Philippine Literature in

English and Time Frames

Prepared By:
DANTE B. RAMOS
Asst Prof.
It can be said that Philippine
literature in English has
achieved a stature that is, in a
way, phenomenal since the
inception of English in our
culture.
Our written literature, which is about four
hundred years old, is one of slow and
evolutionary growth. Our writers strove to
express their sentiments while struggling
with a foreign medium. The great mass of
literature in English that we have today is,
indeed, a tribute to what our writers have
achieved in the short span of time.
Much is still to be achieved. Our
writers have yet to write their
Magnum Opus (a large and
important work of art, music, or
literature, especially one regarded as
the most important work of an artist
or writer).
Famous Paintings

• The Birth of Venus (Sandro Botticelli)

• American Gothic (Grant Wood)
• Whistler’s Mother (James McNeill Whistler)
• The Scream (Edvard Munch)
• Starry Night (Vincent Van Gogh)
• The Creation of Adam (Michelangelo)
• The Last Supper (Leonardo da Vinci)
• Monalisa (Leonoardo da Vinci)
The Birth of Venus (Sandro Botticelli)

“Birth of Venus”, the composition actually

 

shows the goddess of love and beauty

arriving on land, on the island of Cyprus,
born of the sea spray and blown there by the
winds, Zephyr and, perhaps, Aura. The
goddess is standing on a giant scallop shell, as
pure and as perfect as a pearl.
American Gothic (Grant Wood)

The painting is both real and symbolic.

Placing a man and woman in front of the
house, it is believed that Wood refers to the
association Americans have with their
homes as extensions of themselves,
especially in rural America.
Whistler’s Mother (James McNeill Whistler)

Mom's Home. The mysteries of “Whistler's

Mother.” ... The painting represents the peak
of Whistler's radical method of modulating
tones of single colors. The paint looks soft,
almost fuzzy—as if it were exhaled onto the
surface.
When he painted The Scream in 1893,
Munch was inspired by “a gust of
melancholy,” as he declared in his diary. It's
because of this, coupled with the artist's
personal life trauma, that the painting takes
on a feeling of alienation, of the abnorm
The Creation of Adam (Michelangelo)
Creation of Adam is a famous religious moment in the
teachings of Christianity which remains strong within
Italy. The painting captures the scene of God breathing
life into Adam who was to become the first man and
was later joined together with Eve who helped to start
off the human race as we know it.
The Last Supper (Leonardo da Vinci)

The painting represents the scene of the

Last Supper of Jesus with the Twelve
Apostles, as it is told in the Gospel of
John – specifically the moment after
Jesus announces that one of his apostles
will betray him
Monalisa (Leonoardo da Vinci)

Mona Lisa, also known as La Gioconda, is the wife

of Francesco del Giocondo. ... It is a visual
representation of the idea of happiness
suggested by the word "gioconda" in Italian.
Leonardo made this notion of happiness the
central motif of the portrait: it is this notion that
makes the work such an ideal.
History and literature are slowly
unfolding before us and we are
as witnesses in the assembly
lines to an evolving literary life.
 
Time frames may not be necessary in a study of
literature, but since literature and history are
inescapably related it has become facilitative to map up
a system which will aid us in delineating certain time
boundaries.These time boundaries are not exactly well
defined; very often, time frames blend into another in a
seeming continuum. For a systematic discussion of the
traditions, customs, and feelings of our people that can
be traced in our literature, we shall adopt certain
delimitations.
Criteria of Literature
 

fictionality – product of imagination

specialized language – differs considerably from normal everyday
language
 lack of pragmatic function – not have been intended by the author for
any specific purpose
ambiguity – open to interpretation
enduring – lasting, not ephemeral
 
expression­– sharing; a manifestation

significant – important, necessary, meaningful

human – people; different human conditions

experience – heart of literature

words - well-chosen and arranged