2. THE AMERICAN
PERIOD
The Philippine had a great leap in education and culture.
The use of English along side Filipino was practiced.
The Philippines public school system was introduced
Free public instruction was given to Filipinos
The literature during the American period was considered as imitative
of American model. Instead of asking the students to write original,
students ended up following the form of American poets.
3.
4. From the 1920s onwards, Philippine
literature in English began to gain
momentum. The genres of poetry, fiction,
drama, and essay saw remarkable growth.
5. American period: there were there groups of writers
during this time based on the language they used in
writing.
• Spanish: writers wrote on the nationalistic themes like in the frames
of heroes like jose rizal.
• Filipino: writers concentrated on the lamentation on the conditions
of the country and attempts to promote love for the native tongue.
• English: writers imitated themes and styles of American writers. This
resulted into an unnatural delivery. This improved as time passed by
through.
6. Characteristics
of literature
during this
period
A. Literature in Spanish
a) CecilioApostol - wrote "A RIZAL" and is
considered the best poem in praise of the
hero of bagumbayan.
b) Fernando Ma. Guerero - he collected
the best of his poem in a book called
Crisalidas, and one of the poems written
in this book was "INVOCACION A RIZAL"
7. c) Jesus Balmori - well-known for his pen name of Batikuling. He and Manuel Bernabe
participated in a debate on the topic "REMEMBRANCE and FORGETFULNESS". He was
elected Poet Laureate in spanish besting Manuel Bernabe.
d) Manuel Bernabe - is a lyric poet. He was more attractive to the public in a debate
with balmori because of the melodious words he used. He defended OLVIDO
e) Claro M. Recto - he collected his poems in a book entitled BAJO LOS COCOTEROS.
One of his writings dedicated to Rizal is "ANTE EL MARTIR"
8. Forms
Poetry – under the American rule still followed
the style of the old, but had contents that
ranged from free writing to societal concerns
under the Americans
Drama- was usually used in the American
period to degrade the Spanish rule and to
immortalize the heroism of the men who
fought under the Katipunan.
Remake Novels- took up Dr. Jose Rizal's
portrayal of social conditions by colonial
repression.
9. From 1922-1931, nearly 40 plays were produced or published in
the country. These plays echod cries for independence from the
American colonizers. The next 10 years were dominated by an
all-time great in Philippine Literature: Wilfredo Ma. Guerrero. A
highly prolific writer to whom over 100 plays are credited.
Guerrero helped the Philippine theater scene reached new
heights. His masterpieces included, “Condemned” , “ Women are
Extraordinary”, and “Forever”.
Essay genre flourished in this period too. Just as he was
10. Other Writers in
Spanish
1. Adelina Guerrea was first woman poet in the
Philippines who was good in Spanish. She obtained
the Nobel Prize in her EL NIDO.
2. Isidro Marpori became famous for his four books
entitled Aroma de Ensueno.
3. MacarioAdriatico wrote of Legend of Mindoro
entitled La Punta de Salto
4. Epifanio de los Santos
11. B. Filipino literature
a) Lope K. Santos - "Father of the National language Grammar", he was also called "apo"
of the tagalog writers. "BANAAG AT SIKAT" was his master piece.
b) Jose Corazon de Jesus - known as huseng batute, he was also called the poet of love in
his time. "AG ISANG PUNONG KAHOY", an elegy, is believed to be his masterpiece.
c) Armando V. Hernandez - was dubbed "Poet of the Laborers", his masterpiece is "ANG
PANDAY"
d) Valeriano Hernandez Pena - known as TandangAnong, he considers "NENA AT
NENENG" his masterpiece.
e) Inigo Ed Regalado - a popular story teller, novelist and newspaper man. He reach the
peak of his success by the "sumpong" of his pen
12. 1. Poet of the Heart (Makata ng Puso).
◦These included Lope K. Santos, Iñigo Ed. Regalado, Carlos Gatmaitan,
Pedro Deogracias del Rosario, Ildefonso Santos, Amado V. Hernandez,
Nemecio Carabana, and Mar Antonio
2. Poet of the life (Makata ng buhay).
Led by Lope K Santos, Jose Corazon de Jesus, Florentino Collantes,
Patricio Mariano, Carlos Garmaitan, and Amado V. Hernandez.
3. Poets of the Stage (Makata ng Tanghalan).
◦Led by Aurelio Tolentino, Patricio Mariano, Severino Reyes, and Tomas
Remigio
13. C. Philippine Literature in
English
In a way, we can say that we can trace
the beginnings of Philippine literature
in English with the coming of the
Americans. For this purpose, we can
divide this period into three time
frames, namely:
14. The Period of Re-Orientation (1898-1910)
English as a literary vehicle came with
the American occupation in August 13,
1898 and as they say, a choice
bestowed on us by history.
13 Aug. 1898
By 1900, English came to be used as a
medium of instruction in the public schools.
From the American forces were recruited
the first teachers of English.
1900
By 1908, the primary and intermediate
grades were using English. It was also
about this time when UP, the
forerunner in the use of English in
higher education, was founded
1908
15. The Period of Re-Orientation (1898-1910)
English as a literary vehicle came with
the American occupation in August 13,
1898 and as they say, a choice
bestowed on us by history.
13 Aug. 1898
By 1900, English came to be used as a
medium of instruction in the public schools.
From the American forces were recruited
the first teachers of English.
1900
By 1908, the primary and intermediate
grades were using English. It was also
about this time when UP, the
forerunner in the use of English in
higher education, was founded
1908
16. THE PERIOD OF IMITATION (1910-1924)
By 1919, the UP College Folio
published the literary
compositions of the first
Filipino writers in English.
They were the pioneers in
short story writing.
They were then groping their
way into imitating American
and British models which
resulted in a stilted, artificial
and unnatural style, lacking
vitality and spontaneity
17. PERIOD OF SELF-DISCOVERY
AND GROWTH (1925-1941)
By this time, Filipino writers had
acquired the mastery of English
writing. They now confidently and
competently wrote on a lot of
subjects although the old-time
favorites of love and youth persisted.
They went into all forms of writing
like the novel and the drama.
18. • Poetry. Noteworthy names in this field ,they wrote in free
verse, in odes and sonnets and in other types. Poetry was
original, spontaneous, competently written and later,
incorporated social consciousness.
• Short Story (1925-1941) Poetry and short story flourished
during these times.
• Publications. The Philippine Free Press provided the first
incentives to Filipino writers in English by offering prizes to
worthwhile contribution. Other publication followed suit.
• The Drama.(1925-1941) Drama during this period did not
reach the heights attained by the novel or the short story
Editor's Notes
Modernization of poetry took place. It was headed by Jose Garcia Villa in his “Have Come, Am Here” in two volumes. Then many adopted. Novel was also introduced in this period. Many vernacular novels were written. The first Philippine novel in English was Zoilo Galang’s “A Child of Sorrow” which was published in 1921.
Short stories had its start during this period. The “Dead Stars” by Paz Marquez Benitez in 1925 was the first successful Philippine short story in English. She mentored other writers that in 1927, a collection of Philippine short stories in English written by one author was published, Jose Villa Panganiban’s “Stealer of Hearts”. It is then followed in 1933, “Footnote to Youth” by Jose Garcia Villa.
Drama was also introduced in this period. The three former UP Presidents had legacies of excellent drama writing. Carlos P. Romulo who became President of the United Nations General Assembly, wrote “Sons for Sale”, “The Ghost” and “The Real Leader.” Jorge Bacobo published four plays: Vidal Tan gained fame with Rizal inspired plays like “The Meeting in the Town Hall” and “Souls in Torment.”
