Periods of Philippine

Literature

 Pre- Colonial Period
(from _ BC-1564)

It is the longest period in
Philippine literature.
Much of it was handed down to
us by our tribal ancestors in the
form of epics, tales, songs, riddles,
and proverbs.
 EPICS
These are long narrative poems
about heroic adventures.
Songs

Songs were sung on important
occasions such as:

birth
death
weddings
wars
harvesting and planting seasons
 Songs integrated into
the daily tasks:

lullabies
love songs
rowing songs
work songs
songs for religious rituals
 Riddles

Riddles are made up of measured lines with
rhymes. One or more images are used as
metaphor to refer to an object to be guessed.
Example:
Nang hatakin ko ang baging, nagkagulo ang
mga matsing.
(When I tugged on the vine, the monkeys
went crazy.)
 Answer:
Large Bell
 Filipino Riddle:
Dalawa kong kahon, buksan
walang ugong.

English Translation:
My two boxes can be opened
without a sound
Answer:
Eyes
 Langit sa itaas, langit sa
ibaba, may tubig sa gitna.

English Translation:
Heaven above, heaven
below, there’s water in
between.
 Answer:
Coconut fruit
 Baboy ko sa pulo,
ang balahibo'y pako.


English Translation:
My pig from an island is bristled
with nails.
Answer:
Jackfruit
 Proverbs (Mga
Salawikain)

• 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.
Example:


Salawikain

 Works in Prose

1. Myths
A myth is a classic or legendary
story that explains mysteries of
nature, existence, or the universe
with no true basis in fact.
 Examples:

How The World Began


 
-There is Bathala for the Tagalogs
and the Gueurang for the
Bikolanos.
- Paradise is known as Maca, while
Hell is Kasanaaan
 Folktales

 A Folk tale is a story or legend forming part of an oral
tradition. It is passed on by word of mouth rather than by
writing, and thus partly modified by successive re‐tellings
before being written down or recorded.

 Examples:

Abadeha: The Philippine Cinderella

Origin of Bagobo
 Fables

These are brief
stories that teach
a moral or a
lesson. Often the
characters in
fables are animals
that speak and
act like humans.
 Legends
Ex. The Legend of
 These are
Maria Makiling
traditional and
unverified
stories about
the origin of
things.
 Fantastic Stories

These dealt with
underworld characters such
as “tiyanak, aswang, kapre,
nuno sa punso.
Tiyanak
Aswang
1521-1898
The
SPANISH
Period
The Spanish Period

• The start of the Philippine's more

colorful history took place in
March6, 1521 when Ferdinand
Magellan docked on the shores of
Homonhon.
• The Filipinos were then called
“Ladinos”, meaning they were
latinized.
The Spanish Period
• 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 Taga-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.
 Forms
2. Secular or
1. Religious
Non-Religious
Literature
Literature
a. Pasyon a. Awit
b. Senakulo b. Korido
c. Komedya c. Prose Narratives

3. Propaganda 4. Revolutionary
Literature Literature
 Religious Literature
- Revolves around the life
and the death of Jesus Christ.
Forms of Religious Literature:

Pasyon- it is about the passion (journey and suffering) and the death
of Jesus Christ.

Senakulo- it is the re-enctment 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 religous, 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.
Cl i c k i c o n t o a d d
picture
Forms of Secular or Non-Religious
Literature:

Awit- these are tales of

chivalry where a knight saves a
princess.
Florante at Laura is a good example.
 Secular or Non- Religious Literature

Korido- is a metrical tale or a tale

that follows the structure of a poem.
Example:

 Prose Narratives- 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.
 1864-1896
The
Nationalistic
Period
 Nationalistic Period/
Propaganda and Revolutionary Period

3. Propaganda 4. Revolutionary Literature

Literature
 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. Jose Rizal,
Marcelo H. Del Pilar, and
Graciano Lopez

.

EL FILIBUSTERISMO


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
Publications

El Heraldo de la Revolucion (Herald of the Revolution)

– printed the decrees of the Revolutionary
Government, news and works in Tagalog that aroused 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.
1900-1942
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 Philippines' Public School
system was introduced
• Free public instruction was
given to the Filipinos.
• 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.
 Forms
1.Poetry- 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 traditional themes as
passion-slaying
grief-induced, insanity, and lover’s suicide.

Sa Dakong Silangan (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 sarsuwela, a Filipino
adaptation of the Spanish zarzuela.

Examples:

Walang Sugat (1902)- is a sarsuwela (drama in the form

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 sarsuwelas:

Hindi Aco 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 Guinto (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.
 Prose Writers

 A. The Period of Apprenticeship (1910-1930)

 Paz Marquez Benitez- Dead Stars

 Paz Latorena- The Small Key (short story)
 Jose Garcia Villa- Footnote to Youth (short story)
 Alfredo Litiaco-It Isn’t Just Horses (short story)
 Zolio Galang- Chld of Sorrow (first novel written
in English)
B. The Period of Emergence (1920-1945)
Manuel Arguilla
Arturo Rotor
N.V.M. Gonzalez
Francisco Arcellana
Bienvinido Santos
1941-1945
The
JAPANESE
Period
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.
Forms
1. Poetry

2. Fiction

3. Drama

4. Newspapers

5. Essays
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.
Newspapers
Writings 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.

Essays
Essays were composed to gorify the Filipinos
and at the same time to figuratively attack the Japanese.
 NOTABLE WRITERS

 Alejandro Abadilla
 Macario Pineda
 Narciso Reyes
 Jose Garcia Villa
 N.V. M. Gonzales
 Bienvenido Santos
 Gregorio Brillantes
 Nick Joaquin
 Gilda Cordero Fernando
 1960-PRESENT

CONTEMPORARY/
MODERN PERIOD
In the 21st centruy 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 froms 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.
END
