FEATURES OF THE 21st CENTURY
It began on January 1, 2001, and will end on December 31,
2100.
“Century of Inventions”, “technological developments”, and
“globalization”
Technology allows 24/7 access to information, constant
social interaction, and easily created and shared digital
content.
CHARACTERISTICS
Borderless
Fearless
Symbolic
Inventive
Fluid
WHY STUDY LITERATURE?
Understanding social milieu
Understanding culture
Understanding human nature and behavior
Develop historical sense
Relish aesthetics of artistic expression
LITERATURE
Literature is an attempt to mirror life.
Literature refers to any textual form of acceptable cognitive
and or affective expression which is the representation of
man’s experiences of the past and his expectations of the
future.
Literature is the product of imagination, originality, style of
expression, thought, emotions and feelings, idea,s etc.
21st CENTURY LITERATURE
21st Century Literature consists of written works of various
genres (poetry, drama, fiction/prose, non-fiction, media)
printed and published from the start of the new millennium up
to the present.
New literary work created within the last decade
Written by contemporary authors
Deals with current themes/issues and reflects a technological
culture
Often breaks traditional writing rules
Emerging genres like IM and blog format books, Digi-
fiction, doodle fiction and graphic novels
FUNCTIONS
1. For documentation
2. For transmission
3. For entertainment
4. For expression
5. For call to action
6. For critical thinking
PRE-SPANISH PERIOD
CHARACTERISTICS
The literature thus preserved was limited to the seventeen
basic symbols of the language. With just three vowels and
consonantal symbols that had predetermined.
The people of Manila and native groups within the
Philippines used to write on bamboo and the arecaceae palm.
Pre-colonial natives of our islands display an amusing past
through
a. their folk speeches (refers to the dialect, or style of
speaking, unique to people living within a geographic area)
Examples:
 bugtong (riddle)
 salawikain (proverbs)
b. folk songs
Examples:
 Magtanim Ay Di Biro (Planting Rice)
 Atin Ku Pung Sinsing (Once I had a Ring -Lyrics in
Panpango)
 Leron, Leron Sinta (My Dear Little Leron)
c. folk narratives (stories handed down from the remote past
by words of mouth from one generation to another, reflecting
the people’s tradition, feelings, beliefs and judgments)
d. indigenous rituals (ritual traditions of Filipinos are best
understood in terms of their intentions. At the core of any
ritual is the fundamental belief that there exists a delicate
balance between man and nature, and the spirit world)
Examples:
 Healing Practices
 Entering a Newly Built House (Segep di Baey)
 Festival (BegnasAnd Pacde)
e. mimetic dances (type of dance that imitates nature; it
mimics the behaviors of animals and natural phenomena)
Examples:
  Itik-Itik
 The monkey dance (Aeta dance)
 The battle dances
PHILIPPINE LITERATURE DURING THE PRE-
HISPANIC PERIOD
1. Awit or song. Awit (and korido) is “long verse narratives on
chivalric-heroic, religious, legendary and folkloric themes.
2. Riddle or bugtong. Riddle uses “talinhaga”, or a metaphor
that actually helps convey the answer to the riddle.
3. Sawikain (or salawikain). These are proverbs that are used
to express pieces of wisdom or beliefs that are important to
Filipino society. These forms are all done in verse, or metrical
writing.
4. Epic or epiko. This is the major pre-Hispanic poetic form.
These are long, episodic, chanted poems which told a story,
normally about a legendary hero and his adventures, often
contending with, and also being aided by, supernatural
creatures and spirits. Often chanted at feasts and rituals.
5. BULONG (CHANTS). Used in witchcraft or enchantments
6. Kasabihan or sayings. It is used in teasing or to comment
on a person’s actuations
7. Tanaga is a quatrain with seven syllables each with the
same rhyme at the end of each line
No title
7-7-7-7
AABB
8. Ambahan is a traditional poetry of the Hanunoo Mangyans
of Oriental Mindoro which is normally inscribed on bamboo
using a pre-Colonial syllabic writing system called the Surat
Mangyan.
SPANISH PERIOD
Spanish colonization of the Philippines started in 1565 during
the time of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the first Spanish
governor general in the Philippines. Literature started to
flourish during his time. The spurt continued unabated until
the Cavite Revolt in 1872. The Spaniards colonized the
Philippines for more than three centuries.
SPANISH INFLUENCES ON THE PHILIPPINE
LITERATURE
1. ALIBATA
2. Christian Doctrine
3. Spanish language became the literary language this time
4. European legends and traditions
5. Ancient literature was collected and translated to Tagalog
6. Grammar books were printed in Filipino
7. Religious tone
PHILIPPINE LITERATURE DURING SPANISH
PERIOD
1. Pasyon. Pasyon involves the chanting of a narrative about
Jesus’ death and resurrection.
2. Senakulo. Senakulo, also known as Passion plays, depict the
passion and death of Jesus Christ. These are staged in various
parts of the country in the week leading to Easter. The most
famous sanakulo is Marinduque’s Moriones Festival.
3. Komedya. Secular Komedya is performed at the local
fiestas. Moro-moro is a type of Secular Komedya which
portrays the clash between the Muslims and the Christians
where the forbidden romance between the prince and the
princess is settled by having non-Christian be converted to
Christianity or by his or her death followed by a resurrection
through divine intervention.
4. Carillo. It is a play that uses shadows as its main
spectacle.This is created by animating figures made from
cardboard,which are projected onto a white screen.
5. Religious Drama (Panunuluyan) (Tagalog for "asking for
lodgings") is a Philippine Christmas dramatic ritual narrating
the Holy Family's search for a place to stay in Bethlehem for
Jesus Christ's birth through song.
Philippine Literature in English
In a way, we can say that we can trace the beginnings of
Philippine literature in English with the coming of the
Americans. For this purpose, we can divide this period into
three-time frames, namely:
THE RE-ORIENTATION PERIOD (1898-1910)
English as a literary vehicle came with the American
occupation in August 13, 1898, and as they say, a choice
bestowed on us by history.
By 1900, English came to be used as a medium of
instruction in the public schools. From the American forces
were recruited the first teachers of English.
By 1908, the primary and intermediate grades were using
English. It was also about this time when UP, the forerunner in
the use of English in higher education, was founded.
THE PERIOD OF IMITATION (1910-1925)
Filipino student writers learned the language and tried to
produce their pieces patterned after the foreign models.
Literary pieces of study were made by foreign authors.
Filipino writers imitated American and English writers.

More essays, short stories, and poems in English appeared.

Tales of romance and adventures

Short story anthologies

Essays matured earlier in the milieu of social, economic, and

political developments and projected Philippine customs and
traditions.

Plays were highly emotional rather than intellectual

experiences.

POETIC STYLES - AMERICAN REGIME

1. Free Verse – it is a literary device that can be defined as

poetry that is free from limitations of regular meteor rhythm
and does not rhyme with fixed forms.

2. New Criticism – it was a formalist movement in literary

theory that dominated American literary criticism in the
middle decades of the 20th century. It emphasized close
reading, particularly of poetry, to discover how a work of
literature functioned as a self-contained, self-referential
aesthetic object.

THE PERIOD OF SELF-DISCOVERY AND GROWTH

(1925-1941)

 Time of self-discovery and rapid growth

Period of original works with more control of the language

 Writer’s experimentation with forms and techniques

By this time, Filipino writers had acquired the mastery of

English writing. They now confidently and competently wrote
on a lot of subjects although the old-time favorites of love and
youth persisted. They went into all forms of writing like the
novel and the drama.

Writers set out to create a national literature: one that

reflects the Filipino way of life, the traditional values of the
people as Filipinos and utilize the tropical vegetation of the
islands.

The Bureau of Education published Philippine Prose and

Poetry, prescribed as a high school textbook.

 The period shifted from romantic idealism to romantic

realism