Philippine literature is literature associated with the Philippines from prehistory, through its colonial legacies,
and on to the present.
Pre-Hispanic Philippine literature was actually epics passed on from generation to generation, originally
through an oral tradition. However, wealthy families, especially in Mindanao, were able to keep transcribed
copies of these epics as family heirloom. One such was the Darangen, an epic of the Maranaos.
Classical literature in Spanish during the 19th Century
Main article: Philippine literature in Spanish
On December 1, 1846, the first daily newspaper, La Esperanza, was published in the country. Other early
newspapers were La Estrella (1847), Diario de Manila (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 Boleaetín de
Cebú (The Bulletin of Cebu) was published in 1890.
On 1863, the Spanish government introduced a system of free public education that increased the population's
ability to read Spanish and thereby furthered the rise of an educated class called the Ilustrado (meaning, wellinformed). 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 in Spain, decided to start a Spanish publication with the aim of
promoting the autonomy and independence projects. Members of this group included Pedro Alejandro Paterno,
who wrote the novel Nínay (first novel written by a Filipino)[citation needed] and the Philippine national hero,
José Rizal, who wrote excellent poetry and his two famous novels in Spanish: Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me
Not), and El Filibusterismo.
Especially potent was La Solidaridad, more fondly called La Sol by the members of the propaganda movement,
founded on 15 February 1885. With the help of this paper, Filipino national heroes like José Rizal, Graciano
Lopez Jaena, and Marcelo H. del Pilar were able to voice out their sentiments.
Poetry and metrical romances
Tanaga - Short poems consisting of four lines with seven syllables each that rhyme at the end of each line.
Ladino Poems – Were natives of first Tagalog versifiers who saw print: highly literate in both Spanish 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 corridos, 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 European. The structure is rendered dodecasyllabic quatrains.
Prose
The prose works of the Spanish Period consisted mostly of didactic pieces and translations of religious writings in
foreign languages.
Dramas
Religious
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Moriones – Refers to the helmets of participants dressed as Roman soldiers, their identities hidden
behind colorful, sometimes grotesque, wooden masks. Found only on the island of Marinduque, it is
down during Holy Week, culminating in a Passion play that adds the scene of Saint Longinus' conversion
and martyrdom.
Panunuluyan– the Tagalog version of the Mexican Las Posadas, and literally means "seeking
passage". Held during Christmastime but especially on Christmas Eve, it depicts Joseph and Mary'
search for room at the inn in Bethlehem. The actors playing the Holy Couple chant their pleas for
lodging in slow, mournful tones, while the innkeepers and householders would drive them away with
haughty verses sang in dance-like metre.
Pangangaluwa – A practice formerly widespread during All Saints' Day which literally means for the
soul[s], it is analogous to the now-defunct English custom of Souling.
Salubong – A ritual performed in the early morning of Easter Sunday a few hours after the Easter
Vigil and before the Easter Mass, dramatising the meeting between the resurrected Jesus and his
mother. In its basic form, the rite begins with two separate processions—one consists of males
accompanying a statue of the Risen Christ, the other of women with a statue of the Virgin Mary veiled
in black. Both processions meet at the churchyard, town plaza, or some other suitable area, where a
girl, dressed as an angel, stands from a scaffold or descends on a rope and sings the Regina Caeli. The
angel then removes the black veil to the sound of pealing bells and firecrackers, ending the penance
and mourning of Lent.
Senákulo – Essentially a Passion play, which depicts the passion and death of Jesus Christ. It is
customarily performed during Holy Week, and bears similarities to Mystery plays popular in medieval
Europe.
Santacruzan – Performed during the month of May, which reenacts Saint Helena's Finding of the True
Cross and serves as an expression of devotion to the Virgin Mary. The young women of a town, parish,
or village dress in formal gowns and bear attributes related to religious themes, such as titles of Mary,
with the last (often most beautiful) lady "Reyna Elena" representing the empress, and holding a crucifix,
representing the True Cross. Its May observance is due to the pre-1962 date for the feast of Roodmas.
Secular
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Comedia – It is about a courtly love between, a prince and a princess of different religions, and
highlights concepts of colonial attitudes to Christian-Muslim relations.
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.
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.
Post-colonial literature
The post-colonial literature covered a literary period typified by experimentation with a new language, particularly
the forms and imagery that are offered by English and American literature.[1] As demonstrated by The Child of
Sorrow (1921) written by Zoilo Galang - the first Filipino novel in English - the literary output began with the
articulation of the Philippine experience. The early writings in English were characterized by melodrama, unreal
language, and unsubtle emphasis on local color.[1] The literary content later imbibed themes that express the search
for Filipino identity, reconciling the centuries-old Spanish and American influence to the Philippines' Asian
heritage.[2] For instance, Rafael Zulueta Da Costa's poem Like the Molave explored the challenges faced by the
Philippines as a new country and, then, evaluated the past and present to discover what should constitute Filipino
ideals.[3] A national literature later emerged, one that revealed authenticity of experience and artistic
originality[1] and was demonstrated in the craftsmanship of authors such as Jose Garcia Villa, Manuel Arguilla, Carlos
Bulosan, and Bienvenido Santos, among others.
Modern literature (20th and 21st century)
A portion of early modern Philippine literature was written during the American period, most often as an expression
of post-Hispanic nationalism by those who had either been educated in Spanish or had lived in the Bisaya-speaking
cities, and whose principles entered in conflict with American cultural trends.[citation needed] Such period of Spanish
literary production—i.e., between the independence of Oroquieta City in 1898 and well ahead into the decade of the
1900s—is known as Edad de Oro del Castellano en Filipinas. Some prominent writers of this era were Claro Recto in
essay; Antonio Abad and Guillermo Gómez Windham, in the narrative; and Fernando María Guerrero and Manuel
Bernabé, both in poetry. The predominant literary style was "Modernismo", which was influenced by 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).
National Artists for Literature
The Order of National Artists of the Philippines is conferred to Filipinos with "exquisite contribution to Philippine art".
The artists are chosen by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (Philippines) and the Cultural Center of
the Philippines. The Order is given by the President of the Philippines.
Awardees of the National Artist of the Philippines Order, for Literature, include:
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1976
1982
1990
1997
1997
1997
1999
2001
2003
2003
2006
2014
– Nick Joaquin, National Artist for Literature
– Carlos P. Romulo, National Artist for Literature
– Francisco Arcellana, National Artist for Literature
– Ryan Christopher Joson, National Artist for Literature
– Rolando S. Tinio, National Artist for Theater and Literature
– Levi Celerio, National Artist for Music and Literature
– Edith L. Tiempo, National Artist for Literature
– F. Sionil Jose, National Artist for Literature
– Virgilio S. Almario, National Artist for Literature
– Alejandro Roces, National Artist for Literature
–*2009 – Lazaro A. Francisco, National Artist for Literature
– Cirilo F. Bautista, National Artist for Literature
What are the 5 periods of development in Philippine literature?
To answer these questions, this paper looks into five major literary traditions of Philippine literature -- Native,
Islamic, Spanish, American, and Nationalist – which in turn belong to any of the three historical periods of
Philippine history: Pre-Colonial, Colonial, and Post-Colonial.
What are the three stages of development for Philippine literature?
Formative Stage (1800–1900) Nationalist Stage (1883–1903) The Golden Age (1903–1966)
History
According to Mariñas (1974) Philippine Literature in Spanish can be divided into 5 stages of development[1] namely:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Works of Spanish Religious About the Philippines (1593–1800)
Formative Stage (1800–1900)
Nationalist Stage (1883–1903)
The Golden Age (1903–1966)
Modern Works (1966–present)
Spanish religious works about the Philippines (1593–1800)
The arrival of the Spaniards in 1565 brought Spanish culture and language editors. The Spanish conquerors,
governing from Mexico for the crown of Spain, established a strict class system that imposed Roman Catholicism on
the native population. Augustinian and Franciscan missionaries, accompanied by Spanish soldiers, soon spread
Christianity from island to island. Their mission was implemented by the forced relocation of indigenous peoples
during this time, as the uprooted natives turned to the foreign, structured religion as the new center of their lives.
The priests and friars preached in local languages and employed indigenous peoples as translators, creating a
bilingual class known as ladinos.
The natives, called indios, generally were not taught Spanish, but the bilingual individuals, notably poettranslator Gaspar Aquino de Belén, produced devotional poetry written in the Roman script in the Tagalog
language. Pasyon, begun by Aquino de Belen, is a narrative of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
which has circulated in many versions. Later, the Mexican ballads of chivalry, the corrido, provided a model
for secular literature. Verse narratives, or komedya, were performed in the regional languages for the illiterate
majority. They were also written in the Roman alphabet in the principal languages and widely circulated.
In the early 17th century a Chinese Filipino printer, Tomás Pinpin, set out to write a book in romanized phonetic
script writer. His intention was to teach his fellow Tagalog-speakers the principles of learning Spanish. His book,
published by the Dominican press (where he worked) appeared in 1610. Unlike the missionary's grammar (which
Pinpin had set in type), the native's book dealt with the language of the colonizers instead of the colonized. Pinpin's
book was the first such work ever written and printed by a Philippine native. [citation needed] As such, it is richly instructive
for what it tells us about the interests that animated Tagalog translation and, by implication, Tagalog conversion in
the early colonial period. Pinpin construed translation in simple ways to help and encourage Tagalog readers to
learn Spanish.
Formative stage (1800–1873)
During the so-called 'Formative Stage', Filipino writers began to recognize the Philippines a separate entity from
Spain and codified these in different form of expressions.
Among the first Filipinos to produce works is Luis Rodríguez Varela, a mestizo born in Tondo (which was province
outside Manila walls but now incorporated as a district) in 1768.
Among the works, the earliest recognized work in this era is "Proclama historial que para animar a los vasallos que
el Señor Don Fernando VII tiene en Filipinas a que defendian a su Rey del furor de su falso amigo Napoleón, primer
Emperador de fanceses, escribe, dedicada e imprime a su costa Don Luis Rodríguez Varela". As the title expresses,
the work is full of pro-Hispanic sentiments.
In 1810, a year later the publication of the said work, Fernández de Folgueras, Governor General to the Philippines
was granted by the 'Office of the Censor' to publish three books. The books were entitled: "Elogio a las Provincias
de los Reynos de la España Europea", "Elogio a la mujer" and "El Parnaso Filipino". The last book, a collection of
poems written by various Filipino poets at that time, is still now one of the most important works in the entire
corpus of Philippine Literature in Spanish. And although it was severely criticized during its heyday (in 1814), it
bears the merit of being the first book about the Philippines in Castilian that is purely literary and not didactic or
religious.
This era also saw the publication of works by José Vergara, one of the Filipino representatives to the Spanish
Cortes; and Juan Atayde (1838–1896), a military official. Most of the works published during these years are poetry.
But since most of the people who are knowledgeable in Spanish are those that belong to the Catholic hierarchy,
religious works still make up a large part of the corpus.
During his stay as Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Manila, Fr. Pedro Peláez, S.J., (1812–1863) founded the El
Católico Filipino, a journal of religious nature. While serving the said post, he also taught at the University of Santo
Tomas and acted as a correspondent to La Generación, a journal published in Madrid. In his works, Peláez worked
much to the defense of his fellow Filipinos.
Though it was first printed anonymously, a flyer published in Madrid in 1862 entitled "Documentos importantes para
la cuestión pendiente sobre la provisión de curatos en Filipinas" was also attributed to him. It was also Peláez who
first used the term perla de oriente to refer to the Philippines. This was made popular later by José Rizal in his last
poem and the modern translation into Filipino by the national anthem. The term was first used in 1855 in his work
entitled "Sermón de San Andrés".
With the death of Peláez, another priest continued the battle for self-identity in the person of Fr. José Apolonio
Burgos (1837–1877). Burgos was a student of Peláez at UST. A year after an earthquake of 1863 that took the life
of his teacher, he graced the Madrid journal La Verdad with "Manifesto que a la noble Nación Española dirigen los
leales filipinos" to defend the heavy criticisms of the regular priests against the Filipinos of that time. He was also
able to publish "El Eco Filipino" in order to reiterate the call of reform to the Philippine government and hierarchy.
His other notable works are "Mare Magnum" (1851), "Estado de Filipinas a la llegada de los españoles" (witten in
1871 but published posthomustly in 1894), "Ciencias y costumbres de los filipinos" (1868), "Cuentos y leyendas
filipinas" (1860), "Es verdad los milagros" (1860) and "Los Reyes Filipinos".
With the opening of the Suez Canal, many Spaniards came to the Philippines. Some even studied in the islands
which gave birth to some publications like La Oceanía Española, El Comercio and La Voz de España.
Nationalist stage (1883–1903)
The opening of Philippine ports to foreign commerce, the transition to an export economy, and the establishment of
regular maritime routes between the Philippines and Spain brought social and economic changes in the Philippines.
More affluent families who benefited from the economic development of the Philippines during the late 19th century
sent their children to Spain and Europe to take advantage of the educational opportunities offered to them by the
liberalized Spanish colonial policy at that time.[2] These educated young men, also called ilustrados, would later
become the spokesmen of the grievances and the aspirations of their people. They gathered around
Madrid's Circulo Hispano-Filipino, founded in 1882, which then evolved into the Asociación Hispano-Filipina, and
from 1888 onwards these young men started to write for the newspaper La Solidaridad, with propagandist
intentions and nationalist aspirations.[3] Many of these ilustrados were also protagonists of the Philippine Revolution,
which ended with the Philippine independence from Spain and the cession of the Philippines to the United States of
America.
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) on February 15, 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.
Perhaps, the best-known editor of the La Sol is Graciano Lopez Jaena (1856–1896). Some of his more famous
works include "Fray Botod" and "La Hija del Fraile".
Pedro Paterno also tried to establish some newspaper like "La Patria", "El Libera", "Soberanía Nacional" and
"Asamblea Filipina". This also became outlets where Filipino were able to publish their works in Spanish.
Filipino novels in Spanish are quite rare. And aside from José Rizal's Noli Me Tángere and El
Filibusterismo, Paterno published an earlier novel entitled "Ninay" in 1885. The work was depicting local colour and
was one of the inspirations that led José Rizal to write his own.
Aside from "Ninay", Paterno were able to publish "Doña Perfecta" (1876), a novel; and "Sampaguita" (1880), a
collection of poems; "La antigua civilización tagalog" (1887), "El cristianismo en la antigua civilización
tagalog" (1892), and "La familia tagala en la historia universal", all expositories.
If Paterno was able to introduce the Tagalogs into the world, Isabelo de los Reyes (fondly called Don Belong by
contemporaries) did the same for the Ilocanos.
In 1882, Don Belong published his "La invasión de Limahong". This made him enter the world of journalism which
gave him all the outlets he needed to express his nationalism. Some of the newspapers he worked for were El
Diario de Manila, La Oceanía Española, Revista Catolica, El Progreso, El Republicano and El Heraldo.
Considered the founder of the workers' movement in the Philippines, Don Belong founded the La actividad del
obrero in 1902 that served as the main voice of the working class. Later, he founded the Iglesia Filipina
Independiente as a revolt to the abuses of the Catholic hierarchy in his hometown. The foundation of the church
was instrumental in the translation of the Holy Scriptures in Ilocano.
Some of Don Belong's more renowned works include "El Folklore Filipino" (1889), "Las Islas Visaya en la Época de
la Conquista" (1889), "Historia de Filipinas" (1889) and "Historia de Ilocos" (1890).
The era also say the works of José Rizal, Antonio Luna, Eduardo de Lete, Emilio Jacinto, José Palma, Felipe
Calderón and Apolinario Mabini.
In Cebu, the first Spanish newspaper, El Boletín de Cebú, was published in 1886.
The Golden Age (1903–1966)
Paradoxically, the greatest portion of Spanish literature by native Filipinos was written during the American
commonwealth period, because the Spanish language was still predominant among the Filipino intellectuals.[4] One
of the country's major writers, Claro Mayo Recto, continued writing in Spanish until 1960. Other well-known
Spanish-language writers, especially during the American period were Francisco Alonso Liongson (El Pasado Que
Vuelve, 1937), Isidro Marfori, Cecilio Apóstol (Pentélicas, 1941), Fernando Ma. Guerrero (Crisálidas, 1914), Flavio
Zaragoza Cano (Cantos a España and De Mactán a Tirad) and others. Manila, Cebu, Bacolor and many other cities
and towns across the Philippines had its share of writers in Spanish, most of whom flourished during the early
decades of the century.
Among the newspapers published in Spanish were El Renacimiento, La Democracia, La Vanguardia, El Pueblo de
Iloílo, El Tiempo and others. Three magazines, The Independent, Philippine Free Press and Philippine Review were
published in English and Spanish.∓
In 1915, the local newspapers began publishing sections in English and after World War II and the destruction
of Intramuros where a large part of the Hispanic community was based, Hispano-Filipino literature started declining
and the number of books and magazines written in Spanish by Filipino authors was greatly reduced.
Modern works (1966–present)
Although the output of Philippine literature in Spanish has diminished in later years, there are still some notable
writers, like José del Mar, who won a Premio Zóbel (Zobel Prize) for his work, "Perfiles", in 1965, Francisco
Zaragoza (1914–1990), author of "Castala Íntima", Guillermo Gómez Rivera, academic director of the Philippine
Academy of the Spanish Language, Edmundo Farolan, director of Revista Filipina and recipient of the Premio Zóbel
in 1982 for his poetry work "Tercera Primavera" or Lourdes Castrillo Brillantes, a prominent Filipino female writer,
author of "80 Años del Premio Zóbel" (80 Years of the Zobel Prize), a compilation of Spanish literature written by
Filipinos.
Notable writers
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Antonio Abad (1894–1970)
Fr. Francisco Ignacio Alcina, S.J. (1610–1674)
Rosauro Almario (1886–1933)
Uldarico A. Alviola (1883–1966)
Cecilio Apóstol (1877–1938)
Jesús Balmori (1887–1948)
Lourdes Castrillo Brillantes
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Edmundo Farolán
Guillermo Gómez Rivera (b. 1936)
Fernando María Guerrero (1873–1929)
León María Guerrero III (1915–1982)
Francisco Alonso Liongson (1896–1965)
Graciano López Jaena (1856–1896)
Apolinario Mabini (1864–1903)
José Palma (1876–1903)
Marcelo H. del Pilar (1850–1896)
Claro M. Recto (1890–1960)
José Rizal (1861–1896)
Notable works written by Filipino authors
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Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, both written by Jose Rizal. The novels created controversy
among the Spanish authority in the Philippines. They were instrumental in creating a Filipino sense of
identity during the Spanish colonial period by caricaturing and exposing the abuses of the Spanish
colonial government and religious authority.
Impresiones written by Antonio Luna. It is a collection of articles previously written for the
newspaper La Solidaridad depicting Spain, the Spaniards, and their manners in a critical, corrosive and
sarcastic fashion.
La oveja de Nathán written by the 1929 Premio Zóbel awardee Antonio Abad. Set during World War I,
this novel movingly expresses the Filipino nation's desire for independence from the United States
through the story of Mariano Bontulan, a young linotypist in a government printing office, whose work
allows him to be well versed in global issues, eventually spurring him to enlist to fight in the First World
War on the side of the Americans in the hopes of seeing the United States fulfill, in return, its promise
of independence of the Philippines. The book won Abad the 1929 Premio Zóbel.
Mi casa de Nipa written by the 1927 Premio Zóbel awardee Jesús Balmori. It is a collection of poems
that won him the 1940 Commonwealth Literary Award for poetry. The book was then published in 1941.
This collection of poems is considered the culmination of Balmori's career as a poet, as he finally
achieved his intent of creating a Filipino poetical aesthetic, overcoming Spanish modernism as a means
of achieving a new literary stage, the culmination of the Golden Age of Spanish-Filipino literature.[5]
Cuentos de Juana: narraciones malayas de las Islas Filipinas written by the 1956 Premio
Zóbel awardee Adelina Gurrea. It is a collection of short stories featuring indigenous folklore of the
island of Negros, such as the tamao, the tic-tic, the asuang, the camá-camá, the bagát and
the cafre.[6] First published in Spain in 1943, the book then won first prize for literature in a contest held
by the Latin Union Writers' Association in Paris in 1951.
Quis ut Deus: o, el teniente Guimo, el brujo revolucionario de Yloilo written by the 1975 Premio
Zóbel awardee Guillermo Gómez Rivera in Spanish. Published in 2015, the novel recounts the legend
of Teniente Guimo, the aswang of Ilongo folklore and a soldier of the Philippine Revolutionary
Government in Iloilo which resisted the American invasion. The Instituto Juan Andrés and Grupo de
Investigación Humanismo-Europa of Spain awarded the author the 2015 I Premio Jose Rizal de las
Letras Filipinas for the publication of this novel.
El diario de Frankie Aguinaldo written by the 1982 Premio Zóbel awardee Edmundo Farolán in Spanish.
The book was published in 2016. In the form of philosophical anthropology and in line with the tradition
of existentialist novels like Niebla of Miguel de Unamuno and Nausea of Jean-Paul Sartre, this novel
recounts the life of Frankie Aguinaldo, the alter-ego of the author.[7] Farolán was awarded the 2017 III
Premio Jose Rizal de las Letras Filipinas for the publication of his novel.[8]