6.1 Lit

• Ancient settlers in the islands of the Philippines had their form of literature even before the coming of the Spaniards
• Ancient Philippine literature was generally an oral tradition
• Most of the ancient literary forms were an oral tradition since there was no system of writing that existed during the precolonial period
• Philippine literature contains historical and cultural pieces of information that were used to reveal the way of life of our ancestors
• It was only during the Spanish colonization that literature was introduced to the Philippines
• Various forms of colonization and occupations in the Philippines affected and influenced the features and themes of its literature
• Philippine literary texts are not only those written in the native or local language
• Ferdinand Magellan arrived on Philippine soil

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


  April 14, 1521
• Las Islas Filipinas


  Name given by Ruy López de Villalobos to the archipelago, in honor of Prince Philip II of Asturias
• King Philip II of Spain officially colonized the country and assigned the new expedition to the first Governor-General Miguel López de Legazpi


  1565
• Spain's motives in colonizing the Philippines

  • Spice trade
  • Converting Filipinos to Christianity
• Reduccion


  Policy of relocation of scattered settlements to a large town, to enable Spanish friars to convert natives into Christianity
• Spanish priests believed that stories about mythical creatures, spirits, deities, and rituals contained works of the devil
• Spanish colonial rule was supposed to derive its authority from the union of Church and State
• The parish priest was practically the only Spaniard who had direct contact with Filipinos, and became the embodiment of Spanish power and culture among the colonized populace
• Religion exerted a pervasive influence among the minds of the Christianized Filipinos
• The Spanish culture became highly noticeable in literature because of characters similar to kings and queens and princes and princesses
• General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the independence of the Philippines from the Spanish colonial rule


  June 12, 1898
• The 333-year Spanish colonization ended with outbreaks of revolution and the rise of independence
• 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
  • Our songs, corridos, and moro-moros assimilated European legends and traditions
  • Academics collected ancient literature and translated it to Tagalog and other languages
  • Our periodicals during the Spanish colonization gained a religious tone
• Even now, we continue to follow the rituals and traditions passed down from the Spanish colonial period
• Even if some aspects of the Spanish colonial period are seen as gloomy, it is critical to learn from them to avoid history repeating itself
• Reduccion


  Policy of relocation of scattered settlements into a large town
• Groups that led the rise of the revolution against the Spaniards

  • The Propaganda Movement, led by the ilustrados
  • Andres Bonifacio
  • Emilio Aguinaldo
• Baybayin was not used as the literary language during the Spanish colonization
• The Propaganda Movement was led by the ilustrados, who are elite Filipinos who went to Europe to study
• The Spaniards did not adopt Filipino religious beliefs in their catechism
• Our periodicals during the Spanish colonization had a religious tone