21 Century

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Literature
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What is Literature?
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Literature
 Is a body of written works

 Originated from oral traditions.

 Are imaginative works.

 Deals with stories and poetry.

 The content depends on the author

  It portrays human experiences
 Authors interpret these.
 It is an art form and a style of expression.

Three points of Literature

 THE
THREE
LITERARY
PERIODS
  This existed before the Spanish occupation in the
1500s.
 It is oral in nature and is full of lessons and ideas
about life, its blessings, and its consequences.
 It contains ideas from birth to the grave.
 The oral characteristic of pre-colonial lit. gives the
possibility for many alterations.
 In the Philippine context, no matter how it may be
considered as altered, pre-colonial lit. is still
revered to be many Filipinos.
 The sources are usually the local native town folk.

The Pre-Colonial Period

FORMS
1. Oral Literature: a. Riddles b. Proverbs

2. Folk Songs: a. Lullabies; b. drinking songs; c. love songs; d.

songs of death; e. Religious Songs

3. Folk Tales: a. Myths; b. Legends; c. Fables; d. Epics

  These are statements that contain superficial
words, but they function figuratively and as
metaphors, and are in the form of questions.
 These are questions that demand deeper
answer.
 Deals with everyday life.
 It usually has mundane things as answer.
 This is used in the past as a form of game in
small or large gatherings.

Riddles (BUGTONG)
Example for riddle:
Baboy sa lasang, (A wild pig of the forest,)
Ang tunok puro lansang. (is covered with spikes)

Answer: nangka
  These are statements that are considered as
wise.
 These are usually given by parents or elders of
the community.
 There is belief that experience is the best
teacher.

PROVERBS (Mga
Salawikain)
  These are folk lyrics that are usually chanted.
 These usually contain ideas on aspirations,
hopes, everyday life and expressions of love for
loved ones.
 It is bounded by the learning of good morals.
 It is easy to understand because it is
straightforward and not figurative in nature.

Folk Songs
  Lullabies
 Drinking Songs
 Love songs
 Religious Songs
 Songs of Death

Forms of Folk Songs

  These are stories of native Filipinos.
 These deal with the power of nature-
personified, their submission to a deity-usually
Bathala- and how this deity is responsible for
the blessings and calamities.

Folk Tales (Mga

Kwentong Bayan)
  Ceremonies needed to appease the deities.
 Pre and Post apocalypse
 Life and Death
 Gods and Goddesses
 Heroes and Heroines
 Supernatural beings
 animals

Usual Themes
  Myths- these tackle the natural to strange
occurences of the earth and how things were
created with an aim to give an explanation to
things.

Forms of Folk Tales

 Legends- through legends, the natives understood mysteries
around them. These stories usually come with a moral lesson that
give credit to supernatural powers, supernatural occurences, and
other out-of-this-world native imagination.
 Fables- are short or brief stories that cater the children of the native
Filipinos and are usually bounded by good manners and right
conduct. These stories use animals as characters that represent a
particular value or characteristic.
 Epics- are very lengthy narratives that are based on oral traditions.
Examples
Myths : The Story of Bathala
Ang Pag-aaway ng Dagat at Langit
Legends: The legend of Maria Makiling
Fables: Ang Kuneho at ang Pagong
Epic: Hinilawod
1521-1898
The
Spanish
Period
  The start of the Philippines’ more colorful history took
place in March 6, 1521 when Ferdinand Magellan docked
on the shores of Homonhon.
 The Filipinos were then called “Ladinos”, meaning they
were latinized.
 Filipinos were called two things. One is the “Taga-Bayan”,
while the other is the “Taga-Bukid” or “Taga-Bundok”
 A person who is a Taga-Bayan is considered urbane and
civilized and were in easy range of the church and state.
 A person who is a Tage-Bundok or taga-bukid is called a
Bruto Salvage (Savage Brute) or Indio and were the ones
who lived far from the center of the Spanish power

The Spanish Period

Forms
1. Religious Literature 3. Propaganda Period
a. Pasyon
b. Senakulo
c. Komedya 4. Revolutionary Literature

2. Secular or Non-
Religious Literature
a. awit
b. Korido
c. Prose Narratives
Religious Literature
 Revolves around the life and the death of Jesus Christ.

Forms:
PASYON: it is about the passion (journey and suffering) and the
death of Jesus Christ.
SENAKULO- it is the re-enactment of the pasyon.
Komedya- it depicts the European society through love and fame,
but can also be a narrative about a journey, just like Dante
Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. It is also considered religious, because
it usually depicts the battle between the Christians and the Saracens
or the Moros.
Secular or Non-Religious Literature
 Revolves around tales of valiance and adventure.

Its Forms:
AWIT- these are tales of chivalry where a knight saves a princess.
Florante at Laura is a good example.
KORIDO- is a metrical tale or a tale that follows the structure of a
poem.
Prose Narrative- are easy to understand instructional materials that
in a literary light that teaches Filipinos on proper decorum.
Pagsusulatan ng Dalawang Binibini na si Urbana at Feliza (1864) is
a good example.
Propaganda Literature
 These were in the forms of satires, editorials, and news articles

that aimed to attack the Spanish Rule.

 The propaganda trinity is composed of Dr. Rizal. Marcelo H. Del

Pilar, and Graciano Lopez Jaena

Example:
Graciano Lopez Jaena
Ang Fray Botod- One of his works written in Jaro, Iloilo in 1876, six
years after the Cavite Revolt attacking the friars in the Philippines.
He exposed how some of the friars were greedy, ambitious, and
immoral.
La Hija Del Fraile (The child of the Friars) and Everything is Hambug
(Everything is mere show)- here Jaena explains the tragedy of
marrying a Spaniards.
Marcelo H. Del Pilar
KAIINGAT KAYO (Be Careful)- a humorous and sarcastic dig in
answer to Fr. Jose Rodriquez in the novel Noli of Rizal, published in
Barcelona in 1888. He used Dolores Manapat as pen-name here.
DASALAN AT TUKSOHAN (Prayers and Jokes)- similar to a
cathecism but sarcastically done against the parish priest, published in
Barcelona in 1888. Because of this, del Pilar was called “filibuster”.
Done in admirable tone of supplication and excellent use of Tagalog.
ANG CADAQUILAAN NG DIOS (God’s Goodness)- published in
Barcelona, it was also like a cathecism sarcastically ailed against the
parish priests but also contains a philosophy of the power and
intelligence of God and an appreciation for and love for nature.
DR. JOSE RIZAL
Noli Me Tangere- this was the novel that gave spirit to the
propaganda movement and paved the way to the revolution
against Spain. In his book, he courageously exposed the evils in the
Spanish-run government in the Philippines
REVOLUTIONARY LITERATURE
 Are exposes that sparked revolution and resistance in the hearts of

Filipinos.
Examples:
Andres Bonifacio
Katungkulang Gagawin ng mga Anak ng Bayan (Obligations of our Countrymen)-
an outline of obligations just like the Ten Commandment, hence, it is
likewise called Ang Dekalogo.
Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog (What the Tagalogs should Know)- an essay
outlining the basic tenets of Bonifacio’s ideas on nationalism.
Other Examples:
Emilio Jacinto
Liwanag at Dilim (Light and Darkness)- a collection of essays on different
subjects like freedom, work, faith, government and love of country.

Apolinario Mabini
El Desarollo y Caida de la Republica Filipina (The Rise and Fall of the
Philippine Republic)- this essay highlights the establishment of the
Philippine Republic and its subsequent doom due to disunity among the
Filipinos
DR. JOSE RIZAL
El Filibusterismo- This is a sequel to the Noli. While Noli exposed
the evils in society, the Fili exposed those in the government and in
the church. However, the Noli has been dubbed the novel of society
while that of Fili is that of Politics.
Publications
El Heraldo de la Revolucion ( Herald of the Revolution)- printed
the decrees of the Revolutionary Government, news and works in
Tagalog that arouse nationalism. This is the Official Newspaper of
the Revolutionary Government of Aguinaldo

La Independencia (Independence)- an independent newspaper

founded and edited by General Antonio Luna.

La Republica Filipina (The Philippine Republic)- a private

newspaper edited by Pedro Paterno.

La Libertad (Liberty)- another private newspaper edited by

Clemente Zulueta.
1990-1942
The
American
Period
The American Period
 The Philippines had a great leap in Education and Culture.

 The use of English alongside Filipino was Practiced.

 The Philippine Public School System was introduced.

 Free public instruction

 The literature during the American Period was considered as

imitative of American model. Instead of asking the students to

write originals, students ended up following the form of
American poets.
FORM
1. Poetry – under the American rule still followed the style of the
old, but had contents that ranged from free writing to societal
concerns under the Americans.
2. Drama – was usually used in the American period to degrade
the Spanish rule and to immortalize the heroism of the men
who fought under the Katipunan.
3. Remake Novels – took up Dr. Jose Rizal’s portrayal of social
conditions by colonial repression.
POETRY
Jose Corazon de Jesus (1832-1896) popularly known as “Batute,”
created his own generation with his first book of poems.

Mga Gintong Dahon (1920) – were poems pre-occupied with such

non-traditional themes as passion-slaying, grief-induced, insanity,
and lover’s suicide.

Sa Dakong Silingan (1928) – returned to the awit form, retelling the

history of Philippines under Spain, the coming of the U.S. under the
guise of friendship to take over from Spain.
DRAMA

Severino Reyes (1861-1942) – spearheaded a movement to supplant

the komedya with a new type of drama, the zarzuela, a Filipino
adaptation of the Spanish zarzuela.
Example:

Walang Sugat (1902) – is a zarzuela (drama in the form of singing)

drawn from the period of revolution, depicting the cruelty and
corruption of friars and the heroism of the soldiers of the
katipunan.
Other successful zarzuelas:

Hindi Ako Patay (1903) by Juan Matapang Cruz

Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas (1903) by Aurelio Tolentino – is an

allegorical presentation of the history of the nationalist struggle and
how the U.S. frustrated the Philippine revolution.

Tanikalang Ginto (1902) by Juan Abad (1872-1932) – is about

Liwanag and K’Ulayaw, lovers who stand for freedom and the
Filipino
Remake Novels

Gabriel Beato Francisco (1850-1935) – is best known for his trilogy

of Fulgencia Galbillo (1907), Capitan Bensio (1907), Alfaro (1909),
depicting the 30 years of colonial repression by the Spanish rule.

Inigo Ed. Regalado (1888-1976) – Madaling Araw (1909) was his

first novel showing the complex interrelations of issues and people
in contemporary Philippine society.

Juan Lauro Arsciwals (1889-1928) – Lalaking Uliran o Tulisan

(1914), allusion to the colonial law that branded Filipino patriots as
bandits.
1941-1945
The
Japanese
Period
1946-1985
The
Republic
The Japanese Period and the Republic
 The Philippine literature came into a halt.

 The use of the English language was forbidden, and the use of

the Filipino language was mandated under the Japanese rule.

 For some this was a problem, but to most writers, it was a

blessing in disguise.
 Almost all news papers were stopped except for some.

 Filipino literature was given a break during this period. Many

wrote plays, poems, short stories, etc. Topics and themes were
often about life in the provinces.
  Poetry
 Fiction
 Drama
 Newspapers
 Essays

FORMS
DRAMA
The drama experienced a lull during the Japanese period because
movie houses showing American films were closed. The big movie
houses were just made to show stage shows. Many of the plays
were reproductions of English plays to Tagalog.

Newspaper

Writing that came out during this period were journalistic in

nature. Writers felt suppressed but slowly, the spirit of nationalism
started to seep into their consciousness. While some continued to
write, the majority waited for a better climate to publish their
works.
POETRY

The common theme of most poems during the Japanese occupation

was nationalism, country, love, and life in the barrios, faith, religion
and and the arts.

Fiction
The field of the short story widened during the Japanese
Occupation. Many wrote short stories.

Essays
Essays were composed to glorify the Filipinos and at the same time
to figuratively attack the Japanese.
LITERATURE
OF THE
PHILIPPINES
TODAY
 In the 21st century Philippines, there are a lot of
literary innovations that are adapted and created
by Filipinos. Nowadays, even those who do not
have any significant literary background make
their own way using the freedom that they have to
write and to express.

There are a lot of new forms from the basic genres

of literature; thus, proving how far the literature in
the Philippines has gone and how far it will go on
from here.

21 Century Literature
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