JOHN B. LACSON COLLEGES FOUNDATION (BACOLOD), INC.

BASIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

DepEd ID No. 403019

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

LEARNING MODULE
21ST CENTURY LITERATURE
FROM THE PHILIPPINES AND THE WORLD
Name: ______________________________________

Strand, Year & Section: ______________________________________

Contact Number: ______________________________________

Email: ______________________________________

Teacher: ______________________________________

Prepared by:
Princess F. Layes
 Welcome to the course 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World!

This course 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World aims to engage you
in appreciation and critical study of 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World
encompassing their various dimensions, genres, elements, structures, contexts, and traditions.
Also, it includes study and appreciation of the literature of the region where the school is located
in relation to the literature of the other regions of the country and of literature of the world
originally written in the 21st century.

This course is divided into four modules with their corresponding learning competencies.

QUARTER 1
st
Module/Unit 1: 21 Century Literature from the Regions
LC 1.1. Identify the geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions of Philippine literary
history from precolonial to the contemporary.
LC 1.2. Identify representative texts and authors from each region (e.g. engage in oral history
research with focus on key personalities from the students’ region/province/ town).
LC 1.3. Value the contributions of local writers to the development of regional literary
traditions.
LC 1.4. Appreciate the contributions of the canonical Filipino writers to the development of
national literature.

Module/Unit 2: Study and Appreciation of Literary Texts from the Different Regions
Written in Different Genres
LC 2.1. Differentiate/compare and contrast the various 21st century literary genres and the
ones from the earlier genres/periods citing their elements, structures and traditions.
LC 2.2. Infer literary meaning from literal language based on usage.
LC 2.3. Analyze the figures of speech and other literary techniques and devices in the text.
LC 2.4. Explain the literary, biographical, linguistic, and sociocultural contexts and discuss
how they enhance the text’s meaning and enrich the reader’s understanding.
LC 2.5. Situate the text in the context of the region and the nation.
LC 2.6. Explain the relationship of context with the text’s meaning and produce a
creative representation of a literary text by applying multimedia skills.
1.1 choose an appropriate multimedia format in interpreting a literary text
1.2 apply ICT skills in crafting an adaptation of a literary text
QUARTER 2
Module/Unit 3: Literary Genres, Traditions and Forms from Different National Literature
and Cultures, Namely, Asian, Anglo-American, European, Latin American,
and African
LC 3.1. Identify representative texts and authors from Asia, North America, Europe, Latin
America, and Africa.
Module/Unit 4: Basic Textual and Contextual Reading Approach in the Study and
Appreciation of Literature
LC 4.1. Explain the texts in terms of literary elements, genres, and traditions.
LC 4.2. Situate the texts in the context of the region, nation, and the world.
LC 4.3. Appreciate the cultural and aesthetic diversity of literature of the world.
LC 4.4. Compare and contrast the various 21st century literary genres and their elements,
structures, and traditions from across the globe.
LC 4.5. Distinguish the literary uses of language from the nonliterary and understand their
use as well as the formal features and conventions of literature.
LC 4.6. Identify the figures of speech and other literary techniques and devices in the text.
LC 4.7. Explain the biographical, linguistic, and sociocultural contexts and discuss how they
enhance the text’s meaning and the reader’s understanding.
LC 4. 8. Examine the relationship between text and context.
LC 4. 9. Understand literary meanings in context and the use of critical reading strategies.
LC 4.10. Produce a creative representation of a literary text by applying multimedia skills
a. choose appropriate multimedia form of interpreting a literary text
b. apply ICT skills in crafting an adaptation of a literary text
Your success in this course 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World is
shown in your ability to accomplish the learning competencies and performance standard
found in each module/unit.
 Module 1
st
21 Century Literature from the Region where the School is based in Relation to the
Literature of other Regions in Various Genres and Forms in Consideration
Time Allotment: 20 hours
Overview

Philippine literature in the 21st century has a short history; however, much have already
been written about its writers. Even though Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere casts a long shadow on
Philippine literature, today’s literary scene is quite different from a long shadow on Philippine
literature, today’s literary scene is quite different from what is was in the past. In fact, it has
developed in ways that can surprise English language teachers and students alike as it has
emerged to be a flexible, innovative literature that has answered literary and educational debates
about language. Also, this module recognizes the contributions of representative or canonical
texts to the development of Philippine Literature.

This part of the module enables you to have a grasp of the rich literature and history of
the Philippines from the pre-colonial to the contemporary times.
Learning competencies
At the end of the module, you shall be able to:
1. Identify the geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions of Philippine literary history
from precolonial to the contemporary.
2. Identify representative texts and authors from each region (e.g. engage in oral history
research with focus on key personalities from the students’ region/province/ town).
3. value the contributions of local writers to the development of regional literary traditions
4. appreciate the contributions of the canonical Filipino writers to the development of
national literature.

Performance Standard
You will be able to demonstrate understanding and appreciation of 21st Century Philippine
literature from the regions through:
1. a written close analysis and critical interpretation of a literary text in terms of
form and theme, with a description of its context derived from research; and
2. an adaptation of a text into other creative forms using multimedia.

Vocabulary

• Pre-colonial times – occurring or existing prior to a colonial period or colonization of

given area or country; of or pertaining to this period (freedictionary.com)
• Spanish colonial times – refers to the history of the Philippines from 1565 to 1898 and
was the period during which the Philippines were part of the Spanish Empire.
(freedictionary.com)
• Contemporary times – is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period
from approximately 1945 to the present. (freedictionary.com)
• Essayist – a person who writes essays, especially as a literary genre (merriamwebster.com)
• Fictionist – a person who writes fiction stories, especially as a literary genre
(merriamwebster.com)
Discussion (Part 1)
…that Literature…

DID YOU may be classified into four categories or

genres:(1) prose fiction, (2) poetry, (3)
drama and (4) nonfiction prose?

KNOW?
While all the literature are art forms, each with its own
requirements of structure and style, usually the first three are classed as imaginative literature.
The genres of imaginative literature have much in common, but they have also
distinguishing characteristics.
(1) Prose fiction, or narrative fiction, includes novels, short stories, myths, parables,
romances, and epics
Fiction originally meant anything made up, crafted, or shaped, but as we understand the
word today, it means a prose story based in the imagination of the author. Although fiction, like
all imaginative literature, may introduce true historical details, it is not real history, for its
purpose is primarily to interest, divert, stimulate, and instruct.

The essence of fiction is narration, the relating or recounting of a sequence of events or

actions. Works of fiction usually focus on one or a few major characters and undergo some kind
of change as they interact with other characters and deal with problems.

(2) Poetry is more economical than prose fiction in the use of words, and it relies heavily
on imagery, figurative language, and sound.
(3) Drama is a literary work which is designed to be performed by actors. Like fiction,
drama may focus on a single character or a small number of characters, and it
presents fictional events as if they were happening in the present, to be witnessed by
an audience.

Imaginative literature differs from (4) nonfiction prose, the fourth genre, which consists
of news reports, feature articles, essays, editorials, textbooks, historical and biographical works,
and the like, all of which describe or interpret facts and present judgments and opinions.
 Major goals of nonfiction prose are truth in reporting and logic in reasoning. It bears
repeating that the truth in imaginative literature, unlike that in nonfiction prose, is truth to life
and human nature, not to the factual world of news, science and history.
The Literary Forms in Philippine Literature (from the Pre-Colonial to the Contemporary
times)
The diversity and richness of Philippine literature evolved side by side with the country’s
history. This can best be appreciated in the context of the country’s pre-colonial cultural
traditions and the socio-political histories of its colonial and contemporary traditions.
The average Filipino’s unfamiliarity with his indigenous literature was largely due to
what has been impressed upon him: that his country was “discovered” and, hence Philippine
“history” started only in 1521. So successful were the efforts of colonialists to blot out the
memory of the country’s largely oral past that present-day Filipino writers, artists and journalists
are trying to correct his inequity by recognizing the country’s wealth of ethnic traditions and
disseminating them in schools and in the mass media.
The rousing of nationalistic pride in the 1960s and 1970s also helped bring about this change of
attitude among a new breed if Filipinos concerned about the “Filipino identity”.
Pre-Colonial Times
Owing to the works of our own archaeologists, ethnologists and anthropologists, we are
able to know more and better judge information about our pre-colonial times set against a bulk of
material about early Filipinos as recorded by Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and other chroniclers of
the past.
The most seminal of these folk speeches is the riddle which is tigmo in Cebuano, bugtong
in Tagalog, paktaton in Ilonggo and patototdon in Bicol. Central to the riddle is the talinghaga or
metaphor because it “reveals subtle resemblances between two unlike objects” and one’s power
of observation and wit are put to the test.
Other important things during the pre-colonial times:

• Tanaga – a mono-riming heptasyllabic quatrain expressing insights and lessons on life is

“more emotionally charged than the terse proverb and thus has affinities with the folk lyric.
• Lullabies: love songs like the panawagon and balitao (Ilonggo); harana or serenade
(Cebuano); the bayok (Maranao); the seven-syllable per line poem, ambahan of the
Mangyans that are about human relationships, social entertainment and also serve as a
tool for teaching the young.
• Kalusan (Ivatan) – work songs that depict the livelihood of the people often sung to go
with the movement of workers.
• Soliranin (Tagalog rowing song)
• Mambayu – Kalinga rice-pounding song
Folk Songs
• Tagay (Cebuano and Waray) – drinking songs sung during carousals
• Kanogon (Cebuano) – dirges and lamentations extolling the deeds of the dead.
Epics such as Guman (Subanon), Darangen (Maranao), Hudhud (Ifugao) and Ulahingan
(Manobo) revolve around supernatural events or heroic deeds and they embody or validate the
beliefs and customs and ideals of a community.
Examples of epics:
1. Lam-ang (Ilocano)
2. Hinilawod (Sulod)
3. Kudaman (Palawan)
4. Darangen (Maranao)
5. Ulahingan (Livunganen-Arumanen Manobo)
6. Mangovayt Buhong na Langit (The Maiden of the Buhong Sky from Tuwang-Manobo)
7. Ag Tobig neg Keboklagon (Subanon)
8. Tudbulol (T’boli)
The Spanish Colonial Traditions
While it is true that Spanish subjugated the Philippines for more mundane reasons, this
former European power contributed much in the shaping and recording of our literature. Religion
and institutions that represented European civilization enriched the languages in the lowlands,
introduced theater which we would come to know as komedya, the sinakulo, the sarswela, the
playlets and the drama. Spain also brought to the country, though at much at a later time, liberal
ideas, and an internationalism that influenced our own Filipino intellectuals and writers for them
to understand the meanings of “liberty and freedom”.
Important points in the Spanish colonial time:
• Religious lyrics written by ladino poets or those versed in both Spanish and Tagalog were
included in early catechism and were used to teach Filipinos the Spanish language.
Fernando Bagonbata’s “Salamat nang walang hangan/gracias de sin sempitrenas”
(unending thanks) is a fine example that is found in Memorial de la vida Cristiana en
lengua tagala (Guidelines for the Christian life in Tagalog language) published in 1605.
Religious poetry

• Pasyon in octosyllabic quintillas that became entrenched in the Filipino’s commemoration

of Christ’s agony and resurrection at Calvary.
• “Ang Mahal na Passion ni Jesu Christong Panginoon natin na tola” (Holy Passion of our
Lord Jesus Christ in Verse) by Gaspar Aquino de Belen – put out in 1704 and is known as
the country’s earliest pasyon.
Prose Narratives
• Pasyon – used for proselytization
• Dialogo (Dialogue)
• Manual de Urbanidad (conduct book)
• Ejemplo (exemplum)
• Tratado
Two most well-known prose narratives:

• “Pagsusulatan ng Dalawang Binibini na si Urbana at Feliza” (Correspondence between the

Two Maidens Urbana and Feliza) by Modesto de Castro
• “Ang Bagong Robinson” (The New Robinson) in 1879, an adaptation of Daniel Defoe’s
novel, by Joaquin Tuason.
Secular works appeared alongside historical and economic changes, the emergence of an
opulent class and the middle class who could avail of a European education. This Filipino
elite could now read printed works that used to the exclusive domain of the missionaries.

The most notable of the secular lyrics followed the conventions of a romantic tradition:
the languishing but loyal lover, the elusive, often heartless beloved, rival. The leading poets
were Jose Corazon de Jesus (Huseng Sisiw) and Francisco Balagtas. Some secular poets who
wrote in this same tradition were Leona Florentino, Jacinto Kawili, Isabelo de los Reyes and
Rafael Gandioco.
Another popular secular poetry is the metrical romance, the awit and korido in Tagalog.
The awit is set in dodecasyllabic quatrains while the korido is in octosyllabic quatrains. These
are colorful tales in chivalry from European sources made for singing an chanting such as
Gonzalo de Cordoba (Gonzalo of Cordoba) and Ibong Adarna (Adarna Bird). There are
numerous metrical romances in Tagalog, Bicol, Ilonggo, Pampango, and Ilocano and in
Pangasinan. The awit is a popular poetic genre reached new height in Balagtas’ “Florante at
Laura” (ca. 1838-1861), the most famous of the country’s metrical romances.
The more notable essayists and fictionists:
1. Claro M. Recto 6. Rafael Palma
2. Teodoro M. Kalaw 7.Enrique Laygo (Caretas or Masks, 1925)
3. Epifanio de los Reyes 8. Balmori (mastered the prosa romantic)
4. Vicente Sotto
5. Trinidad Pardo de Tavera

The American Colonial Period

A new set of colonizers brought about new changes in Philippine literature. New literary
forms such as free verse (in poetry), the modern short story, and the critical essay were introduced.
American influence was deeply entrenched with the firm establishment of English as the medium of
instruction in all schools and with literary modernism that highlighted the writer’s individuality and
cultivated consciousness of craft, sometimes at the expense of social consciousness.
Important happening during the American Colonial Period:

• The poet, and later, National Artist for Literature, Jose Garcia Villa used free verse and
espoused the dictum “Art for art’s sake” to the chagrin of other writers more concerned
with the utilitarian aspect of literature.
• Angela Manalang Gloria bloomed through her “seditious works” such as Liwayway and
Bisaya.
• Alejandro G. Abadilla advocated modernism in poetry.
• Virgilio S. Almario, Pedro I. Ricarte, and Rolando S. Tinio were influenced by Abadilla
and also wrote modern verses in the 1960s. Paz Marquez Benitez’s “Dead Stars”
published in 1925 was the first successful short story in English written by a Filipino.
• Lope K. Santos, Valerian Hernandez Peña, and Patricio Mariano were writing minimal
narratives to the early Tagalog short fiction called dali or pasingaw (sketch).
• The romantic tradition was fused with American pop culture or European influences in
adaptations of Edgar Rice Burrough’s Tarzan by F.P. Boquecosa who also penned Ang
Palad ni Pepe after Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield even as the realist tradition was
kept alive in the novels by Lope K. Santos and Faustino Aguilar, among others.

The essay in English became a potent medium from the 1920s to the present. Some leading
essayists were journalist like Carlos P. Romulo, Jorge Bocobo, Pura Santillan Castrence, etc.
who wrote formal to humorous to informal essays for the delectation by Filipinos.
Among those who wrote criticism developed during the American period were Ignacio
Manlapaz, Leopoldo Yabes and I.V. Mallari. But it was Salvador P. Lopez’s criticism that
grabbed attention when he won the Commonwealth Literary Award for the essay in 1940 with
his “Literature and Society.” This essay posited that art must have substance and that Villa’s
adherence to ‘Art for Art’s Sake” is decadent.
The Contemporary Period
The flowering of Philippine literature in the various languages continues especially with the
appearance of new publications after the Martial Law years and the resurgence of the committed
literature in the 1960s and the 1970s.

Filipino writers continue to write poetry, short stories, novellas, novels and essays whether
these are socially committed, gender/ethnic related or are personal in intention or not.
Of course the Filipino writer has become more conscious of his art with the proliferation of
writers workshops here and abroad and the bulk of literature available to him via the mass media
including the internet. The various literary awards such as the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial
Awards for Literature, the Philippines Free Press, Philippine Graphic, Home and Life Panorama
literary awards encourage him to compete with his peers and hope that his creative efforts will be
rewarded in the long run.
With the new requirement by the Commission on Higher Education of teaching of Philippine
Literature in all tertiary schools in the country emphasizing the teaching of the vernacular literature
or literatures of the regions, the audience for Filipino writers is virtually assured, and perhaps, a
national literature finding its niche among the literatures of the world will not be far behind.
Discussion (Part 2)
Marcos’ arrest of writers and intellectuals during Martial Law was a recognition of their
importance in shaping how a country thinks. By trying to control the production of art and
literature during that era, he was trying to reshape the country’s culture into one that would be
favorable to his regime. In order to make this endeavor happen, the works of writers such as
Bautista are recognized as important, and thus are seen as canonical, or belonging to a collection
of works considered to be valuable to Philippine society. The collection of works called a canon
is determined by various institutions seen as capable of deciding which works carry value or not.
Often, these are educational institutions such as the major universities in the country or writer’s
organizations. Marcos tried to skew or twist the canon to favor him and his views by controlling
these institutions and the people in them. Many intellectuals were forced to comply with the
Marcos regime or be arrested.
The following are some of the most important canonical authors in Philippine literature:

CIRILO F. BAUTISTA
-is one of the Philippines’ most awarded and
most respected writers and critics. Born in 1941,
he achieved honors in every level of his
education, finishing AB Literature degree from
the University of Santo Tomas (magna cum
laude) in 1963. He would then proceed to get an
MA Literature degree (magna cum laude) from St Louis University in Baguio in 1968 and a
Doctor of Arts in Language and Literature from De La Salle University in 1990. He received a
fellowship to attend the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa.
Throughout his career that spans more than four decades, he has established a reputation
for fine and profound artistry; his books, lectures, poetry readings and creative writing
workshops continue to influence his peers and generations of young writers.
As a way of bringing poetry and fiction closer to the people who otherwise would not
have the opportunity to develop their creative talent, Bautista has been holding regular funded
and unfunded workshops throughout the country. In his campus lecture circuits, Bautista has
updated students and student-writers on literary developments and techniques.
Major works: Summer Suns (1963), Words and Battlefields (1998), The Trilogy of Saint
Lazarus (2001), Galaw ng Asoge (2003).
 JOHN JACK G. WIGLEY
-is the director of the University of Santo Tomas Publishing House
and is also a full-time professor in UST. While growing up in
Angeles, Pampanga, he had to struggle with the identity of being
what has become known as a “G.I baby’, or the child of an
American serviceman and a Filipina. He finished his PhD in
Literature cum laude and has the distinction of having the first
creative nonfiction dissertation at UST. His memoir, Falling into
the Manhole, is a humorous examination of his experience as someone who was always
“different”. As he himself says in his explanation of his poetics in the University of the
Philippines Writer’s Workshop of 2013.
Major works: Home of the Ashfall: A Memoir (2014), Falling into the Manhole (2012), Lait
Chronicles (2016)

ARIEL S. TABAG
-is a multi-awarded writer in both Ilocano and Filipino. He is a
native of Sta. Teresita, Cagayan and is the poetry editor for the
Ilokano literary magazine Bannawag. His numerous awards
include several Palanca awards for his fiction. He is also a
member of Gunglo dagiti Mannurat nga Ilokano iti Filipinas
(GUMIL), a literary organization of Ilocano writers. He is the
author of Karapote, an anthology of short stories and the short
novel Ay! Ni Reberen! He is also a musician, having played bass
guitar with underground band Pilo and Ilocano rock band Manong Diego.
Tabag shared his own opinions and Ilocano literature and what the future has in store for it in an
interview with his friend, fellow Ilocano and writer Mighty C. Rasing. As stated, in the interview, he
sees Ilocano not as a dialect but a separate language, representing a unique culture. His view of the
Filipino culture is different, nuanced by his own position as a non-Tagalog speaker.
Major works: Ay! Ni Reberen and Voice Tapes

ALEXIS “EXIE” ABOLA

-is an award-winning fictionist and essayist. A product of Ateneo
de Manila University, where he finished his bachelor’s degree, and
the University of the Philippines, where he completed his master’s
degree, he currently teaches at the Ateneo and continues to write.
He has won a Don Carlos Palanca Award in creative writing for his
essay “Many Mansions”. Aside from this, he has won awards for
fiction and journalism. His book of essays,
Trafficking in Nostalgia, was published in 2012. A review of
Trafficking in Nostalgia in the online literary magazine Kalatas says that “Abola redefines
 nostalgia in this book, not only by bravely looking at experience, but also by refining the gesture
of remembering through careful craftsmanship.
Major works: My Wife, the Book-Eater and Many Mansions
KRISTIAN SENDON CORDERO
-described as the enfant terrible of Bikol contemporary writings,
Cordero is a widely anthologized writer in the Philippines today.
He has five poetry collections in Filipino and Bikol. His most
recent collections are Canticos: Apat Na Boses (UST Publishing
House, 2013) and Labi (Ateneo de Manila University Press,
2013). In 2011, he published his translation of selected poetry of
Rainier Maria Rilke, “Minatubod Ako Sa Diklom” ( I Have Faith
in the Night) published by Ateneo de Naga University Press.

Recently he received a translation grant from the

Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores Y Culto of the Republic of Argentina to translate Jorge Luis
Borges’ selected poetry in Bikol and Filipino.
He co-edited an anthology of poetry in Bikol, Sagurong (DLSU and Vibal, 2010) and
cultural essays, The Naga We Know (Anvil, 2013) with Paz Verdades Santos. For 2014, he is set
to release his first anthology of short stories, Kulto ni Santiago (University of the Philippines
Press), books of poetry, among which is “Kinalburong Lanob” (Whitewashed Wall) which won
the NCCA Writers Prize in 2007. He has also written and directed his first full-length film
Angustia, produced by Cinema One Originals for 2013. He has received writing fellowships and
literary prizes from the Premio Tomas Arejola Literary Prize, Homelife Poetry Contest, the
Palanca for poetry, fiction and essay, the 6th Madrigal-Gonzales Best First Book Award, the
NCCA Writers’ Prize for Bikol poetry in 2007 and the Maningning Miclat Poetry Prize in
Filipino, in 2009. His third book, “Pusuanon: Mga Bersong Bikol” was a finalist in the 2007
National Book Awards for Best Poetry.
Major works: Canticos: Apat Na Boses (UST Publishing House, 2013), Labi (Ateneo de
Manila University Press, 2013), and “Minatubod Ako Sa Diklom” ( I Have Faith in the Night)

WINTON LOU G. YNION

-is a student in PhD Philippine Literature program of the College of Arts and
Letters of the University of the Philippines - Diliman. He has won significant
awards in literature, including the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for
Literature in Hiligaynon Fiction and the nine awards from the Gawad
Komisyon for poetry, essay, and literary criticism. He has delivered lectures on
gender and tourism, children’s literature, and novel and nationalism in
conferences in Asia. He is the coordinator of Philippine Studies program of
the De La Salle University – Manila.

Major works: The Love of Magdalena Jalandoni

References
Agustin, R.T., Lizada, M. A., Cuartero, J. M., & Sanchez, L. J. (2016). 21st Century Literature
from the Philippines and the World. Vibal Group, Inc.
University of Santo Tomas. (n.d). Wigley, John Jack G. Retrieved
from http://www.ust.edu.ph/profile/wigley-john-jack-g/.

Uychoco, M. T. (2016). 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World. REX Book
Store.