Summary
Highlights
This period, marked by martial law, saw poems focusing on patience, native culture, customs, and nature's beauty. Newspapers favored reporting economic progress and discipline over sensational crime stories.
After the lifting of martial law, poems became romantic and revolutionary, addressing themes of grief, poverty, freedom aspirations, and love for God and country.
The People Power Revolution brought renewed independence, reflected in new Filipino songs, newspapers (like The Enquirer and Malaya), speeches, and television programs.
This lesson helps students understand 21st-century literature from the Philippines and the world, focusing on geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions of Filipino literary history from pre-colonial to contemporary times.
The objectives include identifying geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions of Philippine literary history, analyzing literary texts critically, and showing adaptability to Philippine literary history.
Before Spanish colonization, Filipinos had their own literature, including folk tales (kwentong bayan), epic age narratives (e.g., Biag ni Lam-ang), and folk songs. The early alphabet, Baybayin (Alibata), was widespread before being largely destroyed by Spanish friars.
Literature during the Spanish period was classified as religious and secular prose and poetry. Spanish influences included the replacement of Baybayin with the Roman alphabet, the introduction of Christian doctrine, and the assimilation of European legends into local forms like corridos and moromoros. Folk songs like “Leron Leron Sinta” and recreational plays like zarzuelas were also popular.
Filipino intellectuals, known as 'illustrados,' educated in Europe, began writing about colonial oppression. The Propaganda Movement, spearheaded by figures like Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. del Pilar, and Graciano Lopez Jaena, produced works such as 'Noli Me Tángere,' 'El Filibusterismo,' and 'Dasalan at Tocsohan,' urging Filipino patriotism.
Americans introduced English, influencing Filipino writers. While some continued to write in Spanish and Tagalog, those writing in English often imitated American themes and styles. Jose Garcia Villa became a prominent figure during this era.
Philippine literature in English was interrupted due to the strict prohibitions imposed by the Japanese, except for a few newspapers. The common themes of poetry shifted to nationalism, country love, life in the barrios, faith, religion, and the arts. Three types of poems emerged: Haiku, Tanaga, and Karani.
Youth activism led to a literary revolution, with young people demanding government changes through protests and creative writing, including campus newspapers used to voice dissent.
Contemporary literature trends cater to the new generation, incorporating ICT, new codes, and lingo to appeal to millennial and Gen Z learners, whether in digital or print formats.
A summary of key periods: pre-Spanish literature, Propaganda Movement, American regime's English influence, activism through campus newspapers, New Society's focus on nationalistic themes, Third Republic's romantic and revolutionary works, and post-EDSA changes.
This section introduces objectives for identifying authors and texts from different regions, critically interpreting them, and reflecting on socio-political and moral issues.
The diverse cultural heritage of the Philippines has produced varied literary masterpieces, reflecting collective experiences of triumphs, struggles, and revolutions.
The Ilocos Region, known for its challenging geography, has produced works like 'Gabu,' depicting the sea's restless battering of the coastline and the region's resilience.
CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) is home to Tagalog-speaking people and many Filipino heroes like Jose Rizal and Emilio Aguinaldo, known for their bravery in the fight for freedom.
The Visayas region, comprising many islands, shares a sea-based culture with a strong religious foundation, known for festivals like Ati-Atihan and Sinulog, and considered a cradle of Philippine civilization.
The 'Doctrina Christiana,' written by Fray Juan de Plasencia in 1593, is believed to be the first book printed in the Philippines.
Key authors from Ilocos include Francisco Lopez, who translated Spanish romances and published an Ilocano 'Doctrina Christiana,' and Leona Florentino, considered the 'National Poetess' and 'Mother of Philippine Women's Literature.' Pedro Bucaneg, the blind 'Father of Ilocano literature,' authored the epic 'Biag ni Lam-ang'.
Notable writers include Ines Taccad Cammayo, a multi-award-winning author, and Fernando Maramag, an excellent poet and journalist known for 'The Rural Mid-noon'.
Anisha Pascual authored 'Juan Mata,' based on a story heard from an old Pampangan woman. Maharya Garcia narrated folk stories like 'So Want the Good Guesser' and 'So Ends Good Luck'.
Manuel Reyes narrated various stories, while Jose Rizal, besides 'Noli Me Tángere' and 'El Filibusterismo,' wrote 'Legend of Maria Makiling'.
Mariano Perfecto is considered the 'Father of Bicol Literature' and published the first Bicol newspaper. Merito B.S. Espinas wrote 'Ibalon,' an epic-like story about Bicolano heroes.
Known as Panayana Literature, this region's literature includes myths, riddles (paktakon), and proverbs (purubaton).
Vicente Sotto, the 'Father of Cebuano Literature,' wrote the first Cebuano literature text, 'Mamin'.
Claudualdo del Mundo wrote the poem 'On Kanye'.
Prominent works include 'Magnificence' by Estrella Alfon, 'Footnote to Youth' by Jose Garcia Villa, and poems by Nick Joaquin like 'Never After' and 'The Mark'.