Lesson 2:

An Overview of
Philippine Literary
history
A. Examining
Contexts
“Philippine Literature”
evolved in relation to
our historical
experience.
 The emergence of Jose
Rizal’s Noli me Tangere as a
reaction to our experience of
colonial oppression during the
Spanish occupation.
“Literary as symbolic
representation of
human experience”.
 Benedict Anderson’s
“Imagined Communities:
Reflections on the Origin
and Spread of
Nationalism”
Genre - a kind of writing
that shapes meaning
through a particular
organization of language.
The capitalization of all the
letters in the phrase derives
its meaning and function.

Ex.
• "not guilty" as part of
ordinary speech
• "NOT GUILTY" as the
headline of a newspaper
Linguistic conventions enable us
to identify the genre and the
meaningful context of language.

Ex.
"Once there was a family" - fairy
tale “
...ang mamatay ng dahil sayo" -
lyrics in our national anthem
Borrowed forms from Spanish
colonial and America colonial:
• Pasyon - a Christian narrative
poem
• Sinakulo - a stage play on the
passion and death of Christ
• Komedya - a genre of drama
like "awit" and "corrido"
Pasyon
Sinakulo

Komedya
Two dominant forms of literature:

• Novel - first attempted by Pedro

Paterno in "Ninay".
• Essay - popularized by Marcelo H.
del Pilar.
The Essay