Pre-Colonial Early Times - 1564 Filipinos often lose sight of the fact that the first period of the

Philippine literary history is the longest. Certain events from the nation's history had forced lowland Filipinos to begin counting the years of history from 1521, the first time written records by esterners referred to the archipelago later to be called !"as islas Filipinas!. #owever, the discovery of the !$abon %an! in a cave in Palawan in 1&'2, has allowed us to stretch our prehistory as far as 5(,((( years bac). $he stages of that prehistory show how the early Filipinos grew in control over their environment. $hrough the researches and writings about Philippine history, much can be reliably inferred about precolonial Philippine literature from an analysis of collected oral lore of Filipinos whose ancestors were able to preserve their indigenous culture by living beyond the reach of *panish colonial administrators. $he oral literature of the precolonial Filipinos bore the mar)s of the community. $he sub+ect was invariably the common e,perience of the people constituting the village-foodgathering, creature and ob+ects of nature, wor) in the home, field, forest or sea, caring for children, etc. $his is evident in the most common forms of oral literature li)e the riddle, the proverbs and the song, which always seem to assume that the audience is familiar with the situations, activities and ob+ects mentioned in the course of e,pressing a thought or emotion. $he language of oral literature, unless the piece was part of the cultural heritage of the community li)e the epic, was the language of daily life. .t this phase of literary development, any member of the community was a potential poet, singer or storyteller as long as he )new the language and had been attentive to the conventions f the forms. /n settlements along or near the seacoast, a native syllabary was in use before the *paniards brought over the 0oman alphabet. $he syllabary had three vowels 1a, i-e, u-o2 and 13 consonants 1b, d, g, h, ), l, m, n, ng, p, r, s, t, w, and y2 but, curiously enough, had no way of indicating the consonantal ending words. $his lends credence to the belief that the syllabary could not have been used to produce original creative wor)s which would all but be undecipherable when read by one who had had no previous contact with the te,t. hen the syllabary fell into disuse among the Christiani4ed Filipinos, much valuable information about precolonial culture that could had been handed down to us was lost. Fewer and fewer Filipinos )ept records of their oral lore, and fewer and fewer could decipher what had been recorded in earlier times. $he perishable materials on which the Filipinos wrote were disintegrate and the missionaries who believed that indigenous pagan culture was the handicraft of the devil himself destroyed those that remained. $here are two ways by which the uni5ueness of indigenous culture survived coloni4ation. First, by resistance to colonial rule. $his was how the %aranaws, the %aguindanaws, and the $ausogs of %indanao and /gorots, /fugao, 6ontocs and 7alingas of the %ountain Province were able to preserve the integrity of their ethnic heritage. $he $agbanwas, $agabilis, %angyans, 6agobos, %anuvus, 6ilaan, 6u)idnons, and /sneg could cling on the traditional way of life because of the inaccessibility of settlements. /t is to these descendants of ancient Filipinos who did not come under the cultural sway of estern coloni4ers that we turn when we loo) for e,amples of oral lore. 8ral lore they have been preserve li)e epics, tales, songs, riddles, and proverbs that are now windows to a past with no written records which can be studied. .ncient Filipinos possessed great wealth of lyric poetry. $here were many songs of great variety in lyrics and music as well as meter. 9ach mountain tribe and each group of lowland Filipinos had its own. %ost of the may be called fol)songs in that there can be traced in them various aspects of the life and customs of the people. Precolonial poetry were composed of poems composed of different dialects of the islands. $he first *panish settlers themselves found such poetry, reproduced them, and recorded in their reports and letters to *pain. .lthough precolonial poems are distinct from the lyrics of the fol)songs the said poems were usually chanted when recited, as is still the custom of all .siatic peoples and Pacific 8cean tribes. /t is true that many of the precolonial poetry is crude in ideology and phraseology as we loo) at it with our present advanced

)nowledge of what poetry should be. Considering the fact that early Filipinos never studied literature and never had a chance to study poetry and poetic techni5ue, it is surprising that their spontaneous poetic e,pression had some rhythmic pattern in the use of e5ual syllabic counts for the lines of stan4a, and have definitely uniform rhyming scheme. *panish missionaries writing grammars and vocabularies had made good use of these early beginnings of Filipino poetry to illustrate word usage according to the dictionary and grammatical definitions they had cast. $housands of ma,ims, proverbs, epigrams, and the li)e have been listed by many different collectors and researchers from many dialects. %a+ority of these reclaimed from oblivion com from the $agalos, Cebuano, and /locano dialects. .nd the bul) are rhyming couplets with verses of five, si, seven, or eight syllables, each line of the couplet having the same number of syllables. $he rhyming practice is still the same as today in the three dialects mentioned. . good number of the proverbs is con+ectured as part of longer poems with stan4a divisions, but only the lines e,pressive of a philosophy have remained remembered in the oral tradition. Classified with the ma,ims and proverbs are allegorical stan4as which abounded in all local literatures. $hey contain homilies, didactic material, and e,pressions of homespun philosophy, ma)ing them often 5uoted by elders and headmen in tal)ing to inferiors. $hey are rich in similes and metaphors. $hese one stan4a poems were called $anaga and consisted usually of four lines with seven syllables, all lines rhyming. $he most appreciated riddles of ancient Philippines are those that are rhymed and having e5ual number of syllables in each line, ma)ing them classifiable under the early poetry of this country. 0iddles were e,istent in all languages and dialects of the ancestors of the Filipinos and cover practically all of the e,periences of life in these times. .lmost all the important events in the life of the ancient peoples of this country were connected with some religious observance and the rites and ceremonies always some poetry recited, chanted, or sung. $he lyrics of religious songs may of course be classified as poetry also, although the rhythm and the rhyme may not be the same. :rama as a literary from had not yet begun to evolve among the early Filipinos. Philippine theater at this stage consisted largely in its simplest form, of mimetic dances imitating natural cycles and wor) activities. .t its most sophisticated, theater consisted of religious rituals presided over by a priest or priestess and participated in by the community. $he dances and ritual suggest that indigenous drama had begun to evolve from attempts to control the environment. Philippine drama would have ta)en the form of the dance-drama found in other .sian countries. Prose narratives in prehistoric Philippines consisted largely or myths, hero tales, fables and legends. $heir function was to e,plain natural phenomena, past events, and contemporary beliefs in order to ma)e the environment less fearsome by ma)ing it more comprehensible and, in more instances, to ma)e idle hours less tedious by filling them with humor and fantasy. $here is a great wealth of mythical and legendary lore that belongs to this period, but preserved mostly by word of mouth, with few written down by interested parties who happen upon them. $he most significant pieces of oral literature that may safely be presumed to have originated in prehistoric times are fol) epics. 9pic poems of great proportions and lengths abounded in all regions of the islands, each tribe usually having at least one and some tribes possessing traditionally around five or si, popular ones with minor epics of un)nown number. Filipinos had a culture that lin)ed them with the %alays in the *outheast .sia, a culture with traces of /ndian, .rabic, and, possibly Chinese influences. $heir epics, songs, short poems, tales, dances and rituals gave them a native .sian perspective which served as a filtering device for the estern culture that the coloni4ers brought over from 9urope.

The Spanish Colonial Tradition (1565 1897)

hile it is true that *pain sub+ugated the Philippines for more mundane reasons, this former 9uropean power contributed much in the shaping and recording of our literature. 0eligion and institutions that represented 9uropean civili4ation enriched the languages in the lowlands, introduced theater which we would come to )now as komedya, the sinakulo, the sarswela, the playlets and the drama. *pain also brought to the country, though at a much later time, liberal ideas and an internationalism that influenced our own Filipino intellectuals and writers for them to understand the meanings of !liberty and freedom.! "iterature in this period may be classified as religious prose and poetry and secular prose and poetry. 0eligious lyrics written by ladino poets or those versed in both *panish and $agalog were included in early catechism and were used to teach Filipinos the *panish language. Fernando 6agonbanta's !Salamat nang walang hanga/gracias de sin sempiternas! 1;nending than)s2 is a fine e,ample that is found in the Memorial de la vida cristiana en lengua tagala 1<uidelines for the Christian life in the $agalog language2 published in 1'(5. .nother form of religious lyrics are the meditative verses li)e the dalit appended to novenas and catechisms. /t has no fi,ed meter nor rime scheme although a number are written in octosyllabic 5uatrains and have a solemn tone and spiritual sub+ect matter. 6ut among the religious poetry of the day, it is the pasyon in octosyllabic 5uintillas that became entrenched in the Filipino's commemoration of Christ's agony and resurrection at Calvary. <aspar .5uino de 6elen's !Ang Mahal na Passion ni Jesu Christong Panginoon natin na tola! 1#oly Passion of 8ur "ord =esus Christ in >erse2 put out in 1?(3 is the country's earliest )nown pasyon. 8ther )nown pasyons chanted during the "enten season are in /locano, Pangasinan, /banag, Cebuano, 6icol, /longo and aray. .side from religious poetry, there were various )inds of prose narratives written to prescribe proper decorum. "i)e the pasyon, these prose narratives were also used for proseliti4ation. *ome forms are@dialogo 1dialogue2, Manual de Urbanidad 1conduct boo)2A ejemplo 1e,emplum2 and tratado 1tratado2. $he most well-)nown are %odesto de Castro's !Pagsusulatan ng alawang !inibini na si Urbana at si "eli#a! 1Correspondence between the $wo %aidens ;rbana and Feli4a2 in 1B'3 and =oa5uin $uason's !Ang !agong $obinson! 1$he Cew 0obinson2 in 1B?&, an adaptation of :aniel :efoe's novel. *ecular wor)s appeared alongside historical and economic changes, the emergence of an opulent class and the middle class who could avail of a 9uropean education. $his Filipino elite could now read printed wor)s that used to be the e,clusive domain of the missionaries. $he most notable of the secular lyrics followed the conventions of a romantic tradition@ the languishing but loyal lover, the elusive, often heartless beloved, the rival. $he leading poets were =ose Cora4on de =esus 1%useng Sisiw2 and Francisco 6alagtas. *ome secular poets who wrote in this same tradition were "eona Florentino, =acinto 7awili, /sabelo de los 0eyes and 0afael <andioco. .nother popular secular poetry is the metrical romance, the awit and )orido in $agalog. $he awit is set in dodecasyllabic 5uatrains while the korido is in octosyllabic 5uatrains. $hese are colorful tales of chivalry from 9uropean sources made for singing and chanting such as <on4alo de Cordoba 1<on4alo of Cordoba2 and &bong Adarna 1.darna 6ird2. $here are numerous metrical romances in $agalog, 6icol, /longo, Pampango, /locano and in

Pangasinan. $he awit as a popular poetic genre reached new heights in 6alagtas' !Florante at "aura! 1ca. 1BDB-1B'12, the most famous of the country's metrical romances. .gain, the winds of change began to blow in 1&th century Philippines. Filipino intellectuals educated in 9urope called ilustrados began to write about the downside of coloni4ation. $his, coupled with the simmering calls for reforms by the masses gathered a formidable force of writers li)e =ose 0i4al, %arcelo #. del Pilar, %ariano Ponce, 9milio =acinto and .ndres 6onifacio. $his led to the formation of the Propaganda %ovement where prose wor)s such as the political essays and 0i4al's two political novels, 'oli Me (angere and the )l *ilibusterismo helped usher in the Philippine revolution resulting in the downfall of the *panish regime, and, at the same time planted the seeds of a national consciousness among Filipinos. 6ut if 0i4al's novels are political, the novel 'inay 11BB52 by Pedro Paterno is largely cultural and is considered the first Filipino novel. .lthough Paterno's 'inay gave impetus to other novelists li)e =esus 6almori and .ntonio %. .bad to continue writing in *panish, this did not flourish. 8ther Filipino writers published the essay and short fiction in *panish in +a ,anguardia, )l ebate, $enacimiento "ilipino, and 'ueva )ra. $he more notable essayists and fictionists were Claro %. 0ecto, $eodoro %. 7alaw, 9pifanio de los 0eyes, >icente *otto, $rinidad Pardo de $avera, 0afael Palma, 9nri5ue "aygo 1Caretas or %as)s, 1&252 and 6almori who mastered the prosa romantica or romantic prose. 6ut the introduction of 9nglish as medium of instruction in the Philippines hastened the demise of *panish so that by the 1&D(s, 9nglish writing had overta)en *panish writing. :uring the language's death throes, however, writing in the romantic tradition, from the awit and )orido, would continue in the novels of %agdalena =alandoni. 6ut patriotic writing continued under the new colonialists. $hese appeared in the vernacular poems and modern adaptations of wor)s during the *panish period and which further maintained the *panish tradition. U. S. Colonialism 1898 - 1945 Philippine literature during the .merican rule was influenced by two factors, first of which is, education. ith the .mericans providing free education, many were given the chance to study and 9nglish was used as the language of instruction. ;nli)e the *panish, the foreigners were willing to teach their language to the Filipinos. Free education served as the stepping stone for others to improve their social status.

9arly literary wor)s in 9nglish showed styles of which is .merican. /t can also be seen that writers who +ust started learning 9nglish cannot fully showcase their talent because of the lac) of mastery of the language. $he downfall of the *panish colonialism freed the printing industry from religious censorship. ith the printing industry in the hands of patriotic investors, the printing press was used to bloc) the .merican culture from entering the Philippine lifestyle. Cewspapers in our different dialects flourished all over the archipelago. ith some newspapers having a space for literary pieces, writers were given the chance to show and prove the true talent of the Filipinos. *ome of these newspapers were %uling Pagsilang 11&(D, $agalog2, .ng 7aluwasan

11&(2, Cebuano2, %a)inaugalingon 11&1D, /longgo2, and Cueva 9ra 11&(B, /lo)ano2. $he best )nown maga4ines that capitali4ed on short stories and poems were "iwayway 11&22, $agalog2, 6isaya 11&D(, Cebuano2, #iligaynon 11&D3, /longgo2, and 6annawag 11&D3, /lo)ano2. riters during the .merican Period drew ideas from the Propaganda %ovement and the 0evolutionary %ovement to encourage the Filipinos to continue to fight against the ;.*. Colonialism. $he demand for independence was supported by a campaign to ma)e the .mericans aware of the Filipino culture. *ome writers who use the *panish language began to shift to the .merican language for the fact that a larger population can now comprehend the said language. /t is a fact that Filipinos during the *panish period were not given the chance to learn the language, resulting in a very small population of people capable of understanding the literary wor)s. $he literary genres that flourished during the .merican Period were poetry, sarswela, short story, and the novel. Poetry was written in the three languages - Filipino, *panish, 9nglish, and in the different dialects. *ome of the )nown poets during the .merican period were %a,imo 7alaw, Carlos P. 0omulo, %aria .goncillo, Pa4 %ar5ue4 6enite4, *alvador P. "ope4, =ose <arcia >illa, Carlos 6ulosan, and many others. $here were three collection of poems printed namely Filipino Poetry edited by 0odolfo :ato, $he 9nglish <erman .nthology of Poets edited by Pablo "aslo, and a pre-war collection by Carlos 6ulosan. $he balagtasan, named after Francisco F. 6alagtas, is a debate in verse, a poetical +oust done almost spontaneously between protagonists who debate over the pros and the cons of a certain issue. $he first ever balagtasan was held in %arch 1&23 at the /nsituto de %u+eres, with Cora4on de =esus and Florentino Collantes as rivals. =ose Cora4on de =esus, )nown also as #useng 6atute, became the first ever )ing of the 6alagtasan. *hort stories in 9nglish of early Filipino fictionists are mar)ed with .merican style. $his all changed with the founding of the ;. P. riters Club in 1&2' whose aim was to enhance and propagate the !language of *ha)espeare.! ith the publication of Pa4 %ar5ue4 6enite4' !:ead *tars,! it was made the landmar) of the maturity of the Filipino writer in 9nglish. %any writers followed 6enite4 li)e /casiano Calalang, .rturo 0otor, .. 9. "itiatco, Pa4 "atorena, and %anuel .rguilla started publishing stories manifesting s)ills in the use of the foreign language and a )een Filipino sensibility. $he combination of the foreign language and the culture of a Filipino enabled fictionists to produce great literary wor)s. $he public can now relate to the story because the public also e,periences what the story has to say and they can now understand the language being used by the writer. or)s li)e !#is Cative *oil! by =uan C. "aya, !#ow %y 6rother "eon 6rought #ome a ife! by %anuel .rguilla, and many others depicted the Filipino life in 9nglish. $he other novelists of this period are =ose <arcia >illa, Francisco .rellana, Fernando %aria <uerrero, .mador :aguio, and *inai #amada. ith the founding of the Philippine riters "eague in 1&D', Filipino writers began discussing the value of literature in the society they live in. $his move was led by *alvador P. "ope4 whose wor)s centered on proletarian literature. /t was during the early .merican period that the sarswela gained popularity. %ost of the sarwelas if not all are directed against the .merican imperialists. $he wor)s of *everino 0eyes 1! alang *ugat!2 and Patricio %ariano 1!.na) ng :agat!2 are e5ually remar)able sarwelas during the period. #ere are the other noted sarswelistas@ .urelio $olentino, =uan .bad, =uan %atapang Cru4, and =uan Crisostomo *otto. .mong the /lo)ano writers, noted novelists were "eon Pichay, #ermogenes 6elen, and %ena

Pecson Crisologo whose %ining wenno .yat ti 7ararwa is considered to be the /lo)ano version of Coli %e $angere. %agdalena =alandoni and 0amon %u4ones are the most prominent writers in the >isayas region. $heir wor)s depicted love, farm life, and the social life the region is having. $he latter stages of the .merican period continued to produce great poets li)e =ulian Cru4 6lamaceda, Florentino Collantes, Pedro <atmaitan, =ose Cora4on de =esus, "ope 7. *antos, .le+andro .badilla, $eodoro .goncillo, and /nigo 9d. 0egalado. $hey used a modern style of poetry that is made up of free verse. "iwayway .rceo and <enoveva 9dro4a %atute are two fictionist writers that became popular during the .merican rule. $heir wor)s !;haw ang $igang na "upa! and !.)o'y /sang $inig! respectively are used as models for fine writing. 6oth writers use a style of storytelling that uses language through poignant rendition. $eodoro .goncillo's !25 Pina)amahusay na %ai)ling 7uwento! included the foremost writers of fiction before orld ar //. After EDSA 1986 - Present $he year 1&B' mar)s a new beginning of a new scene for Filipino writers and artists. /t saw the downfall of late President Ferdinand %arcos when he placed the Philippines under martial rule last *eptember 21,1&?2. $his action does not only oppress the writers' right to free e,pression but also created conditions that made collaboration and cooperation convenient choices for artists' struggling for recognition and survival. Furthermore, the growth of underground writing was created both in urban and in the countryside. $he popular !9dsa 0evolution! 19:*., a highway in %etro %anila that runs north to south from Caloocan to 6aclaran2 has paved the way for the flight of the dictator and his family to #awaii, ;*. on February 23,1&B'. $he revolt established the presidency of Cora4on .5uino, which mar)ed the !restoration! of a pre-%artial "aw society. #owever, the Philippines did not recover that easily. $he years that followed !9dsa! was a wild !rollercoaster! ride for many Filipinos. $he unease times was caused by natural disasters that left the economic plans in shambles. %ilitancy and belligerence best describes writing under the %artial "aw regime. ith the overthrow of the enemy in 1&B', however, the literary activity showed certain disorientation manifesting itself in a proliferation of concerns ta)en up by individual writers and groups. Creative writing centers after 9dsa maybe grouped into two. .cademic institutions where Creative riting is part of the curricular offerings, and students ma+oring in "iterature are able to come in contact with elder creative writersEcriticsEprofessors belonged to the first group. *uch academic institutions includes the *illiman ;niversityA the ;niversity of the PhilippinesA the .teneo de %anila ;niversityA :e la *alle ;niversityA and last but not the least, *an Carlos ;niversity in Cebu. $he second group is composed of writers' organi4ations that periodically sponsor symposia on writing andEor set up wor)shops for its members and other interested parties. ;%P/" 1;nyon ng mga %anunulat ng Pilipino2, P.C;".$ 1Pambansang ;nyon ng mga %anunulat2, Panday-"ipi, <.$ 1<alian sa .rte at $ula2, 7.$#., "/0. 1"inangan sa /mahen, 0etori)a at .nyo2, <;%/" 1<unglo :agiti %annurat nga /lo)ano2, ";:.6/ 1"ubas sa :agang 6inisaya2 and P.9.C. riters get to hear about new developments in writing and derive enthusiasm for their craft through these twin centers. $he two !unyon! function as umbrellas under which writers belonging to a diversity of organi4ations sociali4e with fellow writers. .ward giving bodies, annual competitions and publications provide the incentives for writers to )eep producing. $hese actions perform the important service of )eeping the writers in the public consciousness, ma)ing it possible for commentators and audiences to identify significant established writers and give attention to emerging new talents. $he Cational Commission on Culture and the .rts 1CCC.2, a post-9:*. state sponsored

institution, was created by the law in 1&&2, superseding the Presidential Commission on Culture and the .rts which was established in 1&B?. $he said institution has a Committee on "iterary .rts which funds wor)shops, conferences, publications and a variety of pro+ects geared towards the production of a !national literature!. $he committee has the aim of developing writing that is multi-lingual, multi-cultural, and truly national. Con-governmental organi4ations have helped hand in hand with some institutions in giving recognition to writers from specific sectors in the society. $hese C<8's includes the .mado >. #ernande4 FoundationA the <.P.* foundation, and the 7./6/<.C. Campus publications are another group of outlet that is of importance as a source of non-traditional, e,perimental writing. $hese campus publications could either be a wee)ly student newspapers, 5uarterly maga4ines, or annual literary +ournals. $he ;niversity of the Philippines has the CollegianA $he :iliman 0eviewA and $he "iterary .pprentice. *illiman ;niversity has *ands and CoralA .teneo de %anila ;niversity issues #eights and Philippine *tudiesA :e la *alle ;niversity has %alate, "i)ha, and %alay to offerA ;niversity of *anto $omas publishes $he >arsitarian. 8verall, the character of the Philippine literary scene after !9:*.! maybe pinpointed be referring to the theories that inform literary production, to the products issuing from the publishers, to the dominant concerns demonstrated by the writers' output, and to the direction towards which literary studies are tending. 1. $here is in the academe an emerging critical orientation that draws its concerns and insights from literary theori4ing current in 9ngland and the ;nited *tates. 2. Post-9:*. publishing has been mar)ed by adventurousness, a willingness to gamble on !non-traditional! pro+ects. D. $he declining prestige of the Cew Criticism, whose rigorous aesthetic norms has previously functioned as a Procrustean bed on which Filipino authors and their wor)s were measured, has opened a gap in the critical evaluation of literary wor)s. 3. $he fourth and final characteristic of post-9:*. writing is the development thrust towards the retrieval and the recuperation of writing in Philippine languages other than $agalog.