21st Century Literature - Reviewer

L1: Mapping our Literary Past, Present, and Future

What is literature?
• Latin litera
– Letter
• Any printed matter written within a book, a magazine or a pamphlet
• A faithful reproduction of man’s manifold experiences blended into one
harmonious expression
• The story of man
Literary compositions that have influenced the world:
• The Bible or the Sacred Writings - became the basis of Christianity originating from
Palestine and Greece

• Koran - The Muslim bible from Arabia

• The Iliad and the Odyssey - Have been the source of myths and legends of Greece. It
was written by Homer (blind poet)

• The Mahab-harata - longest epic of the world; contains the history of religion in India
• Canterbury Tales - depicts the religion and customs of the English in early days;
originated from England and was written by Geoffrey Chaucer

• Uncle Tom’s Cabin – written by Harriet Beecher Stowe of the US. Depicted the sad
fate of slaves; this became the basis of democracy

• The Divine Comedy – written by Dante Aliegheri of Italy. Shows the religion and
customs of the early Italians

• El Cid Campeador - shows the cultural characteristics of the Spaniards and their
national history

• The Song of Roland - tells about the golden age of France

• The Book of the Dead - includes the cult of Osiris and the mythology and theology of
Egypt

• The Book of the Days - written by Confucius; became the basis of the Christian
religion

• One Thousand and One Nights a.k.a The Arabian Nights - from Arabia and Persia;
this shows the ways of government of industries and of the society of the Arabs and
Persians
What is 21st Century Literature?
• All literary works written and published at the latter part of the 21st century (from
2001 onwards).
• Often characterized as gender sensitive, technologically alluding, operates on the
extreme fiction, and questions conventions and supposedly absolute norms.

Philippine Precolonial Literature

Before the Philippines was colonized, it was already brimming with rich tradition of oral
literature – countless myths and legends to explain certain phenomena in life – had
stories how the world was created – why there is sun in the morning, moon at night,
how mountain was formed, why there are earthquakes, and other life events.
Since paper is not invented yet, many of these tales were not preserved and have
vanished, though some survived and most of it are epics and folklores.
Why is it important to learn about the precolonial literature of the Philippines?
• The longest in Philippine literary history
• Westerners referred to our archipelago as “Las Islas Filipinas” (1521)
• Oral lore/literature
• Literary works are created in the setting of the society where there is economic
subsistence: land, water and forest
1. Proverbs
• Salawikain
• Practical observations and philosophy of everyday life that are written usually in a
rhyming scheme
• Example:
– Kung may tiyaga, may nilaga (If you don’t persevere, you can expect no
reward)
– Kung ano ang puno, sya ang bunga (Whatever the tree, so is the fruit)
2. Riddles
• Bugtong
• They are like proverbs yet it demands an answer and are used to test wits of
those who are listening to them
• Example:
 – Heto na si Kaka, bubuka-bukaka.
– Sa araw ay bungbong, sa gabi ay dahon.
3. Tanaga
• Expresses insights and lessons on life
• A type of short Filipino poem, consisting of four lines with seven syllables each
with the same rhyme at the end of each line (aaaa or aabb, abba, or abab rhyme
scheme)
4. Folksongs
• Beautiful song that are informal expressions of our ancestors’ experiences in life
• Range from courtship (harana or serenade) to lullabies, harvests, funerals, and
others
• Examples:
– Bahay Kubo
– Magtanim ay Di Biro
– Dandansoy
– Atin Cu Pung Singsing
Kinds of Folksongs:
• Uyayi – lullaby (hele)
• Kumintang - dance-songs performed by pairs of men and women, with texts concerning
love and courtship

• Kundiman - Filipino love song

• Harana - traditional form of courtship in the Philippines
• Tagay - drinking songs
• Mambayu - rice-pounding song among Kalinga women
• Tagulaylay - funeral songs or eulogies; mourning or mournful song
“taghoy” – lament; “alalay” – sustained

5. Tales
• Myths and legends
• Stories of origin for certain places, their names, and their creation
 • Usually used to explain certain events or phenomena in our ancestor’s lives that
cannot be explained by limited practical kind of science they knew back then
a. Legend – a traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but
unauthenticated; the common theme of which is about the origin of a thing, place,
location or name
b. Myth - explains how the world was created, how certain animals possess certain
characteristics, why some places have waterfalls, volcanoes, mountains, flora or
fauna; examples are creation myths like Tungkung Langit and Alunsina (Panay), Si
Malakas at Si Maganda
6. Fables
• Used animal characters
• Examples are The Monkey and the Turtle, The Ant and the Grasshopper, The
Lion and the Mouse, etc.
7. Epic
• Long-winded poems about a hero and his adventures and misadventures
• Examples include Biag ni Lam-ang (Ilocano), Hudhud (Ifugao) and Hinilawod
(Panay), Bantugan (Maranaw)