Competency 1: Identify the geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions of Philippine literary history from pre-colonial to the contemporary
What is Literature?
It is a body of written works.
It originated from oral traditions.
These are imaginative works.
Deals with stories and poetry.
Three Points of Literature
Literature portrays the human experience.
Authors interpret these human experiences.
It is an art form and a style of expression.
Major Genres of Literature
Poetry
Fiction
Drama
Creative Non-Fiction
The Philippine Literary Periods
It existed before the arrival of colonizers.
It is oral and is full of lessons and ideas about life, its blessings, and its consequences.
A. Riddles
These are statements that contain simple words, but they function figuratively and like 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 utilized in the past as a game in small or large gatherings
B. Epics
These are exceptionally long accounts that are based on oral conventions. These contain experiences of warriors, cliché princes, or heroes that spare a lady in trouble.
C. Myths
These tackle the natural to strange happenings and how things were made to explain things.
D. Legends
Through legends, people understood the mysteries surrounding them. These stories usually come with ethical lessons that give supernatural powers, supernatural occurrences, and other out-of-this-world native imagination.
E. Folk Songs
These are folk lyrics that are usually chanted.
These usually contain ideas on aspirations, hopes, everyday life, and love expressions for loved ones.
It is bounded by the learning of good morals.
It is easy to comprehend because it is direct and not figurative.
F. Folk Tales
These are stories of native Filipinos.
These deal with nature's power- personified, their submission to a deity- usually Bathala- and how this deity is responsible for the blessings and calamities.
It tackles irresponsibility, lust, stupidity, deception, and fallibility that eventually lead to good morals.
Focus on the emphasis of Christian doctrines.
Introduction of the Roman alphabet and Spanish language.
A. Religious Literature - focuses on the life and the death of Jesus Christ.
Pasyon- it is about the passion (journey and suffering) and the death of Jesus Christ.
Senakulo- it is the re-enactment of the pasyon.
Komedya- it depicts European society through love and fame, or a narrative about a journey. It also depicts the battle between Christians and Moros.
B. Secular Literature – revolves around tales of valiance and adventure.
Awit- these are tales of chivalry where a knight saves a princess
Korido- is a metrical tale or a tale that follows the structure of a poem.
Prose Narratives- are easy to understand instructional materials in a literary light that teaches Filipinos proper etiquette.
C. Propaganda Literature - these were in the forms of satires, editorials, and news articles that aimed to attack the Spanish rule.
Ang Fray Botod by Graciano Lopez Jaena - written in Jaro, Iloilo in 1876, six years after the Cavite Revolt attacking the Philippines' friars. He exposed how some of the friars were greedy, ambitious, and immoral.
Dasalan at Tocsohan (Prayers and Jokes) by Marcelo H. Del Pilar - similar to a catechism but sarcastically done against the clerics, published in Barcelona in 1888.
Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) by Dr. Jose Rizal - the novel that pushed the propaganda movement and the revolution against Spain. In this book, he exposed the evils in the Spanish-run government in the Philippines.
D. Revolutionary Literature – are exposes that sparked the revolution and resistance in the hearts of Filipinos.
Katungkulang Gagawin ng mga Anak ng Bayan (Obligations of our Countrymen) by Andres Bonifacio – an outline of obligations just like the Ten Commandments. Hence, it is likewise called "Ang Dekalogo."
Liwanag at Dilim (Light and Darkness) by Emilio Jacinto– a collection of essays on different subjects like freedom, work, faith, government, and country love.
El Desarollo y Caida de la Republica Filipina (The Rise and Fall of the Philippine Republic) by Apolinario Mabini – highlights the establishment of the Philippine republic and its doom due to disunity among Filipinos.
E. 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. It is the Official Newspaper of the Revolutionary Government of Aguinaldo.
La Independencia (Independence) – an independent newspaper founded and edited by General Antonio Luna.
La Republica Filipina (The Philippine Republic) – is a private newspaper edited by Pedro Paterno.
La Libertad (Liberty) – is another private newspaper edited by Clemente Zulueta.
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 literature during the American period was considered as imitative of the American model. Instead of asking the students to write originals, students ended up following the form of American poets.
A. Poetry- poetry under the American rule still followed the old style but had contents ranging from free writing to societal concerns.
Poetry Jose Corazon de Jesus (1832-1896), popularly known as "Batute," created his generation with his first book of poems.
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 the Philippines under Spain, the coming of the U.S under the guise of friendship to take over from Spain.
B. Drama - usually used in the American period to degrade the Spanish rule and immortalize the men who fought under the Katipunan heroism.
Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas (1903) by Aurelio Tolentino - is an allegorical presentation of the history of the nationalist struggle and how the U.S. frustrated the Philippine revolution.
Tanikalang Ginto (1902) by Juan Abad - is about Liwanag and K'Ulayaw, lovers who stand for freedom and the Filipino.
C. Remake Novels- took up Dr. Jose Rizal's portrayal of social conditions by colonial repression.
Madaling Araw (1909) by Inigo Ed. Regalado - novel showing the complex interrelations of issues and people in contemporary Philippine society.
Lalaking Uliran o Tulisan (1914) by Juan Lauro Arsciwals - an allusion to the colonial law that branded Filipino patriots as bandits.
The Philippine literature came to a halt.
The use of the English language was forbidden, and the Filipino language was mandated under Japanese rule.
For some, this was a problem, but it was a blessing in disguise for most writers.
Almost all newspapers were stopped except for some.
Filipino literature was given a break during this period, and many wrote plays, poems, short stories, etc. Topics and themes were often about life in the provinces.
A. Drama
It 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.
B. Newspaper Writings
It came out during this period and was journalistic. 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.
C. Poetry
Multiculturalism is a common theme of most poems during the Japanese occupation: nationalism, country, love, and life in the barrios, faith, religion, and the arts.
D. Fiction
A field of the short story widened during the Japanese occupation. Many wrote short stories.
E. Essays
It is composed to glorify the Filipinos and, at the same time, to attack the Japanese figuratively.
There are a lot of literary innovations that are adapted and created by Filipinos.
Even those who do not have any significant literary background make their way by using their freedom to write and express.
There are many new forms from the old genres of literature; thus, proving how significant literature in the Philippines changed and how far it will go on from here.