SHS

21st Century Literature from

the Philippines and the World
Quarter 1 Module 2: Lesson 1
Literary Genres and Samples Produced in the 21st
Century and the Ones from the Earlier periods

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Study These

Hi there! Before you embark on the next level of your module journey, you
will be tasked to read a local tale about the legend of Juan Mancilla.

The Legend of Juan Mancilla

Narration by Azucena Grajo Uranza

One day in a village in the Malasimbo Mountain of Juban, Sorsogon, Valerio found
an egg in the palay. He excitedly told his wife who responded that they can have
the egg for their supper. His wife put the egg away in the trunk for safekeeping. The
couple forgot that they kept the egg in the trunk. After several months, the couple
heard a new-born baby crying. They discovered the baby in the trunk that was
obviously hatched from the egg. The couple thanked the Providence who made
their dream of a child come true. They named the girl Maria who grew up to be a
very lovely and good daughter. Looking so mysteriously beautiful, Mother Valerio
would wonder from what dimension Maria came. A Spanish military officer named
Mancilla, who looked so handsome and soldierly, showed up in the village. His first
meeting with Maria was magic. He eventually wooed her until she became his wife.
Temporarily, the young couple made their home with the old parents of Maria. They
had an infant son whom they named Juan. Mancilla was chafing because of his
exile in the mountain while Maria had also become restless. One day, Maria
decided to weave a shirt for her husband. She asked her to promise not to talk to
her while she was weaving, otherwise there will be dire consequences. Though
Mancilla was heavy-hearted, he made a solemn promise that he would abide by
Maria’ request.
While Maria was weaving the shirt, Mancilla would attempt to talk to her but would
end up sitting quietly watching her. One morning, unable to stand the silence any
longer, Mancilla pulled off all the feathers of a pullet and let the chicken loose in
front of Maria. Maria laughed when she found the sight. Her husband, relieved,
rejoiced over his success. Because they broke their vow, a pensive Maria
sorrowfully decided to go away. Mancilla was astounded but could do nothing.
Maria told Mancilla that if ever Juan cries and looks for her, he just needs to bring
him to the back porch and he will stop crying. Then she disappeared. True enough,
Juan would stop crying whenever Mancilla would take him to the back porch.
The baby, Juan Mancilla grew up to become as good looking as his parents. He
too joined the Spanish army and married a girl from town and had a baby son,
whom they named Juan. One day, Juan went to an inspection trip to the upland
villages. He was gone for days and did not return. A search was made for him but
to no avail. His orderly reported that he disappeared in the river. Juan’s wife could not
believe the story and accused the orderly of murdering her husband. The hapless

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orderly was thrown into jail. Mancilla appeared and instructed the commander to
release his orderly because no crime had been committed. The orderly was released
but Mancilla disappeared again and never returned.
It is said the Mancilla is not dead. He lives within the Malasimbo rain forest,
and there’s always someone willing to testify that he has seen the lieutenant. He has
become ancient, curled up in his old age, sitting in his favourite basket with a
coconut shell for a walking cane a –benign old man dispensing knowledge and
advise to whoever would wish only well of his fellowmen, giving shelter and
protection to the unjustly victimize, and healing human illness and broken hearts.

Thank you for reading! The local tale that you have just read is an
example of a folk narrative, more specifically known as a legend.

Activity 4 Draw Up

Let us do a comprehension check!

1. What makes the literary selection you have read a legend?

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
2. In what period do you think the legend was written? How did you find out?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
3. Com pare and contrast the “Legend of Juan Mancilla” to other legends you
have read before.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Good job for answering the comprehension check! Keep going!

To equip you with more ideas about the various literary genres from
different era in this module journey, you need to understand the following key
st
terms so that you will not be lost as you traverse the 21 century and earlier
periods.

Read the explanations carefully and answer the questions in the

succeeding activity.

What is a literary genre?

✓ It is a category of literary composition.

✓ Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or even (as in
the case of fiction) length.

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 ✓ They are defined by the general cultural movement of the historical period in
which they were composed.
✓ Genre should not be confused with age categories, by which literature may
be classified as either adult, young-adult, or children's. They also must not
be confused with format, such as graphic novel or picture book.

What is 21st century literature?

✓ All literary works written and published at the latter part of the 21st century
(from 2001 onwards).
✓ These works are often characterized as gender sensitive, technologically
alluding, culturally pluralistic, operates on the extreme reality or extreme
fiction, and questions conventions and supposedly absolute norms.

What is referred to as the earlier period?

✓ This period is referred to as the pre-colonial period or the period long before
the Spaniards set foot on the Philippine islands.
✓ Most of ancient Philippine literature was really oral consisting of folk
narratives, riddles, proverbs, sayings, songs, ritual chants, and epics and
was definitely community-bound.
✓ The expressions sprang from the experience of the community and served
its needs from the transmission of beliefs, values, ideals, customs, to
entertainment. Many of these expressions still survive in our time, having
been handed down orally through generations.

Source: Estroga, Joseh, Pre-Spanish Period Literature and Mythology of the Philippines,
https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/lhengacusan/21st-century-literary-genre

There are several literary genres and it would not be possible to capture all
of them in this module. Identifying and categorizing the most common
literary genres would however be a good starting point.

Ready yourself as you read and learn about the most common literary genre
in the 21 century and pre-colonial periods. st

21ST CENTURY PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD

Literary Characteristics Literary plat
Genres Genres for
Blog It is an online journal or Epics m
informational website wh
displaying information in ere
the reverse chronological a
order, with latest posts writ
appearing first. It is a er

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 or even a group of writers chanted or sung with a
share their views on an certain seriousness of
individual subject purpose, and embodying or
Characteristics validating the beliefs,
customs, ideals, or life
These are narratives of sustained length based on values of the
oral tradition, revolving around supernatural events
or heroic deeds, in the form of verse which is either

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 people.
Chik lit It is a fiction which addresses Folk These literatures were created
issues of modern womanhood, narratives to explain why certain things
often humorously or existed in their physical
lightheartedly, It typically environment. These come in
features a female protagonist the form of origin myths,
whose womanhood is heavily legends, fables, tales of the
thematized in the plot. supernatural, and humorous
accounts about some trickster
Flash It is a style of fictional literature Proverbs These are terse statements of
fiction of extreme brevity. There is no practical wisdom based on long
widely accepted definition of the experience and observations
length of the category. It could about life.
range from a word to a
thousand.
Illustrated Generally, 50% of the narrative Riddles These attest to the wit and
novel is presented without words. The ingenuity and the richness of
reader must interpret the images the imagination of ancient
in order to comprehend the Filipinos.
complete story.
Scifi It is a genre of speculative Songs These are of great variety,
fiction dealing with imaginative expressive of a gamut of human
concepts such as futuristic experiences and feelings. They
science and technology, space are used at almost every
travel, faster than light travel, occasion at work, at worship,
parallel universe and and at play accompanied with
extraterrestrial life. musical instrument, mostly of
the percussive and stringed
varieties.

Source: Gacusan, Paulene, “21ST Century Literary Genre”

https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/lhengacusan/21st-century-literary-genre

Do you understand now the various literary genres from different

periods that you have discovered so far?

st
What other literary genres in the 21 century and pre-colonial periods
you are familiar with which are not cited in the discussion?
st
Given your knowledge of the literary genres in the 21 century and pre-
colonial periods, you are now ready to embark on the next level of this module
journey.

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