21st Century Literature (Lesson 1,2 and 3)
produced.
Literature in various definitions:
✔ It is derived from the Latin term “litera”
which means letter.
✔ Literature is anything that is printed, as
long as it is related to the ideas and
feelings of people, whether it is true, or just
a product of one’s imagination.
✔ Literature expresses the feelings of people
to society, to the government, to his
surroundings, to his fellow men and to His
Divine Creator
✔ “true literature is a piece of written work
which is undying.”
✔ Written works with artistic value
✔ Body of written works
✔ Writings on the subject
✔ Body of music
✔ Printed Information
✔ Production of literary works
Universal Characteristics of Literature
1. TIMELESSNESS
● The condition of literature being timeless
means that it can be applied to
different contexts and situation.
● Literature knows no expiration and has
the immortality and capability to cross
time boundaries.
2. ETERNITY
● Eternity as characteristic of literature
pertains to the appeal of the moral
values of the literary masterpieces
toward its audience.
3. UNIVERSALITY
● This literature characteristics pertains to
the global applicability in which a work
transcends across culture, gender,
religion, age and time and generation.
4. PERMANENCE
● Literature is a permanent expression in
words of some thought or feelings or
idea about life and the world.
WHY DO WE STUDY LITERATURE?
✔ We study literature because it feeds our
souls.
✔ Great works of literature treat timeless
themes that resonate with readers
across centuries
✔ The human condition remains
fundamentally the same today as it was
when the printed word was first
More than this, there are several reasons why
we study literature:
✔ Understanding social milieu
✔ Understanding culture
✔ Understanding human nature and
behavior
✔ Develop historical sense
✔ Relish aesthetics of artistic expression
✔ We learn more about human problems
and difficulties
✔ Universality of such problems and ways
to overcome them
✔ Make ourselves better human beings.
✔ Humanity and compassion
✔ International understanding and world
peace.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 21ST CENTURY
READER:
✔ Grew up using technology as a primary
learning tool.
✔ Is capable of navigating and
interpreting digital formats and media
messages.
✔ Possesses literacy skills which include
technological abilities such as
keyboarding, internet navigation,
interpretation of technological speak,
ability to communicate and interpret
code language and decipher graphics
HISTORY OF PHILIPPINE LITERATURE
PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD
● Literary period before the coming of the
Spaniards and considered as the first
and longest literary history among the
other periods.
● The verses were addressed to the ears
rather than the eyes.
Different literature that was passed on by the
early Filipinos to today’s generation:
1. PROVERBS
● Are practical observations and
philosophy of everyday life that are
written usually in a rhyming scheme. It is
obviously meant to entertain while
teaching basic skills in surviving local life.
 2. RIDDLES
● Are like proverbs with one main
difference: they demand an answer
and are used to test the wits of those
who are listening to them.
3. FOLKSONGS
● Are beautiful songs that are informal
expressions of our ancestors’
experiences in life. These range from
courtship (which they sing in harana
and serenade for a girl), to lullabies,
harvest, funerals, and others.
4. FOLKTALES
● Are stories of origin for certain places,
their names and their creation. These
are also known as myths and legends.
5. EPICS
● Are long-winded poems about a hero
and his adventures and misadventures.
It usually tells of a male with all the
pleasing qualities that your ancestors
like in a person and who also has a
superhuman capabilities.
THE SPANISH TRADITION
● It has two distinct classifications:
religious, and secular.
● Spanish is the medium of
communication
1. Religious Literature
❖ Pasyon is a Philippine epic narrative
of the life of Jesus Christ, focused on his
Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
❖ Senakulo is a play depicting the life
and sufferings of Jesus Christ.
2. Secular Literature
❖ Awit
❖ Korido
❖ Prose Narratives
THE AMERICAN COLONIAL PERIOD
● Americans introduced the public system
or free education to all.
● Thomasites were the first teachers during
this period.
● The writers in Tagalog continued in their
lamentations on the conditions of the
country and their attempts to arouse
love for one’s native tongue.
1. ESSAYS
❖ Introduced the inform essay, criticism, and
the journalistic column.
❖ They spiced their work with humor, wit,
and satire.
2. POETRY
❖ Poetry produced during this time was
original, spontaneous, competently
written, and even socially conscious.
❖ They wrote free verse in odes and sonnets
in other types.
3. SHORT STORIES
❖ There will still remnants of Spanish
influence in the use of expressing that were
florid, sentimental, exaggerated, and
bombastic.
THE PHILIPPINE JAPANESE LITERATURE
● Fiction prevailed over poetry
● Period of Maturity and Originality
● Golden Age of Philippine Literature
● Bountiful Harvest (poetry, fiction, drama,
and essay)
THE PHILIPPINE LITERATURE UNDER THE REPUBLIC
● 1945: The Americans returned and
helped liberate the country
● July 4, 1946: The Philippines regains its
freedom
● Many books were published in Filipino
and English.
● Love of nature, social/political problems
are the themes of most poems.
● 1946: the Barangay Writers Project was
established.
● 1958: PEN Center of the Philippines
inaugurated (Poets, essayists, novelists)
PERIOD OF THE NEW SOCIETY
● September 21, 1972: the New Society
period officially starts; Carlos Palanca
awards continue
● Main focus is on progress of the country,
topics such as Green Revolution, family
planning, proper nutrition
● Radio plays were common.
 ● New songs were also first heard over the ● Complication
airwaves. ● Climax
● However, many performing artists ● Resolution
moved to television due to better pay
● Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino was held
annually. 6. POINT OF VIEW
● Conservative films without suggestive ● Point of view is the “eye” or narrative
content were common, but voice through which you tell a story
well-received by the public.
Types of POV
● During this period, news on economic
progress, discipline, culture, and tourism ● Third Person
were favored more than sensationalized ● First Person
reporting of killings, rape and robberies. ● Omniscient
● Limited Omniscient
SEVEN KEY ELEMENTS OF FICTION
7. TONE
1. CHARACTERS ● Tone typically refers to the mood
● The person in a work of fiction implied by an author's word choice
● The characteristics of a person and the way that the text can make a
reader feel.
Types of characters
21ST CENTURY LITERARY GENRES
● Protagonist- the good guy, the leading
character or one of the major 1. Illustrated Novel
characters ● Story through text and illustrated
● Antagonist-a person who actively images.
opposes the protagonist 2. Cellphone Novel
2. THEME ● Read and written on mobile phones
● It is the message the writer is trying to and resemble text messages.
convey through the story. 3. Text Serye
3. SETTINGS ● Text or online version of series of
● Writers describe the world they know. It narratives sent.
is the location of a story’s actions, along 4. Text Tula
with the time in which it occurs. ● Short poems sent as text messages or
4. CONFLICT posts on the Internet.
● It is the essence of fiction. It creates 5. Spoken Poetry
plot. The main problem of the story. ● Written on a page but performed for
Often more than one kind of an audience.
conflict is taking place at the same 6. Hugot Lines
time. ● Emotions concretized, and product of
Filipino tactfulness.
Kinds of Conflict

● Human vs Nature 7. Creative Non-Fiction

● Human vs Human ● Combines authority of literature and
● Human vs Society authority of fact.
● Human vs Self 8. Speculative Fiction
5. PLOT ● Umbrella genre encompassing
● A plot is a causal sequence of events, narrative fiction with
the “why” for the things that happen in supernatural/futuristic elements.
the story. 9. Dystopian/Utopian Literature
● Dystopia, which is the direct opposite
Stages of Plot
of utopia, is a term used to describe a
● Exposition
 utopian society in which things have
gone wrong.
10. Chick Lit
● A sub-genre of women’s fiction
perceived to appeal to, or be
marketed at, young women, typically
concerning romantic dilemmas.
11. Flash Fiction
● Exact definitions can vary by specific
market; but generally, complete stories
of fewer than 1,500.
12. Digital Poetry
● Sometimes called e-poetry, electronic
poetry or cyber poetry.
13. Manga
● It is used in the English-speaking world
as a generic term for a comic books
and graphic novels originally published
in Japan
14. Doodle Fiction
● Literary presentation where the author
incorporates doodle drawings and
handwritten graphics in place of
traditional font.