LITERATURE - Explain certain events or phenomena

in our ancestors’ lives that cannot be

- Litera which mean letter.
explained by limited science back
- Entire body of writings of a specific
then.
language, period and people.
- Legend – presumed to have some
- All written accounts, including texts
basis in historical fact and tends to
that are spoken or sung. (oral
mention real people or events
literature)
- Myth – type of symbolic storytelling
that was never based on facts
 Epics / Epiko
PRE – COLONIAL LITERATURE - Long-winded poems about a hero
and his adventures and
- Ancestors’ daily observations about misadventures
life, explanations for natural - Based on the traditions and
phenomena, and beginnings of rituals superstitions of the region.
- Passed on through oral tradition - Heroes usually have superhuman
- Written in baybayin. capabilities that had to undergo
 Proverbs / Salawikain certain trials and challenges to
- Practical observations and achieve his goal.
philosophy of everyday life usually - Templates of an epic:
expressed with a rhyming scheme. 1. most of these epics are
Ex. designated by names which
“kung may tyaga, may nilaga” means song, or chant
“kung ano ang puno, siya ang bunga” 2. episodic and proceed through
 Riddles / Bugtong constructions that are en palier
- Observations, but phrased to demand (stages or levels).
answers to test the wits of those who 3. abound with supernatural
are listening. characters – the diwatas, anitos,
Ex. and other benign spirits who
“Eto na si kaka, bubuka – bukaka” come to the aid of the hero.
“Hindi hari, hindi pari, damit ay sari 4. reflective of the society where
sari” they originate
 Folk Songs 5. there are always several versions
- Beautiful songs that are informal of these epics, as well as a
expressions of ancestors’ experiences proliferation of episodes,
in life. phenomenon that is explained by
- Sonorous (deep sound), didactic orality of the genre and its
(morals) like children’s songs. transmission through the ages
- Ranges from courtship, lullabies,
harvest, funerals
 Myths and Legends / Alamat
- Stories of origin of places, fruits,
animals.
SPANISH LITERATURE AMERICAN LITERATURE
- Contribution: English language
- “Divide et impera”
- English became the medium of
- Replaced pre-colonial literature with
instruction in schools
the Christian values and beliefs
- Style of writing is highly imitative of
- Contribution: Religion
the Americans
- The promise of eternal life
- Golden age of the Philippine
- Doctrina Christiana
literature
 Published in the Philippines
- Jose Garcia Villa, “Art for art’s
in 1953 that talks about the
sake”
teachings of the church
 Art for art’s sake – emphasis
(Catechism) it was written by
on aesthetics than
Fray Juan de Plasencia
utilitarianism (actions to
 Religious prose and poetry
benefit the majority)
- Teaching catechism and Spanish
 Jose Garcia Villa – The
language
Coconut Song, 1929
- Dalit – meditative verses and
 Angela Manalang Gloria-
Filipino poems with 4 lines and 8
Poems, 1949
syllables
- Two Periods:
- Novena – special prayers for 9 days
 Period of Apprenticeship
 Pasyon
- Dead Stars, The Small Key, Footnote
- Narrates the life of Christ
to Youth, Child of Sorrow
 Cenaculo
 Period of Emergence
- Dramatization of the passion of
- Before the war and Japanese
Christ
Occupation
 Komedya / Moro – moro
- Forms of Literature:
- Depicts the conflict between the
 Poetry - socially
Muslims and Christians.
communicative poems
 Carillo
 Short Stories - Paz Marquez
- Play that uses shadows as its main
Benitez, Dead Stars, 1925
spectacle
 Essays - Jeorge Bocobo,
 Duplo / Karagatan
College Uneducation, 1942
- Narrative dramas that are connected
 Novels - A Child of Sorrow,
to Catholic mourning rituals and
Zoilo Galang, 1947
harvest
 Tibag
- Dramatic reenactment of St.
Helena’s search for the holy cross
 Zarzuela
- Musical comedy that deals with the
elemental passion of men
 Secular Prose of Poetry
- Awit – dodecasyllabic (12)
- Korido – octosyllabic (8)
JAPANESE LITERARY PERIOD
- Different from the traditional
Balagtas writing that is verbose,
rhetorical, and figurative
- Filipinos wrote in the vernacular,
Nihonggo, and English
- Poets wrote in simple language and
free verse
- Ako ang Daigdig by Alejandro
Abadilla
- Portray Filipino Life and Culture:
Short Story
- Flowering of a Tagalog Short Poetry
- Launching of the Palanca Awards

CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE
- focused on self-expression and social
commentary
- Featured upheavals in nation’s
history
- Covered martial law years
- Merging of traditions
- The “bagay” movement- appropriate,
or object
- Martial Law – “Literature of
Circumvention”
- Gave responses to historical and
political forces

21st CENTURY LITERATURE

- All literary works written and
published at the latter part of the 21st
century (from 2001 onwards).
- Gender sensitive, technologically
alluding, culturally pluralistic,
operates on the extreme reality or
extreme fiction, and questions
conventions and supposedly absolute
norms.