history of ph literature pt.2

• 1. Before the Spaniards came to the Philippines, our forefathers had already their own literature, which can be described as oral because they were handed down by word of mouth from one generation to another. The vagrant Negritoes contributed songs and superstitious beliefs.
• 1.1 They did not have a system of government unlike the Indons who brought literary genres or forms like folktales, epics, paganistic faith, and legends. The Malays contributed the baybayin, the syllabary with seventeen symbols. They also brought legends, folktales, the “balangay” system of government, and the brief statements of practical wisdom called proverbs which are based on long experience about life.
• 2. Puzzles that usually consist of two lines that rhyme called riddles are considered as the early forms of poetry, which is now developed in various forms that usually appear in stanzas. Early drama, now performed onstage, was in the form of paganistic rituals led by babaylan, a priest or priestess.
• 3. When the Spaniards set their feet on the Philippine soil, they found out that literature had been existing in two forms: prose and poetry. The riddles, proverbs and sayings were in the form of poetry , while the legends, fables and folktales were in prose.
• 3.1 The conquerors destroyed written literature in perishable materials because they believed that these were the handicraft of evil. Later, the printing press was set up and Doctrina Christiana was the first output in 1593. The pasyon, which relates the life and death of Christ, was used to replace the old epics. The most popular of this type was Gaspar Aquino de Belen. There also born forms of metrical romance of European origin, namely: awit and corrido, examples of which are the Florante at Laura and Ang Alamat ng Ibong Adarna.
• 4. The first printed literary work in Tagalog was the poem May Bagyo Ma’t May Rilim(1605) while the first known published prose was in the form of letter, the Ang Pagsusulatan ng Dalawang Binibini na sina Urbana at Feliza by Modesto de Castro. Meanwhile, the first recorded epic (only in 1889) was the Biag ni Lam ang among the Christian Ilokos. They noticed that Filipinos were fond of plays so they began to stage the Cenaculo, which depicts the life and passion of Christ; the Santacruzan, which portrays Reyna Elena’s search for the cross where Christ died; and others.
• 5. In 1872, the three priest-martyrs were executed. From then, a clamor for change against Spanish abuses began to bloom. The event anchored the launching of the Propaganda Movement in Spain that aimed to clarify issues, denounce abuses and injustices, and refute accusations.
• 5.1 Its newspaper La Solidaridad became the organ that projected the views of the group where essay found its place. Meanwhile, in 1885, Pedro Paterno published the first novel Ninay which awakened national consciousness. It became the precedent for Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and its sequel, the El Filibusterismo. Marcelo H. del Pilar’s Dasalan at Tocsohan is considered as his most daring work against the friars.
• 6. When Rizal was captured and exiled in Dapitan, the Katipunan was formed with its paper Kalayaan where Katapusang Hibik ng Pilipinas and Pag ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa were printed to campaign for freedom.
• 7. In 1899, the Spaniards formally turned over the Philippines under the governance of America in conformity with the Treaty of Paris. The first group of American teachers known as Thomasites who were aboard a ship named Thomas, arrived and brought changes to the educational system. Hence, Filipino writers began writing in English because The Philippine Free Press (1905) and the College Folio (UP school organ, 1910) had been circulated.
• 8. The outbreak of the World War II caused the scarcity of paper. In this period, the haiku became popular because it does not need much space for it only contains three lines and a total of seventeen syllables.
• 9. The Declaration of Martial Law in 1972 greatly affected literature. From this period to the present, writers and different artists continue to flourish with the aim of bringing social reform and subscribing to freedom of expression. All this just proves that the history of a nation affects its literature.