21st

Century Literature from the

Philippines and the World
LITERATURE
literatura
Literature (n) literatura/litteratura
letter or handwriting
The entire body of writings of a specific
language, period, people.
all written accounts, including texts that
are spoken or sung (oral literature).
 Literature in the Philippines
Colonial 21st Century
Period
Pre-colonial
Period

Spanish The Philippine

Colonization Republic
American
1987
Colonization
Constitution
Japanese January 1,
Colonization 2001
Pre-colonial
Literature
Philippine Pre-Colonial
Literature
•ancestors’ daily observations about life,
explanations for natural phenomena, and
beginnings of rituals
•passed on through oral tradition
•Written in baybayin.
1.Proverbs/Salawikain
Practical observations and philosophy
of everyday life usually expressed with
a rhyming scheme.
“Kung ano ang puno, siya ang bunga.”
“Kung walang tiyaga, walang nilaga.”
Philippine Pre-Colonial Forms of Literatu
2.Riddles/Bugtong
Observations, but phrased to demand answers
to test the wits of those who are listening.
“Heto na si Kaka, bubuka-bukaka”
“Hindi hari, hindi pari, damit ay
sari-sari.”
Philippine Pre-Colonial Forms of Literature
3.Folk Songs
Beautiful songs that are informal
expressions of ancestors’ experiences in life.
Sonorous, didactic like children’s songs.
Ranges from courtship, lullabies, harvest,
funerals
Philippine Pre-Colonial Forms of Literature
4.Myth & Legends/Alamat
Stories of origin of places, fruits, animals.
Explain certain events or phenomena in our
ancestors’ lives that cannot be explained by
limited science back then.

Philippine Pre-Colonial Forms of Literature

5.Epics/Epiko
Long-winded poems about a hero and his
adventures and misadventures
Based on the traditions and superstitions of the
region.
Heroes usually have superhuman capabilities
that had to undergo certain trials and challenges
to achieve his goal.

Philippine Pre-Colonial Forms of Literature

Templates of an Epic
1. most of these epics are designated by names which means
song, or chant
2. episodic and proceed through constructions that are en
palier.
3. abound with supernatural characters – the diwatas, anitos,
and other benign spirits who come to the aid of the hero.
4. reflective of the society where they originate
5. there are always several versions of these epics, as well as a
proliferation of episodes, phenomenon that is explained by
orality of the genre and its transmission through the ages

Philippine Pre-Colonial Forms of Literature

Spanish
Literature
 Literature in the Philippines
Colonial 21st Century
Period
Pre-colonial
Period

Spanish The Philippine

Colonization Republic
American
1987
Colonization
Constitution
Japanese January 1,
Colonization 2001
Spanish Period Literature
•“Divide et impera”
•Replaced pre-colonial literature with the
Christian values and beliefs
•The promise of eternal life
•Doctrina Christiana (1593)
Forms of Spanish Period
Literature
1. Religious Prose and Poetry
• teaching catechism and the
Spanish language.
• dalit, novena
Forms of Spanish Period
Literature
Pasyon
Komedya/Moro-Moro
Cenaculo
Carillo
Duplo/Karagatan
Tibag
Zarzuela
Forms of Spanish Period
Literature
1. Secular Prose and Poetry
•Awit- dodecasyllabic
•Korido-octosyllabic
Spanish Period Literature
Famous Literary Authors
1. Francisco Baltazar
2. Jose Corazon de Jesus
3. Jose Rizal
4. Marcelo H. del Pilar
The Nationalistic Period
•Late19 th Century focused on nationalistic
writings
•Propaganda and Revolution
•Lead by Rizal, Lopez-Jaena, Del Pilar,
Bonifacio, Jacinto, and Mabini
•Shift from “intellegentsia” to the masses
 Literature in the Philippines
Colonial 21st Century
Period
Pre-colonial
Period

Spanish The Philippine

Colonization Republic
American
1987
Colonization
Constitution
Japanese January 1,
Colonization 2001
American
Literature
American Period Literature
•English is the medium of instruction in the
schools.
•Style of writing is highly imitative of the
Americans.
•Jose Garcia Villa, “Art for art’s sake”
•“Golden Age of Philippine Literature”
TWO PERIODS
•Period of Apprenticeship
•Dead Stars, The Small Key, Footnote to Youth,
Child of Sorrow
•Period of Emergence
•Before the war and Japanese Occupation
•Arguilla, Rotor, Gonzales, Arcellana, Santos
Arts for Art’s Sake
•Emphasis on aesthetics than utilitarianism
•Jose Garcia Villa – The Coconut Song, 1929
•Angela Manalang Gloria- Poems, 1949
The Coconut Song, JG Villa
The coconuts have ripened,
They are like nipples to the tree.
(A woman has only two nipples,
There are many women-lives in a coconut tree.)
Soon the coconuts will grow heavy and full.
I shall pick up one … many.
Like a child I shall suck their milk,
I shall suck out of coconuts little white songs.
I shall be reminded of many women.
…
I shall kiss a coconut because it is the nipple of a woman
Forms of Literature
1. Poetry- socially communicative poems
2. Short Stories- Paz Marquez Benitez, Dead
Stars, 1925
3. Essays- Jeorge Bocobo, College Uneducation,
1942
4. Novels- A Child of Sorrow, Zoilo Galang,
1947
Japanese
occupation
Japanese Literary Period
•Different from the traditional Balagtas writing
that is verbose, rhetorical, and figurative
•Filipinos wrote in the vernacular, Nihonggo,
and English
•Poets wrote in simple language and free verse
Japanese Literary Period
•Ako ang Daigdig by Alejandro Abadilla
•Portray Filipino Life and Culture: Short
Story
•Flowering of a Tagalog Short Poetry
•Launching of the Palanca Awards
contemporary
Literature
 Literature in the Philippines
Colonial 21st Century
Period
Pre-colonial
Period

Spanish The Philippine

Colonization Republic
American
1987
Colonization
Constitution
Japanese January 1,
Colonization 2001
Contemporary Literature
• focused on self-expression and social
commentary
•Featured upheavals in nation’s history
•Covered martial law years
•Merging of traditions
•The “bagay” movement- appropriate, or object
 Valediction sa Hillcrest
Pagkacollect ng Railway Express sa aking things
(derecho na iyon sa barko while I take the plane),
inakyat kong muli ang N-311, at dahil dead of
winter, nakatopcoat at galoshes akong nagturn
right sa N wing ng mahabang dilim (tunnel yatang
aabot hanggang Tundo). Kinapa ko ang switch sa
hall.Sa isang pitik, nagshrink ang imaginary
tunnel, nagparang ataol.
-Rolando S. Tinio
Contemporary Literature
•Gave responses to historical and political
forces
•Martial Law- “literature of circumvention,”
Prometheus Unbound
Ruben Cuevas

Mars shall glow tonight,

Artemis is out of sight.
Rust in the twilight sky
Colors a bloodshot eye,
Or shall I say that dust
Sunders the sleep of just?
Prometheus Unbound
Ruben Cuevas

Hold fast to the gift of fire!

I am rage! I am wrath! I am ire!
The vulture sits on my rock,
Licks at the chains that mock
Emancipation’s breath,
Reeks of death, death, death.
 Prometheus Unbound
Ruben Cuevas

Death shall not unclench me.

I am earth, wind, and sea!
Kisses bestow on the brave
That defy the damp of the grave
And strike the chill hand of
Death with the flaming sword of love.
Prometheus Unbound
Ruben Cuevas

Orion stirs. The vulture

Retreats from the hard, pure
Thrusts of the spark that burns,
Unbounds, departs, returns
To pluck out of death’s fist
A god who dared to resist.
21stCentury
Literature
 Literature in the Philippines
Colonial 21st Century
Period
Pre-colonial
Period

Spanish The Philippine

Colonization Republic
American
1987
Colonization
Constitution
Japanese January 1,
Colonization 2001
21st Century Literature
• all literary works written and published at the
latter part of the 21st century (from 2001
onwards).
•gender sensitive, technologically alluding,
culturally pluralistic, operates on the extreme
reality or extreme fiction, and questions
conventions and supposedly absolute norms.