21ST CENTURY – Lesson 4 “Writing the Region Traditions and

trends”
The term Overseas Filipino Worker is one that is constantly with us in this day and age. As of 2013, there were
a total of 2.3 million OFW’s, according to the Philippine Statistics and Authority. The OFW phenomenon has
reached every corner of the country, guiding beyond Manila and into the provinces. This has, in turn affected
writers around the country, who have found the subject of the OFW as a rich source for storie, or in the case
of this lesson, fiction.

Fiction, is defined in the Merriam Webster Dictionary as “written stories about people and events that are not
real” or “literature that tells stories which are imaginations by the writer.” Fictional works, therefore, are the
products of the imagination of the writer and are not supposed to be seen as factual works. This does not
prevent a writer, however, from using a real context, or what is currently happening in the surroundings of
the writer, as a source for stories. What is clear with fiction, however, is that it is always imagined.
One of the richest regional sources of Filipino fiction is the Ilocos region, which has always had a strong literary
heritage, dating back to pre-Hispanic times. Ilocano writing is called Kurditan Samtoy, which means, roughly,
“our language, written here.” The epic Biag ni Lan-ang, an epic, sung poem, was believed to have been
performed long before the arrival of the Spaniards. While early on, most of the published literature coming
from the region were poems, fiction began to gain prominence in the later yearsof the 19th century with the
publication of El Ilocano, which was the first regional newspaper in the Philippines. El Ilocano published both
poetry and fiction, and published the first Ilocano short story, “Ti Langit Ti Inanamtayao” (The Glory of Our
Hopes), written by the founder of the newspaper, renowned writer Isabelo de los Reyes who was the son of
prominent Ilocano poet Leona Florentino, the first internationally recognized Filipino poet.
This tradition of writing and publication resulted in what is probably Ilocano literature’s greatest contribution
to Philippine writing: Bannawag magazine. The publication serialized what would become some of the classics
in Ilocano fiction. The magazine remains instrumental today as both a source of Ilocano literary work and as an
inspiration to Ilocano writers who wish to pursue their craft. In fact, the magazine is prominently mentioned in
the text we are taking up for this lesson, showcasing how ingrained and important Bannawag magazine is to
the Ilocano literary reader.

FROM REGIONAL TO NATIONAL

While we are focusing on the writings of regions, we cannot forget that these all contribute to an idea of a
“national literature”. It can be argued that the truly national literature can be found in the regions, rather than
in center, which remains heavily influenced, politically and culturally, by the West.

Afro-french philosopher, writer and critic Frantz Fanon spoke of the idea of national literature. According to
him, literature and literary production by a nation’s intellectuals only becomes truly nationalist when it stops
addressing the colonizer, whether to charm or to criticize, and begins to address the nation itself. While
Fanonspoke of hiw own experiences living in a colony, and being black, his concernsreflect ours, as we share a
common experience of being colonized, and of needing to assert our own identity while also delaing with the
colonizer.
Naational Artist Bienvenido Lumbera makes an additional distinction as to what material can be considered
“national literature”- that it must confront or provoke the Filipino reader “with ideas, subject matter, and
social and political issues that serve to provoke an emotional or intellectual response, if not necessarily
positive action.” This is reflective of the idea that for a literature to be truly national, it should also be
nationalist, in that it discusses issues that are affecting the nation.
In both cases, our text below addresses these concerns.
Our text, “voice tape” by Ariel S. Tabag, responds to the context of the OFW, presenting an experience of the
OFW phenomenon that has been told in many stories before. But tabag uses a clever plot to create
nysteryand excitement in the story.
TRACKBACK : OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS AS NEW HEROES
We have heard of OFWs in the news and perhaps in stories told to us by our friends and family members.
While it is not new, the effects of so many Filipinos traveling abroad to work has an effect on the family
members these workers leave behind. OFWs contributed $12 billion in the first hall of 2014 alone, making
them a significant contributor and supporter of the Philippine economy. But is this worth the price of being
away from their loved ones?

LESSON 5: EMERGING TRENDS IN PHILIPPINE LITERATURE: THE

LITERARY ESSAY
According to the Oxford Dictionary, “home” simply means “the place where one lives permanently, especially
as a family member of a family or household.” However, the word itself carries meaning well beyond its
dictionary definition. The idea of home strikes a chord not only because it is a common topic of writing, but it
also traces the development of the Filipino essay: one can say that, like most writers, the Filipino essay has
“come home.”
The essay is simply “ a short piece of writing on a particular subject.” Again according to the Oxford Dictionary.
Almost any type of writing can technically be considered an essay, as long as it is short and about a subject.
This can lead to the misconception that essays are easy to write or of lesser importance as a form of
literature, which is not the case.
The essay in Philippine writing has a particular history and trajectory. The first essays were written not by
Filipinos themselves, but by Spanish friars who arrived in the country and were tasked to document it for
those who remained in Spain. Some of the earliest wors written in the Philippines that can be considered
essays include Arte y reglas de las lengua tagala by Fr. Francisco Blancas de San Jose, which ws a treatise on
the Tagalog language. Filipino writers would also adopt the form. Some particular examples coming from
Tomas Pinpin, who wrote “Librong pag-aaralan nang manga tagalog nang uicang castila.” Fr. Modesto de
Castro’s Platicas Doctrinales was considered a landmark work in that it helped formalize what would come to
be known as “Filipino values.
The essay found its home in Philippine writing during the later years of Spanish rule particularly during the rise
of the reformist movement. Personalities such as Fr. Jose Burgos, Pedro Paterno, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, and of
course, Jose Rizal, all wrote to raise awareness of the abuses of the colonial rulers of the time. During the
revolution,, Andres Bonifacio’s “Ang Dapat Mabatid ng Mga Tagalog” and Emili Jacinto’s “Liwanag at Dilim”
were just some of the works being read by Filipinos in the country.
The essay’s development continued after the revolution, with the arrival of the American education system
and American literary choices. There was a new category of essay, one being considered as literary, but often
focused on matters which were more personal. The style of writing also began to change, becoming less
formal, with some essays flirting with poetic or narrative techniques. Many of these works were published in
newspapers and magazines, and eventually collected into books.
Writers like Nick Joaquin, S.P. Lopez, Francisco Arcellana, N.V.M. Gonzales, Estrella Alfon, Kerima Polotan, and
many others covered a huge variety of subjects and styles in their essays. Even during the martial law years of
the 1970s, when press freedom was curtailed and critics of the Marcos regime risked imprisonment or torture,
many continued to write essays speaking out against oppression.
With the overthrow of Marcos in the 1980s and the rapid regrowth of the free press, essays have flourished
once more, in even more forms and categories, including creative non-fiction. Essays have allowed Filipino
writers to explore a broad spectrum of topics and concerns, ranging from lofty discussion of nationalism and
the purpose of art, to more intimate pieces, harnessing nostalgia and memory as ways to leave and return
home. Exie Abola’s essay “Many Mansions’’ explores the issue of home and where it can be located, not only
reminding us of our own homes and lives, but also asking whether home is, indeed, where the heart is.