by Paz Benitez)
• Newspapers and periodicals – (e.g. Philippines Herald, Philippine Review, Rising
Philippines and
Citizens, Philippine Education Magazine)
• Essays such as serious essay, informal essay, criticism, and the journalistic column.

4. Period of Self-Discovery and Growth (1925-1941)

• Novel
• Drama• Poems about love, are patriotic, religious, descriptive, and reflective.
• Free verse, odes, sonnets, incorporates social consciousness.

5. THE SHORT STORY (1925-1941)

Short stories with Spanish influences were florid, sentimental, exaggerated, and
bombastic.

6. ESSAYS AND OTHER PROSE STYLES (1925-1941)

Some forms of essays during this period were:
a. Political, reflective essays
b. Critical essays
c. Personal or Familiar
Other types of literature
a. Biography
b. History
c. Publications
d. Drama

7. The Japanese Occupation (1941-1945)

Philippine literature in English came to a halt. Except for the TRIBUNE and the PHILIPPINE
REVIEW.

FILIPINO POETRY DURING THIS PERIOD

The common theme of most poems during the Japanese occupation was nationalism,
country, love, life in the barrios, faith, religion, and the arts.
Three types of poems emerged during this period:
a. HAIKU – (5-7-5)
b. TANAGA – Each line had 17 syllables
c. KARANIWANG ANYO (Usual Form)
• Writers during this period felt suppressed but slowly, the spirit of nationalism started to seep
into their consciousness.

8. The Rebirth of Freedom (1946-1970)

• Filipinos had, by this time, learned to express themselves e confidently
POETRY IN ENGLISH DURING THIS PERIOD
• Many books were published both in Filipino and English. • Themes are usually about love
of nature, and of social and political problems.

9. Period of Activism (1970-1972)

THE LITERARY REVOLUTION - The youth became completely rebellious during this period.
They
attacked the ills of society and politics.
- Writers began to express their thoughts and rebellion through poems, short stories, and
one-act plays.

10. Period of the New Society (1972-1980)

- The military government established a new office called the Ministry of Public Affairs that
supervised the newspapers, books and other publications.
- The government took part in reviving old plays like the Cenaculo, the Zarzuela, and the
Embayoka of the Muslims.
- The themes of most poems dealt with patience, regard for native culture, customs, and
the
beauties of nature and surroundings.
- The forms of literature that led during this period were:
a. essays
b. debate
c. poetry

11. Period of the Third Republic (1981-1985)

- The themes of most during this time dealt with courage, shock, and grief over the
"treachery inflicted upon Aquino."

THE STATE OF PHILIPPINE LITERATURE IN ENGLISH AT THIS TIME

1. Change in the direction of greater consciousness in content and form.
2. Change in the number of readers and the number of writers and the kind of class of
writers. Writers who joined the ranks came not only from the established or professional
groups but from all ranks— clerks, secretaries, drivers, housewives, students; in short,
the masses.
3. The resurgence of Balagtasismo and the continued dominance of Modernismo. While
Balagtasismo turned its back on the American challenge to Philippine literature, its
conservative conventions, Modernismo, adapted Americanization for its own ends.
4. The birth of a new poetic movement still dims in outline.
5. The apparent merging of the erstwhile separate streams of oral and written literature.12.

The Modern Period or The Contemporary Period

a. Essay. Essayists have written about unity, injustices, moral corruption, social,
political and economic reforms, history, literary criticism and love of country.
b. Short story. The writers have gradually shifted from themes of personal problems and rural
life
to themes of national problems and city life.
c. Poetry. It avoids direct statement. It does not say what it means, it merely
d. hints, suggests, through use of symbols.
e. Drama. need for financial assistance, lack of audience, the need for eliminating rivalry
among
theatre groups, the need for more sympathetic and competent critics.

The Great Filipino Literary Writers in English and Their Masterpieces

1. Jose Garcia Villa (1908-1997) – he became the only Asian poet in a community that also
consisted of E. E. Cummings, W. H. Auden, and other modernist poets. In 1933 his Footnote
to
Youth: Tales of the Philippines and Others (Charles Scribner’s Sons) became the first book of
fiction by a Filipino author published by a major United States-based press.
2. Francisco "Franz" Arcellana (1916-2002) –writer, poet, essayist, critic, journalist, and
teacher, is
one of the most important progenitors of the modern Filipino short story in English.
3. N. V. M. Gonzalez (1915-199) - Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez, better known as N.V.M.
Gonzalez, fictionist, essayist, poet, and teacher, articulated the Filipino spirit in rural, urban
landscapes.
4. Nick Joaquin (1917-2004) – regarded by many as the most distinguished Filipino writer in
English writing so variedly and so well about so many aspects of the Filipino. Nick Joaquin
has
also enriched the English language with critics coining “Joaquinesque” to describe his
baroque
Spanish-flavored English or his reinventions of English based on Filipinisms.
5. Edith Tiempo (1919-2011) – A poet, fictionist, teacher and literary critic, Edith L. Tiempo is
one
of the finest Filipino writers in English. Her works are characterized by a remarkable fusion of
style and substance, of craftsmanship and insight.
6. Cirilo F. Bautista (1941-2018) – is a poet, fictionist and essayist with exceptional
achievements
and significant contributions to the development of the country’s literary arts. He is
acknowledged by peers and critics, and the nation at large as the foremost writer of his
generation.7. F. Sionil Jose (1924- ) - F. Sionil Jose’s writings since the late 60s, when taken
collectively can
best be described as epic.
8. Leoncio Deriada (1937-2018) – was a Iloilo province-based author and editor whose
works in
three genres and five languages, and whose efforts in nurturing generations of writers from
Panay Island, earned him wide recognition as the father of contemporary West Visayan
literature.
9. Carlos P. Romulo (1899-1985) – Carlos P. Romulo‘s multifaceted career spanned 50 years
of
public service as an educator, soldier, university president, journalist, and diplomat.
10. Stevan Javellana (1918–1977) – Stevan Javellana was a Filipino novelist and short story
writer in
the English language. He is also known as Esteban Javellana. He is the author of a
best-selling
war novel in the United States and Manila, Without Seeing the Dawn.