The Precolonial Period

• Precolonial period literary works were transmitted orally
• Precolonial Filipino works were destroyed by the Spanish friars
• Conventions of oral literature

  1. Common experiences of the community
  2. Communal authorship
  3. Formulaic repetitions
  4. Stereotyping of characters
  5. Regular rhythmic and musical devices
• E. Arsenio Manuel - literary scholar notable for his studies on Philippine folk literature 
• Mythological Age - Creation of human beings, and the world, natural phenomena, deities and spirits
• Heroic Age - Ordinary mortals and cultural heroes
• Epics became a popular genre chanted during important events to inspire and to remind the community of their ideals and values
• Folktales - Traditional stories and fictional tales modified through successive retellings
• Baybayin - writing system derived from Kawi, a javanese (Indonesian) script
• Abugida - syllabic alphabet
• Kawi is what type of script?

  Javanese
• Abugida - a syllabic alphabet