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Lesson 1:: Philippine Pre-Colonial Literary Era
Lesson 1:: Philippine Pre-Colonial Literary Era
This is the literary period before the coming of the Spaniards and is
considered as the first and longest literary history among the other periods. The
discovery in Tabon cave in Palawan in 1962 of a skull cap and a portion of a jaw
presumed to be those of a human being shows conclusively that man came earlier
to the Philippines. This stretches out in the prehistory that thousand years ago,
early Filipinos depend their way of living in the environment. Oral literature marks
the birth of literature in the Philippines. Myths, folk stories and narratives were
sung and were passed from one generation to another orally. Riddles and
proverbs were based on their community and real life experiences.
History states that Filipinos, before the arrival of Spaniards, had an alphabet
called syllabary. In Filipino, they call it baybayin
PRE-COLONIAL POETRY
Early forms of poetry during the pre-colonial era were meant to be recited
in a manner of songs and chants. Without proper training and education in terms
of writing, early Filipinos managed to show their artistic side of producing poems
and other literary pieces with measurement and unified rhyming scheme.
1. Epic - Is a long narrative poem about quests and exciting adventures of a hero
with unusual strength and power.
4. Legend - Is a story explaining origins handed down from the past and passed
through generations. This is believed by some people but not proven scientifically.