WHAT

IS
LITERATURE
?
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.
 BC-1564
THE
PRE-COLONIAL
PERIOD
PRE-COLONIAL
•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.
PRE-COLONIAL
• 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 d.SONGS OF DEATH
a.RIDDLES e.RELIGIOUS SONGS
b.PROVERBS 3.FOLK TALES
2.FOLK SONGS a.MYTHS
a.LULLABIES b.LEGENDS
b.DRINKING SONGS c.FABLES
c.LOVE SONGS d.EPICS
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.
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.
EXAMPLE

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

Maranaw
Sominub lawiyan, (It dived,)
Mbowat lawitan. (It rose.)
Answer:
EXAMPLE

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

Mandaya on Virginity
Yang ataog aw madugdug, (An egg once broken,)
Di da mamauli. (Will never be the same.)
EXAMPLE
Tausug on Secret Affairs
In lasa iban uba, (Love and cough,)
Di hikatapuk. (Cannot be hidden.)
EXAMPLE
Ilocano on Guilt
Ti agutak, (He who cackles
Isut nagitlog. (Laid the egg.)
FOLK SONGS
• These are folk lyrics that are usually chanted.
These usually contain ideas on aspiration,
hopes, everyday life 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 OF FOLK SONGS
Lullabies- these is 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.
FORMS OF FOLK SONGS
Drinking Songs- these are locally known as
tagay and are sung during drinking sessions.
FORMS OF FOLK SONGS

Love Songs- to many Filipinos, these are

known as the Harana. It can be also called
Courtship Songs and are used by young men to
capture the heart of the girl that they love.
FORMS OF FOLK SONGS
Religious Songs- are songs or chants that are
usually given during exorcisms and
thanksgiving during good harvest.
FORMS OF FOLK SONGS
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.
EXAMPLE (ILOCANO LULLABIES)
Maturog, duduayya Go to sleep, dear little
Maturog kad tay one Will my child
bunga, please sleep, This
Tay lalaki nga napigsa strong boy
Ta inton dumakkel tay So when the child grows
bunga, Isunto aya big
tay mammati He will obey
Tay amon a ibaga me. Everything that we say.
FOLK TALES (MGA KWENTONG BAYAN)
• These are stories of native Filipinos.
• These deal with the power of nature- personified,
their submission to a deity- usually 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 THEME
• PRE AND POST • SUPERNATURAL BEINGS
APOCALYPSE • ANIMALS
• LIFE AND DEATH • CEREMONIES NEEDED TO
• GODS AND GODDESSES APPEASE THE DEITIES
• HEROES AND HEROINES
FORMS OF FOLK TALES
Myths- these tackle the natural to strange
occurrences of the earth and how things were
created with an aim to give an explanation to
things.
FORMS OF FOLK TALES
Legends- Through legends, the natives understood
around them. These stories usually come with a mo
that give credit to supernatural powers, sup
occurrences, and other out-of- this-world native imagi
FORMS OF FOLK TALES
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.
FORMS OF FOLK TALES
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 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”.
THE SPANISH PERIOD
• 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.AWIT
a.PASYON b.KORIDO
b.SENAKULO c.PROSE NARRATIVES
c.KOMEDYA 3.PROPAGANDA LITERATURE
2.SECULAR OR NON- 4.REVOLUTIONARY
RELIGIOUS LITERATURE 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.
FORMS OF RELIGIOUS LITERATURE
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 religious, 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 structure of a poem.
FORMS OF SECULAR OR NON-RELIGIOUS
LITERATURE
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 ne

that aimed to attack the Spanish Rule.
• The propaganda trinity is composed of Dr. Jose Rizal,
Del Pilar, and Graciano Lopez Jaena
EXAMPLE
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.
EXAMPLE
Marcelo H. Del Pilar
DASALAN AT TOCSOHAN (Prayers and Jokes)-
similar to a catechism but sarcastically done against
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.
EXAMPLE
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.
EXAMPLE
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 th
Filipinos.
EXAMPLE
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.
EXAMPLE
Emilio Jacinto
Liwanag at Dilim (Light and Darkness) – a collection of e
different subjects like freedom, work, faith, governmen
country.
EXAMPLE
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
EXAMPLE
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
• 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.
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.
 1900-1942
THE AMERICAN
PERIOD
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 AMERICAN PERIOD
• 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 followe
the old, but had contents that ranged from fr
societal concerns under the Americans.
POETRY
Jose Corazon de Jesus (1832-1896) popularly known
as “Batute,” created his own generation with his first
book of poems.
POETRY
Mga Gintong Dahon (1920)- were poems pre-
occupied with such non-traditional 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
FORMS
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.
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.
DRAMA
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.
FORMS
3) Remake Novels- took up Dr. Jose Rizal’s
portrayal of social conditions by
colonial repression.
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.
REMAKE NOVELS

Inigo Ed. Regalado (1888-1976)- Madaling Araw

(1909) was his first novel showing the complex
interrelations of issues and people in
contemporary Philippine society.
REMAKE NOVELS
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.
THE JAPANESE PERIOD AND THE REPUBLIC
• 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 4.NEWSPAPERS
2.FICTION 5.ESSAYS
3.DRAMA
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..
NEWSPAPER
• 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.
LITERATURE OF
THE PHILIPPINES
TODAY
21ST CENTURY LITERATURE
• In the 21st century Philippines, there are a lot of literary innova
are adapted and created by Filipinos. Nowadays, even those wh
have any significant literary background make their own way
freedom that they have to write and to express.
21ST CENTURY LITERATURE
• There are a lot of new forms 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.