HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PRE-SPANISH PERIOD

Mrs. Ria Christine N. Egenias

O There was a time when historians have lost track of this period
O We no longer have to go by myths with the dscovery of the Tabon Man
O Oral Literature bore the marks of the community
O Subjects were food-gathering, creatures, work in the home, caring for children (evident in the simple forms)
O Language of Oral Literature: the language of life
O Conventions or Characteristics of Oral Literature: repetitions, stereotyping of characters, regular rhythm, and musical
devices (
O Native syllabary (3 vowels and 14 consonants)
O Early written records of literature were written in perishable items: bamboo cylinders, dried leaves, barks of trees
O Since few Filipinos know the syllabary, those records which they could not understand were said to be the handicraft of
the devil
O Most significant pieces of oral literature were presumed to have originated in pre-historic times, this was according to E.
Arsenio Manuel (a Philippine historian and anthropologist known for his contributions to literature and history)
O 19 ETHNOEPICS were described by Manuel
O Characteristics of ethnoepics: narratives of sustained length, based on oral tradition, chanted or sung, supernatural
events/heroic deeds, in the form of verse, and seriousness in terms of purpose.
Sample Ethnoepics
1. Lam-ang (1889) Christian Ilokos
2. Tuwaang (1956) Pagan Epic by the Manuvus in Central Mindanao
(1957) Tuwaang attends a wedding (sequel)
3. Hinilawod - Pagan epic in Panay
2 parts: Labaw Denggan & Humadapnon
the longest epic ever
- known for inventive narration and magnificence in fantasy
4. Bantugan - Maranaw Epic
* Darangan - epic song
- more than 15 songs about love and war were used here to exploit his love and war adventures

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPANISH PERIOD

Mrs. Ria Christine N. Egenias

O In 1565, Spaniards imposed: Spanish Monarchy and Roman Catholic Religion

O Distinction between:
a. tiga -bayan (pueblos) HISPANIZED vs. tiga-bukid or tiga bundok GENUINE FILIPINOS
b. FILIPINO VS. INDIAN
o Colonial rule was supposed to derive authority from the State and Church but it was only the PARISH PRIEST who had
direct contact with the Filipinos
o monopoly of printing presses by Religious Orders
o Dominicans published Doctrina Christiana in 1593
o 17th century-presses (run by other religious orders) were published
O Published books: grammar, dictionaries, catechism and confession manuals
O May Bagyo Ma’t may Rilim - first printed poem; produced by Francisco Blancas de San Jose; has the characteristics of pre-
colonial poetry; there was meeting of two cultures
O Spanish influence had been pervasive in some simplest forms of literature
O Oral Literature was Christianized
O New oral literature kept enriching traditional literature
O GASPAR AQUINO DE BELEN - Ang Mahal na Passiom ni Jesu Christong Panginoon Natin
O Pasyon versus Sinakulo versus Komedya
O Awit versus Korido
O Francisco Baltazar (1st Literary giant in the Spanish period)
O Printed works were now made available to some
O Florante at Laura’s political message / meaning
O 19th Century - Prose forms in print
O MODESTO DE CASTRO - native priest who wrote PAGSUSULATAN NG DALAWANG BINIBINI NA SI URBANA AT FELIZA
(1864)

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NATIONALISTIC PERIOD

Mrs. Ria Christine N. Egenias

o Royal Decree in 1863 that provided for a complete educational system to the mid-class Filipinos (elem, highschool
and college)
o Pedro Paterno and Jose Rizal who wrote in Spanish for a changing concept of “Filipino”
o Pedro Paterno’s ‘Sampaguitas’ marked the beginning of national consciousness among the Filipinos
“Ninay” the first Filipino novel ever that insisted on its nationality
o Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere (realism as its concept) and El Filibusterismo (sequel to Noli)
o Jose Rizal’s poems A las Flores de Heidelberg (To the flowers of Heidelberg) and Ultimo Adios (Final Farewell)
o The development of ESSAY as a literary form is to be credited to the Propaganda Movement
(newspaper - La Solidaridad)
 Essays
1. Su Excelencia, Señor Don Vicente Barrantes (His Exellency, Sir Don Vicente Barrantes) by Rizal
2. Asimilacion de Filipinas (The Assimilation of the Philippines) by Marcelo H. Del Pilar

MARCELO H. DEL PILAR

 well versed in duplo or the art of poetic jousting
 he was especially effective as a parodist
 the shift from Spanish to Tagalog
 The Filipino masses were instead addressed as the audience
 the Katipunan used the vernacular of Manila to organize the masses (Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto)
 Katipunan Manifesto (Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog)
 Liwanag at Dilim (Light and Darkness)
 Katipunan Manifesto (Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog)
 Katipunan’s newspaper - KALAYAAN
 Revolution that led to the proclamation of Independence in Kawit, Cavite
 Women as literary artists existed
 Literary pieces by women surfaced-POEMS
 written Philippine literature was largely religious, consisting of poems, homiletic essays (pamphlets and newspapers)
 greater bulk of secular literature in oral form existed (poems,plays, songs)
 SELF-CONSCIOUS LITERATURE

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AMERICAN PERIOD

Mrs. Ria Christine N. Egenias

Treaty of Paris
O concluded the
Spanish - American War
O Philippines was sold by Spain to the United States
O Filipino guerillas continued to inflict losses on U.S. Troops
O The SEDITION LAW counteract guerilla activity in Manila
O Newspapers & magazines in Spanish, English & Tagalog proliferated
O Literary forms that had their beginnings - essay, novel, allegorical drama, narrative poetry and patriotic verses
O freed the printing press from Religious censorship
O "The Euro-Hispanic Tradition"
O Severino Reyes headed a movement to promote Komedya to replace Zarzuela with sarsuwela
O Allegory is a convenient mode to bring ideas to life (Tanikalang Guinto, Kahapon,Ngayon at Bukas, etc.)
O Jose Corazon De Jesus (Batute) - Mga Gintong Dahon
O Balagtasan was performed by highly skilled craftsmen for the public
O Valeriano Hernandez Peña (Father of the Tagalog Novel) wrote Nena at Neneng that tells the story of two friends and
their different marriage experiences
O Jose Garcia Villa wrote Footnote to Youth
O Arturo Rotor's The Wound and the Scar
O Manuel Arguilla's How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife and Other Stories
O Lope K. Santos' Banaag at Sikat
O Philippine Literature had attained identity as national literature
O Growth of English writing

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE REPUBLIC PERIOD (colonizers were the Japanese)

Mrs. Ria Christine N. Egenias

Puppet Government
Collaboration – some Filipinos work with Japanese for their own good
Comfort women – Filipina women who provide sexual pleasures by force to Japanese men
O New Criticism
formalist movement in literary theory that dominated American literary criticism in the mid decades of the 20th Century
O New Critics believed that structure and meaning of the text are connected (LITERARY STYLE AND MEANING OF TEXT ARE
IMPORTANT)
O In the Philippine setting it is an approach to writing with concreteness and demonstrability
O There were two towering literary figures that dominated the period - Amado V. Hernandez and Lazaro M. Francisco
O Lazaro's first novel AMA depicted the evils of the tenancy-system in Central Luzon
O Hernandez' wrote Luha ng Buwaya and Mga Ibong Mandaragit
O Alejandro G. Abadilla -a young poet who insisted on "sincerity"
O Genoveva Edroza-Matute - A Tagalog fictionist (WHO LATER BECAME GOOD IN WRITING TEXTS IN ENGLISH)
O N.V.M. Gonzalez wrote the Bamboo Dancers (STORY IS ABOUT A CHARACTER’S FOREIGN TRAVELS)

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CONTEMPORARY PERIOD

Mrs. Ria Christine N. Egenias

O The Year 1986 demarcates the beginning of a new scene in the unfolding narrative of Contemporary Philippine Literature
O Writing under the Martial Law regime was characterized by militancy (AFTER THE ASSASSINATION OF BENIGNO AQUINO,
JR. IN 1983)
 O The post EDSA centers for creative writing may be grouped into two:
Creative writing (WRITING LITERARY TEXTS) is part of the curricular offerings; and
writers' organizations

O The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) was created in 1992
O publications that regularly put out Creative Works: national magazines and campus publications
Character of the Philippine Literary Scene
O in the academe, there is an emerging critical orientation
O Post - EDSA publishing has been marked by adventurousness
O declining prestige of New Criticism (diaspora, gay and lesbian writings ex. Danton Remoto (CHAIRMAN EMERITUS OF
LADLAD; LADLAD is a political party that pursues LGBT rights), Ricky Lee)
O recuperation in writing in Philippine Languages