Philippine Literature

- “letters”
- Webster defines literature as anything that is printed, as long as it is related to the ideas and
feelings of people, whether it is true, or just a product of someone’s imagination.
- It is a body of work, either written, oral, or visual, containing imaginative language that
realistically portrays thought, emotions, and experiences of the human condition.
- A product of particular culture that concretizes man’s array of values, emotions, actions and
ideas. It is therefore a creation of human experiences that tells about people and their world.
- “ Literature raises life to a new level of meaning and understanding, and in the process restores
sanity and justice in an insane and unjust world.” – Cirilo F. Bautista

Literature
• Is a body of written works.
• Originated from oral traditions.
• Are imaginative works.
• Deals with stories and poetry.
• The content depends on the author.

Three Points of Literature

• Literature portrays human experience.
• Authors interpret these human experiences.
• It is an art form and a style of expression.

Importance of Literature
•Studying literature is like looking at the mirror of life where man’s experiences, his innermost
feelings and thoughts are reflected.
•Through literature, we learn the culture of people across time and space.
• We understand not only the past life of a nation but also its present.
• Moreover, we become familiar not only with the culture of neighboring countries but also with
that of others living very far from us.

Why do we need to study Philippine Literature?

•To trace the rich heritage of ideas handed down to us by our forefathers. •To appreciate our heritage.
•To understand that we have noble traditions which can serve as the means to assimilate other cultures.

The Three Literary Periods

BC-1564 The Pre- Colonial Period

• This existed before the Spanish occupation in the 1500s.
• It is oral in nature and is full of lessons and ideas about life, its blessings, and its consequences.
• It contains ideas from birth to the grave.
• The oral characteristic of pre-colonial literature gives the possibility for many alterations.
• In the Philippine context, no matter how it may be considered as altered, pre-colonial literature is still
revered to by many Filipinos.
• The sources are usually the local native town folk.

FORMS
1. Oral Literature
a. Riddles
b. Proverbs

2. Folk Songs
a. Lullabies
b. Drinking Songs
c. Love Songs
d. Songs of Death
e. Religious Songs

3. Folk Tales
a. Myths
b. Legends
c. Fables
d. Epics

1. Oral Literature

A. Riddles (Mga Bugtong)

• These are statements that contain superficial words, but they function figuratively and as metaphors,
and are in the form of questions.
• These are questions that demand deeper answers.
• Deals with everyday life.
• It usually has mundane things as answers.
• This is used in the past as a form of game in small or large gatherings.

Examples:
Bisaya
Baboy sa lasang, (A wild pig of the forest,)
Ang tunok puro lansang. (Is covered with spikes.)
Answer: Nangka (Jackfruit)

Meranaw
Chabacano Sominub lawiyan, (It dived,)
Mbowat lawitan. (It rose.)
Answer: Ragum (Needle)

Chabacano
Tagia que tagia, (You keep on slashing it,)
Hende ta penetra. (But it does not penetrate)
Answer: Agua (Water)

B. Proverbs (Mga Salawikain)

• These are statements that are considered as wise.
• These are usually given by parents or elders of the community.
• There is belief that experience is the best teacher.

Examples:
Mandaya on Viriginity
Yang ataog aw madugdug, (An egg once broken,)
Di da mamauli. (Will never be the same.)

Tausug on Secret Affairs

In lasa iban uba, (Love and cough,)
Di hikatapuk. (Cannot be hidden.)

Ilocano on Guilt
Ti agutak, (He who cackles)
Isut nagitlog. (Laid the egg.)

2. Folk Songs
• These are folk lyrics that are usually chanted. aspirations, hopes, everyday life
• These usually contain ideas on and expressions of love for loved ones.
• It is bounded by the learning of good morals.
• It is easy to understand because it is straightforward and not figurative in nature.

Forms
• Lullabies- these are locally known as the Hele. These are sung to put to sleep babies. The content
varies, but usually, parents sing these with ideas on how hard life is and how they hope that their child
will not experience the hardships of life.
• Drinking Songs- these are locally known as Tagay and are sung during drinking sessions.
• Love Songs- to many Filipinos, these are known as the Harana. It can also be called Courtship Songs
and are used by young men to capture the heart of the girl that they love.
• Religious Songs- are songs or chants that are usually given during exorcisms and thanksgiving during
good harvest.
• Songs of Death- are lamentations that contain the roll of good deeds that the dead has usually done to
immortalize his or her good image.
Examples:

Lullabies
Ilocano
Maturog, duduayya
Maturog kad tay bunga,
Tay lalaki nga napigsa
Ta inton dumakkel tay bunga,
Isunto aya tay mammati
Tay amon a ibaga me.

Go to sleep, dear little one

Will my child please sleep,
This strong boy
So when the child grows big
He will obey
Everything that we say.

3. Folk Tales (Mga Kwentong Bayan)

• These are stories of native Filipinos.
• These deal with the power of naturepersonified, their submission to a deityusually Bathala- and how
this deity is responsible for the blessings and calamities.
• These also tackle about irresponsibility, lust, stupidity, deception, and fallibility that eventually leads to
the instilling of good morals.

Usual Themes:
• Ceremonies needed to appease the deities.
• Pre and Post apocalypse
• Life and Death
• Gods and Goddesses
• Heroes and Heroines
• Supernatural beings
• Animals

Forms
• Myths- these tackle the natural to strange occurences of the earth and how things were created with
an aim to give an explanation to things.
-There is Bathala for the Tagalogs and the Gueurang for the Bikolanos.
- Paradise is known as Maca, while Hell is Kasanaaan

• Legends – through legends, the natives understood mysteries around the them. These stories usually
come with a moral lesson that give credit to supernatural powers, supernatural occurences, and other
out-of-this-world native imagination.
• Fables- are short or brief stories that cater the children of the native Filipinos and are usually bounded
by good manners and right conduct. These stories use animals as characters that represent a particular
value or characteristic.
• Epics- are very lengthy narratives that are based on oral traditions. These contain encounters of
fighters, stereotypical princes or heroes that save a damsel in distress.

Examples:
Myths
The Story of Bathala
Ang Pag-aaway ng Dagat at Langit
Legends
The Legend of Maria Makiling
The Legend of the Sampaguita
Fables
Ang Kuneho at and Pagong
Si Juan Tamad
Epics
Hinilawod
Darangen

1521-1898 The SPANISH Period

• The start of the Philippine's more colorful history took place in March 6, 1521 when Ferdinand
Magellan docked on the shores of Homonhon.
• The Filipinos were then called “Ladinos” , meaning they were latinized.
• Filipinos were called two things. One is the “Taga-Bayan” , while the other is the “Taga-bukid” or
“Taga-bundok”.
• A person who is a Taga-bayan is considered urbane and civilized and were in easy range of the church
and state.
• A person who is a Taga-bundok or Taga-bukid is called a Bruto Salvage (Savage Brute) or Indio and
were the ones who lived far from the center of the Spanish power.

Forms
1. Religious Literature
a. Pasyon
b. Senakulo
c. Komedya
2. Secular or Non-Religious Literature
a. Awit
b. Korido
c. Prose Narratives
3. Propaganda Literature
4. Revolutionary Literature
Religious Literature
• Revolves around the life and the death of Jesus Christ.
Forms of Religious Literature:
Pasyon- it is about the passion (journey and suffering) and the death of Jesus Christ.
Senakulo- it is the re-enactment of the Pasyon.
Komedya- it depicts the European society through love and fame, but can also be a narrative about a
journey, just like Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. It is also considered religous, because it usually
depicts the battle between the Christians and the Saracens or the Moros.

Secular or Non- Religious Literature

• Revolves around tales of valiance and adventure.
Forms of Secular or Non-Religious Literature:
Awit- these are tales of chivalry where a knight saves a princess. Florante at Laura is a good example.
Korido- is a metrical tale or a tale that follows the struture of a poem.
Prose Narratives- are easy to understand instructional materials that in a literary light that teaches
Filipinos on proper decorum. Pagsusulatan ng Dalawang Binibini na si Urbana at Feliza (1864) is a good
example.

Propaganda Literature
• These were in the forms of satires, editorials, and news articles that aimed to attack the Spanish Rule.
• The propaganda trinityis composed of Dr.Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, and Graciano Lopez Jaena

Examples:
Graciano Lopez Jaena
Ang Fray Botod- One of his works written in Jaro, Iloilo in 1876, six years after the Cavite Revolt
attacking the friars in the Philippines. He exposed how some of the friars were greedy, ambitious and
immoral.
LA HIJA DEL FRAILE (The Child of the Friar) and EVERYTING IS HAMBUG (Everything is mere show)-
Here Jaena explains the tragedy of marrying a Spaniard.

Marcelo H. Del Pilar

KAIINGAT KAYO (Be Careful)- a humorous and sarcastic dig in answer to Fr. Jose Rodriquez in the novel
NOLI of Rizal, published in Barcelona in 1888. He used Dolores Manapat as pen-name here.
DASALAN AT TOCSOHAN (Prayers and Jokes)- similar to a cathecism but sarcastically done agains the
parish priests, published in Barcelona in 1888. Because of this, del Pilar was called “filibuster.” Done in
admirable tone of supplication and excellent use of Tagalog.
ANG CADAQUILAAN NG DIOS (God’s Goodness)- published in Barcelona, it was also like a cathecism
sarcastically aimed against the parish priests but also contains a philosophy of the power and
intelligence of God and an appreciation for and love for nature.

Dr. Jose Rizal

NOLI ME TANGERE- this was the novel that gave spirit to the propaganda movement and paved the way
to the revolution against Spain. In this book, he courageously exposed the evils in the Spanish-run
government in the Philippines.
Revolutionary Literature
• are exposes that sparked revolution and resistance in the hearts of Filipinos.

Examples:
Andres Bonifacio
Katungkulang Gagawin ng mga Anak ng Bayan (Obligations of our Countrymen) – an outline of
obligations just like the Ten Commandments, hence, it is likewise called Ang Dekalogo.
Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog (What the Tagalogs should Know) – an essay outlining the basic
tenets of Bonifacio’s ideas on nationalism.

Emilio Jacinto
Liwanag at Dilim (Light and Darkness) – a collection of essays on different subjects like freedom, work,
faith, government and love of country.

Apolinario Mabini
El Desarollo y Caida de la Republica Filipina (The Rise and Fall of the Philippine Republic) – this essay
highlights the establishment of the Philippine republic and its subsequent doom due to disunity among
the Filipinos.

Dr. Jose Rizal

El Filibusterismo– This is a sequel to the NOLI. While the NOLI exposed the evils in society, the FILI
exposed those in the government and in the church. However, the NOLI has been dubbed the novel of
society while that of FILI is that of politics.

Publications
El Heraldo de la Revolucion (Herald of the Revolution) – printed the decrees of the Revolutionary
Government, news and works in Tagalog that aroused nationalism. This is the Official Newspaper of the
Revolutionary Government of Aguinaldo.
La Independencia (Independence) – an independent newspaper founded and edited by General Antonio
Luna. La Republica Filipina (The Philippine Republic) – a private newspaper edited by Pedro Paterno. La
Libertad (Liberty) – another private newspaper edited by Clemente Zulueta.

1900-1942 The AMERICAN Period

SOME CONCURRENT SIGNIFICANT HISTORICAL AND LITERARY EVENTS IN THE PHILIPPINES

HISTORICAL
• 1898- American forces occupy Manila
• 1900- On January 29th , Taal Volcano erupts, killing 1,300 people and destroying 13 villages.
• 1901. Civil government is inaugurated with Judge William H. Taft as governor.
• 1907: Establishment of the first Philippine Assembly. Sergio Osmeña serves as the speaker from 1907-
1922
• 1908- University of the Philippines was founded.
• 1909- Manuel L Quezon was appointed as Filipino Resident Commissioner to the United States.
• 1913-1931- Governor General Francis Burton Harrison initiates policy of Filipinizing the government.
LITERARY
• 1900- English becomes the official medium of instruction of all public schools.
• 1901- The Philippine Normal School was founded. Its purpose was to train Filipinos in the Art of
Teaching so that they could eventually take charge of elementary education.
• 1905- The Philippine Free Press was founded
• 1910- The College Folio is published at the University of the Philippines.
- This magazine printed the works of the first promising writers in English. These early selections were
mostly ghost stories or folk tales explaining natural phenomena.
• 1920- The Philippine Herald began publication. It was founded by Manuel L. Quezon and its magazine
section was edited by Paz Marquez Benitez.
• 1921- First Filipino novel in English, A Child of Sorrow, is written by Zoilo M. Galang.
• First volume of essays in English, Life and Success, is published by Zoilo M. Galang.
• 1924- Philippine Education Magazine is started. It is later renamed Philippine Magazine.
• 1925- The Philippine Free Press offers a literary prizes.
• 1927- The writers club was founded at the University of the Philippines.

PHILIPPINE LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

• Philippine Literature in English revealsthe spirit of the Filipino.

• Gradually, this literature has learned to express the deepest of human experiencesin words that create
memorable images.

Period of Imitation (1910 – 1925)

• 1919: the UP College Folio published the literary compositions of the first Filipino writers in English.
They were the pioneers in short story writing.
• Filipino writers imitated heavily American and British models which resulted in a stilted, artificial and
unnatural style, lacking vitality and spontaneity.
• Short stories, novels and essays in English came to exist in this period.
• Writers of this folio included Fernando Maramag (the best editorial writer of this period) Juan F.
Salazar, Jose M. Hernandez, Vicente del Fierro, and Francisco M. Africa and Victoriano Yamzon. They
pioneered in English poetry

Essay
Noted essayists: Carlos P. Romulo, Jorge C. Bocobo, Mauro Mendez, and Vicente Hilario
- truly scholarly characterized by sobriety, substance and structure. They excelled in the serious essay,
especially the editorial type.

Informal Essay
Ignacio Manlapaz, Godefredo Rivera, Federico Mangahas, Francisco B. Icasiano, Salvador P. Lopez, Jose
Lansang and Amando G.Dayrit
-introduced the informal essay, criticism and the journalistic column. They spiced their work with
humor, wit and satire.
Novel
Zoilo Galang
• Author of A Child of Sorrow
• First novel in English • Published 1921

Short Stories
Paz Marquez Benitez
- Author of Dead Stars, stood out as a model of perfection in character delineation, local color, plot and
message. Other short stories published during this time were but poor imitations of their foreign
models.
- Published in 1920s

Philippine Collegian – replaced the UP College Folio

Newspapers and periodicals also saw print during this time like the Bulletin, the Philippines Herald
(1920), the Philippine Review, the Independent, Rising Philippines and Citizens, and the Philippine
Education Magazine 1924.

The American Period

• The Philippines had a great leap in Education and Culture.
• The use of English alongside Filipino was practiced.
• The Philippines Public School system was introduced.
• Free public instruction was given to the Filipinos.
• The literature during the American period was considered as imitative of American model. Instead of
asking the students to write originals, students ended up following the form of American poets.

Forms
1.Poetry- poetry under the American rule still followed the style of the old, but had contents that ranged
from free writing to societal concerns under the Americans.
2.Drama- was usually used in the American period to degrade the Spanish rule and to immortalize the
heroism of the men who fought under the Katipunan.
3.Remake Novels- took up Dr. Jose Rizal's portrayal of social conditions by colonial repression.

Poetry
Jose Corazon de Jesus (1832-1896) popularly known as “Batute,” created his own generation with his
first book of poems.
Mga Gintong Dahon (1920)- were poems pre-occupied with such nontraditional themes as passion-
slaying, grief-induced, insanity, and lover’s suicide.
Sa Dakong Silangan (1928)- returned to the awit form, retelling the history of Philippines under Spain,
the coming of the U.S under the guise of friendship to take over from Spain

Drama
Severino Reyes (1861-1942) – spearheaded a movement to supplant the komedya with a new type of
drama, the sarsuwela, a Filipino adaptation of the Spanish zarzuela.
Examples:
Walang Sugat (1902)- is a sarsuwela (drama in the form singing) drawn from the period of Revolution,
depicting the cruelty and corruption of friars and the heroism of the soldiers of the Katipunan.

Other successful sarsuwelas:

Hindi Aco Patay (1903) by Juan Matapang Cruz
Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas (1903) by Aurelio Tolentino- is an allegorical presentation of the history of
the nationalist struggle and how the U,S. frustrated the Philippine revolution.
Tanikalang Guinto (1902) by Juan Abad (1872-1932)- is about Liwanag and K’Ulayaw, lovers who stand
for freedom and the Filipino.

Remake Novels
Gabriel Beato Francisco (1850-1935)- is best known for his trilogy of Fulgencia Galbillo (1907), Capitan
Bensio (1907), Alfaro (1909), depicting the 30 years of colonial repression by the Spanish rule.
Inigo Ed. Regalado (1888-1976)- Madaling Araw (1909) was his first novel showing the complex
interrelations of issues and people in contemporary Philippine society.
Juan Lauro Arsciwals (1889-1928)- Lalaking Uliran o Tulisan (1914), allusion to the colonial law that
branded Filipino patriots as bandits.

1941-1945 The JAPANESE Period

1946- 1985 The REPUBLIC

The Japanese Period and the Republic
• The Philippine literature came into a halt.
• The use of the English language was forbidden, and the use of the Filipino language was mandated
under the Japanese rule.
• For some this was a problem, but to most writers, it was a blessing in disguise.
• Almost all news papers were stopped except for some.
• Filipino literature was given a break during this period. Many wrote plays, poems, short stories, etc.
Topics and themes were often about life in the provinces.

Forms
1. Poetry
2. Fiction
3. Drama
4. Newspapers
5. Essays

Drama
The drama experienced a lull during the Japanese period because movie houses showing American films
were closed. The big movie houses were just made to show stage shows. Many of the plays were
reproductions of English plays to Tagalog.
Newspapers
Writings that came out during this period were journalistic in nature. Writers felt suppressed but slowly,
the spirit of nationalism started to seep into their consciousness. While some continued to write, the
majority waited for a better climate to publish their works.

Poetry
The common theme of most poems during the Japanese occupation was nationalism, country, love, and
life in the barrios, faith, religion and the arts.

Fiction
The field of the short story widened during the Japanese Occupation. Many wrote short stories.

Essays
Essays were composed to glorify the Filipinos and at the same time to figuratively attack the Japanese.

Writers of the Modern Period

POETS FICTIONISTS
Cirilo F. Bautista Gregorio C. Brillantes
Rolando Tinio Gilda Cordero Fernando
Emmanuel Torres Kerima Polotan Tuvera
Virginia Moreno Bienvenido Santos
Tita Lacambra-Ayala Ninotchka Rosca
Marra Lanot-Lacaba Lilia Pablo Amansec
Edith Tiempo F. Sionil Jose
Erwin Castillo Edilberto K. Tiempo
Godofredo Burce Bunao Nick Joaquin
Ophelia Dimalanta Aida Rivera Ford

ESSAYISTS PLAYWRIGHTS
Maximo V. Soliven Amelia Lapeña Bonifacio
Carmen Guerrero Estrella D. Alfon
Nakpil Benjamin M. Pascual Wilfrido Nolledo
Nestor M. Torre Rolando S. Tinio
Sylvia Mayuga Mar Puatu
Cesar Majul Nestor Torre Jr.
Teodoro F. Valencia Julian Dacanay, Jr.
Alejandro R. Roces Azucena Grajo Uranza
Cirilo F. Bautista
Cactus
Excuse the cactus
thirsting on the sill
excuse its
quills stuck out:
they’re only an attempt at self-defense
See how it bleeds
to fossils the old sand itself
looking to be such a fussy fossil

Not quite futile

It should require
some sort of guile
some genius to subsist
on sun some lake sand
(have both for free!)
and come out looking
freshly green, (juicy even)
As if in spite of as if in fun.
- Tita Lacambra Ayala

Second Invitation to the Pope To Visit Tondo

Next time Your Holiness slums through our lives, We will try to make our * *poverty * exemplary, The
best is a typhoon month. It never fails to find us, like charity, knocking on all sides of the rough
arrangements we live in. mud must be plenty for the feet of the pious. We will show you how we pull
things together from nowhere, life after life, prosper with children whom you love. Therefore we will
have more for you to love.

The Contemporary Period

- Martial Law was lifted in 1981

- Filipino novelists in English have come of age
- themes have changed from sentimentalized romanticism to a more realistic and naturalistic
delineation
- excellent mastery of the English language and literary forms is evident
- 1986 EDSA Revolution occurred
- gay and lesbian literature came out
- strong feminist tendencies are evident
- more social problems are tackled
 - TV and films have become more popular
- younger writers have entered the literary scene
- more literary criticisms have been written
- more writing workshops are held for budding writers more writing contests (some with big prize
money) are held
- university presses have published collections and anthologies

Characteristics of the Literature

- daring or controversial choice of subject matter

- very innovative in structure and style
- influence of different –isms and literary trends from the West
- characters have become more three-dimensional characters, plot structure and narrative
techniques are more complex

Writers of the Contemporary Period

Fatima Lim Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo

Merlinda Bobis Jessica Zafra

Alfredo Navarra Salanga Isagani R. Cruz

Gemino Abad Alfred Yuson

Benilda Santos Charlson Ong

Ophelia Dimalanta Arlene Chai

Ma. Luisa Igloria Cristina Manguerra Brainard

Danton Remoto Rosario Cruz Lucero

Paulino Lim, Jr. Connie Jan Maraan

“GHOST”

So it was. Without warning, without even the excuse of an earthquake, the foundation gave way and
came thundering down on congested Rizal Avenue. A commuter train plying the route at that time
jumped through the missing racks and fell into the street, mashing hundreds of pedestrians and
passengers through the pavement. Many of us were decapitated: I myself was found beyond
recognition. But I was fortunate enough to have been identified by the shoe that remained on one,
unmangled foot – half a pair of good Brazilian loafers I had inherited from a friend. - Connie Jan Maraan

“PORTENTS”
Positive, she said cheerily, as if I shouldn’t go out and hang myself this instant. I held on to the phone for
a long time; I was sure that if I let go I would fall down. The coffee turned to mud in my mouth – I ran to
the sink and heaved. Congratulations, it’s a fetus.You frigging idiot. Afterwards I sat at the kitchen table
and tried to make sense of the stuff swirling around in my head. Visions of blood and umbilical cords and
feeding bottles whirled before my eyes like malevolent frisbees. The newspaper was lying next to the
platter of toast; I read the headline about two hundred times. “May use poison gas, Iraq warns.” Next to
it is a picture of a dead Kurdish woman clutching the body of her child. Mother. Child. I felt like throwing
up all over again. I imagined a creature ripping out of my stomach in a gory mess, like the monster in
Alien - Jessica Zafra

LITERATURE OF THE PHILIPPINES TODAY

21st Century Literature In the 21st centruy Philippines, there are a lot of literary innovations that are
adapted and created by Filipinos. Nowadays, even those who do not have any significant literary
background make their own way using the freedom that they have to write and to express.

There are a lot of new froms from the basic genres of literature; thus, proving how far the literature in
the Philippines has gone and how far it will go on from here.