This document summarizes the major periods of Philippine literary history from pre-colonial times to the contemporary period. It discusses the influences of Spanish, American, and Japanese colonization on Philippine literature and the genres that developed during each period. Key highlights include folk literature in the pre-colonial era, religious poems and narratives influenced by Spanish colonizers, the propagation of English literature during the American period, a revival of Tagalog writings under Japanese occupation, and the development of scriptwriting and children's literature today. Overall, the document traces the geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions that have shaped the evolution of Philippine literature over time.

1. 21st Century Literature
from the Philippines and
the World
Geographic, Linguistic and Ethnic Dimensions of Philippine Literary
History from Pre-Colonial to the Contemporary

2. PERIODS OF
PHILIPPINE LITERARY
HISTORY

3. PERIODS OF PHILIPPINE
LITERARY HISTORY
Pre-Colonial
Period
Spanish
Period
American
Period
Japanese
Period
Contemporary
Period &
Modern Period

4. PRE – COLONIAL
PERIOD
The pre-colonial literature includes
all literature produced before the
Spanish colonization like chants,
proverbs, songs, and folk narratives.
Ethnic literature may be classified
into three groups: folk speech, folk
songs, and folk narratives.

5. FOLK SPEECH
Riddle/bugtong/ tigmo/ burburtia/ paktakon/
patotodon
– are like proverbs with one main difference:
demand an answer and are used to test the wits
of those listening to them.
– Rely on talinghaga (metaphor)
– Flippant in nature
Examples:
Heto na si Kaka, bubuka-bukaka
Sa araw ay bungbong, sa gabi ay dahon.

6. FOLK SPEECH
Proverbs - Proverbs and aphorisms/ saliwakain/
kasabihan/ aramiga/ sasabihan/ humbaton/
hurobaton/ pagsasao/ kasebian
– are practical observations and philosophy of
everyday life that are written usually in a
rhyming scheme.
– meant to entertain while teaching basic skills
in surviving local life.
Examples: Kung ano ang puno, siya ang bunga.
Kung walang tiyaga, walang nilaga

7. FOLK SPEECH
Lullabies - Sung to put children to sleep
-Called oyayi/ ili-ili/ duayya/ tumaila/
baliwayway and andang
Love Songs - Frequently concern romantic love
(form or strengthen bonds between lovers)
-Courtship songs are many in ethnic literature.
-Panawagon, balitao, aliri, diona, harana, and
ambahan are other names for love songs in
different dialects.
– Ambahan, a poem with seven syllables per
line, the ending syllables following a rhyme
scheme; used as form of social entertainment
and as a tool for teaching the young.

8. FOLK SPEECH
• Drinking Songs - Sung during
carousals
• – Brief, always merry, almost
hedonistic
• – Many originated in the Bicol area
where they are called
• tigsik or tagay.
• • Work Songs - foster cohesiveness
within the community
• – depict the different forms of
livelihood
• – sung to synchronize the movements
of workers
• • Religious Songs and Death Songs -

9. FOLK SPEECH
• Drinking Songs - Sung during carousals
-Brief, always merry, almost hedonistic
– Many originated in the Bicol area where they are called tigsik or tagay.
• Work Songs - foster cohesiveness within the community – depict the different forms of
livelihood
– sung to synchronize the movements of workers
• • Religious Songs and Death Songs - songs for solemn
affairs - Prayer of Thanksgiving (ambaamba) - Exorcism
• chant (bugyaw) - Deaths occasion the singing of dirges or lamentations, in which the deeds of
the dead are recounted.

10. FOLKTALES (kwentong bayan)
• Myths - are regarded as sacred, explain origin and goal of the cosmos
• Legends (alamat) - are believed to be about more recent events - used to explain certain
events or phenomena in our ancestors’ lives that cannot be
explained by the limited practical kind of science they knew back then.
• Fables - are short tales, usually involving animals, which teach a moral lesson
• Trickster Tales – recounts the adventures of a cleaver hero who outwits authority figures,
usually coming from the upper classes.

11. EPICS
EPICS
• Long-winded poems about a hero (usually male) and his adventures and misadventures.
• The hero is usually born with all the pleasing qualities that the ancestors like and has
superhuman capabilities.
• The hero is usually paired with a beautiful young maiden

12. SPANISH PERIOD
• Colonization was brought about by industrial revolution.
• Age of Voyages and Explorations
• Propelled by 3Gs (God, Gold, and Glory)
• Blood compact with Datus Sikatuna and Gala in Bohol
• Established 1st Spanish settlement in Philippine soil at Cebu
(Ciudad del Santisimo Nombre de Jesus)
• To be civilized meant to stay in a pueblo under the control of the
Spanish king, and be a Christian

13. SPANISH INFLUENCES IN
LITERATURE
• Replacement of Baybayin to Roman alphabet.
• Teaching of the Christian doctrine became the basis of religious practices.
• Spanish language became the literary language.
• European legends and traditions brought here became assimilated in our songs, corridos, and
moromoros.
• Ancient literature was collected and translated to Tagalog and other dialects.
• Many grammar books were printed in Filipino, like Tagalog, Ilocano and Visayan.

14. SPANISH INFLUENCES IN
LITERATURE
• Periodicals during these times gained religious tone
• Two distinct classifications: religious and secular.
• Written literature is a legacy of Spanish colonial rule.
• Writing during this time may be classified into religious prose and poetry and secular prose
and poetry.
• Religious poetry may be grouped into lyrics and narratives.
• Lyrics include complimentary verses written by socalled ladino.

15. SPANISH INFLUENCES IN
LITERATURE
• Another type is meditative verses attached to religious works such as novenas and
catechisms.
• Religious narrative poetry is primarily the pasyon .
• Gaspar Aquino de Belen’s Ang Mahal na Pasion ni Jesu Cristong Panginoon Natin na Tola
(1704) is the earliest known Filipino pasyon
• Casaysayan nang Pasiong Mahal ni Jesucristong Panginoon Natin na Sucak Ipag-alab nang
Puso nang Sinomang Babasa (Pasyong Genesis) became the most popular and was translalted
into other languages.

16. SPANISH INFLUENCES IN
LITERATURE
• Religious narrative prose consists of the various kinds of prose narratives written to
prescribe proper behavior.
• These were channels for instruction in the Catholic faith and for colonization.
• Include forms as the dialogo (dialogue), the manual de urbanidad (conduct book), ejemplo
(exemplum) and tratado (polemical tract).

17. SPANISH INFLUENCES IN
LITERATURE
• Pasyon - narrative poem about the life of Jesus Christ, beginning from his birth up to his
death
– usually sung during Lenten season
• Cenaculo -Written in octosyllabic verse
– dramatization of the passion of Christ
– highlights the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ done during the Lenten season
• Awit - Set in dodecasyllabic quatrains
– Metrical romance
– Colorful tale of chivalry made for singing and chanting
– E. g. Florante at Laura

18. SPANISH INFLUENCES IN
LITERATURE
• Corrido – set in octosyllabic quatrains
– Metrical romance
– Colorful tale of chivalry made for singing and chanting
• Moro-Moro – Comedia de Capa Y Espada
– dramatization of the passion of Christ blood-and-thunder melodrama depicting the conflict of
Christians and Muslims
– Usually about battles to the death and the proofs of faith
• Carillo – play that uses shadows as its main spectacle
– A form of dramatic entertainment performed on a moonless night during a town fiesta
– Created by animating figures made from cardboard, which are projected onto a white screen

19. SPANISH INFLUENCES IN
LITERATURE
• Tibag (to excavate) - dramatic reenactment of St. Helena’s search for the Holy Cross
• Karagatan - A poetic vehicle of a socio-religious nature celebrated during the death of a
person
– A ritual is performed based on a legend about a princess who dropped her ring into the
middle of the sea who offered her hand in marriage to anyone who can retrieve it
• Duplo - Replaced the Karagatan
– Poetic joust in speaking and reasoning
– The roles are taken from the Bible and from proverbs and saying
– Usually played during wakes for the dead

20. SPANISH INFLUENCES IN
LITERATURE
• Balagtasan - Debate in verse
– Replaced the duplo and is held to honor Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar
– Poetical joust done almost spontaneously between protagonists who debate over the pros and
cons of an issue
• Zarzuela - Considered the father of the drama
– one of the most famous forms of entertainment back in the Spanish era
– musical comedies or melodramas that deal with the elemental passions of human beings
– follows a certain plot

21. THE PROPAGANDA MOVEMENT
• JOSE P. RIZAL - Known for his pen names Laong Laan and Dimasalang
– Died by musketry in the hands of the Spaniards on December 30, 1896 on charges of sedition
and rebellion against the Spaniards
– NOLI ME TANGERE exposed the evils in society
– EL FILIBUSTERISMO exposed the evils in the government and in the church

22. THE PROPAGANDA MOVEMENT
• MARCELO H. DEL PILAR - Known for his pen names Plaridel, Pupdoh, Piping Dilat, and
Dolores Manapat
– Established Diariong Tagalog in 1883 where he exposed the evils of the Spanish government
in the Philippines.

23. THE PROPAGANDA MOVEMENT
• GRACIANO LOPEZ JAENA
– Known writer and orator in the Philippines - Established LA SOLIDARIDAD (which later
became the official voice of the Assosacion Hispano de Filipinas)

24. PERIOD OF ACTIVE REVOLUTION
• ANDRES BONIFACIO
– Father of Filipino Democracy;
– Father of the Katipunan
– What he learned he got from the school of experience
– Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa

25. PERIOD OF ACTIVE REVOLUTION
• APOLINARIO MABINI
– Sublime Paralytic; Brains of the Revolution
– Became the right-hand of Emilio Aguinaldo when the latter founded his Republic in Malolos
– El Verdadero Decalogo (The True Decalogue or Ten Commandments)

26. PERIOD OF ACTIVE REVOLUTION
• EMILIO JACINTO
– Intelligent assistant of Andres Bonifacio
– He edited Kalayaan, a Katipunan newspaper
– Kartilya ng Katipunan

27. AMERICAN PERIOD
• Treaty of Paris-ceded the Philipines to the Us, $20M
• 1901 public education was insitutionalized
• 600 educators in the SS Thomas (Thomasites)
• Changes: democracy; Westernization of Filipino taste in food and clothing; Americanized
manners;
deterioration of close family ties; emancipation of women; popular education

28. Literature during American
Period
• Period of Re-orientation
– English as a literary vehicle came with the American occupation in August 13, 1898
–Writers were still adjusting to the newfound freedom after the paralyzing
effect of repression of thought and speech under the Spanish

29. Literature during American
Period
• Period of Imitation
– By 1919, the UP College Folio published the literary compositions of the first Filipino writers
in English (pioneers in short story writing)
– Writers were then grouping their way into imitating American and British models which
resulted in a stilted, artificial and unnatural style
– Models included Longfellow and Hawthorne, Emerson and Thoreau, Wordsworth and
Tennyson, Thackeray and Macaulay, Allan Poe, Irving, etc.
– Writers of the folio: Fernando Maramag (best editorial writer), Juan F. Salazar, Jose M.
Fernandez, Vicente del Fierro, Francisco Africa, Victoriano Yamzon (pioneered English poetry)
– For informal essay, criticism and the journalistic column: Ignacio Manlapaz, Godefredo
Rivera, Federico Mangahas, Francisco B. Icasiano, Salvador P. Lopez, Jose Lansang and
Amando G. Dayrit
– Short Stories: DEAD STARS by Paz Marquez Benitez stand out as a model of perfection in
character delineation, local color, plot and message

30. Literature during American
Period
• Period of Apprenticeship (1910-1930)
– New literary forms were introduced, chiefly, free verse, the modern short story, and the
critical essay - Filipino writers imitated English and American models - Poems were
amateurish and mushy
• Period of Emergence (1920 – 1930)
– Highly influenced by Western literary trends (Romanticism and Realism)
– Short stories were the most prevalent literary form

31. Literature during American
Period
• Period of Self-Discovery and Growth
– By this time, Filipino writers had acquired the mastery of English writing
– Competently wrote on a lot of subjects (although old-time favorites: love and youth)
– Went into all forms of writing like the novel and the drama
– Poetry: not only love poems; patriotic, religious, descriptive and reflective
– Free verse, in odes and sonnets
– Poetry was original, spontaneous, competently written, incorporated social consciousness
– The Short Story: flourished during these times
– Characteristics: still remnants of Spanish influence in the use of expressions that were florid,
sentimental, exaggerated and bombastic
– Influence of theW. culture was also evident
– Essays during this period improved in quality and quantity, in content, subject, and style
– Essayists like Carlos P. Romulo became even more eminent editorial writers - Political, social
reflective; critical; personal or familiar

32. JAPANESE PERIOD
• Philippine literature in English came to a halt
• This had an advantageous effect on Filipino Literature which experienced renewed attention
because writers in English turned to writing in Filipino.
• The common theme of poems was nationalism, country, love, life in barrios, faith, religion,
and the arts
• Three types of poem emerged: haiku (free verse with 17 syllables divided into 3 lines [5-7-5]),
tanaga (short but had measure and rhyme, 17 syllables), karaniwang anyo.
• Drama experienced a lull
• The field of the short story widened because many wrote short stories

33. JAPANESE PERIOD
• Writings that came out during this period were journalistic in nature
• Americans returned in 1945
• On July 4, 1946, the Philippines regained its freedom
• “struggle of mind and spirit” posed by the sudden emancipation from the enemy and the wild
desire to see print
• Filipinos had learned to express themselves more confidently
• Proliferation of newspapers
• Gradually, as normality was restored, the tones and themes of the writings turned to the less
pressing problems of economic survival
• Some Filipinos who had gone abroad came back to publish their works

34. JAPANESE PERIOD
• The themes of most poems dealt with the usual love of nature, and of social and political
problems
• Longer and longer pieces were being written by writers
• Philippine literature in Tagalog was revived during this period
• Most themes in the writings dealt with Japanese brutalities, of the poverty of life under the
Japanese government and the brave guerilla exploits
• Newspapers and magazine publications were re-opened
• Tagalog poetry acquired not only rhyme but substance and meaning
• Short stories had better characters and events based on facts and realities and themes were
more meaningful
• Novels became common but were still read by the people for recreation

35. CONTEMPORARY &
MODERN PERIOD
• These periods include all literary works written and published in the Philippines from 1946.
After World War II, the Philippines had to deal with the economy and the need for
rehabilitation and reconstruction of infrastructures. There was political, economic, and social
confusion, as well as great poverty, and these issues found their way into the short stories and
novels during that time.
• Popular topics were on happy (or tragic) experiences— abortion, separation, alternative
routes in life and new-found happiness.
• Short story is still the more popular venue of writers • Scriptwriting, developing literature
form.
• Scriptwriting , developing literature form

36. CONTEMPORARY &
MODERN PERIOD
• Substantial awards in film-making
• Expansion to cater to children’s needs
• Popularity of Taglish
• Notion of seeking popularity and ratings through exposure • Creative writing workshops
• Novels did not continue to flourish; novel writers settled in their twilight years
• Contemporary Philippine literature is a product of troubled times, the see-sawing balance
between cosmopolitanism and nationalism, elitism and democracy, art and politics, leaving a
body of writing of considerable variety.
• Filipino today is no longer a sentimental choice; it is necessary choice because it is the
language that allows writers to communicate with the masses