21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

Literary Texts of Different Regions and Genres

A. Poetry
Objective
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to compare and contrast two poems published in
different periods.
Lead Question:
What do the poems published in different periods have in common?
How are they different from one another?

Philippine Literature during the American Occupation of the Philippines (1898–1940)

With English as the medium of instruction in public schools, Filipino literary works in English were
produced. In the first decade, poetry and prose in English appeared in student publications like the
UP College Folio and The Coconut of Manila High School. By the 1930s and 1940s, Filipino writers in
English came into their own.

Philippine Literature in the 21st Century (2001 up to the present)

This body of literature includes digital writings, graphic novels, textula, hypertext, and other
emerging literary genres at present.

Learn about it!

In this lesson, you will compare and contrast Amador T. Daguio’s poem “Man of Earth” and a piece
of textula by Frank Rivera.

At 20, the poet Amador T. Daguio wrote “Man of Earth” in 1932. According to Dr. Gemino Abad, a
well-known Filipino poet and critic, “Man of Earth” marks a turning point in Filipino poetry. Daguio’s
poem words in English are reinvented to establish a native idiom.

Textula is poetry written and read on a mobile phone. It is popularized by the playwright Frank
Rivera, who came to be known as the “makata sa cell phone.” His works of textula and other poems
are performed in different occasions, such as rallies, school programs, and contests; published in
newspapers; heard on radio; and shared on social media or through text messaging.

Poetic Terms
Allusion – Using this literary device, the writer refers to a significant person, place, thing, or idea in
culture, history, literature, or politics briefly and indirectly.

Apostrophe – With this literary device, the writer addresses someone or something that is not
present in his work.

End rhyme – This rhyme occurs in the last syllables of verses.

Lyric poetry – This traditional poetry is characterized by its brevity, emotional intensity, and musical
quality.

Example 1:
Man of Earth
By Amador T. Daguio
Pliant is the bamboo;
I am man of earth.
They say that from the bamboo
We had our first birth.

Am I of the body,
Or of the green leaf?
Do I have to whisper
My every sin and grief?

If the wind passes by,

Must I stoop, and try
To measure fully
My flexibility?

I might have been the bamboo,

But I will be a man.
Bend me then, O Lord,
Bend me if you can.

Explanation:
The lyric poem has a varied rhythm. It is composed of four stanzas, each one with five to seven
syllables.
The poem contains end rhymes.
The poem contains an allusion to a Philippine creation myth that tells that the first man and woman
came from a bamboo. The speaker is aware of his own pagan heritage.
The poem uses apostrophe. The speaker addresses a spiritual being he calls “Lord” in the last two
lines of the fourth stanza.

Example 2:
A Textula
By Frank Rivera

Merong himala, hindi totoong wala

Ituro ma’y mali, alam nati’y tama
Kahit walang sagot itong panalangin
Hindi tumitigil ang ating paghiling.

Walang nagturo na tayo’y makibaka

Ngunit sulirani’y ating binabata
Kahit may pangakong laging napapako
Sa anumang init, handa ring mapaso.

Sa ating puso’y may awit ng pag-asa

Kahit titik nito’y hindi makabisa
Ang katotohana’y lalaging totoo
Basta maniwalang mayroong milagro.

(Reproduced by permission of Frank Rivera)

Explanation:
The poem is a piece of lyric poetry. It is composed of three stanzas, and each stanza has four lines. It
has a regular meter; each line consists of twelve syllables.

The poem uses what is called in Tagalog poetry as “tugmang karaniwan,” wherein the last word of
each line has the same sound. Except the last two lines of the first stanza, the rest of the poem uses
“tugmang patinig,” wherein the last words of the lines have the same vowel sound.

Summary
Both Amador T. Daguio’s and Frank Rivera’s poems are lyric poetry, and they show traditional
elements. Both poems use end rhymes. However, Daguio’s poem has no regular meter, while
Rivera’s poem has.\\

Evaluation:
Q 1 : What period of Philippine history did Amador T. Daguio write the poem “Man of Earth”?
Q 2: What poetry is written and read on a mobile phone?
Q 3: What title has been given to Frank Rivera for popularizing textula?
Q 4: Which of these statements is not true for Amador T. Daguio’s “Man of Earth”?
Q 5: All pairs of words form end rhymes except one. Which pair of words is it?

A Textula (An Excerpt)

By Frank Rivera

Merong himala, hindi totoong wala

Ituro ma’y mali, alam nati’y tama
Kahit walang sagot itong panalangin
Hindi tumitigil ang ating paghiling.

Walang nagturo na tayo’y makibaka

Ngunit sulirani’y ating binabata
Kahit may pangakong laging napapako
Sa anumang init, handa ring mapaso.

(Reproduced by permission of Frank Rivera

Q 6: All pairs of words form “tugmang patinig” except one. Which pair of words is it?

Textula (An Excerpt)

By Frank Rivera

Sa ating puso’y may awit ng

Kahit titik nito’y hindi
Ang katotohana’y lalaging totoo
Basta maniwalang mayroong milagro.

(Reproduced by permission of Frank Rivera)

Q 7: Which pair of words in the right order completes the first and second lines?

Man of Earth (An Excerpt)

By Amador T. Daguio

I might have been the bamboo,

But I will be a man.
Bend me then, O Lord,
Bend me if you can.

Q 8: What figure of speech is used in the last two lines of the stanza?

Q 9: The stanza from Rivera’s textula has a regular rhythm. What makes its rhythm regular?

Man of Earth (An Excerpt)

By Amador T. Daguio

I might have been the bamboo,

But I will be a man.
Bend me then, O Lord,
Bend me if you can.

A Textula (An Excerpt)

By Frank Rivera

Sa ating puso’y may awit ng pag-asa

Kahit titik nito’y hindi makabisa
Ang katotohana’y lalaging totoo
Basta maniwalang mayroong milagro.

(Reproduced by permission of Frank Rivera)

Q 10: What Filipino traits do the stanzas suggest?

B. Fiction
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

define literary meaning, and

determine how the literary devices of a work of fiction work together to convey its literary meaning.
What is "literary meaning"?
How does one determine the "literary meaning" of a work of fiction?

Literary elements – These devices are inherent in a literary text. Some examples are the characters,
setting, conflict, plot, and theme of a short story.

Literary techniques – These devices are used deliberately by a writer in his or her work to convey a
particular meaning. Dialogue is an example.

Learn about it!

The literary meaning of a work is conveyed through its elements and the literary techniques that the
writer used. In a short story, for instance, the writer weaves a story, putting elements and
techniques together in a specific arrangement to convey its meaning.
Consider Francisco Arcellana’s short story "The Mats." Arcellana focused on the character’s actions
and dialogues to reveal their innermost feelings, which can be clues to the literary meaning of the
work.

"The Mats" (A Summary)

By Francisco Arcellana

The short story "The Mats" is about the Angeles family. As the title suggests, their story unfolds like
the unfolding of a sleeping mat. It begins with Emilia and her children waiting excitedly for Mr. Jaime
Angeles’s return from a business trip. In a letter, Mr. Angeles told his wife that he had asked a mat
weaver to make decorative sleeping mats for each one in the family. To some degree, the children
knew what those mats would look like because their mother kept one herself. This mat was a gift
from Emilia’s mother. It had been a witness to the couple’s wedding night as well as to the illnesses
and even deaths in the family. Then the day came when Mr. Angeles arrived home at last. The family
had a long dinner. The table was cleared right after, and Mr. Angeles had a cigar. When it was time
to untie the mats, Mr. Angeles cut the cord that held the bundle with scissors. He began unfolding
the mats one by one. He handed the first one to Emilia; the second one to himself; the third one to
his eldest, Marcelina; the fourth one to his son, Jose; and three more to his children Antonia, Juan,
and Jesus. Each mat had the name of the family member on it as well as something special like the
cadena de amor on Emilia’s mat, a lyre on Marcelina’s, and the symbol of Aesculapius on Jose’s.
Then Emilia noticed the other three mats that were not yet unfolded. In a different voice, Mr.
Angeles told her that they were for those who were not there. Emilia was speechless, and the
children fell silent. Mr. Angeles unfolded the first of three remaining mats; it revealed a name that
the children knew, but it seemed strange to them. Nana Emilia told her husband, "You know, Jaime,
you didn’t have to. You didn’t have to." To this Mr. Angeles only said, "Do you think I’d forgotten?
Do you think I had forgotten them? Do you think I could forget them?" Then he called out the names
of his dead children, namely, Josefina, Victoria, and Concepcion, as if they were there to get the
mats themselves. Emilia pleaded with him to stop. To this he only said, "Is it fair to forget them?
Would it be just to disregard them?" The children wanted to turn away from their father, but they
did not. Emilia held back her frustration. Mr. Angeles unfolded the remaining mats in silence.

Literary Meaning of "The Mats"

It is shown through the characters Emilia and her husband that coping with the death of loved ones
is a struggle. Emilia seemed to lead a normal life from the beginning of the story until the moment
her husband told her that he had the mat weaver made three mats for their three dead children.
Forced to remember their dead children, she could only hold back from feeling frustration perhaps
with her husband. On the other hand, Mr. Angeles dealt with the death of his children in a way that
he knew how, that is, remembering them on special occasions even if that made his wife and
children uncomfortable.

Summary
The literary devices, elements and techniques, that are present in a work like a short story, bring
about the literary meaning of the work. This meaning can be about people or life in general.

Evaluation:

Q 1: Which word completes the following analogy?

Emilia : cadena de amor : : Marcelina : ______

Q 2: Which one of these statements is true for the characters Jaime and Emilia of the short story?

Q 3: The literary meaning of a work is conveyed through the literary devices which the writer puts
together in a random arrangement.

Q 4: Which one of these statements is true for the characters Jaime and Emilia of the short story
"The Mats"?

Q 5: Which one of these statements is not true for the characters Jaime and Emilia of the short story
"The Mats"?

C. Drama

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

identify the Filipino dramatists or playwrights in English during the Postwar Period in the Philippines
(1946–1960); and
analyze a Filipino drama or play in English published during that period.
What is a drama?
What are the elements of a drama?
Who are the Filipino dramatists in English that emerged during the Postwar Years?

Drama
Drama is a literary work that tells a story through actions and dialogues. It is usually performed on
stage.

Elements
Characters – These actors set the scene and flow of the story.

Dialogues – These are conversations between the characters.

Plot – This is the series of events that take place.

Stage directions – These statements tell the actors how they should look, move, and speak. They
also give the director a picture of how the setting looks like, and what music and other sounds would
set the mood of the play.

Philippine Drama in English During the Postwar Period (1946–1960)

By the 1940s and 1950s, dramas in English had been performed on stage in the Philippines. During
that time, three notable Filipino dramatists emerged. They were Severino Montano, Wilfrido Ma.
Guerrero, and Alberto S. Florentino.

Severino Montano (1915–1980) established the Arena Theatre at the Philippine Normal College in
1952. Almost two hundred performances were staged there from 1953 to 1964. Among those
performances were the staging of Montano’s four major dramas, namely, Parting at Calamba (1953),
Sabina (1953), The Ladies and the Senator (1953), and The Love of Leonor Rivera (1954).
Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero (1910–1995) was a prolific playwright. He wrote over a hundred plays; most
of them were staged. His plays portray the educated middle class. Among his popular works are
Wanted: A Chaperone (1940), The Three Rats (1948), and Condemned (1943).

Alberto S. Florentino (1931– ) became known for his drama The World Is An Apple. It won first prize
in the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature in 1954 and was published in the Sunday Times
Magazine that same year. The play as well as the others like Cavort with Angels (1959) and Oli Impan
(1959) is set in Tondo slums.

During the period, the theater was moribund in the cities, however. One reason is that the language
used, which was English, made the plays only accessible to the educated Filipinos.

"The World Is an Apple" by Alberto S. Florentino is a one-act play. As the term suggests, a one-act
play is composed of only one act or part. Its story has a few characters; it is condensed and has a
single effect.

Florentino’s play only has three characters, namely, Gloria, Mario, and Pablo. The story takes place
one evening in an improvised home in Intramuros. Gloria and Mario are a poor couple. Their poverty
forces Mario’s hand both literally and figuratively. So, he returns to his old life of stealing and joins
his old friend Pablo for a heist.

The World Is An Apple: A Synopsis

It is payday, and Mario comes home without any money to give his wife Gloria for their sick daughter
named Tita. At first, he tells his wife that he spent all of his money on a few drinks with his friends.
However, Gloria does not believe him because he does not look intoxicated. Then Mario attempts to
lie the second time by telling her that he spent it all on a woman. Once again, Gloria does not believe
him because she knows Mario loves their daughter very much that he could not have done it. Finally,
Mario tells her that he lost his job a week ago and that he has been looking for a new one ever since.
Gloria is shocked to hear the news and worried that Mario would not be able to find a job soon.
Mario, however, assures her that it will not take long for him to get a new job.

Gloria then asks Mario why he lost his job. Mario relates that he was accused of pilfering (stealing a
small amount of something) at work. He took an apple that rolled out of a broken crate and thought
of giving it to their child. The people at his work kept the apple, though, for evidence. Gloria wants
Mario to ask those people for a second chance, but Mario is convinced that they want to throw him
out so that they could bring their own men into the job. When Gloria suggests that Mario complain,
he does not want to do so for fear of those people finding out about his police record. Then he tells
Gloria that he has found a good job. He is to be a night watchman for a company. Gloria is thankful
to God, though she feels uncertain because she will be alone at night without Mario by her side.

Then comes Pablo, Mario’s friend. Mario becomes nervous, and Gloria is not very happy to see him.
Pablo asks about their child’s condition and offers money to Gloria so that she can take her to a
doctor, but Gloria refuses it. She is convinced that Pablo has come to lead Mario back to his old
ways. Soon enough, she discovers that Mario has indeed decided to go back to stealing for their
sake. She tries to stop him from going, but Mario leaves with Pablo anyway. Before he leaves, he
tells Gloria to take care of their daughter and herself, and he will take care of himself. The story ends
with Gloria shouting Mario’s name as she watches him walk away with Pablo.
Summary
The three notable Filipino dramatists in English of the Postwar Years are Severino Montano, Wilfrido
Ma. Guerrero, and Alberto Florentino. They produced relevant dramas during the period. However,
because their works were written in English, they could only reach out to the educated class.

Evaluation
Q 1: Which is not an element of a drama?
Q 2: Which refers to the conversation between the characters in a drama?
Q 3: What do you call the statements that tell the actors how they should look, move, and speak in a
drama?
Q 4: Which of these works were written by Severino Montano, and which ones were written by
Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero?
Q 5: Which of these statements is not true for a one-act play?
Q 6: This drama by Alberto Florentino won first prize in the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for ! Q
Q 7: Literature in 1954. What is the title of the drama?
Q 8: There are only three characters in Alberto Florentino’s "The World Is an Apple." Two of those
are the couple Mario and Gloria. Who is the third character?
Q 9: At the beginning of the story, Mario lied to his wife Gloria when he told her why he did not
have any money to give her. What is his ultimate reason for lying?
Q 10: Why is Gloria not happy to see Pablo?
Which statement tells the theme of Alberto Florentino’s "The World Is an Apple"?

D. Creative NonFiction

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

Lead Question:
identify some Filipino writers of creative nonfiction and their works; and
analyze a few selected Filipino works of creative nonfiction.
What makes a work of creative nonfiction?
What are the different kinds of creative nonfiction?

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

identify some Filipino writers of creative nonfiction and their works; and
analyze a few selected Filipino works of creative nonfiction.
What makes a work of creative nonfiction?
What are the different kinds of creative nonfiction?

In this lesson, you will learn more about creative nonfiction in general and the Philippine creative
nonfiction. Also, you will read a few selected works by Filipino writers.

Creative Nonfiction
It is a major genre of literature. It refers to narratives of real events told in a literary style.

Kinds of Creative Nonfiction

Memoir - This account is narrowly focused on a single event in a person’s life.
Biography - This is a detailed account of a person’s life written by another person.
Autobiography - This is a written account of the life of a person written by the subject himself or
herself.
Diary - This is a collection of discrete accounts of a person’s experiences and thoughts each day.
Essay - This writing features any subject that the writer personally comments about or describes.

Philippine Creative Nonfiction

The American Occupation (1898–1940)
The essay in English proved to be an influential medium. The first volume of essays was Life and
Success (1921) by Zoilo Galang. The earliest travel writing was Notas de Viaje (1930) by Maria Paz
Mendoza-Guazon. The essay “Literature and Society” by Salvador Lopez sparked a debate on socially
relevant literature versus aesthetic value. It won in the first Commonwealth Literary Awards in 1940.

The Japanese Occupation (1941–1945)

Because of censorship, only a few essays in English were published. Horizons from My Nipa Hut,
published in 1941, is a collection of humorous essays by Francisco B. Icasiano. I Am a Filipino, the
most famous essay of Carlos P. Romulo, was published the same year.

1960s and 1970s

Literary journalism came into its own. It appeared in some publications like the Philippines Free
Press and the Philippine Graphic. It attracted some of the best Filipino writers. Nick Joaquin, who
sometimes used the pen name Quijano de Manila, was the most prolific among those writers.

1990s
A few autobiographies and memoirs were published like Memory’s Fictions: A Personal History
(1993) and Postscript to a Saintly Life (1994) by Bienvenido Santos. Also, there were works on wars
like Living With the Enemy: A Diary of the Japanese Occupation (1999) by Pacita Pestaño-Jacinto, and
Breaking the Silence (1996) by Lourdes Reyes Montinola.

Also, published in this period were travel writings by Filipino women like Sylvia Mayuga’s Earth, Fire
& Air (1992) and Kerima Polotan’s Adventures in a Forgotten Country (1999).

Early 21st Century

This period saw the publication of collections of short essays and narratives of young writers. Their
works were Wala Lang (2004) by Bud Tomas; Love, Desire, Children, Etc.: Reflections of a Young Wife
(2005) by Rica Bolipata-Santos; The King of Nothing To Do (2006) by Luis Katigbak; and Stressed in
the City (2007) by April T. Yap.

Summary
Creative nonfiction refers to narratives of real events told using a literary style of writing. Some of its
forms are the memoir, the biography, the autobiography, the diary, and the essay. In Philippine
Literature, the essay is the most common form of creative nonfiction.

Evaluation :

Q 1: Which of these statements is not true about creative nonfiction?

Q 2: Supposed a woman writes about her own life from her birth up to the present. What do you call
her work?
Q 3: What kind of creative nonfiction is “I Am a Filipino” by Carlos P. Romulo?
Q 4: Place each work in its correct period.
Q 5: Which works are about travel?
In the essay “Literature and Society,” Salvador P. Lopez says of the writer, “He is no longer a florist,
scissors in hand gathering lovely blossoms; he has become a tiller of the soil, spade in hand, digging
into the roots of things and planting seeds.”

Q 6: What kind of figure of speech does Lopez use to describe the writer?
In the essay “Where Is the Patis,” Carmen Guerroro Nakpil asserts that travel has become the great
Filipino dream. To elaborate on her statement, she says, “In the same way that an American dreams
of becoming a millionaire or an English boy dreams of going to one of the great universities, the
Filipino dreams of going abroad.”

Q 7: How does she elaborate on her assertion?

In one of Nick Joaquin’s essays, he makes the following assertions about Filipinos: “Society for the
Filipino is a small rowboat: the barangay . . . Enterprise for the Filipino is a small stall: the sari-sari . . .
And commerce for the Filipino is the smallest degree of retail: the tingi.”

Q 8: What do his assertions say about the Filipinos in general?

In the essay “I Am a Filipino,” Carlos P. Romulo ends with this statement: “I am a Filipino born to
freedom, and I shall not rest until freedom shall have been added unto my inheritance—for myself
and my children and my children’s children—forever.”

Q 9: What is the tone of his statement?

In the collection Stressed in the City, April Timbol Yap tells about her experience on the road while
driving. Once she turned her attention to a sign that said “Basura Mo, Alagaan Mo.” She took it
literally, saying, “Of course the MMDA wasn’t very specific about how one exactly should go about
doing this. It might help if they published manuals that contained instructions on the care of trash—
like should it be watered or fed or taken for walks like the city?”

Q 10: What does the comment reveal about the writer?

E. Popular Fiction

Objective
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to name some genres of the popular fiction.

What makes a piece of fiction popular?

What are the different genres of the popular fiction?

In this lesson, you will learn about popular fiction and three of its genres, namely, the science fiction,
chick literature, and ghost stories.

Popular fiction, also called genre fiction, refers to works of literature that are intended for the
masses or large audience. Its main purpose is to appeal to the general public. Below are a few
features of popular fiction:

Its story is plot-driven.

Its characters are mostly stock figures.
Its setting is either familiar or exotic.
Its language is closer to everyday spoken language.
It contains a lot of dialogues.
Science fiction, also called sci-fi, at its core, deals with science and technology. It is often lumped
with the fantasy and horror genres under the broader term “speculative fiction.” As this term
suggests, sci-fi writers are often preoccupied by the question “what if.”

Pocholo Goitia’s short story “An Introduction to the Luminescent” is an example of science fiction. It
was published in Philippine Speculative Fiction volume 1 in 2005. The story is set in the year 2105 in
a mall described as an “ultrasaur,” a massive structure that towers at two kilometers and stretches
at half kilometer. Magenta, one of the characters, is a member of La Luminosa, a group of
biogenetically engineered people that live in the mall. This mall is protected by “clone warriors” that
hover in the air using devices called gravity disruptors.

Chick literature, or chick lit, is written by women who write for women. The usual target readers are
young and single women, especially in their 20s or 30s. The stories deal with real life, usually love
and relationships, and they are written in a light-hearted tone.

Tara Sering’s Getting Better is an example of chick literature. The novella was published in the
October 2002 issue of Cosmopolitan Philippines, a magazine that targets contemporary women and
that mostly features topics regarding relationships, beauty, fashion, and health. Told in the second
person point of view, the story tackles the life of a single woman named Karen—how she was as a
girlfriend, how she dealt with cheating, and how she moved on.

Ghost stories are part of Filipino pop culture. They are a specific kind of stories in the horror fiction
genre. As the name suggests, a ghost story features a ghost as one of its characters. Like any story in
the horror fiction genre, a ghost story is meant to scare its reader.

Joel P. Salud’s “The Haunting at Concha Cruz Drive” is an example of a ghost story. It was published
in True Philippine Ghost Stories Book 1 in 2002. It tells the story of three friends driving along a road
named Concha Cruz Drive which is known to be haunted by ghosts of a young couple who were
victims of drag racing accident.

Summary
Popular fiction refers to works of literature whose main purpose is to appeal to the general public. It
includes the science fiction genre, chick literature, and ghost stories.

Evaluation:
Q 1:What is the main purpose of writing popular fiction?
Q 2:Which of these is not a feature of typical work in popular fiction?
Q 3:What is the other name of popular fiction?
Q 4: Which fiction genres are called “speculative fiction”?
Q 5: Complete the following analogy:
An Introduction to the Luminiscent : Science fiction : : The Haunting at Concha Cruz Drive :

Q 6:Complete the following analogy:

An Introduction to the Luminescent : ___________ : : Getting Better : ___________

Q 7: Is the following statement true?

Q 8: Ghost stories are a specific kind of stories in the fantasy genre.
Q 9: Type “true” if the statement is indeed true. Otherwise, type the correct word that replaces the
underlined word to make the statement true.
 Q 10: All statements support that “An Introduction to the Luminescent” by Pocholo Goitia is a work
of science fiction except one. Which is it?
Match each element to its story.
Q 11: Suppose a novel is about a young woman named Juliet who moves out of her parents’ house
and moves into a new apartment owned by Romeo, with whom she feels an unexpected emotional
connection. What genre of popular fiction is the novel likely?

F. Literary Texts of Different Regions and Genres

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
identify new and emerging literary forms at the present time, and
analyze some selected works written by present-day Filipino writers.

Lead Question:
What new literary forms are emerging at present?
What are the distinct qualities of such literary forms?

Literary Genre
This refers to a type or category of literature. It has a specific form, content, and style. The four main
genres of literature are poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama. Under each of those genres are
different genres. For example, fiction includes speculative fiction, fantasy, and science fiction.

Literary Technique
This is a literary device deliberately used by a writer to convey a specific idea or meaning. An
example is motif, an object or idea that is repeated in a literary work. Another literary technique is
the use of figurative language, an example is personification, a figure of speech in which an
inanimate object is given human qualities.

Introduction
Many works of literature produced at present are characterized by the writers’ use of
unconventional techniques. For instance, the illustrated novel, the graphic novel, and doodle-fiction
present narratives using pictures or images. The illustrated novel presents images that tell some
parts of the story, while the other parts are told in words. The graphic novel tells a story in comic
book format. A work of doodle fiction contains doodles and hand-written graphics.

Besides the illustrated novel, the graphic novel, and doodle-fiction, there are other literary forms or
genres emerging at present, such as the flash fiction, slipstream, metafiction, and magic realism.

Flash Fiction
Flash fiction is known for its extreme brevity. A typical work of flash fiction is only a few hundred
words long. Examples are the stories in Fast Food Fiction: Short Short Stories To Go (2003), edited by
Noelle Q. de Jesus. The collection features stories written by well-known Filipino writers like Gemino
H. Abad, Gregorio Brillantes, Jose Dalisay, Jr., Jessica Zafra, and Lakambini Sitoy.

Slipstream
Slipstream, or the “fiction of strangeness,” features elements of fantasy, science fiction, and serious
fiction. For many, works of slipstream are difficult to categorize because of their similarities with
speculative fiction. The collection Philippine Speculative Fiction, edited by Dean Francis Alfar and
Nikki Alfar, contains stories that are slipstream fiction.
Metafiction
Metafiction is about fiction itself. A work of metafiction can be a story about a writer who writes a
story or a story about another work of fiction. Some works of metafiction by Filipinos are the novel
Ilustrado (2010) by Miguel Syjuco and Hari Manawari (2011) by German Gervacio.

Magic Realism
Magic realism is a fiction genre in which magical elements are blended with reality. It is
characteristic of the stories by Latin American writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Luis Borges,
and Isabel Allende. The short story “The Death of Fray Salvador Montano, Conquistador of Negros”
by the Filipino writer Rosario Cruz Lucero has elements of magic realism.

Summary
Many works of literature at present are characterized by the writers’ use of unconventional
techniques. They can be categorized under different genres like flash fiction, slipstream, metafiction,
and magic realism.

Evaluation:

Q 1: Which of these is not a literary genre?

Q 2: Which literary work is an example of metafiction?
Q 3: Brevity is the main characteristic of this genre of fiction. What genre is it?
Q 4:Suppose a short story has elements of both magic and reality. What genre would you classify it?
Q 5: Which literary forms or genres use pictures or images to tell their story?
Q 6:Which statements are true for the genre of slipstream?
Q 7:Which of the following statements are true for these writers: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Luis
Borges, and Isabel Allende?
In her 124-word story “What Is to Come,” Lilledeshan Bose tells the story of a woman whose
husband, a congressman, has another woman.
Q 8: Which genre is the most appropriate classification for it?

Anne Lagamayo’s “Hopscotch” is a story about a group of children who are dressed in suits, and they
breathe oxygen in them. One day, the children saw an object coming out of the ground. One of the
boys wanted to keep it, but the other did not. So, to settle the matter, the boys played hospscotch,
and whoever won would have the object to himself.
The story was published in Philippine Speculative Fiction IV (2009), and the editors of the collection
say that Lagamayo’s short story is a work of slipstream.

Q 9: Which of the statements tells the reason why Lagamayo’s story is a work of slipstream?

The story of Rosario Cruz Lucero’s “The Death of Fray Salvador Montano” begins with the plague of
locusts. During this time, men and women came to Fray Montano to confess that they and their
wives or husbands were making love like locusts for the past week.

Q 10: Based on the information, what makes the story a work of magic realism?