The Literary Forms

In
Philippine Literature

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The Literary Forms in Philippine Literature

• The diversity and richness of Philippines literature evolved side

by side with the country’s history.

• Philippine “history” started only in 1521.

• The rousing of nationalistic pride in the 1960s and 1970s also h

elped bring about this change of attitude among a new breed of
Filipinos concerned about the “Filipino identity”.
Pre-Colonial Times
Pre-colonial inhabitants of our islands showcase a
rich past through their folk speeches, folk songs,
folk narratives and indigenous rituals and mimetic
dances that affirm our ties with our Southeast
Asian neighbors.

The most seminal of these folk speeches is the

riddle which is tigmo in Cebuano, bugtong in
Tagalog, paktaton in Ilongo and patototdon in Bicol.
Central to the riddle is the talinghaga or methapor.
The proverbs or aphorisms express norms or codes
of behavior, community beliefs or they instill values
by offering nuggets of wisdom in short, rhyming ver
se.

The extended form, “tanaga”, a mono-riming heptas

yllabic quatrain expressing insights and lessons on
life is more emotionally charged than the terse prov
erb and thus has affinities with the folk lyric.
The folk song

A form of folk lyric which expresses the hopes and as

pirations, the people’s lifestyle as well as their loves.

Examples:
Ili-ili, panawagon, harana, bayok
The folk narratives
i.e. epics and folk tales are varied, exotic and magical

Fables are about animals and these moral lessons.

Our country’s epics are considered are considered ethno-
epics
The epics come in various names: Guman (Subanon); Darangen (Marana
o); Hudhud (Ifugao); and Ulahingan (Manobo)

Examples:
Lam-ang, Hinilawod, Kudaman, Ulahangin
The Spanish Colonial Tradition
• Religion and institutions that represented European civiliza
tion enriched the languages in the lowlands, introduced th
eater which we would come to know as komedya, the sina
kulo, the sarswela, the playlets and the drama.

• Spain also brought to the country, though at a much later

time, liberal ideas and an internationalism that influenced
our own Filipino intellectuals and writers for them to unde
rstand the meanings of “liberty and freedom”.

• Literature in this period may be classified as religious pros

e and poetry and secular prose and poetry.
Example:

Gaspar Aquino de Belen’s “Ang Mahal na Passion ni Jesu Christ

ong Panginoon natin na tola” (Holy Passion of Our Lord Jesus C
hrist in Verse) put out in 1704 is the country’s earliest known p
asyon.
The most notable of the secular lyrics followed the conventions
of a romantic tradition: the languishing but loyal lover, the elus
ive, often heartless beloved, the rival. The leading poets were Jo
se Corazon de Jesus (Huseng Sisiw) and Francisco Balagtas. So
me secular poets who wrote in this same tradition were Leona
Florentino, Jacinto Kawili, Isabelo delos Reyes and Rafael Gand
ioco.
Another popular secular poetry is the metrical ro
mance, the awit is set in dodecasyllabic quatrain
s.

The winds of change began to blow in 19th

century Philippines. Filipino instellecuals educat
ed in Europe called ilustrasdos began to write ab
out the downside of colonization. This, coupled
with the simmering calls for reforms by the mass
es gathered a formidable froce of writers like Jos
e Rizal, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Mariano Ponce, Emi
lio Jacinto and Andres Bonifacio.
This led to the formation of the Propaganda Movem
ent where prose works such as the political essays
and Rizal’s two political novels, Noli Me Tangere an
d the El Filibusterismo helped usher in the Philippi
ne revolution resulting in the downfall of the Spani
sh regime, and at the same time planted the seeds
of a national consciousness among Filipinos.
The American Colonial Period
New literary forms such as free verse, the modern short s
tory and the critical essay were introduced.

The poet, and later, National Artist for Literature, Joe Ga

rcia Villa used free verse and espoused the dictum, “Art f
or art’s sake” to the chagrin of other writers more concer
ned with the utilitarian aspect of literature.

The Balagtas tradition persisted until the poet Alenjandr

o G. Abdilla advocated modernism in poetry. Abadilla lat
er influenced young poets who wrote modern verses in th
e 1960s such as Virgilio S. Almario, Pedro I. Ricarte and
Rolando S. Tinio.
Filipino seemed to have taken easily to the modern short
story as published in the Philippines Free Press, the Coll
ege Folio and Philippines Herald.

Paz Marquez Benitez’s “Dead Stars” published in 1925 w

as the first successful short story in English by a Filipino
. Later on, Arturo B. Rotor and Manuel E. Arguilla Showe
d exceptional skills with the short story.

The romantic tradition was fused with American pop cult

ure or European influences in the adaptations of Edgar
Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan by. F.P. Boquecosa who also pen
ned Ang Palad ni Pepe after Charles Dicken’s David Copp
erfield.
The essay in English became a potent med
ium from the 1920’s to the present. Some l
eading essayists were journalists like Carl
os P. Romulo, Jorge Bocobo, Pura Santilla
n Castrence, etc. who wrote formal to hum
orous to informal essays for the delectatio
n by Filipinos.

Among those who wrote criticism develope

d during the American period were Ignacio
Manlapaz, Leopoldo Yabes and I.V. Mallari
.
The Contemporary Period
Filipino writers continue to write poetry, short stori
es, novellas, novels and essays.

Filipino writer has become more conscious of his ar

t. The various literary awards such as the Don Carl
os Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, the Phil
ippines Free Press, Philippines Graphic, Home life
and Panorama literary awards encourage him to co
mpete with his peers and hope that his creative effo
rts will be rewarded in the long run.
 With the new requirement by the Commission
on Higher Education of teaching of Philippine Literat
ure in all tertiary schools in the country emphasizing
the teaching of the vernacular literature or literatures
of the regions, the audience for Filipino writers is virt
ually assured. And perhaps, a national literature findi
ng its niche among the literatures of the world will no
t be far behind.