3. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.
LONG BEFORE THE SPANIARDS AND OTHER FOREIGNERS LANDED OR
SET FOOT ON PHILIPPINE SHORES, OUR FOREFATHERS ALREADY HAD
THEIR OWN LITERATURE STAMPED IN THE HISTORY OF OUR RACE.
OUR ANCIENT LITERATURE SHOWS OUR CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS
IN EVERYDAY LIFE AS TRACED IN OUR FOLK STORIES, OLD PLAYS AND
SHORT STORIES.
OUR ANCESTORS ALSO HAD THEIR OWN ALPHABET WHICH WAS
DIFFERENT FROM THAT BROUGHT BY THE SPANIARDS. THE FIRST
ALPHABET USED BY OUR ANCESTOR WAS SIMILAR TO THAT OF THE
Unit 2 Lesson 1: Pre Spanish
Literature.
4. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.
BUT WHATEVER RECORDS OUR ANCESTORS LEFT WERE EITHER
BURNED BY THE SPANISH FRIARS IN THE BELIEF THAT THEY WERE
WORKS OF THE DEVIL OR WERE WRITTEN ON MATERIALS THAT EASILY
PERISHED, LIKE THE BARKS OF TREES, DRIED LEAVES AND BAMBOO
CYLINDERS WHICH COULD NOT HAVE REMAINED UNDESTROYED EVEN
IF EFFORTS WERE MADE TO PRESERVE THEM.
OTHER RECORDS THAT REMAINED SHOWED FOLK SONGS THAT
PROVED THE EXISTENCE OF A NATIVE CULTURE TRULY OUR OWN.
SOME OF THESE WERE PASSED ON BY WORD OF MOUTH UNTIL THEY
REACHED THE HANDS OF SOME PUBLISHERS OR PRINTERS WHO TOOK
INTEREST IN PRINTING THE MANUSCRIPTS OF THE ANCIENT FILIPINOS.
5. PRE-SPANISH LITERATURE IS
CHARACTERIZED BY:
A. LEGENDS – ARE A FORM OF PROSE AND
THE COMMON THEME OF WHICH IS ABOUT THE
ORIGIN OF A THING, PLACE, LOCATION OR
NAME. THE EVENTS ARE IMAGINARY, DEVOID
OF TRUTH AND UNBELIEVABLE.
6. EXAMPLES:
•THE LEGEND OF MOUNT MAKILING
•WHY WOMEN WASH THE DISHES
•ANG ALAMAT NG PINYA
•ANG ALAMAT NG SAGING
•ANG ALAMAT NG MANGGA
•ANG ALAMAT NG BAYABAS
7. PRE-SPANISH LITERATURE IS
CHARACTERIZED BY:
B. FOLK TALES – ARE MADE UP OF STORIES
ABOUT LIFE, ADVENTURE, LOVE, HORROR AND
HUMOR WHERE ONE CAN DERIVE LESSON ABOUT
LIFE. THESE ARE USEFUL TO US BECAUSE THEY
HELP US APPRECIATE OUR ENVIRONMENT,
EVALUATE OUR PERSONALITIES AND IMPROVE
8. EXAMPLES:
•ANG UNGGOY AT ANG PAGONG
•NANG NAMITAS NG BAYABAS SI JUAN
•THE SUN AND THE MOON
•THE ADVENTURES OF JUAN
9. PRE-SPANISH LITERATURE IS
CHARACTERIZED BY:
C. EPICS – ARE LONG NARRATIVE POEMS
WHERE A SERIES OF HEROIC ACHIEVEMENTS
OR EVENTS, USUALLY BY A HERO, ARE DEALT
WITH.
HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF ETHNO-EPICS
POPULARIZED BY DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPS
10. EXAMPLES:
•BIAG NI LAM-ANG (LIFE OF LAM-ANG).
(ILOCANO)
•THE AGYU OR OLAHING. (MANOBOS)
•SANDAYO. (SUBANON)
•ALIGUYON OR THE HUDHUD. (IFUGAO)
•HARAYA. (BISAYA)
•MARAGTAS. (BISAYA)
11. PRE-SPANISH LITERATURE IS
CHARACTERIZED BY:
D. MYTHS – ARE NARRATIVES THAT DESCRIBE
AND PORTRAY IN SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE THE
ORIGIN OF THE BASIC ELEMENTS AND
ASSUMPTIONS OF A CULTURE. MYTHIC
NARRATIVES RELATE, FOR EXAMPLE, HOW THE
WORLD BEGAN, HOW HUMANS AND ANIMALS
WERE CREATED, AND HOW CERTAIN CUSTOMS,
GESTURES, OR FORMS OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES
12. EXAMPLES:
•SI MALAKAS AT SI MAGANDA
•SARIMANOK
•THE STORY OF BATHALA
•THE CREATION. (IGOROT)
•HOW THE MOON AND STARS CAME TO BE.
(BUKIDNON)
13. PRE-SPANISH LITERATURE IS
CHARACTERIZED BY:
E. FOLK SONGS – ARE ONE OF THE OLDEST FORMS
OF PHILIPPINE LITERATURE THAT EMERGED IN THE
PRE SPANISH PERIOD. FOLK SONGS MIRROR THE
CULTURE OF THE EARLY FILIPINOS. THEY EXPRESS
THE HOPES AND ASPIRATIONS, THE PEOPLE’S
LIFESTYLES AS WELL AS THEIR LOVES. THESE ARE
REPETITIVE AND SONOROUS, DIDACTIC AND NAÏVE
AS THE’S SONGS OR IDA-IDA, TULANG PAMBATA OR
15. EVALUATION
1. IT IS A FORM OF PROSE AND THE COMMON THEME OF WHICH IS ABOUT THE ORIGIN
OF A THING, PLACE, LOCATION OR NAME.
2. IT IS MADE UP OF STORIES ABOUT LIFE, ADVENTURE, LOVE, HORROR AND HUMOR
WHERE ONE CAN DERIVE LESSON ABOUT LIFE.
3. ARE LONG NARRATIVE POEMS WHERE A SERIES OF HEROIC ACHIEVEMENTS OR
EVENTS, USUALLY BY A HERO, ARE DEALT WITH.
4. IT IS ONE OF THE OLDEST FORMS OF PHILIPPINE LITERATURE THAT EMERGED IN THE
PRE SPANISH PERIOD.
5. LONG BEFORE THE SPANIARDS AND OTHER FOREIGNERS LANDED OR SET FOOT ON
PHILIPPINE SHORES, OUR FOREFATHERS ALREADY HAD THEIR OWN __________.