Professional Documents
Culture Documents
21st Century Literature
21st Century Literature
LITERATURE IN THE
PHILIPPINES AND
THE WORLD
Topics
■ Various dimension of Philippine
Literary History from pre-colonial
to contemporary
■ Canonical Authors and works of
Philippine National Artist in
Literature
■ Names of Authors and their
works, and backgrounds of the
literature from the region
■ Regions in Luzon, Visayas,
Mindanao
■ Major genres
Pre-Colonial Period
■ Literature in this period includes all produced before Spanish period like chants,
proverbs, songs, and folk narratives. It was passed down form generation to
generation using word by mouth.
■ Philippine folk narratives are varied and distinct. They depict the people’s
livelihood, customs, and traditions.
• Seven Hills Away is a collection of short stories that sketch the daily
lives of the Filipino kaingeros in his hometown province, Mindoro.
• The Bamboo Dancers is a diasporic novel that features the challenges
faced by Filipinos in America.
• He was known as local colorist writer, a technique that features the
unique regional traditions of people and emphasizes the ordinary
events in their lives.
Canonical Authors and Works of Philippine
National Artist in Literature (cont.)
■ Edith L. Tiempo
• A Filipino writer in English, She was a poet, fiction writer, and literary critic.
• She was known for using intricate and witty representations to portray
significant human experience.
• Some of her well known poems are “The Return” that describe the
characteristics of old age, “Lament for the Littles fellow” a poem that
present metaphor to describe plight of a submissive wife under her
domineering husband, and “Bonsai” a poem that gives a look at how
tangible objects could be keepers of memories and emotions.
• she was known for her moral profoundness. One of her remarkable short
stories, “The Black Monkey” won third prize in the Carlos Palanca Memorial
Award. It is set during the time when guerillas were fighting against the
Japanese during World War II, narrates the tormenting encounter of a
woman with a monkey.
Canonical Authors and Works of Philippine
National Artist in Literature (cont.)
■ Edith L. Tiempo (cont.)
• She also wrote the novel A Blade of Fern, which depicts the problems of Filipino
miners of Nibucal in southern Philippines. She was awarded as the National
Artist for Literature in 1999.
• She founded with her husband the Siliman University National Writers
Workshop, which produced great young writers of her time.
• She used a very contemplative style in writing poem, “The Return”. The theme
and the subject of the poem are very serious. Her narrative tone and vivid
visual imagery allow readers to think deeply about old age and evoke emotions
of nostalgia and sadness from the old’s man perspective.
• She is one of the foremost Filipino contemporary writers in English who known
for her style and substance. Her language is considered descriptive but without
scrupulous detailing. Her literary works are hailed for their artistic
representation of significant human experiences.
Canonical Authors and Works of Philippine
National Artist in Literature (cont.)
■ F. Sionil Jose
• Was born on December 3, 1924 in Rosales, Pangasinan. His life and most of
his works are influenced by Dr. Jose P. Rizal.
• He edited various literary and journalistic publications, and he founded the
Philippine PEN, an organization of poets, playwrights, and novelist.
• He opened Solidaridad Publishing House in 1965, A year after, he founded
Solidarity, a magazine that produces content mainly focused on “current
affairs, ideas and the arts.”
• He was a recipient of numerous awards. Some of which are the Ramon
Magsaysay award for journalism, Literature and Creative Communications in
1980, the Pablo Neruda Centinnial Award in 2004, and the other Officer in the
French Order of Arts and Letters in 2014. He was conferred as National Artist
for Literature in 2001.
Canonical Authors and Works of Philippine
National Artist in Literature (cont.)
■ F. Sionil Jose (cont.)
• His works are written in English and are translated to more that twenty
languages and produced worldwide.
• Among his most celebrated works is the Rosales Saga. It is a series of
novels that are set from Spanish colonial period to the proclamation of
Martial Law in the 1970s. This saga includes the following novels: Po-on,
Tree, The Pretenders, Mass and My Brother, My Executioner.
• He has also written several short stories, including the notable “The God
Stealer”. It is a story about the friendship of Philip Latak, an Ifugao, and
Sam Christie, an American who wanted to buy a bulol, a sculpture of an
Ifugao god. The story depicts the relationship and truths about the
colonizer and the colony.
Canonical Authors and Works of Philippine
National Artist in Literature (cont.)
■ F. Sionil Jose (cont.)
■ It is the birthplace of a rich tradition of Philippine culture in language, politics, economy and
literature. Considering this rich and envigorating cultural matrix, it is not surprising that it is the
Tagalog region that was destined to be the birthplace of historic men in the Philippine politics,
culture and literature that includes Francisco Balagtas Baltazar, Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio,
Apolinario Mabini, Emilio Jacinto, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Jose P. Laurel, Claro M, Recto, Amado V.
Hernandez, Lope K. Santos, Lazaro Francisco, Faustino Aguilar, Jose Corazon de Jesus,
Alejandro Abadilla, and Modesto de Castro.
One of the Famous Poem is by Rio Alma entitled “TYPHOONS”
The typhoons‘ episodes of terror are yearly:
Berserk wind and shattered glass They toppled and smashed every wall and post;
Streaming from the mouths of a thousand The drains and canals choked,
serpents,
The distressed bamboo begged for mercy.
Smoke of dark crystal billowing
We shut our eyes
From beyond the ancient shoulders of the
At the final rumbling rape
bristling land.
Of our prostrate crops, the helpless land.
The heavens crawl with crackling electricity
Tightly we shut our eyes,
And the verdicts of thunder are without
forgiveness or pity. Tightly, ever tightly…
There were nights Only to wonder in the morning
When we were children watching What power of sun expunged
And listening for the keening And expelled these armies of the night.
And whiplash of wet, demented monsters:
Turning wildly they tore every roof,
Activity #1
Instruction: From the Poem Typhoon, answer the following
questions
1. What is the event that the author was talking about in his
poem? (1pt)
2. Where do you think did the story happen? Ex. City or rural
area, etc. (1pt)
3. Can you give some details of how strong the typhoon was
based on the poem? Signal #. (1pt)
4. What happens when the morning comes? (2pts)
5. Can this story happen in real life? (1pt)
6. What do you do when there is a typhoon? (4pts)
ANSWERS:
1. Typhoons
2. City
3. Signal #4 or Signal # 3
4. The sun shines so bright
5. Yes
6. Essay (4pts)
Literary Text from the Different Regions
■ Cebuano Literature – refers to the body of oral and written literature of speakers
of Cebuano, the mother tongue of a quarter of the country’s population who live in Cebu,
Siquijor, Negros Oriental, and parts of Leyte and Mindanao.
■ It have a rich oral tradition, including legends associated with specific locales, like the
Maria Cacao legends of southern Cebu and folktales like the fable “haring Gangis us
Haring Leon”, which warn of abusive behavior by the dominant group. Many of the tales
carry lessons, but just as many suggest the value of humor, keeping of one’s wit and
resourcefulness, as in the Juan Pusong trickster tales.
■ It influence of the Spanish period is found in the plays called linambay (known also as
moromoro because of its anti-Muslim theme), a regular fare at town fiestas that involved
participation of the whole rural community and attracted audiences from the neighboring
towns.
■ The prose narratives developed into the sugilanon or short story, the first example of
which is “Maning” (1901) by Vicente Sotto, the “father of Cebuano Letters”, and later into
the Sugilambong or novel.
■ Another important influence of the Spanish period is found in the plays called linambay
(known also as moromoro because of its anti-Muslim theme), a regular fare at town
fiestas that involved parti- cipation of the whole rural community and attracted audienc
Biographical, Linguistic, and Socio Cultural
Contexts of Cebuano Literature
■ The Cebuano writer’s craft was honed in early translations of European fiction and
imitations of American models, as shown in the works of Juan Villagonzalo,
Uldarico Alviola, Angel Enemecio, Flaviano Boquecos, Sulpicio Osorio, Nicolas
Rafols and others.
■ Most of all the writers have attended the annual Cornelio Faigao Memorial Writers
Workshop conducted since 1984 by the Cebuano studies center of the University
of San Carlos. These workshops, which the Cebuano writers may attend fellows a
few times and as observers any number of times, provide a venue for the old and
young, male and female to share works and discuss problems.
■ Pre-commonwealth fiction was mostly nationalistic and didactic in spirit, to be
replaced later by more escapist fare like stories of love, detection and adventure.
A similar shift was ween in drama, but the more popular plays were a combination
of social criticism and entertainment, as in the works of Buenaventura Rodriguez,
Piux Kabahar and Florentino Borromeo.
The Short Story by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
4. Do you agree that the narrator may be the same character being
described in the story? Why? (1pt)
5. What is the reason behind the sorrow and anger of the character?
(2pts)
6. Did you understand the story even when it is short? Will it be better
if it were longer? (4pts)
Answers
1. The Husband
2. Younger version of his self
3. Second Point of view
4. Yes, because the narrative point of view used is the
second point of view which means that the narrator is the
younger version of itself.
5. does not allow for an afternoon walk to the museum, nor
a stop at the chapel for silent prayer, a glass of halo-halo
under the ipil-ipil, laughter and stories, for old time‘s
sake.
6. Essay (4pts)
Literary Text from the Different Regions
■ Hiligaynon Literature
■ Purely oral, West Visayan literature before the coming of the
Spaniards was in Kinaray-a which must have been the language
in folk literature of the ten Bornean datus who, according to the
folk account of the Maragatas, got the island of Panay from the
aboriginal Ati in exchange for a headgear of gold and a necklace
that touched the ground.
■ Important young writers in West Visayas today include: Hiligaynon-
Alicia Tan Gonzales, Peter Solis Nery, Edgar Siscar, Resurrection
Hidalgo, Alain Russ Dimzon, Kinaray-a Ma. Milagros C. Geremia
Lanchica, Alex De los Santos, John Iremil E. Teodoro, Jose Edison
C Tondares, Maragtas S. V. Amante, Ma. Felicia Flores, Aklanon –
Melchor F. Cichon, Alexander C. De Juan, John E. Barrios.
Biographical, Linguistic, and Socio Cultural
Contexts of Hiligaynon Literature
■ It is the lingua franca of the west Visayas in Central Philippines.
Politically labeled Region 6, West Visayas is composed of the
provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, Antique, and Aklan on the island of Panay,
Negros Occidental, the western half of the island of Negros, and the
new island-province of Guimaras which used to be a sub-province of
Iloilo.
■ The coming of the Spaniards and the conversion of the people to
Christianity produced new forms of folk literature. Written literature
also started first with translations of Spanish texts of prayers and
lives of the saints.
Figure of Speech
-Simile figurative language to compare two
different things using the words “like” or “as.”
Activity # 3
Literary Text from the Different Regions
■ Ilocano Literature
■ Is one of the most colorful regional Filipino literatures. It is one of the most active
tributaries to the general Philippine literature next to Tagalog, Cebuano,
Hiligaynon, Bikol and Pangasinense.
■ Prior to the Spanish colonial period, the Ilocano literature is purely alive in form of
written and oral literature. When the Spaniards arrived in Ilocos Norte poetry was
heavily influences by Spanish poetry.
■ Today, Ilocano writers are known to have published their works in foreign
countries.
■ Contemporary Ilocano writers are also known to bag numerous major awards in
the most prestigious Philippine Literature award giving body, the Palanca Awards.
Major Genres
■ Poetry
• It is written by a poet in meter or in verse expressing various emotions which use a lot of
techniques like figures of speech. It heavily uses imagery, meter and rhyme. Poetry is
generally considered to be the oldest of the arts.
• In the Philippines has indeed come a long way - evolving and taking on dramatic turns as
it journeys with history – from the ancient times, the monoarchic rule of Spain, U.S
colonialism, the birth of Republic, martial law, to Edsa and present .
■ Narrative poetry – a story that main purpose is to entertain through story telling.
• Mood – one element in the narrative structure of a piece of literature. It can also be
referred to as atmosphere because it creates an emotional setting enveloping the reader.
• It is established in order to affect the reader emotionally and psychologically and to
provide a feeling for the narrative. It is how a reader feels after reading a story.
• Free verse – an open form of poetry. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or
any other musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech
Major Genres
■ Narrative Point of Views
1. The first person – it was told by an “I”, where can “I” can be the main
character, a less important character witnessing events or a person
retelling a story they were told to someone.
2. The Second Person – the narrator addresses the protagonist as “you”.
This kind of story often has the narrator speaking to a younger version
of their self. This point of view is very rare because it is extremely
difficult to pull off.
3. The third Person – characters are referred as “he” or “she”. In this
case the narrator is not a character in the story. Depending on the
type of third person point of view, the narrator may know – and be
able to tell about – the thoughts and feelings of all characters .
Major Genres
■ Text Tula
• One of the recent genres here in the Philippine Literature, it is a poetry genre
mastered by Frank Rivera where entire poems are written and read on mobile
phones. Though usually short due to the necessity of the number of characters
allowed in text messaging, the elements of poetry are still present in this genre.
a. Lyric poem – often divided into stanzas or verses. Stanzas are usually
separated by a single blank line. Stanzas within poem may have the
same form or may vary. It also tries to develop interesting forms
based on variations of rhyme, rhythm and metre.
b. Rhyme – is the repetition of sounds in different words. Rhyme can
occur within lines (internal rhyme) or more usually – at the end of
lines (end rhyme). A rhyme scheme is a shirt formula for describing
the pattern of rhyme in a poem. End words that rhyme are assigned
the same letter.
Major Genres
■ Tanaga - Is a type of Filipino poem, consisting of four lines with seven to nine
syllables each with the same rhyme at the end of each line – that is to say a 7-7-7-
7 or 9-9-9-9 syllabic verse with an AABB rhyme scheme.
■ Haiku – has a 17 phonetic units divided into three phrase of 5, 7 and 5 units
respectively.
■ Chick lit or Chick Literature – a genre fiction which addresses issues of modern
womanhood, often humorously and light-heartedly. It became popular in the late
1990s. It is generally not considered a direct subcategory of the romance novel
genre, because heroin’s relationship with her family or friends is often just as
important as her romantic relationships.
■ Short story – is a piece of prose fiction marked by relative shortness and destiny,
organized into a plot and with some kind of denouement at the end. The plot may
be comic, tragic, romantic or sarcastic. It usually focuses on one important event
in the lives of small number of central characters.
Major Genres
■ Speculative fiction – is a broad umbrella category of narrative fiction referring to
any fiction story that includes elements, settings and characters whose features
are created out of human imagination and speculation rather than based on
attested and everyday life. It includes elements of one or more of the following
genres:
• Fantasy – it include elements in the beings from human cultural imagination, such
as mythical creatures (dragons, and fairies), magic and magical elements, sorcery,
witchcraft, etc.
• Science Fiction – features technologies that do not exist in real life including time
travel, interstellar travel, flying cars and also beings and societies from other
planets.
• Horror – similar to fantasy, but focusing on terrifying, evil, and often powerful
beings, such as monsters and ghost. Also aims to transmit actual fear and
confusion to the reader/watcher.
• Utopia – takes place in a highly desirable society, often presented as advanced,
happy, intelligent or even perfect or problem-free.
Major Genres
• Dystopia – takes place in a highly undesirable society, often plagued with strict
control, violence, chaos, brainwashing and other negative elements.
• Alternative History – focusing on historical events as if they happened in a
different way, and its implications on the present.
• Apocalyptic – takes place before and during a massive, worldwide disaster.
• Post-Apocalyptic – focuses on groups of survivors after a massive worldwide
disaster.
■ One of the 21st century speculative fiction writers in the country is Ian Casocot.
His work ‗The Sugilanon of Epefania's Heartbreak‟ is a fusion of magic realism
and a love story.
Major Genres
• Essay – an analytic, interpretative, or critical literary composition usually much
shorter and less systematic and formal than a dissertation or thesis and usually
dealing with its subject from a limited and often personal point of view.
How to write an essay:
a. Introductory paragraph – accomplishes three purposes, it captures the reader’s
interest, it suggest the importance of the essay’s topic and it ends with a thesis
sentence. Often, the thesis sentence states a claim that consists of two or more
related points. In the thesis, you are telling the reader what you think are the most
important points which need to be addressed in your essay.
b. Body paragraph – begins with a topic sentence. If the thesis contains multiple
points or assertions, each body paragraph should support or justify them,
preferably in the order the assertions originally stated in the thesis.
c. Concluding paragraph – usually restates the thesis and leaves the reader
something about the topic to think about. If appropriate, it may also issue a call to
act, inviting the reader to take a specific course of action with regard to the points
that the essay presented.
Figures of Speech used in Literature
■ Figure of Speech – it is a phrase or word having different meanings than its literal meanings. It
conveys meaning by identify or comparing one thing to another, which has connotation or meaning
familiar to the audience.
1. Personification – it is used by writers to give human traits to non-human or inanimate objects. It is
similar to metaphors an similes that also use comparison between two objects.
Example: “Hadn’t she felt it in every touch of the sunshine, as its golden finger-tips pressed her lids
open and wound their way through her hair?
4. Metaphor – is comparing two unlike objects or things, which may have some
common qualities
Example:
a. Heart of stone
b. Time is money
c. The world is a stage
Figures of Speech used in Literature
5. Alliteration – is the repetition of the beginning sounds of neighboring words
Example:
a. She sells seashells
b. Walter wondered where Winnie was
c. Blue baby bonnets bobbed through the bayou
d. Nick needed new notebooks
6. Anaphora – is a technique where several phrase or verses begin with the same
words or words.
Example:
a. I came, I saw, I conquered
b. Mad world, mad kings, mad composition
c. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom.
Figures of Speech used in Literature
7. Assonance – is the repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close together. The
sounds don’t have to be at the beginning of the words.
Example:
a. A – for the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore
b. E – therefore, all the season shall be sweet to thee
c. I – from what I’ve tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire.
8. Euphemism – is a mild, indirect or vague term that often subtitles a harsh, blunt,
or offensive term.
Example instead of using the word “DIED”
a. Passed away
b. Dearly departed
c. Negative patient outcome
Figures of Speech used in Literature
9. Irony – occurs when there’s a marked contrast between what is said and what is
meant, or between appearance and reality.
Example:
a. A fire station burns down
b. A marriage counselor files for divorce
c. The police station get robbed
10.Onomatopoeia – is the term for a word that sounds like what it is describing.
Example:
a. On my first morning on the farm, I was awoken suddenly by the cock-a-doodle-do if
the resident rooster.
b. Ticktock, ticktock, the sound of the clock was all that could be heard in the
hospital waiting room.
Figures of Speech used in Literature
11. Oxymoron – is two contradictory terms used together.
Example:
a. This is another fine mess you have got us into
b. There is a real love hate relationship developing between the two of them
12. Synecdoche – occurs when apart is represented by the whole or, conversely, the whole is
represented by the part.
Example:
a. The word sails is often used to refer to a whole ship
b. The phrase hired hands can be used to refer to workers
13. Understatement – occurs when something is said to make something appear less
important or less serious.
Example:
a. It’s just a scratch – referring to a large dent
b. It’s a little dry and sandy – referring to the driest desert in the world.
Style defines writers – who they are, what they have in mind and
how they construct reality as seen in their own works, be it in poem or in
prose. Style is the technique writers use in his writing.