ST.

MARY’S COLLEGE OF MARINDUQUE

Boac, Marinduque

Senior High School Department

SY 2020 – 2021

I. Title
21st Century Literature from the Module
Subject Quarter First 5
Philippines and the World #
Level 11/12 Duration Week 5 Day 1-6
Remapping of Philippine
Topic: Literature through Criticism: Code EN12Lit-Ie-31.1
Literary Criticism

II. Preliminaries
A. Objectives/ Competencies
 Identify the geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions of Philippine literary
history from precolonial to contemporary.
 Value the contributions of local writers to the development of regional literary
traditions.
 Differentiate the various 21st century literary genres and the ones from the
earlier genres or periods citing their elements, structures, and traditions.
 Do self-and/ or peer-assessment or the analysis of a literary word based on
rationalized criteria, prior to presentation,

III. DISCUSSION

Literary Criticism

If in the previous module the essay was mentioned as a genre considered to be

an “underdog” of literature, what then of literary criticism? Though often ignored and
sometimes seen as necessary but not a part of the literary genre, criticism plays a vital
role not only literature but in the culture itself. It has set the mode for certain eras and
their particular tendencies: The Victorian Era and its romanticism, the Renaissance and
its humanist people, and the postmodern era and experimentation with art, to cite a few
examples. Criticism, often intertwining both literary and cultural, has set the mode for
most of the culture that has been lived before you were born and the culture you will be
living in the future.

What, then, is literary criticism? Some will say it is the “reasoned” consideration
or analysis of literary texts and their themes or issues. It may also be an argument
about a literary work, which will be proven using the text and the culture or context the
text was written in or for. There is one general agreement among critics, however, when
it comes to any kind of critique: it has to be “practical.” Criticism is meant to see what
has not been seen before, to say what has not been said before, and to change what
needs to be changed. It interprets meaning in the text and judges the text’s quality so
that it may bring forth new ideas, new realization, and necessary changes in society.

One of the earliest works of criticism is Plato’s argument against the

consequences of poetic inspiration in his writing entitled “The Republic.” Up until now,
this text is used to guide the critics on how a text can be interpreted or what other
modes of interpretation can be done.

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Functions of Literary Criticism

There are many functions of literary criticism, and they vary depending on the
text itself or the context where it is being performed. Literary criticism may be the simple
review of books that you often read online or in local newspapers, or a systematic
theoretical discussion of a story’s impact on society. These reviews usually determine if
a book will be widely sold or acclaimed, though at times they do not deserve as a
precedent to the best seller’s status of the book. Criticism in everyday newspapers may
also summarize the worth of a book, or support or deconstruct a publisher’s claim about
a given book.
Another function of literary criticism is to reevaluate any given text. This is to
shed new light or to give meaning to the old text. Sometimes, literary criticism lets you
see the function old texts in modern society. The literary critics becomes a scholar who
works through old drafts and manuscripts, and edits all of them so that they may be
reevaluate. This, when accomplished, may bring old texts to the new public’s attention.
Literary criticism may also be used to invoke discussions, reassess society, and
redefine cultural based on a literary text. These kinds of sustained criticism may be
found in bimonthly or even annual magazines or journals, which oftentimes have
specialized topics. These kinds of criticisms are usually available to the academe,
although some do end up in daily papers or mainstream magazines.
It is also common for criticism to dip its toes into social, political arguments,
especially if the literary works is social or political in nature. Because literary criticism is
highly interdisciplinary in nature, it is not afraid to transgress boundaries to argue a point
and it bravely follows where the literary text goes. Some forms of critical works done in
the Philippines have dealt with the following: the abuse of overseas foreign works
(OFWs); the marginalization of women and/or members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender (LGBT) community; the environmental degradation and injustice; and
even postcolonial theories that dispute the years of colonization in which the country
has endured.
This much, however, is true about criticism: critics may be seen as lawgivers
when it comes to books, stories, poems, and the like. They may pass judgment based
on their informed critical lenses and can make or break a writer. Even if writers, in the
truest sense of the word, are owners of their own work, (and are copyrights holders,
too), critics may still persuade the public to place their own judgments on the work,
according to how they see fit. That is how powerful criticism is in society.

Writing a Critical Paper

You have written a critical paper before in your previous grade levels. What you
must remember in attempting the feat once again for this module is that literary criticism
does not look at literature as a way to proliferate a didactic message. This means that
literary criticism does not solely look at a text to see if it has a message to say the
reader and whether this message is good or bad. Rather, literary criticism sees in the
text what the readers do not see, and leaves the readers to think about what was
discovered by themselves. Literary criticism also does not always have to delve into
religious or nationalistic interpretations –it can be anything about the literary text on
hand, as long as it is within the text. As they say, how can you force your readers to see
what is not there in the first place?
A quick, insightful, and fun way to discuss your theories and insights in class
through a short paper. A short paper is literary “short”. It consists of one or two pages of
written critique that will succinctly discuss your ideas, realization, or concept regarding a
literary selection.

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How do you start your short paper?

1. Choose a literary selection that you want to analyze. It is preferred if you choose the
same literary selection which you were asked to research on.
2. Find at least two to three sources that you can use to develop your idea. You can find
these through internet, your school library, or magazines/journals.
3. Always begin with an outline. What do you want to say, and how do you want to say
it.
This outline is tentative and may always change as you keep on writing your paper.
The important thing with an outline is that you can clearly follow it as you write along.
4. Start with a joke, an anecdote, or a quotation from literary text as your introduction.
5. Quickly state as a way of sign posting (or letting the reader know what you are going
to write about in your paper) what your concept is and how it is related to the literary
text.
6. Make sure it is short (2pages at the most) because you only have two pages to write
about your whole analysis.
7. The body of your essay must try to discuss the relation of your idea with the literary
text. if you need to quote from the literary text that you have chosen, do so carefully
by
choosing which are essential to develop your argument.
8. The conclusion is just like any conclusion when you are writing an essay –
summarize
what you have said or discussed in the body in two to three sentences. You may also
want to conclude by referencing your introduction (the joke, anecdote, or quotation),
so
that it “sandwiches” your idea and is more appealing to the readers. You may also
suggest future research projects for your readers, which they may undertake if they
are
interested in your topic.
ESSENTIAL LEARNING
Literary criticism is often ignored in Philippine literature. Literary criticism,
however, is essential because it not only informs the readers of what they may
discover through a literary text, but also shapes society for it criticizes the context in
which the text, to give an informed opinion about a subject matter or issue, to invoke
discussions, or to reevaluate texts.
One way to meaningfully discuss a literary selection in the classroom is
through a short paper that can be shared through paper or panel presentations. In
this way, you may apply your critical thinking skills on the texts of your locality or
region and be able to discuss it with your fellow classmates. Criticism is instrumental
in fostering healthy academic discussions in any setting. Thus it is an indispensable
part of Philippine literature that must be continually practiced and discoursed about.

EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE

There are a couple of reliable Web sites online that discuss the essence and history
and history of literary criticism. Here are some sites that may give you brief overview of
criticism and how it has affected global society:

“Literary Criticism –definition”

(http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/343487/literary-criticism)

“We Speak Tech: Literary Criticism” (http:///www.shmoop.com/literary-criticism/)

Page(All3websites
of 6
were accessed 10 September 2015.)
 St. Mary’s College of Marinduque
Boac, Marinduque
(042) 332-18-70

Name: ______________________________________________Date: _____________

Grade/Strand: __________________________ Parent`s Signature: _______________

Reflect Upon
1. What kind of preparation do you need for you to accomplish writing a critical paper?
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2. What kind of mind-set do you need to complete your paper?

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What Have I Learned So Far?

1. How do you begin writing a critical paper?
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2. What do you need to discuss in a critical paper?

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3. What are the parts of a critical paper? How are these crucial to the totality of your
paper?
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Exercise I

Read the literary Criticism below by

Isagani R. Cruz, “The Other Other:
Towards a Postcolonial Poetics

Occupation - President, The Manila Times College

Books  - Father Solo and Other Stories for Adults Only
Education - Ateneo de Manila University, University of the
Philippines, University of Maryland, College Park
Awards - Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for One-act Play
Plays -The Lovely Bienvenido N. Santos
https://alchetron.com/Isagani-R-Cruz

The Other: Towards a Postcolonial Poetics

By Isagani R. Cruz

An Anti-Western West-Style Introduction, or What I Said at Cartiff

Recent interest in colonial discourse, precipitated by Edward Said’s critique of

orientalism, has brought home the ethnocentricity of much of Western thought. Western
literary theory, in particular, still has to break free of the prison house of Western
languages and literature. Almost all Western theorists today depend exclusively insights
developed by other Western theorist like themselves. At most, American or British critics
will look beyond their shore to France or Germany or Russia for “foreign” theories,
preferring familiar European to “strange” non-Western ideas. Literary text used to
generate or illustrate modern Western literary theories tend to have been written in
Western languages, classical or modern. As a result, much of Western literary theory
can be said to be problematic, because it is based on an extremely limited corpus of
literary texts.

This eurocentricity has been exported through colonialism to non-European

societies. Through Western hegemony, eurocentricity perpetuate itself by insuring that
non-Western theorist, by thinking like Western theorist, are alienated from their own
indigenous (often older) critical traditions.

The situation of the Filipino literary theory can be taken as a case study.
Although contemporary theories presumably work in decolonized space Philippine
literature (pre-colonial, colonial, and postcolonial) is still heavily under theorized. At first
glance, this under theorization appears due to either the decentring of literary theory
within the Philippine literary community or the marginalization of literary orientalism
within Anglo-American academic discourse. Upon closer examination, however, this
under theorization may be shown to stem from the internalization of a hegemonic
universalization of culturally imperialistic, pre- or anti-theoretical, quasi-formalistic,
mechanically reflectionist, and white patriarchy.
In short, Philippine literary theory today derives from unproblematized dominant western
critical discourse, the same discourse that is the subject of the deconstruction by
marginalized emergent Western critiques themselves. Marginalization, in this sense,

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may be said to be not completely a function of geography, but also a function of
intellectual and institutional power. Filipino critics have read Aristotle and Jacques
Derrida, but British critics have not read Jose Rizal nor Bienvenido Lumbera. Filipino
critics have read everything American critics have read, but American critics have not
read half of what Filipino critics have read. The imbalance in theoretical trade is worse
than C.P. Snow's famous example of scientists reading William Shakespeare but critics
not knowing the second law of thermodynamics. If a literary theory is only as good as
the literary texts that gives rise to it, how can theories take into account only half of the
world's literature be taken seriously? Most pre-modern, modern and even some
postmodern Western theories derive from readings of Western literary or cultural texts,
but they completely ignore Balagtas and the two Bautista (Cirilo and Lualhati), not to
mention the vast reservoir of literary texts in China, Japan, and other non-European
countries. In contrast, Filipino theories attempt to explain T. S. Eliot as well as Amado V.
Hernandez. Yet no one in the west would argue that Virgilio Almario is a much more
comprehensive critic than Stanley Fish.
Developments in contemporary Asian criticism are often provoked by discoveries
or rediscoveries of British, American, and European ideas. Developments in British and
American criticism are often provoked by discoveries or rediscoveries of continental
Europeans ideas, but never of Asian ideas.
Yet, literary theory started in China has had a much longer history there than in
the West. Although histories of literary criticism still invariably begin with Plato and
Aristotle, ignoring much Chinese critics. A coherent history of international literary
thought, in fact, could be drawn using Chinese criticism as bare and Western theories
as corollaries.

I submit that the inequitable distribution of critical wealth can be traced to, among
other things, colonialism, orientalism, and hegemony.

I submit that two very interesting are going on here: (1) Western literary thought
is impoverished because of its ignorance of half the world's literary texts and theories,
and (2) Philippine literary thought (and probably literary thought in other non-European
countries), through colonialist hegemony, now unconsciously share this poverty.
Philippine literary theory, in other words, has become the other Other of Western literary
theory.

BIBLICAL TEXT

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” –John 15:18

IV. EVALUATION/ASSESSMENT

See it on Google Classroom

VI. REFERENCE/S
21st Century Literature from Philippines and the World by Rina Garcia Chua

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