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Module 3 Q1 Week 6: Spoken Language (Though It May Be Part of The Ploy), But Also
Module 3 Q1 Week 6: Spoken Language (Though It May Be Part of The Ploy), But Also
Daughters of Our Lady on Mount Calvary Characterization is the literary crafting of personality through
Poctoy, Odiongan, Romblon various means.
S.Y. 2021-2022 Fabula is the chronological order of events, while syuzhet is
the organization and orchestration of narrative.
21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World-12 Narrative structure is the movement of a particular literary
discourse.
TOPICS: The Language of Literature
“The Love of Magdalena Jalandoni” Configure
Winton Lou G. Ynion Winton Lou Ynion and Magdalena Jalandoni
Iloilo
OBJECTIVES: Winton Lou Ynion is a youngest poet, fictionist, critic, and
a. Infer literary meaning from literal language based on usage. teacher from Iloilo who has worked on various aspects of
b. Describe how literary meaning is created in the essay by way Hiligaynon literature. He passed away in 2009. As a PhD
of characterization and structure. student in Philippine Literature at the University of the
c. Respond critically to the essay and articulate this response Philippines Diliman, he was known for his intelligent
through a presentation of a short biography of a local woman discourse on the Filipino novel and its relation to its
writer from your area or region. nationalism. It is not surprising that Magdalena Jaladoni
would eventually figure in his discourses, alongside another
The Language of Literature Hiligaynon novelist—the esteemed Ramon Muzones, author
Literature has always distinguished itself from day- to- day of Margosatubig, the story of a Muslim prince seeking to
language use. Poetry makes the difference more apparent—a reclaim the kingdom usurped by the enemies of his father.
poem, written perhaps in a particular rhyme scheme or Both Jalandoni and Muzones fascinated Ynion not only
pattern, easily shows how language can be contained in because of their strong of their strong position in regional
particular parameters of poetic crafting. The English literature, but also because of the power of their imagination.
language, for instance, is used to put together a poetic line Jalandoni is also considered considered by many critics like
that creates a rhythm out of stressed and unstressed Ynion for overcoming the limitations society set on women.
syllables. Filipino poetry may not utilize these stresses, but it According to an account by Lourdes Valera (1976), it was not
is governed by an astute and ingenious set of rules of end- Jalandoni but his brother Luis who was encouraged to write
rhyme, dating back to the precolonial era, as codified by Jose by their mother: “women had to fulfill purely ornamental and
Rizal, Lope K. Santos, and Virgilio S. Almario. The School of domestic functions and for them, therefore, there were the
Russian Formalism in literature posits that literature utilizes feminine arts of painting, embroidery, sewing, and cooking.”
language that is basically not the predictable, default Jalandoni was able to transcend these imposed limitations
language of everyday life. It is precisely its language that and show her true brilliance as a writer.
makes literary, and different from the language life of media,
or the language of the streets, for instance. One does not Focusing on Hiligaynon literature
speak in rhyme and meter when paying passenger fare in a Leading Hiligaynon writer and literary commentator
jeepney, or inquiring about the latest gadget in a shopping Leoncio P. Deriada contextualizes Jalandoni’s place in the
mall. However, some recent poetry attempts to mimic every regional tradition as part of what may be called the “Golden
day, conversational language. The keyword in this discussion Age” of Hiligaynon literature. Beginning with America’s
is mimic, but not mimicry as merely “copying” the sound of “benevolent” assimilation, until the Japanese occupation, this
spoken language (though it may be part of the ploy), but also productive period found Jalandoni and several other writers
mimicking the lilt of words as they make meaning. producing works that were “didactic and Roman Catholic
The type of literary language and creative tools though strongly nationalistic.” Deriada expounded on this, in
usually associated with poetry can also be found in prose. an article for the National Commission for Culture and the
Prose also engages us by telling a story. A story makes us Arts: “The relatively short period from from the 1920s to the
believe in the plot and events even if they are fictional. This coming of the Japanese is considered the Golden Age. This
perhaps the effect of stories beginning with “once upon a produced Angel Magalum (first novelist for Benjamin), poet
time.” A particular time is recreated and recollected, and Delfin Gumban, poet Serapion Torre, poet- translator (from
incidents are meaningfully connected with one another. Spanish) Flavio Zaragoza Cano, essayist-journalist Rosendo
Trough language, the disjointed or chaotic events of real life Mejica, zarzuela masters Jose Ma. Ingalla and Jose Ma. Nava,
can be connected or rearranged into a coherent narrative. playwright Miguela Montilibano, novelist- poet Magdalena
According to novelist Joan Silber (2009), this is what makes Jalandoni, essayist Augurio Abeto and Abe Gonzales, and the
fiction different from reality—in fiction, “life can be seen as young novelist Ramon L. Musones and poet Santiago Alv.
intelligible.” This also applies to nonfiction or stories derived Mulato. The triumvirate of Gumban, Torre, and Zaragoza
from true events, as in history or biography. To write the Cano ruled it out for years in poetry, their rivalry magnified
story of a real person, a writer selects the most important by the public balagtasan or poetic joust. The establishment
details of their life and world, characterizing them and of Hiligaynon magazine by Liwayway Publications in Manila
allowing the reader to know them. Literature strives to make and of the Makinaugalingon Press by Rosendo Mejica in Iloilo
life comprehensible and intelligible by its creative use of City further strengthened Hiligaynon literature.”
language in a plot—through descriptions, scenes, dialogue,
and more. This use of language cultivates the literariness of a Deriada placed the subject of our essay as the only
particular work. rose among the thorns, so to speak—the only woman ib the
(I’ll send the poem in our facebook group) nale dominated literary scene—who continued to write
through the Japanese occupation up to the fifties and sixties.
MARKERS Jalandoni would be further known for her highly anthologized
biography is an account of a person’s history short story “Si Anabella” described by Corazon Villareal as “a
written by another person. This is different nostalgic
from an autobiography, which is written by the subject trip to the 30’s” where “(t) he beau serenades his love with a
himself/herself. violin on a moonlit and starry night,” and where “they dance
GODBLESS
in the spacious sala of his palatial home to the strains of a very first published poem, “May Bagyo Ma’t May Rilim” by the
full orchestra.” In this story, “they (the lovers) are the envy of unnamed “Una Persona Tagala,” used the image of the
everyone on the dance floor. But he is rich and his mother “bagyo” to praise the good writing (“nitong mabuting sulat”)
takes him away from his lover. Anabella, however, waits of the friar writer Francisco Blancas de San Jose, author of the
patiently for his return and eventually they are reunited.” book Memorial dela Vida Cristiana en Lengua Tagala, in which
Some easily assign Jalandoni’s work to the romance mode; the poem appeared. The life of the persona as he seeks the
but critics like fellow Hiligaynon Rosario Cruz Lucero (2007) Christian God is tumultuous and stormy, and the book being
herself a fictionist, claim Jalandoni’s work as “revolutionary,” praised in the poem becomes the speaker’s stronghold
especially in the way it depicts and addresses the place of (“aquing sasandatahin”), light (“…ito ang liuanag”), lifesaver
women in a highly patriarchal society. (“timbulang icaligtas”), and staff (“toncod ay inilaan”).
Trackback
Bio notes There is also a Tagalog salawikain (proverb) that
In Philippine history, most of our heroes were also writers. dramatizes what seems like our ironic blitheness: “Nang ang
Apart from fighting in battles, many of them utilized the bagyo’y makaraan, saka pa mandin naghusay” (After the storm
power of the pen to communicate their ideas about freedom had ravaged, only then was the house propped). The figure of
and nationality identity. Their preferred literary form was the the storm has animated our legends, like the one of Mariang
essay, since both the intellectual ilustrados and the fighting Makiling, who Rizal described as one who loved to walk “after a
revolutionaries involve themselves in propaganda and storm… running across the fields and whenever she passed, life
journalism. The great propagandist Marcelo H. Del Pilar led was reborn—order and peace.” In the Panay region, the tears
the efforts in Spain as editor-in-chief of La Solidaridad, of the mythic Tungkong Langit longing for his wife Alunsina are
replacing another propaganda leader, Graciano Lopez Jaena. said to be the cause of rain. There are myths about powerful
On the home front, Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto storms that created lakes like the ones in Paoay, Ilocos Norte
Attracted new members by the thousands by putting out the and Sampaloc, Laguna. Storms have often represented aspects
newspaper Kalayaan. Bonifacio, who was a poet and of our daily lives. A storm is a phenomenon that brings about
thespian, was known to have penned the translation into devastation, as well as creative, transformative potential. In the
Tagalog of Jose Rizal’s “Ultimo Adios.” The young Jacinto, as 1970s for instance, the political unrest led by the youth against
the supposed “brains of the Katipunan,” wrote wrote the the Marcos regime was called the “First Quarter Storm.”
organization’s Kartilya or code. Writing is very much part of
history, and it is not surprising that the greatest of We have also imagined the storm as the formidable force
martyrdoms—Jose Rizal’s execution in 1986—was in part that defines our geographic condition, at the disaster-prone
spurred by his two novels, Noli Me Tangere and El fringes of the Pacific. In the age of climate change, the storm
Filibusterismo. has become a wake-up call of sorts, showing humanity the
Activity 1 violent consequences of taking our environment for granted for
1. Study the following biographical or historical details about
Magdalena Jalandoni mentioned by the writeras he
generations. The storm has also become a literary turn or trope
characterized his subject. Quote parts of the essay to complete embodying current Filipino (and global) experiences of natural
this basic “biodata” of the Hiligaynon writer. You can use calamities and our shared smallness in the presence of nature.
credible sources if you find it hard to browse in the module. You We always turn to our imaginative wellspring every time a
can send your answer privately. storm unsettles us, as in the poem for discussion in this lesson,
ADDRESS
“The Haiyan Dead” by Merlie M. Alunan. Amidst the havoc,
YEAR OF BIRTH people collectively share their pain and grief. For us Filipinos,
PARENTS the storm represents so many things in our lives, as it makes us
SCHOOLING confront our own mortality and the changeability of our Earth.
FIRST EXPERIENCE OF
PUBLISHING
What is Trope?
HER BODY OF LITERARY A trope is a creative use of language mostly found in literature.
WORKS True to its etymology, tropes change, turn, or alter language,
YEAR OF DEATH
making it new, refreshing, and thus literary. Figurative language
2. The last line of the essay reads: “No one knows if she had once uses tropes and figures of speech to alter our experience buy
had dreamt of herself as a reina for the feast of Candelaria,
or if she ever imagined of Jose escorting her down the plaza.”
turning our attention to similarities (as in simile and
What metaphor), representations (as in synecdoche and metonymy),
does this imply about our knowledge of Jalandoni, even if we and contradictions (as in irony and paradox). An image turned
continue reading about her life? into trope, in principle, is not simply itself, but something else
__________________________________________________________ as well, as seen in the image of the storm in our example. As a
__________________________________________________________ trope, it becomes meaningful by standing for aspects of the
______
3. What do you think was the importance of Jose Rizal in the life human experience.
and work of Jalandoni? How was this aspect explored in the text?
________________________________________________________ A trope- is the creative use of language mostly found in literature.
________________________________________________________ Figurative Language- uses tropes and figures of speech to call
______ attention to similarities, representation, and contradictions
A simile- is a comparison that utilizes connective words (i.e., like
TOPICS: Philippine Literary Turns and Tropes as, so, etc.)
“The Haiyan Dead”
OBJECTIVES: Metaphor- directly compares without the connective words.
a. Analyze the figure of speech and other literary techniques Tenor- is the part of the metaphor that is the subject of the
in the poem. comparison, to which characteristics are attributed.
b. Understand how these figures and devices contribute to
the larger meaning of the poem. Vehicle- is the part of the metaphor that is the object that
c. Respond critically to the poem possessed the attributed characteristics.
Throughout history, the storm has figured in the I’ll be posting some details and questions in our facebook group.
imagination of Filipino writers. What is considered to be the
GODBLESS