Literature of the Philippines
Encyclopedia
Philippine literature is the literature associated with the Philippines
and includes the legends of prehistory, and the colonial legacy of the Philippines
, written in both Indigenous, and Hispanic languages. 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 other native Philippine languages
.
Tomas Pinpin
wrote and printed in 1610 "Librong Pagaaralan nang mga Tagalog nang Wikang Kastila", 119 pages designed to help fellow Filipinos to learn the Spanish language in a simple way. He is also credited with the first news publication made in the Philippines, "Successos Felices",
(1848) and Boletin Oficial de Filipinas (1852). The first provincial newspaper was El Eco de Vigan (1884), which was issued in Ilocos. In Cebu City "El Boletín de Cebú" (The Bulletin of Cebu), was published in 1890.
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.
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 Europe
an. The structure is rendered dodecasyllabic quatrains.
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 Tibag (Santa Cruzan)'- 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.
'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.
and Manuel Bernabé, both in poetry. The predominant literary style was the so called "Modernismo
," a mixture of elements from the French Parnassien and Symboliste schools, as promoted by some Latin American and Peninsular Spanish writers (e.g. the Nicaraguan Rubén Darío
, the Mexican Amado Nervo
, the Spaniard Francisco Villaespesa
, and the Peruvian José Santos Chocano
as major models).
Apart from the works in Spanish, the only remarkable and valuable Filipino writer writing in the English language is Nick Joaquin.
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and includes the legends of prehistory, and the colonial legacy of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, written in both Indigenous, and Hispanic languages. Most of the notable literature of the Philippines was written during the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
period and the first half of the 20th century in Spanish language. Philippine literature is written in Spanish
Philippine Literature in Spanish
Philippine literature in Spanish is a body of literature made by Filipino writers in the Spanish language. Today, this corpus is the third largest in the whole corpus of Philippine literature . It is slightly larger than the Philippine literature in the vernacular languages...
, English
Philippine literature in English
Philippine literature in English has its roots in the efforts of the United States, then engaged in a war with Filipino nationalist forces at the end of the 19th century. By 1901, public education was institutionalized in the Philippines, with English serving as the medium of instruction. That...
, Tagalog
Philippine Literature in Filipino
-Notable Literary Works in Philippine languages:Florante at Laura, by Francisco Balagtas.-Availability of literature in Filipino outside of the Philippines:...
, and other native Philippine languages
Philippine languages
The Philippine languages are a 1991 proposal by Robert Blust that all the languages of the Philippines and northern Sulawesi—except Sama–Bajaw and a few languages of Palawan—form a subfamily of Austronesian languages...
.
Early Works
"Doctrina Christiana", Manila, 1593, is the first book printed in the Philippines.Tomas Pinpin
Tomas Pinpin
Tomas Pinpin was a printer, writer and publisher from Abucay, a municipality in the province of Bataan, Philippines, who was the first Filipino printer and is sometimes referred as the "Patriarch of Filipino Printing."...
wrote and printed in 1610 "Librong Pagaaralan nang mga Tagalog nang Wikang Kastila", 119 pages designed to help fellow Filipinos to learn the Spanish language in a simple way. He is also credited with the first news publication made in the Philippines, "Successos Felices",
Classical literature in Spanish (19th Century)
On December 1, 1846, La Esperanza, the first daily newspaper, was published in the country. Other early newspapers were La Estrella (1847), Diario de ManilaDiario de Manila
Diario de Manila was a Spanish language newspaper published in the Philippines, founded on October 11, 1848, and closed down by official decree on February 19, 1898, after the colonial authorities discovered that its installations were being used to print revolutionary material.The Diario was...
(1848) and Boletin Oficial de Filipinas (1852). The first provincial newspaper was El Eco de Vigan (1884), which was issued in Ilocos. In Cebu City "El Boletín de Cebú" (The Bulletin of Cebu), was published in 1890.
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
Ilustrado
The Ilustrados constituted the Filipino educated class during the Spanish colonial period in the late 19th century....
(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
Ilustrado
The Ilustrados constituted the Filipino educated class during the Spanish colonial period in the late 19th century....
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
José Rizal
José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda , was a Filipino polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is regarded as the foremost Filipino patriot and is listed as one of the national heroes of the Philippines by...
, who wrote excellent poetry and two famous novels in Spanish: Noli Me Tangere
Noli Me Tangere (novel)
Noli Me Tangere is a novel by Filipino polymath José Rizal and first published in 1887 in Berlin, Germany. Early English translations used titles like An Eagle Flight and The Social Cancer, but more recent translations have been published using the original Latin title.Though originally written in...
(Touch Me Not), and El Filibusterismo
El filibusterismo
El filibusterismo , also known by its English alternate title The Reign of Greed, is the second novel written by Philippine national hero José Rizal. It is the sequel to Noli Me Tangere and like the first book, was written in Spanish. It was first published in 1891 in Ghent, Belgium...
'.
A potent tool in promoting Filipino nationalism in Spanish was the foundation of La Solidaridad
La solidaridad
La Solidaridad was an organization created in Spain on December 13, 1888. Composed of Filipino liberals exiled in 1872 and students attending Europe's universities, the organization aimed to increase Spanish awareness of the needs of its colony, the Philippines, and to propagate a closer...
(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
José Rizal
José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda , was a Filipino polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is regarded as the foremost Filipino patriot and is listed as one of the national heroes of the Philippines by...
, Graciano Lopez Jaena
Graciano López Jaena
Graciano López Jaena was a Filipino journalist, orator, and revolutionary from Iloilo, well known for his written work, La Solidaridad....
, Marcelo H. del Pilar
Marcelo H. del Pilar
Marcelo Hilario del Pilar y Gatmaitán , better known by his nom-de-plume Plaridel, was a celebrated figure in the Philippine Revolution and a leading propagandist for reforms in the Philippines A master polemicist in both the Tagalog and Spanish languages, he helped the Propaganda Movement through...
, 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 SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
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
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
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 Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an. The structure is rendered dodecasyllabic quatrains.
Prose
The prose works of the Spanish Period consisted mostly of didatic pieces and translations of religious writings in foreign languages.Religious Drama
'The Panunuluyan'- Literally,seeking entrance, the Tagalog version of the MexicanMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
Posadas. Held on the eve of Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
,it dramatizes Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
's and Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
's search for Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
.
'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 Tibag (Santa Cruzan)'- Performed during the month of May
May
May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days.May is a month of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere and spring in the Northern Hemisphere...
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.
Modern literature (20th and 21st century)
The greatest portion of Spanish literature was written during the American period, most often as an expression of pro-Hispanic nationalism, by those who had been educated in Spanish or had lived in the Spanish-speaking society of the big cities, and whose principles entered in conflict with the American cultural trends. Such period of Spanish literary production—i.e., between the independence of Spain in 1898 and well ahead into the decade of the 1940s—is known as "Edad de Oro del Castellano en Filipinas." Some prominent writers of this era were Wenceslao Retana and Claro Mayo Recto, both in drama and essay; Antonio M. Abad and Guillermo Gomez Wyndham, in the narrative; Fernando María GuerreroFernando María Guerrero
Fernando María Guerrero was a Filipino politician, journalist, lawyer and polyglot who became a significant figure during the Philippine's golden period of Spanish literature, a period ranging from 1890 to the outbreak of World War II in 1940....
and Manuel Bernabé, both in poetry. The predominant literary style was the so called "Modernismo
Modernismo
Modernismo is Spanish for modernism, however the term Modernism also indicates a more specific art movement:* Modernismo refers to a Spanish-American literary movement, best exemplified by Rubén Darío...
," a mixture of elements from the French Parnassien and Symboliste schools, as promoted by some Latin American and Peninsular Spanish writers (e.g. the Nicaraguan Rubén Darío
Rubén Darío
Félix Rubén García Sarmiento , known as Rubén Darío, was a Nicaraguan poet who initiated the Spanish-American literary movement known as modernismo that flourished at the end of the 19th century...
, the Mexican Amado Nervo
Amado Nervo
Amado Nervo also known as Juan Crisóstomo Ruiz de Nervo was the Mexican Ambassador to Argentina and Uruguay, journalist, poet, and educator. His poetry was known for its use of metaphor and reference to mysticism, presenting both love and religion, as well as Christianity and Hinduism...
, the Spaniard Francisco Villaespesa
Francisco Villaespesa
Francisco Villaespesa Martín was a Spanish writer. He was born in Láujar de Andarax, Province of Almería, which marked him all his life...
, and the Peruvian José Santos Chocano
José Santos Chocano
José Santos Chocano Gastañodi was a Peruvian poet who is also known as "The Singer of Americas", because the first line of one of his most celebrated poems: "I am the singer of the America, Autochthonous and Savage""...
as major models).
Apart from the works in Spanish, the only remarkable and valuable Filipino writer writing in the English language is Nick Joaquin.
Notable Philippine literary works
- Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas
Notable Philippine literary authors
- T.D. Agcaoili
- Estrella Alfon
- Carlos Angeles
- Francisco ArcellanaFrancisco ArcellanaFrancisco "Franz" Arcellana was a Filipino writer, poet, essayist, critic, journalist and teacher. He was born on September 16, 1916. Arcellana already had ambitions of becoming a writer during his years in the elementary. His actual writing, however, started when he became a member of The Torres...
- Gregorio Brillantes
- Carlos BulosanCarlos BulosanAlso known as Julius Zafra , a Filipino, an English-language novelist and poet who spent most of his life in the United States, and is best known for the semi-autobiographical America Is in the Heart.-Life and career:Carlos Bulosan was born to Ilocano parents in...
- Linda Ty CasperLinda Ty CasperLinda Ty Casper is a Filipino writer who has published over fifteen books, including the historical novel DreamEden and the political novels Awaiting Trespass, Wings of Stone, A Small Party in a Garden, and Fortress in the Plaza...
- Gilda Cordero-FernandoGilda Cordero-FernandoGilda Cordero-Fernando is a multiawarded writer, publisher and cultural icon from the Philippines. She was born in Manila, has a B.A. from St...
- Amador Daguio
- Luis Dato
- Ricaredo Demetillo
- N. V. M. GonzalezN. V. M. GonzálezNéstor Vicente Madali González was a Filipino writer.-Biography:He was born on 8 September 1915 in Romblon, Philippines. González, however, was raised in Mansalay, a southern town of the Philippine province of Oriental Mindoro. González was a son of a school supervisor and a teacher...
- Sinai C. Hamada
- Alejandrino Hufana
- Dominador Ilio
- Nick JoaquinNick JoaquínNicomedes Márquez Joaquín was a Filipino writer, historian and journalist, best known for his short stories and novels in the English language. He also wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila...
- F. Sionil JoséF. Sionil JoséF. Sionil José or in full Francisco Sionil José is one of the most widely-read Filipino writers in the English language. His novels and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino society...
- Virginia Moreno
- Ambeth R. Ocampo
- Vicente Rivera Jr.
- Alejandro R. Roces
- Bienvenido SantosBienvenido SantosBienvenido N. Santos was a Filipino-American fictionist, poet and nonfiction writer. He was born and raised in Tondo, Manila. His family roots are originally from Lubao, Pampanga, Philippines...
- Abelardo and Tarrosa Subido
- Edilberto K. TiempoEdilberto K. TiempoEdilberto Kaindong Tiempo , also known as E.K. Tiempo, was a Filipino writer and professor. He and his wife, Edith L. Tiempo, are credited by Silliman University with establishing "a tradition in excellence in creative writing and the teaching of literacy craft which continues to this day" at that...
- Kerima Polotan TuveraKerima Polotan TuveraKerima Polotan Tuvera was a Filipino author.-Early life:Born in Jolo, Sulu, she was christened Putli Kerima. Her father was an army colonel, and her mother taught home economics...
- Manuel A. Viray
- Oscar de Zuñiga
- José RizalJosé RizalJosé Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda , was a Filipino polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is regarded as the foremost Filipino patriot and is listed as one of the national heroes of the Philippines by...
- Francisco BalagtasFrancisco BalagtasFrancisco Baltazar y dela Cruz , known much more widely through his nom-de-plume Francisco Balagtas, was a prominent Filipino poet, and is widely considered as the Tagalog equivalent of William Shakespeare for his impact on Filipino literature...
- Zoilo Galang
- Lualhati BautistaLualhati BautistaLualhati Torres Bautista is one of the foremost Filipino female novelists in the history of contemporary Philippine Literature. Her novels include Dekada '70, Bata, Bata, Pa'no Ka Ginawa?, and ‘GAPÔ....
- Genoveva Edroza-Matute
- Brigido Batungbakal
- Nicanor Abelardo
- Rommel Austria
See also
- Philippine literature in EnglishPhilippine literature in EnglishPhilippine literature in English has its roots in the efforts of the United States, then engaged in a war with Filipino nationalist forces at the end of the 19th century. By 1901, public education was institutionalized in the Philippines, with English serving as the medium of instruction. That...
- Philippine literature in SpanishPhilippine Literature in SpanishPhilippine literature in Spanish is a body of literature made by Filipino writers in the Spanish language. Today, this corpus is the third largest in the whole corpus of Philippine literature . It is slightly larger than the Philippine literature in the vernacular languages...
- Philippine Literature in FilipinoPhilippine Literature in Filipino-Notable Literary Works in Philippine languages:Florante at Laura, by Francisco Balagtas.-Availability of literature in Filipino outside of the Philippines:...
- NinayNínayNínay is the first novel authored by a native Filipino. Originally written in the Spanish language by Pedro Alejandro Paterno, when he was twenty-three years old, and while living in Spain in 1885, the novel was later translated into the English language in 1907, and in the Tagalog language in...
, first Philippine novel
External links
- 100 Nobela Tagalog a collection of Philippine novels published by Filipiniana.net