Philippine Literature
Philippine literature is the literature associated with the Philippines and includes the legends of prehistory, and the colonial legacy of the Philippines, written in both Indigenous, and Hispanic languages. Most of the notable literature of the Philippines were written during the Mexican, and Spanish period. Philippine literature is written in Spanish, Filipino, English, and other native Philippine languages.
Compared to other Asian nations, the Philippine Islands has very few artifacts that show evidence of Asian writing. However, a script called Baybayin, was used in Luzon when the Spaniards settled the islands in 1521.[citation needed]
The Spaniards recorded that Indigenous people in Manila, and among other native groups in the Philippines, wrote on bamboo, and specially prepared Arecaceae palm leaves, using knives, and styli. They were using the primitive Tagalog script which had basic symbols. These were the vowels a/e, i, and o/u. Each basic consonantal symbol had the inherent a sound: ka, ga, nga, ta, da, na, pa, ba, ma, ya, la, wa, sa, and ha.
A diacritical mark, called “kudlit”, modified the sound of the symbol. The kudlit could be a dot, a line, or even an arrowhead. When placed above the symbol, it changed the inherent sound of the symbol from a/e to i, placed below, the sound became o/u. Thus a ba/be with a kudlit placed above became a bi, if the kudlit was placed below, the symbol became a bo/bu.
Classical literature in Spanish (19th Century)
In 1863, the Spanish government introduced public education. This had an important role in the rise of an educated class called the “Ilustrado” (meaning, well-informed). Members of this group included the Philippine national hero, José Rizal, who wrote literary novels in Spanish. His novels included “Noli Me Tangere” (Touch Me Not), and “El Filibusterismo” (The Reign of Greed), considered a Philippine classical literature. Other popular Philippine writers include Francisco Balagtas who is recognized for his novel called “Florante at Laura” (Florante, and Laura).
The Philippine historical documents such as the national anthem, the Malolos Constitution or Constitución Política de Malolos, and the revolutionary propaganda is also considered a classical literature. Philippine literature propagated in the Spanish language, especially in the writings of Marcelo H. Del Pilar, who produced the La Solidaridad (The Solidarity). In Cebu City, the first Spanish newspaper, “El Boletín de Cebú” (The Bulletin of Cebu), was published in 1886.
Modern literature (20th and 21st century)
The greatest portion of Spanish literature made by Philippine scholars was written during the American period. One of the Philippines’ famous writers, Claro M. Recto, continued writing in Spanish. Other well-known Spanish language writers were Isidro Marfori, Cecilio Apostol, Fernando Guerrero, Flavio Zaragoza Cano, Jesús Balmori, Enrique Fernandez Lumba, and Francisco Zaragoza.
Among the newspapers published in Spanish were “El Renacimiento”, (The Renaissance), “La Democracia” (The Democracy), “La Vanguardia” (The Outer Works), “El Pueblo de Iloilo” (The People of Iloilo), “El Tiempo” (The Season), and other titles. Magazines such as “The Independent”, “Philippine Free Press”, and “Philippine Review” were published in Spanish, and English.
In 1915, the Philippine newspapers began publishing writings in English. Cebu produced writers in Spanish, most of whom flourished during the decades of the 20th century. José del Mar won a Zobel Prize (Premio Zobel) for his work “Perfiles” in 1965.
Notable Philippine writers
- Francisco Balagtas
- Carlos Bulosan
- Isabelo de los Reyes
- Marcelo H. Del Pilar
- Leona Florentino
- Amado V. Hernández
- Teodoro M. Locsin
- Pedro Alcántara Monte Claro
- Martin Ocampo
- Pedro Paterno
- Claro M. Recto
- José Rizal
- Carlos P. Romulo
- N. V. M. Gonzales
- Jose Corazon de Jesus
- Graciano Lopez Jaena
Notable Philippine literary works
- Biag ni Lam-ang
- Doctrina Christiana
- El Filibusterismo
- Florante at Laura
- Ibong Adarna
- Tuwaang
- Maragtas
- Bantugan
- Noli Me Tangere
- Hinilawod
- Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas [1]
- Dekada ’70
Philippine literature – Literature in the Philippines
