LIT

• Philippine Folk Narratives


  • Myths
  • Legends
  • Folktales
  • Epics
• Myths


  Stories that make use of gods, goddesses, and other fantastical creatures as characters. Became a means for ancestors to explain supernatural events, the beginning of cultural traditions, and the existence of mysteries. May attempt to explain the origin of the world and the people.
• Legends- Believed to be historical but cannot be verified as authentic. Stories handed down through generations, often about famous persons or events. May tell of an encounter with marvelous creatures.
• Folktales


  Prose narratives usually told to amuse or entertain. Also instructional in nature, dealing with events set in an indefinite time and space.
• Epics


  Long narrative poems that describe the adventures of a hero, warrior, god, or king. Influenced by the traditions, culture, beliefs, moral code, and attitudes of those who created it.
• Characteristics of a classical epic

  • The main character or protagonist is considered a hero
  • The hero's actions are presented without bias, showing both faults and virtues
  • Epics often involve battles, revealing the extraordinary strength of the protagonist
  • The setting may span several countries, involve the whole world, or even be set in the universe
  • Gods and other divine beings are portrayed as having a role in the outcome of events
• Examples of Philippine epics

  • Hinilawod
  • Ibalon
  • Hudhud
  • Darangan
  • Biag ni Lam-Ang
• Poetry


  A form of literature that emphasizes rhythm, metrical structure, and the use of imagery and sound patterns. Organized in stanzas, which are groups of consecutive lines in a poem, with each stanza forming a single unit.
• Ancient Tagalog Deities

  • Bathala or Bathalang Maykapal (king of the gods)
  • Apolaki (god of war and guardian of the sun)
  • Mayari (goddess of the moon)
  • Tala (goddess of the stars)
  • Amihan (first creature that inhabited the earth)
  • Bacunawa (god of the underworld, responsible for eclipses)
• Folk Songs


  Repetitive and sonorous, with a playful melody. May be about love and courtship, a long day's work, or sung at a funeral.
• Proverbs or Salawikain


  Short sayings enveloped in rhymed verses that are meant to give advice to the young, offering words of wisdom or stating how one should live.
• Riddles or Bugtong


  Perplexing questions meant to be guessed or solved, used for entertainment. Require observation, analysis, and imagination to provide the right answer.
• The answer to the riddle is pineapple. The visual images in the riddle are "crown" and "scales".
• Ferdinand Magellan arrived on Philippine soil and celebrated the first Catholic mass

  March 31, 1521
• Fr. Pedro Valderrama baptized more than 500 natives along with Rajah Humabon in Cebu

  April 14, 1521
• King Philip II of Spain officially colonized the Philippines and assigned the expedition to Miguel López de Legazpi

  1565
• Spice trade


  More valuable than gold, spices were the leading component of ancient commerce. Spain funded expeditions in search of cinnamon, clove, ginger, turmeric, and other prized commodities.
• Converting Filipinos to Christianity

  The Spaniards used a policy called reduccion to relocate scattered settlements to large towns, allowing Spanish friars to convert natives into Christianity.
• Spanish priests believed that stories about mythical creatures, spirits, deities, and rituals contained works of the devil, and instructed natives to destroy them and embrace Christianity.
• Spanish colonial rule was supposed to derive its authority from the union of Church and State, with the parish priest as the embodiment of Spanish power and culture among the colonized populace.
• The Spanish culture became highly noticeable in Philippine literature, with characters and settings influenced by European culture.
• General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the independence of the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule


  June 12, 1898
• Spanish Influences on Philippine Literature

  • The first Filipino alphabet, Baybayin, was replaced by the Roman alphabet
  • Religious practices became based on the teachings of Christian doctrine
  • The Spanish language became the literary language during this time
• Ladino poem

  A bilingual poem with religious themes, characterized by alternating lines or verses in Tagalog and Spanish
• Ladino

  Filipinos who were fluent in both Spanish and Filipino
• Ladino poem

  • Salamat nang walang hanggan (Unending Thanks) by Francisco Bagongbanta
• Pasyon

  A narrative poem about the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, consisting of five-line stanzas with eight syllables per line
• Earliest known pasyon

  • Ang Mahal na Pasión ni Jesu Christong Panginoon natin na Tola (1704)
• Awit

  A narrative poem that consists of 12 syllables per line and four lines per stanza, with a slow rhythm usually accompanied by a guitar or bandurya, expressing adoration of the Blessed Virgin Mary and platonic and courtly love
• Famous awit

  • Florante at Laura by Francisco Balagtas
• Kurido

  A narrative poem that consists of eight syllables per line and four lines per stanza, with a faster rhythm compared to an awit
• Example of a kurido

  • Ibong Adarna (1,722 stanzas, five parts)
• Dalit

  A religious poem in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary
• Francisco Baltazar

  A famous poet of the Spanish colonial period, considered the master of traditional Tagalog poetry, who wrote the awit Florante at Laura
• Florante at Laura was a metaphor for the tyranny of the Spanish colonizers
• During the Spanish colonization, Spanish friars attempted to eliminate these stories and replaced them with religious ones to convert natives to Christianity
• Early books published in the Philippines

  • Doctrina Christiana en lengua Española y tagala (1593)
  • Arte y reglas de la lengua tagala (The Art and Rules of the Tagalog Language)
• First published work by a Filipino

  • Librong Pagaaralan nang manga Tagalog nang uicang Castilla (A Book for the Tagalog to Study the Spanish Language) by Tomas Pinpin
• Anecdotes

  Short and amusing stories that contain lessons in life, often used by priests in sermons
• Example of an anecdote

  • Ang Bagong Robinson, Historiang Nagtuturo nang Mabuting Caugalian, na Guinauang Tanungan (The New Robinson, a Story That Teaches Good Conduct, Done in Primer Form) by Joaquin Tuason