Greatest Contribution of American

to Philippine Literature

Philippine literary production during the

American Period in the Philippines was
spurred by two significant developments in
education and culture. One is the
introduction of free public instruction for
all children of school age and two, the use
of English as medium of instruction in all
levels of education in public schools
Free public education made knowledge and
information accessible to a greater number
of Filipinos.

Those who availed of this education

through college were able to improve their
social status and joined a good number of
educated masses who became part of the
country’s middle class.
 ESSAY
If we look back at our history, we know that Spaniards
colonized Philippines first before the Americans. It is
also to be noted that even before Spaniards came to the
country, the Philippines has already had its own
literature traditions. Every group of people based on
their languages already have their own epics which
were recited on different occasion. Several of these
epics, however, were already lost because they were
just passed on through oral traditions.

History also showed that when Spaniards went foot in

the country, the people whom they knew as indios,
already have their own legends or alamat, riddles or
bugtong, proverbs or sayings, love poetries and love
songs.

These show how creative the minds of early Filipinos

are. But of course, due to the power of colonization,
these artistic products and way of literature were
influenced, and some traditions and way of thinking
were added. Philippine Literatures during the time of
Spaniards were mostly religious since they inculcated
Catholicism in the nation’s culture. These became the
trend before Americans came.
 ESSAY
The thing about colonization is that they come, they
see, and if they don’t understand what they saw,
they conquer. When Americans set foot in our
country, they spurred two major developments which
influenced Philippine Literature. These are
developments in education and culture. Americans
introduced the free educational instruction for all
children of school age. Since English is the first
language of Americans, it became the medium of
instruction in all levels of public schools. This open
new opportunities for Filipino children since they
have gained more knowledge and information.

Those who have experienced and availed of this kind

of education have improved their social status which
made them became part of the middle class. This
influenced the type of literature tradition of Filipinos.
Since the stories and theme shifted from being
religious to the idea of hope through education.
 ESSAY
The other advancement brought by Americans
is the development in culture. The use of
English language introduced Filipinos to
western’s mode of thoughts and way of living
that were embedded not only in the literatures
produced but also in the perception of the
educated middle class. To sum it all up,
American’s development in education and
culture made the Philippine Literatures vibrant
in English
 MODERN SHORT STORY
DR. LILIA QUINDOZA-SANTIAGO Philippine
literary production during the American
Period in the Philippines was spurred by
two significant developments in education
and culture. One is the introduction of free
public instruction for all children of school
age and two, the use of English as
medium of instruction in all levels of
education in public schools.

Free public education made knowledge

and information accessible to a greater
number of Filipinos. Those who availed of
this education through college were able
to improve their social status and joined a
good number of educated masses who
became part of the country’s middle class.
 MODERN SHORT STORY
The use of English as medium of instruction
introduced Filipinos to Anglo-American
modes of thought, culture and life ways that
would be embedded not only in the literature
produced but also in the psyche of the
country’s educated class. It was this
educated class that would be the wellspring
of a vibrant Philippine Literature in English.

Philippine literature in English, as a direct

result of American colonization of the
country, could not escape being imitative of
American models of writing especially
during its period of apprenticeship. The
poetry written by early poets manifested
studied attempts at versification as in the
following poem which is proof of the poet’s
rather elementary exercise in the English
language:
 FREE VERSE POEM
Vacation days at last are here,
And we have time for fun so dear,
All boys and girls do gladly cheer,
This welcomed season of the year.
In early June in school we’ll meet;
A harder task shall we complete
And if we fail we must repeat
That self same task without retreat.
We simply rest to come again
To school where boys and girls obtain
The Creator’s gift to men
Whose sanguine hopes in us remain.
Vacation means a time for play
For young and old in night and day
My wish for all is to be gay,
And evil none lead you astray

   The poem was anthologized in the first

collection of poetry in English, Filipino Poetry,
edited by Rodolfo Dato (1909 – 1924). Among
the poets featured in this anthology were
Proceso Sebastian Maximo Kalaw, Fernando
Maramag, Leopoldo Uichanco, Jose Ledesma,
Vicente Callao, Santiago Sevilla, Bernardo
Garcia, Francisco Africa, Pablo Anzures, Carlos
P. Romulo, Francisco Tonogbanua, Juan
Pastrana, Maria Agoncillo, Paz Marquez
Benitez, Luis Dato and many others. Another
anthology, The English German Anthology of
Poetsedited by Pablo Laslo was published and
covered poets published from 1924-1934
among whom were Teofilo D. Agcaoili, Aurelio
Alvero, Horacio de la Costa, Amador T. Daguio,
Salvador P. Lopez, Angela Manalang Gloria,
Trinidad Tarrosa, Abelardo Subido and Jose
Garcia Villa, among others. A third pre-war
collection of poetry was edited by Carlos
Bulosan, Chorus for America: Six Philippine
Poets. The six poets in this collection were
Jose Garcia Villa, Rafael Zulueta da Costa,
Rodrigo T. Feria, C.B. Rigor, Cecilio Baroga and
Carlos Bulosan
NOVEL
This essay recovers a once
celebrated but now forgotten Filipino
novel in English, Juan Cabreros Laya’s His
Native Soil (1941), which marked the
emergence of realism during the
Philippine Commonwealth’s slow, decade-
long transition to independence from the
United States. Whereas the novel was
originally praised as a landmark text in
Philippine literature in English, His Native
Soil was later dismissed by postwar
critics as an imitative, formally flawed,
and stylistically inferior work. Taking up
Roberto Schwarz’s challenge to advance a
reading practice that takes into account
the difference between literature and
social structure in the colonial periphery, I
argue that rather than viewing His Native
Soil’s improbabilities of plot and tonal
dissonances as artistic flaws, they are
more meaningfully read as the author’s
attempt to adapt the realist protocols of
the bildungsroman to capture the double-
edged nature of independence: the
adoption of a trade policy that would
economically bind together the Philippines
and the United States and that would
render political freedom impossible for
Filipinos unless relations of colonial
dependency were to be continued after
independence.