Three Periods in Philippine Literary History

Man’s love, grief, sadness, happiness, aspirations, hopes are all expressed in literature.
As time passes by, changes in the way people live affect the way they express their ideals,
thoughts and emotions in literature. This means that peoples’ experiences affect their stories to
tell. The evolution of our literature is categorized based on the three important periods in our
history.

It is between BC to 1564. It is the period in which our literature

is purely rich in our own identity. It is considered the longest,
yet its uniqueness shows that our ancestors are artistic,
exceptional and talented in expressing their emotions. The history of our race is clearly stated in
our early literary pieces.

Literary Works:

Bugtong is a question or statement

Salawikain / Kawikaan (proverb) is most often a
intentionally phrased so as to require ingenuity
phrase or saying that gives advice in an obscure
in ascertaining its answer or meaning, typically
way.
presented as a game.

Tanaga is a type of poem, consisting of four Folk song is a traditional music that is often
lines with seven syllables each with the same lively and fast, and its lyric tells about aspects of
rhyme at the end of each line. daily life.

Folktale is a story that has been passed on

Epic is a long heroic narrative in verse which
generation to generation by word of mouth rather
recounts the adventures of a tribal hero/es
than by writing, and thus it has been modified by
and in the process expresses the customs,
successive retellings before it was written down
beliefs, and ideals of the people.
and recorded.

Fable is a story in which animals are the main

Legend is a story that often tells about the
characters and are given human qualities and
origin of things which may be true or not.
abilities.

Myth is traditional story about the early history

Fantastic story tells stories about supernatural
of a people or explaining some natural or
and bizarre beings that are believed to be
social phenomenon, and typically involving
existing in our cultures and beliefs.
supernatural beings or events.
 The Philippines has been occupied and ruled by different
nations. The identity and the original theme of our literature
have been influenced by the foreign culture and style of
writing. Many of the literary written works were destroyed, and our ancestors were not allowed
to use our own writing system, the Alibata. Our ancestors used the Roman Alphabet even in
literature. Our literary works shows how our cultures, traditions and beliefs transformed due to
the influences of other nations; however, despite the foreign influences, some literary writers
and storytellers remained loyal to our native cultures and traditions.

Spanish Colonization Period (1565-1863)

The Philippine literature during the Spanish colonization has become religious because
one of the major pursuits that the Spaniards implemented in our country was to spread
Christianity, and secular that exhibited that our literary works were really influenced by the
works of the Europeans.

 Religious Literature

Pasyon – a long narrative poem about the passion and death of Christ
Senakulo – dramatization of the pasyon

 Secular Literature

Awit – a colorful tale of chivalry made for singing and chanting (Ibong Adarna)
Korido – a metrical tale written in octosyllabic quatrains (Florante at Laura by Francisco
‘Balagtas’ Baltazar)
Prose narratives – written works to prescribe proper decorum

Since there was a need to translate prayers and religious instructional materials to native
language, the native translator learned to read and write both in Spanish and his native
language (ladinos), thus some of our literary works were written in Spanish.

 Jose de la Cruz (1746 – 1829) was the foremost exponent of the komedya during his
time.

Francisco Baltazar (1788 – 1862), popularly called Balagtas, is the acknowledged

master of traditional Tagalog poetry.

Pedro Paterno (1857 – 1911), a Philippine-born illustrado, wrote “Ninay”, the first Filipino
novel written in Spanish.

Nationalistic, Propaganda and Revolutionary Period (1864-1896)

 The nationalistic hearts and minds of the Filipinos during that time were awakened by
the desire for freedom because of tyranny and oppression. Their sentiments, cries and
criticisms that they experienced from the unjust hands of the Spaniards were expressed in their
literary works.

 Propaganda Literature – reformatory in objective

Political essays – satires, editorials and news articles were written to attack and expose
the evils of Spanish rule (Diariong Tagalog, 1882 and La Solidaridad, 1888)

Political novels like Noli Me Tangere (1887) and El Filibusterismo (1891) which were
written by Rizal

 Revolutionary Literature – more propagandistic than literary as it is more violent in

nature and demanded complete independence for the country.

Political Essays – helped inflame the spirit of revolution

 1896 – Kalayaan was a newspaper of the Katipunan which means
"independence and solidarity” edited by Emilio Jacinto.

Poetry
 1896 – Hibik ng Pilipinas and Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa (Andres
Bonifacio)
 1896 – Liwanag at Dilim (Emilio Jacinto)
 1898 – True Decalogue (Apolinario Mabini)

American Colonial Period (1901-1946)

During the American period in the Philippines, our literature was inspired by important
developments in education and culture. Free public education for all children was introduced.
The use of English as a medium of instruction was the beginning of using English language by
the Filipinos. Philippine literature in English was a direct effect of American colonization.

 Period of Apprenticeship (1910-1930)

Tagalog novel – Banaag at Sikat, 1906 (a social realist novel) by Lope K. Santos

Romantic poetry – Pag-ibig by Jose Corazon de Jesus

Short stories
Dead Stars, 1925 by Paz Marquez Benitez
Footnote to Youth by Jose Garcia Villa
We Filipinos are Mild Drinkers,1940 by Alejandro Roces
 English Novel – Child of Sorrow, 1930 (1st novel in English) by Zoilo Galang

Japanese Colonial Period (1901-1946)

During the Japanese colonization, Tagalog was favored by the Japanese military
authorities to be used, and English language was halted. The development of art and literature
faced a great impact due to political conflict and battles. Even though this happened, there were
writers who continued to practice their crafts.

 War Years (1942-1944)

25 Pinakamabuting Maikling Kathang Pilipino

Lupang Tinubuan – Narciso Reyes

Uhaw ang Tigang na Lupa – Liwayway Arceo

 Period of Maturity and Originality (1945-1960)

 Palanca Awards for Literature was established in 1950. Jose Garcia Villa, Nick
Joaquin, NVM Gonzales, Bienvenido Santos, Gregorio Brillantes, Gilda Cordero
Fernardo were among the authors who received the said award.

 National Artist Awards for Literature is an order bestowed on Filipinos who have
made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts. Jose Garcia
Villa, and Nick Joaquin were among the literary writers who received the said
awards.

The war left ruins in the economy and infrastructures. The

Philippines became independent. As part of rebuilding the
nation, our literature remained a representation of the people’s
experiences. Comics, magazines and other publications also succeeded. Some of which
involved some of the literary works in the publications.

Republic Period (1961-1985)

 The government took part in reviving old plays like the Cenaculo, the Zarzuela and the
Embayoka of the Muslims.
  Radio and television brought entertainment in every household. Radio was the form of
recreation of those without television (examples: Si Matar, Dahlia, Ito ang Palad Ko).

 During this period Filipino film-making has begun. A yearly Pista ng mga Pelikulng
Pilipino was held during this time (examples: Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag; Minsa’y
Isang Gamu-Gamo; Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon).

 Poems during this period were romantic and revolutionary. Many Filipino songs dealt
with themes that were really true-to-life like those of grief, poverty, aspirations for
freedom, love of God, of country and of fellowmen due to the martial law.

Contemporary/Modern Period (1986-present)

The rich culture of folk narratives and traditions inspired our literature until today. The
Philippines started an effort to restore the use of native language in literature. Our education
department made it obligatory to teach Philippine literature to students from elementary to
college years because literary works have reflected our cultures, traditions, beliefs and life
styles since then up to now.

Our literature follows as our way of living changes due to the advancement of technology
and modernization. There are things that are used and exercised in the contemporary period
are:

 The debate over textual and contextual criticism, balagtasismo and modernism,
formalism and historical criticism has persisted to this day in the academe due to
different subjects or theme of the literary texts.

 The development of literary devices was introduced such as onomatopoeia or the use of
words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.

 New ways in writing and composing poems are introduced like the messages or theme
in poetry and free verse.

 There are different literary works for different kinds of situations and conditions, for
instance, the queer and chic literature.
 There are so many novels written with different themes.

 Some literary pieces are transformed into another type of literature (novel to film).