literature, a body of written works.

The name has traditionally been applied to

those imaginative works of poetry and prose distinguished by the intentions of
their authors and the perceived aesthetic excellence of their execution. Literature
may be classified according to a variety of systems, including language, national
origin, historical period, genre, and subject matter.

For historical treatment of various literatures within geographical

regions, see such articles as African literature; African theatre; Oceanic
literature; Western literature; Central Asian arts; South Asian arts; and Southeast
Asian arts. Some literatures are treated separately by language, by nation, or by
special subject (e.g., Arabic literature, Celtic literature, Latin literature, French
literature, Japanese literature, and biblical literature).

Definitions of the word literature tend to be circular. The 11th edition

of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary considers literature to be “writings
having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or
universal interest.” The 19th-century critic Walter Pater referred to “the matter of
imaginative or artistic literature” as a “transcript, not of mere fact, but of fact in
its infinitely varied forms.” But such definitions assume that the reader already
knows what literature is. And indeed its central meaning, at least, is clear
enough. Deriving from the Latin littera, “a letter of the alphabet,” literature is
first and foremost humankind’s entire body of writing; after that it is the body
of writing belonging to a given language or people; then it is individual pieces of
writing.

But already it is necessary to qualify these statements. To use the

word writing when describing literature is itself misleading, for one may speak of
“oral literature” or “the literature of preliterate peoples.” The art of literature is
not reducible to the words on the page; they are there solely because of the craft
of writing. As an art, literature might be described as the organization of words to
give pleasure. Yet through words literature elevates and transforms experience
beyond “mere” pleasure. Literature also functions more broadly in society as a
means of both criticizing and affirming cultural values.

The scope of literature

Literature is a form of human expression. But not everything expressed in words—even
when organized and written down—is counted as literature. Those writings that are
primarily informative—technical, scholarly, journalistic—would be excluded from the rank
of literature by most, though not all, critics. Certain forms of writing, however, are
universally regarded as belonging to literature as an art. Individual attempts within these
forms are said to succeed if they possess something called artistic merit and to fail if they do
not. The nature of artistic merit is less easy to define than to recognize. The writer need not
even pursue it to attain it. On the contrary, a scientific exposition might be of great literary
value and a pedestrian poem of none at all.
The purest (or, at least, the most intense) literary form is the lyric poem, and
after it comes elegiac, epic, dramatic, narrative, and expository verse. Most
theories of literary criticism base themselves on an analysis of poetry, because
the aesthetic problems of literature are there presented in their simplest and
purest form. Poetry that fails as literature is not called poetry at all but verse.
Many novels—certainly all the world’s great novels—are literature, but there
are thousands that are not so considered. Most great dramas are considered
literature (although the Chinese, possessors of one of the world’s greatest
dramatic traditions, consider their plays, with few exceptions, to possess no
literary merit whatsoever).

The Greeks thought of history as one of the seven arts, inspired by a goddess, the
muse Clio. All of the world’s classic surveys of history can stand as noble
examples of the art of literature, but most historical works and studies today are
not written primarily with literary excellence in mind, though they may possess it,
as it were, by accident.

The essay was once written deliberately as a piece of literature: its subject matter was of
comparatively minor importance. Today most essays are written as expository,
informative journalism, although there are still essayists in the great tradition who think of
themselves as artists. Now, as in the past, some of the greatest essayists are critics of
literature, drama, and the arts.

Some personal documents (autobiographies, diaries, memoirs, and letters)

rank among the world’s greatest literature. Some examples of this biographical
literature were written with posterity in mind, others with no thought of their
being read by anyone but the writer. Some are in a highly polished literary
style; others, couched in a privately evolved language, win their standing as
literature because of their cogency, insight, depth, and scope.

Many works of philosophy are classed as literature. The Dialogues of Plato (4th
century BC) are written with great narrative skill and in the finest prose;
the Meditations of the 2nd-century Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius are a
collection of apparently random thoughts, and the Greek in which they are
written is eccentric. Yet both are classed as literature, while the speculations of
other philosophers, ancient and modern, are not. Certain scientific works
endure as literature long after their scientific content has become outdated.
This is particularly true of books of natural history, where the element of
personal observation is of special importance. An excellent example is Gilbert
White’s Natural History and Antiquities of Selbourne (1789).
These are the main types of literature: Drama, Fable, Autobiography,
Biography, Poetry, Prose, Science Fiction, and Journalistic Literature.

Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for
writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama,
and poetry.[1] In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include oral
literature, much of which has been transcribed.[2] Literature is a method of recording,
preserving, and transmitting knowledge and entertainment, and can also have a
social, psychological, spiritual, or political role.
Literature, as an art form, can also include works in various non-fiction genres, such
as biography, diaries, memoir, letters, and the essay. Within its broad definition,
literature includes non-fictional books, articles or other printed information on a
particular subject.[3][4]
Etymologically, the term derives from Latin literatura/litteratura "learning, a writing,
grammar," originally "writing formed with letters," from litera/littera "letter".[5] In
spite of this, the term has also been applied to spoken or sung texts.[6]
[7] Developments in print technology have allowed an ever-growing distribution and
proliferation of written works, which now includes electronic literature.
Literature is classified according to whether it is poetry, prose or drama, and such
works are often further categorized according to historical period, adherence to
certain aesthetic features, or genre.

Philippine literature is the literature associated with the Philippines and

includes the legends of prehistory, and the colonial legacy of the
Philippines. Most of the notable literature of the Philippines was written
during the Spanish period and the first half of the 20th century in Spanish
language. Philippine literature is written in Spanish, English, Tagalog,
and/or other native Philippine languages.

On 1863, the Spanish government introduced a system of free public education that
had an important effect on the ability of the population to read in Spanish and
further in the rise of an educated class called the Ilustrado (meaning, well-informed).
Spanish became the social language of urban places and the true lingua franca of the
archipelago. A good number of Spanish newspapers were published until the end of
the 1940s, the most influential of them being El Renacimiento, printed in Manila by
members of the Guerrero de Ermita family.
Some members of the ilustrado group, while residing or studying in Spain, decided to
start a literary production in Spanish with the aim of serving the autonomy and/or
independence projects. Members of this group included Pedro Alejandro Paterno,
who wrote the novel Nínay (first novel written by a Filipino); the Philippine national
hero, José Rizal, who wrote excellent poetry and two famous novels in Spanish: Noli
Me Tangere (Touch Me Not), and El Filibusterismo.
A potent tool in promoting Filipino nationalism in Spanish was the foundation of La
Solidaridad (more fondly called La Sol by the members of the propaganda
movement) in 15 February 1885. With the help of this organ, Filipino national heroes
like José Rizal, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Marcelo H. del Pilar, etc. were able to voice out
their sentiments.

Poetry & Metrical Romances

* Ladino Poems - Were natives of first Tagalog versifiers who saw print: highly
literate in both Spanish and the vernacular.

 Corridos - Were widely read during the Spanish period that filled the
populace's need for entertainment as well as edifying reading matter in their
leisure moments.
 Awit - like corrido's, these were also widely read during the Spanish period as
entertaining, edifying, reading manner in their leisure time. It is also a
fabrication of the writers imagination although the characters and the setting
may be European. The structure is rendered dodecasyllabic quatrains.

1. REDIRECT [[

Prose
The prose works of the Spanish Period consisted mostly of didatic pieces and
translations of religious writings in foreign languages.

Dramas
Religious Drama
 The Panunuluyan - Literally, seeking entrance, the Tagalog version of
the Mexican Las Posadas. Held on the eve of Christmas, it dramatizes Joseph's
and Mary's search for Bethlehem.
 Cenaculo - Was the dramatization of the passion and death of Jesus Christ.
 Salubong - An Easter play that dramatizes the meeting of the Risen Christ and
His Mother.
  Moriones - Refers to the participants dressed roman soldiers, their identities
hidden behind colorful, sometimes grotesque, wooden masks.
 The Santacruzan - Performed during the month of May which have the
devotion for the Holy Cross. It depicts St. Elena's search for the cross on which
Christ died.
 Pangangaluwa - An interesting socio-religious practice on All Saint's Day which
literally means for The Soul.

Secular Dramas
These were generally held during the nine nights of vigil and prayers after someone's
death, on the first death anniversary when the family members put away their
mourning clothes.

 The Karagatan - comes from the legendary practice of testing the mettle of
young men vying for a maiden's hand. The maiden's ring would be dropped
into sea and whoever retrieves it would have the girl's hand in marriage.
 The Duplo - A forerunner of the balagtasan. The performances consist of two
teams; One composed of young women called Dupleras or Belyakas; and the
other, of young men called Dupleros or Belyakos.
 The Comedia - It is about a courtly love between, a prince and a princess of
different religions. It is about a Christian-Muslim relationship.