Erica Danielle A. Salumbides

 3.1. a. Early Phil. Literature

    Going back to the primeval ages in Philippine Literature, it was the time of oral literature and written texts were not popularized then. The Roman alphabet or commonly known as the alphabet which people are used with is not the original syllabary in the early ages. The baybayin as what it is called, is the native alphabet and syllabary of the Philippines that was attested before the Spanish colonization through to at least the eighteenth century in accordance with Bielenberg (2018).

    It is surprising and amazing to think that the Philippines has various literary forms along with its expressive characteristics. One of the popularized and known to the Filipinos is the awit (songs), which can be according to Forcucci as cited in Brault (2012) is used to describe an individual’s way of living through human expression. Each song has a unique tone in order to serve different purposes. The laji, which is one of the most popular folk songs amongst the Ivatan up in the Batanes that is sung and pertains to having a gathering with the family and relatives after a day’s work.

    Tagalog Riddles are also one of the major literary works of the Philippines. It is widely known as the bugtong and is called burburtia in Ilocano. These riddles are put together to produce rhymed works and make use of the talinghaga. It also exhibits the literary skills of Filipinos and their extent ability in keen observation of the surroundings as stated in “Ano and Bugtong?” (2016). Additionally, it is widely used as a game usually in educational activities and gatherings. As mentioned, riddles utilize the talinghaga which is a form of metaphor that carries a meaning leading to an answer to the riddle.

    Philippine literature is known for its poetic works and ambahans/ambahan is a monorhyming heptasyllabic poem allocated to the Hanunoo-Mangyan ethnic group in Mindoro that usually about life and death, love and relationships, and nature (Del Rosario, 2017).

    Another form of poetic work similar to ambahan is the tanaga that is a challenge for poets keeping in mind that it involves creative vocabulary skills to created rhymed, measured, and a puzzle that demands an answer. If you are familiar with the Japanese haiku, it is somewhat the Filipino version of the tanaga based on Dopico (2020).

    Just like other proverbs around the world, there is also the salawikain/sawikain or sarsarita as what the Ilokano calls it. These Tagalog proverbs serve as a lesson in life that reflects Filipino manners and provides advice, support, and reminders to the youth and to all the Filipinos (“What is the Proverb?”, 2009).

    Poetic works of Philippine literature does not end with the clever tanaga. Narrative forms are also famous in the country. Philippine epics or ethno-epics are known to be the most compelling poetic in the Philippine History in accord with the critics and anthropologists who named it. As stated by Elhig (2020), epics are mostly popular in the ancient times as they were suitable for oral tales. Additionally, its goal is to share noble acts and stories of thrilling journeys. Epics were mostly a reflection of the society where they originate and includes supernatural characters, repetitions of scenes, as well as the escalation of the number of episodes and variety of versions of these epics.

3.1. b. Phil Literature in Spanish Colonial Period

    The wide use of the Spanish language is only prominent to the Filipino writers who specialize in religious literature collaborated with the Spanish missionaries. Although the production of literature was modulated by the colonial government, through social-economic means, Filipino writing in Spanish continued along with the writing of fiction and poetry specifically amongst Spanish and Creole citizens.

    During the Propaganda Movement, there were several important figures who contributed majorly to Philippine literature through novels like Dr. Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere in 1887 and El Filibusterismo in 1891, and Pedro Paterno and Marcelo del Pilar’s La Solidaridad was the leading work in the 19th-century nationalist writings written in Spanish.

    In the early years of the century, poetry was specialized by the Spanish-language periodicals. These were also poetic jousts that were not limited to written literary works but were popularized by performing them publicly.

    Oral literature comes in when the theater was introduced. The ingenious Zarzuela originated as a Spanish form that was introduced in the Philippines that eventually was localized. In addition to novel works, this period was also known for the creative fictional works and short stories by talented Filipino writers.

3.1. c. Phil Literature in American Period

    With the influence of the American culture, literary works of the Philippines especially the poems written by early poets couldn’t be helped but is imitated from the American models of writing. There were many anthologies during the American Period of the Philippine Literature.

    Many talented poets collaborated in anthologies that were published 1924-1934. One of the highlighted events in the century was the poem of Carlos Bulosan which is the Chorus for America: Six Philippine Poets.

    The zarzuela, was one of the seditious plays in this period as it was made and developed into classics like Tanikalang Ginto, Kahapon, etc that were all directed against the American imperialists. In addition to that, Filipino zarzuwelistas made a remarkable appearance that was staged during the period.

    In the American Period, theater build up dominance among the citizens as the works of a Filipino artist, Wilfredo Maria Guerrero became popular on campuses throughout the Philippine islands. This is also the time of success when novels in Tagalog, Iloko, Hiligaynon, and Sugbuanon were circulated through the help of weekly magazines.

3.2. a. Early Phil. Literature

    Different types of literary forms of the Early Philippine literature were discussed yet the significant developments were not that highlighted. The most obvious development in this phase of the country’s evolution in literature is the change in native alphabet.

    Why did the native alphabet dissipate through the centuries? This syllabary of the Philippines was widely used in all forms of Philippine literary works but somehow was just passed on through oral communication because it was developed into the Roman alphabet because of the Spanish chroniclers that somehow decimated a significant aspect in the Philippine Literature.

    As what the Philippine literature is known for, the epics, are mostly entitled or named after the heroic characters. Its popularity gained back as there were about 100 extant epics in the Philippines that were mostly discovered from the island of Palawan according to the ASEAN-sponsored study if PH Ethics. These were translated by editors that is available in English and Filipino.

    A literary scholar, Dr. Resil Mojares claims that Filipino novel are found in the epic narratives and usual stories of shorter narratives involve the origins of people, stars, the sky, and the seas. These Philippine literary works were showcased and exhibited in Madrid in 1887 that won a distinguished award of merit for it in accordance with the author. The collected literary works were now anthologized in a book entitled El Folklore Filipino (1996).

3.2. b. Phil Literature in Spanish Colonial Period

    Spaniards were not part of the significant development of the Philippine Literature since the Spanish colonization in 1565 which influenced Spanish writing by Filipinos. This development was considered late keeping in mind that this happened in the late 19th century which involved the rise of journalism and an educational system based on letters. Not to mention that there were only 541 published books in the country in 1593-1800. In 1811, Del Superior Gobierno, the first newspaper published followed by the interest of the citizens in journalism leading to the publication of papers such as the Diario de Manila (1845-52, 1860-98) and El Comercio (1869-1925).

    The Propaganda Movement which is according to Schumacher (2000) as cited in “Propaganda Movement” (2022), the first Filipino nationalist movement that influenced a major wave of literary activity in the country. Along the years as Spanish colonized the country, there were a lot of changes and influences in the Philippine Literature such as the rise and the interest of citizens in literature. Because of them, political, economic, and social aspects of the country was also affected.

    As the domination of Spanish language eventually faded, only a small portion of the citizens particularly the elites, continued to use and practiced it over the centuries. After the Spanish era, was also used for the Spanish-language literature in the Philippines like the disappearance of Spanish-language in newspapers according to Mojares (n.d.) was not that popular among the citizens in the first place.

3.2. c. Phil Literature in American Period

    In this phase of the Philippine Literature’s evolution highly affected the developments in education and culture. Because of this, English became the medium or the language for instruction in all levels of education in public schools. With this, free public education was the catalyst in Filipinos’ access in great knowledge and information. It was also the reason for the improvement of social status of these who availed this education. The use of Spanish language is discontinued or most likely decimated within the introduction of the American Period. Salvador Lopez, a Filipino writer who used to wrote English essays caused him to gain the upper hand on politics and governance. Other significant people in the period who also used Spanish in their written works eventually started to write in English in the discussion of current events as newspapers were gradually moving on from Spanish language texts.

    Along with the major improvements in the period, novels took a big part in Philippine literature as it was treated and valued because of the entertainment it brings to the people. That’s why writers specialize in unique stories and plots to encourage and engage readers more in their works.

3.3. (a) ideological perspectives, (b) societal values, (c) and political views?

    Philippine Literature underwent major circumstances that affected the literary works of the country. However, ideological perspectives, societal values and political views eventually go with the flow as centuries passed. The way people of the archipelago managed to adapt these changes over centuries is quite amazing. To think that they were only used to oral communication in the early ages and how they believed stories and epics. People then were looking up to the stories from noble acts of heroes making them believe that there are people that were as magnificent as the characters.

    They were into it that they believed in the origins of the people and other things from legends. Until it changed to more technical and realistic approach when literature was developed by the Spanish and American colonizers. Citizens of the country were more educative and informative of the things that surround them. Society changes were dominant when Spaniards came as it influenced elite people to make them classified as higher class since they were the only people who utilized and continued the language after it was decimated through the period. Then following the American

    Period that contributed in the societal class of people through education. People treated it as a basis for social class. The more you use the language the more you gain dominance among people and they treat you differently since you are belonged to the middle class.

    As what the author states, a Filipino writer gained dominance with his use of the English language in his works. Political views in the country were greatly influenced during the American Period since people look up to the English language as a high class level of education and source of information.