Overview of

Philippine Literary
History
“Philippine literature
evolved in relation to
our historical
experience.”
Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado Alonzo Y Realonda
 Noli Me Tangere (1887)

• Written in Spanish
• “Touch Me Not”
• A passionate exposé about the
evils of the Spanish friars in
the Phils.
• El Filibusterismo (1891) – The
Subversive
 What were its roles?

• Gave spirit to the Propaganda

Movement and paved the
way to the revolution against
Spain
• Courageously exposed the
evils in the Spanish-run
PASYON

•A Christian
narrative poem
about the life and
sufferings of Jesus
•4 versions in
Tagalog (according
to the name of its
author)
SENAKULO

• A stage play on the

passion and death
of Christ
• Cantada – chanted
like the Pasyon
• Hablada – spoken
in a more deliberate
manner (rhymes)
KOMEDYA

• Greek term
“komos” which
means festivity or
revelry
• Usually light and
written for the
purpose of
KOMEDYA: AWIT

• AWIT have
measures of 12
syllables
(dodecasyllabic)
and slowly sung to
the
accompaniment of
a guitar or
KOMEDYA: KORIDO

• KORIDO have
measures of eight
syllables (octo-
syllabic) and
recited to a martial
beat
 GENRE

• Literary forms or categories in

any mode (written, oral, digital,
etc.) with socially-agreed upon
conventions developed over
time
• Can a literary writing belong to
multiple genres? Why or why
REALISM vs
FANTASY
REALISM

• Tackles real scenarios

and depicting
situations in the real
world
• Most of the elements
are ‘ordinary’
FANTASY

• Rejects the rational

view of the world
• A genre that uses magic
and other supernatural
forms as a primary
element of plot, theme,
setting
• THEMES; good vs
evil, hero,
Realism tackles deeply on
the real scenarios.
FOLK SONGS

• Mirrored the early

forms of culture
• Many of these have
12 syllables
- Kundiman
- Kumintang o Tagumpay
- Ang Dalit o Imno
- Ang Oyayi o Hele
-
FOLKLORE

• A broad field of study

that is concerned with
the ways in which
people make meaning
in their lives
- Fairy tale
- Legends
- Myths
LEGENDS

• Believed to have
historical basis
• More often secular
than spiritual
• Legends are regarded
as true but they are
set in a period
considered less
LEGENDS

• A form of prose
with themes about
the origin of a
thing, place,
location or name
• Reflects old
 MYTHS

• Considered to be truthful
accounts of what
happened in the remote
past
• Usually sacred and often
associated with theology
and ritual wherein
characters are not usually
human beings
MYTHS

• Narratives that
explain the origin
of the world, of
mankind, of death,
geographical
features and the
phenomena of
FOLKTALES

• Stories about life,

adventure, love, horror,
and humor where one
can derive lessons about
life (just like fables)
• The Moon and the Sun
• Mariang Makiling
• Juan Tamad
FAIRY TALES

• A genre of folklore
that tackle entities
such as dwarves,
fairies, witches,
mermaids, etc. and
usually has explicit
moral tales
How do fairy tales and
fantasy writings differ?
• A fairytale is within the fantasy
genre; fantasy is the genre itself
• Harry Potter may be a fantasy but
not a fairy tale and it has romance
and mystery

A fairytale is always a fantasy; whereas

a fantasy need not be a fairytale.
 MAJOR DIFFERENCES

• SETTING AND THEME

Fairytales usually happen
locally while fantasies usually
deal with sagas, epic journeys,
earth-changing dramas and
action.
• TIME PERIOD
 FANTASY vs FAIRY TALE

• A fantasy is a conscious
creation of an author while a
fairy tale is older (once upon a
time) and grew out of people’s
belief that magic is really part
of ‘their’ life at least.
• Fantastical characters are more
complicated while in fairy
GREEN GIRL (2008)

By: CYAN ABAD

JUGO
 CYAN ABAD HUGO
• Master’s in Children’s Lit
at Simmons College,
Boston
• PhD in English Studies:
Creative Writing – U.P.
• Fond of writing short
fiction and children’s
stories
• “Behind the Old
Aparador” – 2nd Place
 THEME
• Filipino superstitions
and rituals
• Peer pressure
• Economic conditions
• Social forces that control
people
 Describe the character of
Milton and his attitude
toward the story about the
house next door, which his
Aunt Hilda narrates.
Milton is a lonely boy; his father is not
around and the only person who
engages him in conversation is his Aunt
Hilda, temporary presence in Milton’s
apartment. Although the story Hilda
tells him of the green girl is a fictitious
one, it nevertheless stirred his
imagination.
In a way, “Green Girl” is a story within
a story: Milton is listener to his Aunt
Hilda’s stories. When Milton rejects the
creature’s request, it vanishes and
becomes the substance of his dreams.
Who or what is this creature? To whom
or what can we attribute its existence?
 It is likely that the creature with the
tail is something Milton conjured
because he needs a friend. The creature
is a projection of Milton – like him, it
feels “hungry and unloved.”
To what extent is fantasy as embodied
in “Green Girl” a Western genre?
 Fantasy, unlike myths, legends, and
fairy tales, involve parallel or multiple
universes, which is a defining feature of
science fiction and postmodern
narratives. In “Green Girl,” the
existence of the creature can be
considered a psychological
phenomenon.
 Overview of
Philippine Literary
History
PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD
 PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD

A. Characteristics
- (--BC to 1564)
- Based on oral traditions
- Crude on ideology and phraseology
 PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD

B. Literary Forms
1. Oral literature
- Riddles (bugtong)
- Epigrams (Salawikain)
 EPIGRAMS

Kung ano ang puno, siya ang bunga.

(Whatever the tree, so is the fruit.)

Kung walang tiyaga, walang nilaga.

(If you don’t persevere, you can
expect no reward.)
 EPIGRAMS

Ang matapat na kaibigan, tunay na

maaasahan.
(You will know a true friend in time
of need.)
 EPIGRAMS

Yang ataog aw madugdug. (An egg

once broken.)
Di da mamauli. (Will never be the
same.)
 EPIGRAMS

In lasa iban uba, (Love and cough,)

Di hikatapuk. (Cannot be hidden.)

Ti agutak, (He who cackles,)

Isut nagitlog. (Laid the egg.)
 RIDDLES

Heto na si Kaka, bubuka-bukaka.

(Here comes Kaka, walking with open legs.)

Sa araw ay bungbong, sa gabi ay dahon.

(Roll in the morning, leaf in the evening.)
 RIDDLES

Baboy sa lasang, ng tunok puro lansang.

(A wild pig of the forest is covered with
spikes.)

Sominub lawiyan. Mbowat lawitan.

(It dived. It rose.)
 PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD

2. Folk Songs
3. Chants
4. Sayings – lessons are more
explicit compared to epigrams
“Pag may itinanim, may aanihin.”
 FOLK SONGS

1. Uyayi - lullaby
2. Kumintang – war song
3. Kundiman – melancholic love song
4. Harana - serenade
5. Tagay – drinking song
6. Mambayu – Kalinga rice pounding song
7. Subli – dance ritual song of courtship/
marriage
8. Kanogan (Cebuano) – song of lamentation
 PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD

3. Folklores
- Myths
- Legends
- Fables
- Fantastic stories
- Epics
 REFLECT UPON

How can these precolonial forms

of literature be of use to your life
right now?
SPANISH COLONIZATION
 FACTS

1. Catholic religion was used

2. Fiestas were held to honor the
saints, the pope and the gov’t
3. Recreation: theater, cockfight,
horseracing
4. Formed classes of society
 INFLUENCES

1. Roman alphabet
2. Christian doctrine
3. Spanish language
4. European tradition
5. Ancient lit was collected and
translated to Tagalog
SPANISH COLONIZATION

A. Characteristics
- (1565 – 1863)
- Classifications: religious and secular
- Introduced Spanish as the medium of
communication
SPANISH COLONIZATION

B. Literary Forms
1. Religious Literature
- Pasyon
- Senakulo
2. Secular Literature
- Awit
- Korido
- Prose Narratives
PROSE NARRATIVE
SPANISH COLONIZATION

Recreational Plays
- Zarzuela
- Panuluyan
- Salubong
- Moro-Moro
- Carillo
- Tibag
ZARZUELA
PANULUYAN
SALUBONG
MORO-MORO
CARILLO
 TIBAG

• This portrays St. Helena’s

(Maria Elena) search for the
cross.
 Nationalistic/Propaganda and
Revolutionary Period

A. Characteristics
- (1864 – 1896)
- Planted seeds of nationalism in
Filipinos
- Spanish to Tagalog
Nationalistic/Propaganda and
Revolutionary Period
 NATIONALISTIC LITERATURE

1. Fray Botod
- Exposed how some of the friars were
greedy, ambitious and immoral

2. Ang Cadaquilaan ng Dios

- Catechism sarcastically aimed at
Spanish priests
NATIONALISTIC LITERATURE
NATIONALISTIC LITERATURE
 NATIONALISTIC LITERATURE

1. Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga

Tagalog (Bonifacio)
- Outline of the basic tenets of
nationalism
2. Ang Dekalogo
- obligations of the countrymen
 NATIONALISTIC LITERATURE

1. The Rise and Fall of the

Philippine Republic (Mabini)
- essay highlighting the establishment
of the Philippine republic and its
subsequent doom due to disunity
among the Filipinos
AMERICAN COLONIAL PERIOD
AMERICAN COLONIAL PERIOD

1. The use of English alongside

Filipino
2. Opportunities of education to the
poor
3. Filipino writers imitated English
and American models.
4. Poems written were amateurish
and mushy.
AMERICAN COLONIAL PERIOD

1. Honoring Rizal and other heroes

2. Lamentation on the conditions of
the country
3. Aimed to arouse love for native
tongue
4. Imitating the themes and
methods of the Americans
AMERICAN COLONIAL PERIOD

• POETRY
- Freestyle and American style of
writing (and Romanticism)
- Addressed concerns under the
Americans
- In the later part, some started to
write using the awit form retelling
history
AMERICAN COLONIAL PERIOD

• DRAMA
- Degrade the Spanish rule and to
immortalize Katipunan heroes
- Filipino adaptation of Spanish
zarzuela (Severino Reyes)
- Walang Sugat (1902) – sarswela
depicting the cruelty of friars and
glorifying the heroes of the Katipunan
AMERICAN COLONIAL PERIOD

• NOVELS
- Imitative of Rizal’s portrayal of
social conditions by colonial
oppression
JAPANESE OCCUPATION PERIOD
JAPANESE OCCUPATION PERIOD

A. War Years (1942 – 1944)

1. Literature in English was interrupted
2. Tagalog poets broke away from the Balagtas
tradition and instead wrote in simple
language and free verse
3. Nippongo was introduced but not fully
embraced by Filipinos
4. Fiction prevailed over poetry
a. 25 Pinakamabuting Maikling Kathang
Pilipino (1943) – short story contest
compilation by the military gov’t
JAPANESE OCCUPATION PERIOD

B. Period of Maturity and

Originality (1945 – 1960)
1. Bountiful harvest in poetry,
fiction, drama and essay.
2. Mastered in English and
familiarized themselves with
diverse techniques
3. Literary “giants” appeared
JAPANESE OCCUPATION PERIOD

POETRY
- nationalism, country, love, life in
barrios, religion and the arts
- Japanese poems emerged
ESSAYS
- Composed to glorify Filipinos and at
the same time to figuratively attack
the Japanese
JAPANESE OCCUPATION PERIOD

FICTION
- Short stories

DRAMA
- Many of the plays in the theater
houses were reproduction of
English plays to Tagalog
 21st Century Literature

- Arising of the literary innovations

adopted and created by Filipinos
- There are a lot of new forms from
the basic genres of literature
- Even people who do not have a
significant literary genre can write
and express freely