GE 6222 / Philippine Popular Culture

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Philippine Pop Culture: Literature

Module 10: Philippine Pop Culture: Literature

Course Learning Outcomes:

1. Explain Philippine literature.

2. Identify the Philippine literature according to different periods.

Philippine literature

Philippine literature is literature from prehistory, through its colonial legacies, and through the present,
connected with the Philippines.

Pre-Hispanic literature in the Philippines was in fact epics passed down from generation to generation,
initially through an oral tradition. Wealthy families, however, particularly in Mindanao, have managed to
keep transcribed copies of these epics as family heirloom. One such was the Maranaos Darangen, an epic.

The Philippine Literary Forms

Philippine literature's diversity and richness grew with the country's history. This is best understood in
the sense of the pre-colonial cultural cultures of the world and the socio-political backgrounds of their
colonial and contemporary practices.

The typical unfamiliarity of Filipino with his indigenous literature was primarily due to what was
impressed upon him: that his country had been "discovered" and, thus, Philippine "history" only began in
1521.

Colonialists 'efforts to blot out the memory of the predominantly oral history of the country have been so
successful that today's Filipino writers, musicians, and journalists are trying to redress this inequity by
identifying and disseminating the wealth of ethnic traditions in the country in schools and in the mass
media.

The nationalistic pride rousings of the 1960s and 1970s have helped bring about this change of mindset
among a new generation of Filipinos concerned about the "Filipino heritage."
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Philippine Pop Culture: Literature

Pre-Colonial Times

Thanks to the work of our own archaeologists, ethnologists and anthropologists, we are able to learn more
and better information about our pre-colonial times against the bulk of the material about the early
Filipinos recorded by the Spanish, Chinese, Arabic and other chroniclers of the past.

The pre-colonial inhabitants of our islands show a rich past through their folk speeches, folk songs, folk
narratives and indigenous rituals and mimetic dances that confirm our ties with our Southeast Asian
neighbors.

The most important of these folk speeches is the riddle of tigmo in Cebuano, bugtong in Tagalog, paktakon
in Ilongo, and patotototdon in Bicol. The talinghaga or metaphor is central to the riddle, as it "reveals subtle
parallels between two unlike objects" and brings one's power of perception and humor to the test. While
some riddles are brilliant, some are on the verge of obscenity or are sex-related.

Gaddang:

Gongonan nu usin y amam If you pull your daddy's penis

Maggirawa pay sila y inam. Your mommy's vagina, too,
(Campana) screams. (Bell)

Proverbs or aphorisms express norms or codes of conduct, community beliefs or values by offering nuggets
of wisdom in a short, rhyming verse.

The extended form, the tanaga, the mono-riming heptasyllabic quatrain, which expresses insights and
lessons about life, is "more emotionally charged than the treacherous proverb, and thus has an affinity with
folk lyrics." Examples are the basalhanon or extended didactic sayings of Bukidnon and the daraida and
daragilon of Panay.

Folk song, a form of folk lyric that expresses hopes and aspirations, people's lifestyles as well as their loves.
As in children's songs or Ida-ida (Maguindanao), tulang pambata (Tagalog), or cansiones para abbing
(Ibanag), these are frequently repetitive and sonorous, didactic and naã¯ve.

Examples include lullabyes or Ili-ili (Ilongo); love songs such as panawagon and balitao (Ilongo); harana or
serenade (Cebuano); bayok (Maranao); seven-syllable poems per line; Mangyan ambahans which are
about human relationships, social entertainment and also serve as a tool for teaching young people; work
songs that depict people's livelihoods often sung to go with workers 'movements such as the Kalusan
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(Ivatan), the soliranin (Tagalog rowing song) or the mambayu, the Kalinga rice-pounding song; verbal
jousts / games like the duplo popular during the wakes.

Other folk songs are the drinking songs sung during carousels such as the tagay (Cebuano and Waray);
dirges and lamentations extolling the deeds of the dead, such as the canoe (Cebuano) or the Annako
(Bontoc).

A type of narrative song or kissa between the Tausug of Mindanao, the parang sabil, uses the exploits of
historical and legendary heroes for its subject matter. This speaks of a Muslim hero at the hands of non-
Muslims seeking death.

Folk narratives, i.e. epics and folk stories, are varied, exotic and magical. They explain how the world was
made, how some animals possess some attributes, why certain places have waterfalls, volcanoes,
mountains, flora or fauna, and an explanation of the nature of things in the case of legends. Fables are about
the animals and give moral lessons to them.

Our country's epics are considered ethno-epics because, unlike, say, Germany's Niebelunginlied, our epics
are not national because they are "histories" of diverse groups that consider themselves "nations."

There are specific names to the epics: Guman (Subanon); Darangen (Maranao); Hudhud (Ifugao); and
Ulahingan (Manobo). Such epics revolve around supernatural events or heroic actions, and reflect or affirm
a community's values and traditions and ideals. These are sung or chanted accompanying indigenous
musical instruments and dances performed by chanters during harvests, marriages, or funerals. The
chanters their ancestors taught are considered in their cultures to be "treasures" and/or sources of
knowledge.

Examples of these are the Lam-ang (Ilocano); Hinilawod (Sulod); Kudaman (Palawan); Darangen
(Maranao); Ulahingan (Livunganen-Arumanen Manobo); Mangovayt Buhong na Langit (Tuwaang —
Manobo Maiden); Ag Tobig nég Keboklagan (Subanon); and Tudbulol (T'boli).

The Spanish Colonial Tradition

Although it is true that for more superficial purposes Spain subjugated the Philippines, this former
European force contributed greatly to the creation and documentation of our literature. Religion and
institutions that served European culture enriched the languages of the lowlands, introduced theatre,
which we would come to know as komedya, sinakulo, sarswela, playlets and drama. Spain also brought
liberal ideas and an internationalism to the country, albeit much later, that influenced our own Filipino
intellectuals and writers to understand the meanings of "freedom and freedom."

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Religious prose and poetry, and secular prose and poetry can be categorized as literature in this age.

Early catechism included religious songs penned by ladino poets or those versed in both Spanish and
Tagalog and were used to teach the Spanish language to Filipinos. The "Salamat nang walang hanga /
gracias de sin sempiternas" (Unending thanks) by Fernando Bagonbanta is a fine example contained in the
Memorial de la vida cristiana en lengua tagala, published in 1605.

One type of religious lyrics are the meditative verses such as the dalit appended to catechisms and novenas.
Though a number are written in octosyllabic quatrains and have a solemn tone and spiritual subject matter,
it has no fixed meter nor rime scheme.

But among the religious poetry of the day, it is the pasyon in octosyllabic quintillas that has been etched in
the commemoration of Christ's suffering and resurrection at Calvary by the Philippines. The "Ang Mahal
na Passion ni Jesu Christong Panginoon natin na tola" (Holy Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ in verse) by
Gaspar Aquino de Belen published in 1704 is the earliest known pasyon in the world.

Throughout the Lenten season other known pasyons are in Ilocano, Pangasinan, Ibanag, Cebuano, Bicol,
Ilongo and Waray.

Apart from religious poetry, various types of narratives of prose were written to administer proper
decorum. Such narratives of prose were also used for proselization as was the pasyon. Some types are:
dialog (dialogue), urbanity manual (book of conduct); example (exemplum) and treatado (tratado). The
most well-known are the "Pagsusulatan ng Dalawang Binibini na si Urbana at si Feliza" (Correspondence
between the Two Maidens Urbana and Feliza) by Modesto de Castro in 1864 and the "Ang Bagong
Robinson" (The New Robinson) by Joaquin Tuason in 1879, an adaptation of the novel by Daniel Defoe.

Secular plays have emerged amid social and economic transitions, the rise of an opulent class and the
middle class that could take advantage of a European education. This elite in Filipino could now read
printed works which used to be the missionaries 'exclusive domain.

The most popular of secular songs followed a romantic tradition's conventions: the languishing yet devoted
lover, the mysterious, sometimes heartless, competitor. The poets that were leading were Jose Corazon de
Jesus (Huseng Sisiw) and Francisco Balagtas. Some secular poets were Leona Florentino, Jacinto Kawili,
Isabelo de los Reyes and Rafael Gandioco who wrote in this same tradition.

The metrical romance, awit, and korido in Tagalog is another popular secular poetry. The awit is set in
dodecasyllabic quatrains and in octosyllabic quatrains, the corido is set in. There are vivid tales of cavalry
made for singing and chanting from European sources such as Gonzalo de Cordoba (Gonzalo of Córdoba)
and Ibong Adarna (Adarna Bird). In Tagalog, Bicol, Ilongo, Pampango, Ilocano and in Pangasinan there are
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various metrical romances. The awit as a prominent poetic genre reached new heights in Balagtas
'"Florante at Laura" (approx. 1838-1861), the most famous of metric romances in the world.

Once, in 19th century Philippines, the winds of change started to blow. Filipino intellectuals trained in
Europe, called ilustrados, began writing about the colonization downside. This, combined with the masses
'simmering demands for reforms, gathered a formidable force from writers such as Jose Rizal, Marcelo H.
Del Pilar, Emilio Jacinto, Mariano Ponce and Andrés Bonifacio.

This led to the emergence of the Propaganda Movement, where prose works such as the political essays
and two political novels by Rizal, Noli Me Tangere and El filibusterismo, helped usher in the Philippine
revolution leading to the overthrow of the Spanish government, while simultaneously planting the seeds
of a Filipino national consciousness.

Yet if the novels of Rizal are political, Pedro Paterno's novel Ninay (1885) is primarily cultural, and is
considered the first Filipino book. While Paterno's Ninay gave impetus to more writing in Spanish to other
novelists such as Jesus Balmori and Antonio M. Abad, this did not flourish.

Other Filipino writers published the essay and short fiction in Spanish in La Vanguardia, El Debate,
Renacimiento Filipino, and Nueva Era. The more notable essayists and fictionists were Claro M. Recto,
Teodoro M. Kalaw, Epifanio de los Reyes, Vicente Sotto, Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, Rafael Palma, Enrique
Laygo (Caretas or Masks, 1925) and Balmori who mastered the prosa romantica or romantic prose.

Yet the arrival of English as the teaching medium in the Philippines hastened the decline of Spanish so that
English writing had overtaken Spanish writing by the 1930's. Nevertheless, writing in the romantic style,
from the awit and korido, will continue in Magdalena Jalandoni's novels, during the death throes of the
language. Under the new colonialists patriotic writing persisted, however. These appeared during the
Spanish era in the vernacular poetry and modern versions of the plays, which preserved the Spanish
tradition further.

The American Colonial Period

New changes in Philippine literature carried with it a new set of colonizers. New literary styles were
introduced such as the free verse [in poetry], the modern short story and the critical essay. American
influence was profoundly rooted in the firm establishment of English as the medium of instruction in all
schools and in literary modernism that emphasized the individuality of the writer and cultivated artisanal
culture, often at the expense of social conscience.

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The author, and later the National Artist for Literature, Jose Garcia Villa, used a free verse and adopted the
dictum, "Art for the sake of art," to the chagrin of other authors who were more concerned with the
utilitarian dimension of literature. Another poetry maverick who used the free verse and talked in her
poetry about unlawful love was Angela Manalang Gloria, a woman poet who described her time ahead.
Given the new dispensation's danger of censorship, more authors turned up "seditious plays" and popular
writing in the native languages flourished through the weekly outlets including Liway and Bisaya.

Tradition of Balagtas continued until poet Alejandro G. Abadilla promoted literary modernism. Later,
Abadilla inspired young poets who wrote modern verses such as Virgilio S. Almario, Pedro I. Ricarte and
Rolando S. Tinio in the 1960s.

While the early Filipino poets struggled with the new language's realities, Filipinos seemed to have easily
taken up the modern short story as written in the Philippines Free Press, College Folio, and Philippines
Herald. The "Missing Stars" published by Paz Marquez Benitez in 1925 was the first popular short story
written by a Filipino in English. Later the short story demonstrated outstanding skills to Arturo B. Rotor
and Manuel E. Arguilla.

In addition to this growth, writers in the provinces continued to write in the vernaculars. Those such as
Lope K. Santos, Valeriano Hernandez Peña and Patricio Mariano wrote brief narratives that mirrored the
early Tagalog short fiction called dali or pasingaw.

The romantic tradition in F's adaptations of Edgar Rice Burroughs 'Tarzan was fused with American pop
culture or European influences. In the novels by Lope K. Santos and Faustino Aguilar, among others, P.
Boquecosa who also penned Ang Palad ni Pepe after Charles Dicken's David Copperfield even as the
realistic tradition had been kept alive.

It should be noted that the novel in the vernaculars continued to be published and serialized in weekly
magazines like Liwayway, Bisaya, Hiligaynon and Bannawag, though there was a dearth of the Filipino
novel in English.

Since the 1920s to the present the essay in English was a potent medium. Journalists such as Carlos P.
Romulo, Jorge Bocobo, Pura Santillan Castrence, etc. were some of the leading essayists who wrote formal
to humorous to informal essays to delight Filipinos.

Ignacio Manlapaz, Leopoldo Yabes and I.V. Mallari were among those who wrote critiques established
during the American. Yet it was the critique of Salvador P. Lopez that caught attention when he received
the 1940 Commonwealth Literay Award for his "Literature and Culture" for the essay. This essay suggested
that literature must have substance, and that Villa's adherence to "Art for Art's Sake" is decadent.
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Around the same time, with the advent of the New Critical Aesthetics, the last throes of American
colonialism saw the flowering of Philippine literature in English, made writers pay careful attention to art
and "indirectly engendered a disgusting attitude" towards vernacular writings — a conflict that would
recur in contemporary times.

The Contemporary Period

The flowering of Philippine literature in the different languages particularly continues with the
introduction of new publications after the years of Martial Law and the revival of dedicated literature in
the 1960s and 1970s.

Filipino authors continue to write poetry, short stories, novels, novels, and essays whether they are socially
committed, linked to gender / ethnics, or personal purpose.

Of course, with the proliferation of writers 'workshops here and abroad and the bulk of literature
accessible to him through the mass media including the internet, the Filipino writer has become more
conscious of his craft. The numerous literary awards such as the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for
Literature, the Free Press of the Philippines, Philippine Graphic, Home Life and Panorama literary awards
inspire him to contend with his peers and hope that his artistic works will be recognized in the long term.

With the new provision of Philippine Literature teaching in all tertiary schools in the country by the
Commission on Higher Education emphasizing the teaching of the region's vernacular literature or
literatures, the market for Philippine authors is practically guaranteed. And, maybe, not far behind would
be a national literature seeking its place among the world's literatures.

References and Supplementary Materials

Online Supplementary Reading Materials

1. Wikipedia; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_literature; April 10, 2020
2. Godinez-Ortega, Christine F. The Literary Forms in Philippine Literature. Seasite.
Retrieved from
http://www.seasite.niu.edu/tagalog/literature/literary_forms_in_philippine_lit.htm
on April 10, 2020

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