Philippine Literature

Philippine Literature is a diverse and rich group of works that has

evolved side-by-side with the countrys history. Literature had started
with fables and legends made by the ancient Filipinos long before the
arrival of Spanish influence. The main themes of Philippine literature
focus on the countrys pre-colonial cultural traditions and the socio-
political histories of its colonial and contemporary traditions.
It is not a secret that many Filipinos are unfamiliar with much of
the country's literary heritage, especially those that were written long
before the Spaniards arrived in our country. This is due to the fact that
the stories of ancient time were not written, but rather passed on from
generation to generation through word of mouth. Only during 1521 did
the early Filipinos became acquainted with literature due to the
influence of the Spaniards on us. But the literature that the Filipinos
became acquainted with are not Philippine-made, rather, they were
works of Spanish authors.
So successful were the efforts of colonists to blot out the memory
of the country's largely oral past that present-day Filipino writers,
artists and journalists are trying to correct this inequity by recognizing
the country's wealth of ethnic traditions and disseminating them in
schools through mass media.
The rise of nationalistic pride in the 1960s and 1970s also helped
bring about this change of attitude among a new breed of Filipinos
concerned about the "Filipino identity."
Philippine literature is written in Spanish, English, Tagalog, and/or
other native Philippine Languages.

Why do we need to study Philippine Literature?

Whatever nationality you are it is always very important to study
the literature of your country. In doing so you are not only learning
about the historical aspects of your land, but you are also keeping alive
the thoughts, beliefs and cultural variations of your ancestors that
differentiate your country from the rest of the world.
A country's literature also tells us about its civilization in a form
other than straight fact. Literature is usually one person's description
of a situation told through their own personal feelings; eyewitness
testimony to historical events that we were not present at. Writers
have a talent for bringing the past back to life with emotive language
and metaphor, helping us to imagine scenarios that may have
happened decades, or even centuries, ago.

LITERATURE BY LANGUAGES
Cebuano literature
Hiligaynon literature
Ilokano literature
Tagalog literature
Waray literature
Philippine Poetry
Philippine Literature in English
Philippine Literature in Filipino
Philippine Literature in Spanish

NOTABLE PEOPLE
Jose Rizal
Marcelo H. Del Pilar
Carlos P. Romulo
Francisco Balagtas
Amado V. Hernandez
Carlos Bulosan
Teodoro M. Locsin

NOTABLE WORKS
Noli Me Tangere
El Filibusterismo
Biag ni Lam-ang
Ibong Adarna

LITERARY GENRES
Genres of literature are important to learn about. The two main
categories separating the different genres of literature are fiction and
nonfiction. There are several genres of literature that fall under the
nonfiction category. Nonfiction sits in direct opposition to fiction.
Examples from both the fiction and nonfiction genres of literature are
explained in detail below.

Types of Nonfiction:
Narrative Nonfiction is information based on fact that is presented
in a format which tells a story.
Essays are a short literary composition that reflects the authors
outlook or point. A short literary composition on a particular
theme or subject, usually in prose and generally analytic,
speculative, or interpretative.
A Biography is a written account of another persons life.
An Autobiography gives the history of a persons life, written or
told by that person. Often written in Narrative form of their
persons life.
Speech is the faculty or power of speaking; oral communication;
ability to express ones thoughts and emotions by speech,
sounds, and gesture. Generally delivered in the form of an
address or discourse.

Genres of Fiction:
Drama is the genre of literature thats subject for compositions is
dramatic art in the way it is represented. This genre is stories
composed in verse or prose, usually for theatrical performance,
where conflicts and emotion are expressed through dialogue and
action.
Poetry is verse and rhythmic writing with imagery that evokes an
emotional response from the reader. The art of poetry is
rhythmical in composition, written or spoken. This genre of
literature is for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or
elevated thoughts.
Fantasy is the forming of mental images with strange or other
worldly settings or characters; fiction which invites suspension of
reality.
Humor is the faculty of perceiving what is amusing or comical.
Fiction full of fun, fancy, and excitement which meant to
entertain. This genre of literature can actually be seen and
contained within all genres.
A Fable is a story about supernatural or extraordinary people
Usually in the form of narration that demonstrates a useful truth.
 In Fables, animals often speak as humans that are legendary and
supernatural tales.
Fairy Tales or wonder tales are a kind of folktale or fable.
Sometimes the stories are about fairies or other magical
creatures, usually for children
Science Fiction is a story based on impact of potential science,
either actual or imagined. Science fiction is one of the genres of
literature that is set in the future or on other planets.
Short Story is fiction of such briefness that is not able to support
any subplots.
Realistic Fiction is a story that can actually happen and is true to
real life.
Folklore are songs, stories, myths, and proverbs of a person of
folk that was handed down by word of mouth. Folklore is a
genre of literature that is widely held, but false and based on
unsubstantiated beliefs.
Historical Fiction is a story with fictional characters and events in
a historical setting.
Horror is an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by
literature that is frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting.
Fiction in which events evoke a feeling of dread in both the
characters and the reader.
A Tall Tale is a humorous story with blatant exaggerations,
swaggering heroes who do the impossible with an here of
nonchalance.
Legend is a story that sometimes of a national or folk hero.
Legend is based on fact but also includes imaginative material.
Mystery is a genre of fiction that deals with the solution of a
crime or the unraveling of secrets. Anything that is kept secret or
remains unexplained or unknown.
Mythology is a type of legend or traditional narrative. This is often
based in part on historical events, that reveals human behavior
and natural phenomena by its symbolism; often pertaining to the
actions of the gods. A body of myths, as that of a particular
people or that relating to a particular person.
Fiction in Verse is full-length novels with plot, subplots, themes,
with major and minor characters. Fiction of verse is one of the
genres of literature in which the narrative is usually presented in
blank verse form.
Early Philippine Literature
The early inhabitants of the Philippine archipelago had a native
alphabet or syllabary which among the Tagalogs was
called baybayin, an inscription akin to Sanskrit. It was through
the baybayin that literary forms such as songs, riddles and proverbs,
lyric and short poems as well as parts of epic poems were written. The
bulk of these early literature however was just passed on through oral
recitation and incantation and were transcribed into the Roman
alphabet only centuries later by Spanish chroniclers and other scholars.
It is believed that replacement of the baybayin by the Roman alphabet
must have obliterated a significant aspect of indigenous Philippine
literature.

Among the early forms, it is the awit or the song that has endured.
Most ethnolinguistic communities remember the native tunes and
lyrics of their songs. Fathers Chirino and Colin noted that among the
Tagalogs, there were some 16 song forms for various occasions. Among
these are the uyayi or hele, a lullaby for putting a child to sleep;
the soliranin is a song for travelers while the talindaw is the seafarers
song; the kumintang is a war song; the maluway is a song for collective
labor while the kundiman is a melancholic love song. The dalit, is a
song-ritual usually sung to the rhythm of dance. The panambitan is a
courtship song while the pamanhikan is a song-ritual of the would-be
bridegroom to his would-be bride as he asks permission to marry her.
The subli is another dance-ritual song of courtship and marriage.

In the north, among the Ilocanos, the more popular song forms are
the dallot and the duayya, both love songs, and the dung-aw which is a
dirge or a wake song. The Bontoc of Mountain Province have
the bagbagto, a song ritual for harvest, while the Ivatan up in the
Batanes islands have three most popular folk song forms: the laji,
the kanta and the kalusan. The laji is a lyric rendition of a song usually
sung after a days work when people gather together in their houses to
chat and drink the native wine, palek and just find time to be merry. Dr.
Florentino Hornedos research of the Ivatan laji yielded this following
sample :

Tagalog riddles are called bugtong, while the Ilocanos call

these burburtia. Usually, riddles are made to rhyme and utilize
the talinghaga, a form of metaphor whose signification eventually
conveys the meaning of the answer to the riddle. Riddles such as these
for instance illustrate the use of the talinghaga:

Sometimes, the riddles are relayed through familiar indigenous

forms of poetry such as the ambahan,which is a monorhyming
heptasyllabic poem attributed to the Hanunuu-Mangyan ethnic group
in Mindoro. Apart from relaying riddles, ambahans are also used to
narrate common folk experiences. Father Antoon Postma has collected
a number of these ambahans, an example of which would be the
following:

A poetic form similar to the ambahan is the tanaga. Unlike

the ambahan whose length is indefinite, the tanaga is a compact
seven-syllable quatrain. Poets test their skills at rhyme, meter and
metaphor through thetanaga because not only is it rhymed and
measured but also exacts skillful use of words to create a puzzle that
demands some kind of an answer. Notice how this is used in the
following:

Tagalog proverbs are called salawikain or sawikain while they are

termed sarsarita in Iloko. Like most proverbs the world over, Philippine
proverbs contain sayings which prescribes norms, imparts a lesson or
simply reflects standard norms, traditions and beliefs in the
community. Professor Damiana Eugenio classifies Philippine proverbs
into six groups according to subject matter. These are (1) proverbs
expressing a general attitude towards life and the laws that govern life;
(2) ethical proverbs recommending certain virtues and condemning
certain vices; (3) proverbs expressing a system of values; (4) proverbs
expressing general truths and observations about life and human
nature; (5) humorous proverbs and (6) miscellaneous proverbs. From
her study, Eugenio observes that it is possible to formulate a fairly
comprehensive philosophy of life of the Filipino. The following proverb
for instance, which is one of the most popular, signifies the importance
of looking back at ones roots and origins. In a way, this proverb also
echoes the Filipino value of utang na loob or ones debt of gratitude
to those who have contributed to his or her success.

The most exciting poetic as well as narrative forms of early

Philippine literature however are the Philippine epics or ethno-epics as
critics and anthropologists call them. Almost all the major ethnic
groups in the country have an epic that is chanted in a variety of
rituals. Because chanting is the mode by which these epics have been
produced, many of them still remain unwritten. The ASEAN-sponsored
study of Filipino epics asserts that there are about one hundred (100)
extant epics in the Philippines that have been discovered, most of
these from the island of Palawan. The ASEAN anthology features only
translations into English and Filipino on Aliguyon (Hudhud) of the
Ifugao, translated by Amador Daguio, and edited by Josefina
Mariano, Biag ni Lam-ang of the Ilocano, composite text by Leopoldo
Yabes and translated by Jovita Ventura Castro, Labaw Donggon, the
Sulod epic, the text by Dr. F. Landa Jocano and translated by Rosella
Jean Makasian-Puno; Agyu or Olahing or Ulahingan of the Manobos,
composite text by Patricia Melendres Cruz from transcriptions of E.
Arsenio Manuel, Elena Maquiso, Carmen Ching Unabia, and Corazon
Manuel and Sandayo of the Subanun, text and translation by Virgilio
Resma.

The editor/translators of these epics cite five common

characteristics of these Filipino epics. One, most of these epics are
designated by names which means song, or chant, like the
Ifugao hudhud, the Manobo olagingor the Subanons guman. Two, the
epics are episodic and proceed through constructions that are en
palier. There are repetitions of scenes at every episode the more
familiar among these would be the chewing of the betel nut, battle
chants, getting dressed for marriage, etc. Three, the epics abound with
supernatural characters the diwatas, anitos, and other benign spirits
who come to the aid of the hero. Four, these epics are also reflective of
the society where they originate . They portray ethnic society before
the coming of the Muslims (1380) and the Christians (1521) and serve
as vehicles for the transmission of ethnic customs and wisdom. Five,
there are always several versions of these epics, as well as a
proliferation of episodes, phenomenon that is explained by orality of
the genre and its transmission through the ages to among the
generations of the group.

Aliguyon or the Hudhud of the Ifugaos tells of the exploits of

Aliguyon as he battles his arch enemy, Pambukhayon among rice fields
and terraces and instructs his people to be steadfast and learn the
wisdom of warfare and of peacemaking during harvest seasons.

Biag ni Lam-ang (Life of Lamang) tells of the adventures of the

prodigious epic hero, Lam-ang who exhibits extraordinary powers at a
very early age. At nine months he is able to go to war to look for his
fathers killers. Then while in search of lady love, Ines Kannoyan, he is
swallowed by a big fish, but his rooster and his friends bring him back
to life.
 Labaw Donggon is about the amorous exploits of the son of a
goddess Alunsina, by a mortal, Datu Paubari. The polygamous hero
battles the huge monster Manaluntad for the hand of Abyang
Ginbitinan; then he fights Sikay Padalogdog, the giant with a hundred
arms to win Abyang Doronoon and confronts the lord of darkness,
Saragnayan, to win Nagmalitong Yawa Sinagmaling Diwata.

The Agyu or Olahing is a three part epic that starts with

the pahmara (invocation) then the kepuunpuun ( a narration of the
past) and the sengedurog (an episode complete in itself). All three
parts narrate the exploits of the hero as he leads his people who have
been driven out of their land to Nalandangan, a land of utopia where
there are no landgrabbers and oppressors.

Sandayo, tells of the story of the hero with the same name, who is
born through extraordinary circumstances as he fell out of the hair of
his mother while she was combing it on the ninth stroke. Thence he
leads his people in the fight against invaders of their land and
waterways.

Other known epics are Bantugan of the Maranao,

the Darangen which is a Muslim epic, the Kudaman of Palawan which
was transcribed by Dr. Nicole McDonald, the Alim of the Ifugao,
the Hinilawod of Panay, the Ibalon of Bikol and Tuwaang of the Manobo,
which was transcribed by anthropologist E. Arsenio Manuel.. The
Tagalog have no known epic but it is generally believed that the story
of Bernardo Carpio, the man who has been detained by the huge
mountains of Montalban is their epic.

As for shorter narratives, there are stories that tell of the origins of
the people, of the stars, the sky and the seas. A common story of the
origin of man and woman is that of Sicalac (man) and Sicavay (woman)
who came out of a bamboo after being pecked by a bird. This, and
other stories of equal birthing of man and woman throughout the
archipelago could actually assert womans equality with man among
indigenous settings.

The eminent scholar and critic, Don Isabelo de los Reyes, had
collected a good number of folk tales, legends and myths which he had
exhibited in Madrid in 1887 and won a distinguished award of merit for
it. These are now anthologized in a book El Folklore Filipino (1996).
Spanish Colonial Period
The existing literature of the Philippine ethnic groups at the time
of conquest and conversion into Christianity was mainly oral, consisting
of epics, legends, songs, riddles, and proverbs. The conquistador,
especially its ecclesiastical arm, destroyed whatever written literature
he could find, and hence rendered the system of writing (e.g.,
the Tagalog syllabary) inoperable. Among the only native systems of
writing that have survived are the syllabaries of the Mindoro Mangyans
and the Tagbanua of Palawan.

The Spanish colonial strategy was to undermine the native oral

tradition by substituting for it the story of the Passion of Christ
(Lumbera, p. 14). Although Christ was by no means war-like or sexually
attractive as many of the heroes of the oral epic tradition, the appeal
of the Jesus myth inhered in the protagonists superior magic: by
promising eternal life for everyone, he democratized the power to rise
above death. It is to be emphasized, however, that the native tradition
survived and even flourished in areas inaccessible to the colonial
power. Moreover, the tardiness and the lack of assiduity of the colonial
administration in making a public educational system work meant the
survival of oral tradition, or what was left of it, among the conquered
tribes.

The church authorities adopted a policy of spreading the Church

doctrines by communicating to the native (pejoratively called Indio) in
his own language. Doctrina Christiana (1593), the first book to be
printed in the Philippines, was a prayerbook written in Spanish with an
accompanying Tagalog translation. It was, however, for the exclusive
use of the missionaries who invariably read them aloud to the
unlettered Indio catechumens (Medina), who were to rely mainly on
their memory. But the task of translating religious instructional
materials obliged the Spanish missionaries to take a most practical
step, that of employing native speakers as translators. Eventually, the
native translator learned to read and write both in Spanish and his
native language.

This development marked the beginning of Indio literacy and thus

spurred the creation of the first written literary native text by the
native. These writers, called ladinos because of their fluency in both
Spanish and Tagalog (Medina, pp. 55-56), published their work, mainly
devotional poetry, in the first decade of the 17th century. Among the
earliest writers of note were Francisco de San Jose and Francisco
Bagongbata (Medina).

But by far the most gifted of these native poet-translators was

Gaspar Aquino de Belen (Lumbera, p.14). Mahal Na Pasion ni Jesu
Christo, a Tagalog poem based on Christs passion, was published in
1704. This long poem, original and folksy in its rendition of a
humanized, indeed, a nativized Jesus, is a milestone in the history of
Philippine letters. Ironically and perhaps just because of its profound
influence on the popular imagination as artifact it marks the
beginning of the end of the old mythological culture and a conversion
to the new paradigm introduced by the colonial power.

Until the 19th century, the printing presses were owned and
managed by the religious orders (Lumbera, p.13). Thus, religious
themes dominated the culture of the Christianized majority. But the
native oral literature, whether secular or mythico-religious continued.
Even among the Christianized ethnic groups, the oral tradition
persisted in such forms as legends, sayings, wedding songs such as
the balayan and parlor theater such as theduplo (Medina, p. 32).

In the 18th century, secular literature from Spain in the form of

medieval ballads inspired the native poetic-drama form called
the komedya, later to be called moro-moro because these often dealt
with the theme of Christians triumphing over Moslems (Lumbera, p.
15).

Jose de la Cruz (1746 1829) was the foremost exponent of

the komedya during his time. A poet of prodigious output and urbane
style, de la Cruz marks a turning point in that his elevated diction
distinguishes his work from folk idiom (as for instance, that of Gaspar
Aquino de Belen). Yet his appeal to the non-literate was universal. The
popularity of the dramatic form, of which he was a master, was due to
it being experienced as performance both by the lettered minority and
the illiterate but genuinely appreciative majority.

Francisco Baltazar (1788 1862), popularly called Balagtas, is the

acknowledged master of traditional Tagalog poetry. Of peasant origins,
he left his hometown in Bigaa, Bulacan for Manila, with a strong
determination to improve his lot through education. To support his
studies, he worked as a domestic servant in Tondo. He steeped himself
in classical studies in schools of prestige in the capital.

Great social and political changes in the world worked together

to make Balagtas career as poet possible. The industrial revolution
had caused a great movement of commerce in the globe, creating
wealth and the opportunity for material improvement in the life of the
working classes. With these great material changes, social values were
transformed, allowing greater social mobility. In short, he was a child of
the global bourgeois revolution. Liberal ideas, in time, broke class
and, in the Philippines even racial barriers (Medina). The word
Filipino, which used to refer to a restricted group (i.e., Spaniards born
in the Philippines) expanded to include not only the acculturated
wealthy Chinese mestizo but also the acculturated Indio (Medina).
Balagtas was one of the first Indios to become a Filipino.

But the crucial element in Balagtas unique genius is that, being

caught between two cultures (the native and the colonial/classical), he
could switch codes (or was perceived by his compatriot audience to be
switching codes), provide insight and information to his oppressed
compatriots in the very style and guise of a tradition provided him by a
foreign (and oppressive) culture. His narrative poem Florante at
Laura written in sublime Tagalog, is about tyranny in Albanya, but it is
also perceived to be about tyranny in his Filipino homeland (Lumbera).

Despite the foreign influence, however, he remained true to his

native traditions. His verse plays were performed to the motley crowd.
His poems were sung by the literate for the benefit of the unlettered.
The metrical regularity and rhyme performed their age-old mnemonic
function, despite and because of the introduction of printing.

Printing overtook tradition. The printed page, by itself, became the

mnemonic device, the stage set for the development of prose. The first
Filipino novel was Ninay, written in Spanish by Pedro Paterno, a
Philippine-bornilustrado (Medina p. 93). Following the sentimental style
of his first book Sampaguitas (a collection of poems in Spanish), the
novel endeavored to highlight the endearingly unique qualities of
Filipinos.

National Hero Jose Rizal (1861 1896) chose the realistic novel as
his medium. Choosing Spanish over Tagalog meant challenging the
oppressors on the latters own turf. By writing in prose, Rizal also cut
his ties with the Balagtas tradition of the figurative indirection which
veiled the supposed subversiveness of many writings at that time.

Rizals two novels, the Noli Me Tangere and its sequel El

Filibusterismo, chronicle the life and ultimate death of Ibarra, a Filipino
educated abroad, who attempts to reform his country through
education. At the conclusion of the Noli, his efforts end in near-death
and exile from his country. In the Filibusterismo, he returns after
reinventing himself as Simoun, the wealthy jeweler, and hastens social
decay by further corrupting the social fabric till the oppressed react
violently to overthrow the system. But the insurrection is foiled and
Simoun suffers a violent death.

In a sense, Rizals novels and patriotic poems were the inevitable

conclusion to the campaign for liberal reforms known as the
Propaganda Movement, waged by Graciano Lopez Jaena, and M.H. del
Pilar. The two novels so vividly portrayed corruption and oppression
that despite the lack of any clear advocacy, they served to instill the
conviction that there could be no solution to the social ills but a violent
one.

Following closely on the failed reformist movement, and on Rizals

novels, was the Philippine revolution headed by Andres Bonifacio (1863
1897). His closest aide, the college-bred Emilio Jacinto (1875 1899),
was the revolutionary organizations ideologue. Both were admirers of
Rizal, and like Rizal, both were writers and social critics profoundly
influenced by the liberal ideas of the French enlightenment, about
human dignity. Bonifacios most important work are his poems, the
most well-known being Pag-Ibig Sa Tinubuang Lupa. Jacinto wrote
political essays expressed in the language of the folk. Significantly,
although either writer could have written in Spanish (Bonifacio, for
instance, wrote a Tagalog translation of Rizals Ultimo Adios), both
chose to communicate to their fellowmen in their own native language.
 The figure of Rizal dominates Philippine literature until the present
day. Liberalism led to education of the native and the ascendancy of
Spanish. But Spanish was undermined by the very ideas of liberation
that it helped spread, and its decline led to nativism and a renaissance
of literature in the native languages.

The turn of the century witnessed not only the Philippine

revolution but a quieter though no less significant outbreak. The
educated women of the period produced significant poetry. Gregoria de
Jesus, wife of Andres Bonifacio, wrote notable Tagalog poetry.
Meanwhile, in Vigan of the Ilocano North, Leona Florentino, by her
poetry, became the foremost Ilocano writer of her time.

The Literary Forms in Philippine Literature

The diversity and richness of Philippine literature evolved side by
side with the countrys history. This can best be appreciated in the
context of the countrys pre-colonial cultural traditions and the socio-
political histories of its colonial and contemporary traditions.

The average Filipinos unfamiliarity with his indigenous literature

was largely due to what has been impressed upon him: that his country
was discovered and, hence, Philippine history started only in 1521.

So successful were the efforts of colonialists to blot out the memory

of the countrys largely oral past that present-day Filipino writers, artists
and journalists are trying to correct this inequity by recognizing the
countrys wealth of ethnic traditions and disseminating them in schools
and in the mass media.
 The rousings of nationalistic pride in the 1960s and 1970s also
helped bring about this change of attitude among a new breed of
Filipinos concerned about the Filipino identity.

Pre-Colonial Times

Owing to the works of our own archaeologists, ethnologists and

anthropologists, we are able to know more and better judge information
about our pre-colonial times set against a bulk of material about early
Filipinos as recorded by Spanish, Chinese, Arabic and other chroniclers
of the past.

Pre-colonial inhabitants of our islands showcase a rich past through

their folk speeches, folk songs, folk narratives and indigenous rituals and
mimetic dances that affirm our ties with our Southeast Asian neighbors.

The most seminal of these folk speeches is the riddle which

is tigmo in Cebuano, bugtong in Tagalog,paktakon in Ilongo
and patototdon in Bicol. Central to the riddle is the talinghaga or
metaphor because it reveals subtle resemblances between two unlike
objects and ones power of observation and wit are put to the test. While
some riddles are ingenious, others verge on the obscene or are sex-
related:

Gaddang:

Gongonan nu usin y amam If you pull your daddys penis

Maggirawa pay sila y inam. Your mommys vagina, too,

(Campana) screams. (Bell)

The proverbs or aphorisms express norms or codes of behavior,

community beliefs or they instill values by offering nuggets of wisdom in
short, rhyming verse.
 The extended form, tanaga, a mono-riming heptasyllabic quatrain
expressing insights and lessons on life is more emotionally charged than
the terse proverb and thus has affinities with the folk lyric. Some
examples are the basahanon or extended didactic sayings from Bukidnon
and the daraida and daragilon from Panay.

The folk song, a form of folk lyric which expresses the hopes and
aspirations, the peoples lifestyles as well as their loves. These are often
repetitive and sonorous, didactic and naive as in the childrens songs
or Ida-ida(Maguindanao), tulang pambata (Tagalog) or cansiones para
abbing (Ibanag).

A few examples are the lullabyes or Ili-ili (Ilongo); love songs like
the panawagon and balitao (Ilongo);harana or serenade (Cebuano);
the bayok (Maranao); the seven-syllable per line poem, ambahan of the
Mangyans that are about human relationships, social entertainment and
also serve as a tool for teaching the young; work songs that depict the
livelihood of the people often sung to go with the movement of workers
such as the kalusan (Ivatan), soliranin (Tagalog rowing song) or
the mambayu, a Kalinga rice-pounding song; the verbal jousts/games
like the duplo popular during wakes.

Other folk songs are the drinking songs sung during carousals like
the tagay (Cebuano and Waray); dirges and lamentations extolling the
deeds of the dead like the kanogon (Cebuano) or the Annako (Bontoc).

A type of narrative song or kissa among the Tausug of Mindanao,

the parang sabil, uses for its subject matter the exploits of historical and
legendary heroes. It tells of a Muslim hero who seeks death at the hands
of non-Muslims.

The folk narratives, i.e. epics and folk tales are varied, exotic and
magical. They explain how the world was created, how certain animals
possess certain characteristics, why some places have waterfalls,
volcanoes, mountains, flora or fauna and, in the case of legends, an
explanation of the origins of things. Fables are about animals and these
teach moral lessons.

Our countrys epics are considered ethno-epics because unlike, say,

Germanys Niebelunginlied, our epics are not national for they are
histories of varied groups that consider themselves nations.

The epics come in various

names: Guman (Subanon); Darangen (Maranao); Hudhud (Ifugao);
andUlahingan (Manobo). These epics revolve around supernatural events
or heroic deeds and they embody or validate the beliefs and customs and
ideals of a community. These are sung or chanted to the accompaniment
of indigenous musical instruments and dancing performed during
harvests, weddings or funerals by chanters. The chanters who were
taught by their ancestors are considered treasures and/or repositories
of wisdom in their communities.

Examples of these epics are the Lam-

ang (Ilocano); Hinilawod (Sulod); Kudaman (Palawan); Darangen(Maranao
); Ulahingan (Livunganen-Arumanen Manobo); Mangovayt Buhong na
Langit (The Maiden of the Buhong Sky from TuwaangManobo); Ag Tobig
neg Keboklagan (Subanon); and Tudbulol (Tboli).

The Spanish Colonial Tradition

While it is true that Spain subjugated the Philippines for more

mundane reasons, this former European power contributed much in the
shaping and recording of our literature. Religion and institutions that
represented European civilization enriched the languages in the
lowlands, introduced theater which we would come to know as komedya,
the sinakulo, the sarswela, the playlets and the drama. Spain 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.
 Literature in this period may be classified as religious prose and
poetry and secular prose and poetry.

Religious lyrics written by ladino poets or those versed in both

Spanish and Tagalog were included in early catechism and were used to
teach Filipinos the Spanish language. Fernando Bagonbantas Salamat
nang walang hanga/gracias de sin sempiternas (Unending thanks) is a
fine example that is found in the Memorial de la vida cristiana en lengua
tagala (Guidelines for the Christian life in the Tagalog language)
published in 1605.

Another form of religious lyrics are the meditative verses like

the dalit appended to novenas and catechisms. It has no fixed meter nor
rime scheme although a number are written in octosyllabic quatrains
and have a solemn tone and spiritual subject matter.

But among the religious poetry of the day, it is the pasyon in

octosyllabic quintillas that became entrenched in the Filipinos
commemoration of Christs agony and resurrection at Calvary. Gaspar
Aquino de Belens Ang Mahal na Passion ni Jesu Christong Panginoon
natin na tola (Holy Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Verse) put out in
1704 is the countrys earliest known pasyon.

Other known pasyons chanted during the Lenten season are in

Ilocano, Pangasinan, Ibanag, Cebuano, Bicol, Ilongo and Waray.

Aside from religious poetry, there were various kinds of prose

narratives written to prescribe proper decorum. Like the pasyon, these
prose narratives were also used for proselitization. Some forms
are: dialogo(dialogue), Manual de Urbanidad (conduct
book); ejemplo (exemplum) and tratado (tratado). The most well-known
are Modesto de Castros Pagsusulatan ng Dalawang Binibini na si
Urbana at si Feliza (Correspondence between the Two Maidens Urbana
and Feliza) in 1864 and Joaquin Tuasons Ang Bagong Robinson (The
New Robinson) in 1879, an adaptation of Daniel Defoes novel.
 Secular works appeared alongside historical and economic changes,
the emergence of an opulent class and the middle class who could avail
of a European education. This Filipino elite could now read printed works
that used to be the exclusive domain of the missionaries.

The 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. The leading poets were Jose Corazon de
Jesus (Huseng Sisiw) and Francisco Balagtas. Some secular poets who
wrote in this same tradition were Leona Florentino, Jacinto Kawili,
Isabelo de los Reyes and Rafael Gandioco.

Another popular secular poetry is the metrical romance,

the awit and korido in Tagalog. The awit is set in dodecasyllabic
quatrains while the korido is in octosyllabic quatrains. These are colorful
tales of chivalry from European sources made for singing and chanting
such as Gonzalo de Cordoba (Gonzalo of Cordoba) and Ibong
Adarna (Adarna Bird). There are numerous metrical romances in Tagalog,
Bicol, Ilongo, Pampango, Ilocano and in Pangasinan. The awit as a
popular poetic genre reached new heights in Balagtas Florante at
Laura (ca. 1838-1861), the most famous of the countrys metrical
romances.

Again, the winds of change began to blow in 19th century

Philippines. Filipino intellectuals educated in Europe
called ilustrados began to write about the downside of colonization. This,
coupled with the simmering calls for reforms by the masses gathered a
formidable force of writers like Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Mariano
Ponce, Emilio Jacinto and Andres Bonifacio.

This led to the formation of the Propaganda Movement where prose

works such as the political essays and Rizals two political novels, Noli Me
Tangere and the El filibusterismo helped usher in the Philippine
revolution resulting in the downfall of the Spanish regime, and, at the
same time planted the seeds of a national consciousness among
Filipinos.

But if Rizals novels are political, the novel Ninay (1885) by Pedro
Paterno is largely cultural and is considered the first Filipino novel.
Although Paternos Ninay gave impetus to other novelists like Jesus
Balmori and Antonio M. Abad to continue writing in Spanish, this did
not flourish.

Other Filipino writers published the essay and short fiction in

Spanish in La Vanguardia, El Debate,Renacimiento Filipino, and Nueva
Era. The more notable essayists and fictionists were Claro M. Recto,
Teodoro M. Kalaw, Epifanio de los Reyes, Vicente Sotto, Trinidad Pardo de
Tavera, Rafael Palma, Enrique Laygo (Caretas or Masks, 1925) and
Balmori who mastered the prosa romantica or romantic prose.

But the introduction of English as medium of instruction in the

Philippines hastened the demise of Spanish so that by the 1930s,
English writing had overtaken Spanish writing. During the languages
death throes, however, writing in the romantic tradition, from the awit
and korido, would continue in the novels of Magdalena Jalandoni. But
patriotic writing continued under the new colonialists. These appeared in
the vernacular poems and modern adaptations of works during the
Spanish period and which further maintained the Spanish tradition.

The American Colonial Period

A new set of colonizers brought about new changes in Philippine

literature. New literary forms such as free verse [in poetry], the modern
short story and the critical essay were introduced. American influence
was deeply entrenched with the firm establishment of English as the
medium of instruction in all schools and with literary modernism that
highlighted the writers individuality and cultivated consciousness of
craft, sometimes at the expense of social consciousness.
 The poet, and later, National Artist for Literature, Jose Garcia Villa
used free verse and espoused the dictum, Art for arts sake to the
chagrin of other writers more concerned with the utilitarian aspect of
literature. Another maverick in poetry who used free verse and talked
about illicit love in her poetry was Angela Manalang Gloria, a woman
poet described as ahead of her time. Despite the threat of censorship by
the new dispensation, more writers turned up seditious works and
popular writing in the native languages bloomed through the weekly
outlets like Liwayway and Bisaya.

The Balagtas tradition persisted until the poet Alejandro G. Abadilla

advocated modernism in poetry. Abadilla later influenced young poets
who wrote modern verses in the 1960s such as Virgilio S. Almario, Pedro
I. Ricarte and Rolando S. Tinio.

While the early Filipino poets grappled with the verities of the new
language, Filipinos seemed to have taken easily to the modern short
story as published in the Philippines Free Press, the College
Folio and Philippines Herald. Paz Marquez Benitezs Dead Stars
published in 1925 was the first successful short story in English written
by a Filipino. Later on, Arturo B. Rotor and Manuel E. Arguilla showed
exceptional skills with the short story.

Alongside this development, writers in the vernaculars continued to

write in the provinces. Others like Lope K. Santos, Valeriano Hernandez
Pea and Patricio Mariano were writing minimal narratives similar to the
early Tagalog short fiction called dali or pasingaw (sketch).

The romantic tradition was fused with American pop culture or

European influences in the adaptations of Edgar Rice
Burroughs Tarzan by F. P. Boquecosa who also penned Ang Palad ni
Pepe after Charles DickensDavid Copperfield even as the realist tradition
was kept alive in the novels by Lope K. Santos and Faustino Aguilar,
among others.
 It should be noted that if there was a dearth of the Filipino novel in
English, the novel in the vernaculars continued to be written and
serialized in weekly magazines like Liwayway, Bisaya, Hiligaynon and
Bannawag.

The essay in English became a potent medium from the 1920s to

the present. Some leading essayists were journalists like Carlos P.
Romulo, Jorge Bocobo, Pura Santillan Castrence, etc. who wrote formal
to humorous to informal essays for the delectation by Filipinos.

Among those who wrote criticism developed during the American

period were Ignacio Manlapaz, Leopoldo Yabes and I.V. Mallari. But it
was Salvador P. Lopezs criticism that grabbed attention when he won the
Commonwealth Literay Award for the essay in 1940 with his Literature
and Society. This essay posited that art must have substance and that
Villas adherence to Art for Arts Sake is decadent.

The last throes of American colonialism saw the flourishing of

Philippine literature in English at the same time, with the introduction of
the New Critical aesthetics, made writers pay close attention to craft and
indirectly engendered a disparaging attitude towards vernacular
writings a tension that would recur in the contemporary period.

The Contemporary Period

The flowering of Philippine literature in the various languages

continue especially with the appearance of new publications after the
Martial Law years and the resurgence of committed literature in the
1960s and the 1970s.

Filipino writers continue to write poetry, short stories, novellas,

novels and essays whether these are socially committed, gender/ethnic
related or are personal in intention or not.

Of course the Filipino writer has become more conscious of his art
with the proliferation of writers workshops here and abroad and the bulk
of literature available to him via the mass media including the internet.
The various literary awards such as the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial
Awards for Literature, the Philippines Free Press, Philippine Graphic,
Home Life and Panorama literary awards encourage him to compete with
his peers and hope that his creative efforts will be rewarded in the long
run.

With the new requirement by the Commission on Higher Education

of teaching of Philippine Literature in all tertiary schools in the country
emphasizing the teaching of the vernacular literature or literatures of the
regions, the audience for Filipino writers is virtually assured. And,
perhaps, a national literature finding its niche among the literatures of
the world will not be far behind.
 Portfolio
In
Philippine Literature

Submitted to:

Mrs. Sheena Dyze Addamo

Submitted by:

Jakob Dylan F. Macasieb

BSIT-II Block 3