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The Development of

Philippine Literature in
English
What is Literature?

• Literature deals with ideas, thoughts and emotions of man. It is a


reproduction of man’s aspirations, dreams, loves, grief thoughts
and experiences written in imaginative and beautiful language.
Filipinos are, by nature, imaginative and creative. These then
brought about their strong desire to write literature.
Reasons Why Filipinos Wrote Philippine
Literature in English
• The development of Philippine literature in English can be traced
back to the time when the Philippines gained its independence in
Cawit, Cavite in 1898. The need to put their thoughts on the
events that followed resulted in the development of Philippine
literature in English. For after the Cavite affair, the Filipinos
hopes to be included in the Spanish-American treaty of Paris
fueled another conflict.
• This became primary cause of conflict between the Filipinos and
the Americans which compelled General Miguel Malvar to
surrender in 1903. Nevertheless, the Filipinos were not
disheartened by the events and they continued to aspire for
freedom through peaceful means. Their dreams, anxieties, joys,
grief, and aspirations through the years were put into writing.
Thus, Philippine Literature in English started.
• At first, the early Filipinos who attempted to write in English
found difficulty in expressing themselves since English was a
new language to them. They had problems in translating the
Filipino dialect to the English Language. Nonetheless, the
Filipinos undaunted desire to express their dreams and
nationalistic emotions allowed them to hurdle the problem and
thereby learn the English language.
• When schools reopened in 1903, most of the early writers in the
native dialects and in Spanish pursued their studies. The students
and the people, in general, learned English so quickly that when
the Daily bulletin was founded in 1900, and the Philippine Free
Press in 1903, many Filipino writers, immediately, started sending
literary contributions to the newspapers. By then, Philippine
Literature started.
Types of Literature early Filipino writers
engaged in
• Writers in English became inspired and they attempted to write
almost all types of literature genres. They wrote prose and poetry
to express their thoughts ranging from their deep concern for their
fellowmen to nationalistic sentiments. Although their first literary
compositions were copied and imitated from literature brought in
by the Spaniards from Europe and the Americans upon their
arrival in the country, they were able to incorporate their emotions
in their works.
• Prose was one of the favourite compositions written by the earlier
writers. Prose is those written within the common flow of
conversation in sentences and paragraphs. Types of literature
engaged in by the writers are novels, short stories, biographies,
drama, legends, essays and speeches, including editorials
1. The Novel is a long narrative story divided into chapters and
may involve numerous or few characters. The events may be
true-to-life or fictitious and it covers a long period of time. The
first novel of Philippine literature written in English was the
“Child of Sorrow”, by Zoilo M. Galang in 1924.
2. The short stories which are short narrative involving one or
more characters, one plot and one single impression or idea,
were among the favourite of the early writers. The Philippine
Herald published the “ Dead Stars” by Paz Maquez-Benitez in
1925.There were, however, other short stories published after
this.
3. The essays, an expression of the view and opinion of the writer
about a particular event, were also tried by several writers. In 1921,
Zoilo M. Galang published “Life and Success’, the first volume of
essays in English.
4. Biographies and autobiographies deal with the life of a person or
maybe about other person (biography) or maybe about himself
(autobiography) were also written. In 1938, “The Great Malayan”
by Carlos Quirino won a prize in the national contest sponsored by
the Commonwealth of the Philippines. Quirino also wrote
“Quezon, the Man of Destiny”.
5. Drama reveals the character through dialogues presented on
stage. It is divided into acts and each act has many scenes. Drama
during the period may not reach the heights attained by the novels
and short stories, however, the University of the Philippines
provided incentives to playwrights, so writers of other types of
literature ventured to playwriting. Among the playwrights and their
selections were:
“The Radiant Symbol” by Jorge Bocobo
“ The Oil Lamp” by Augusto C. Catanjal
“ The Waves” by Hilarion Vidal
6. Legends were also favourite selections written by the writers. “
The Creation of the First Man and Woman” of the Bagobos of
Southern Mindanao is one of the favorites even nowadays.

7.Fables are fictitious in nature and the characters are animals and
inanimate things who speak and act like human are very familiar
among children. The purpose of which is not only to enlighten the
minds of the children but mold their ways and attitudes. Children
find these stories entertaining. A good example of a fable is “The
Monkey and the Turtle”.
8. Anecdotes are merely product of the writer’s imagination, but,
renders find them interesting because they bring lessons to the
readers. “The Moth and the Lamp” is an anecdote.

9. News Items are everyday reports of events which may be


happening anywhere in the world. News is published in
newspapers, and early writers were deeply engaged in news writing
to reveal their ideas and emotions.
•  POETRY is among the early favourite of Filipino writers. Writers
of poems in Spanish tried their luck in English. They wrote the
three types of poetry: Narrative, Lyric, and Dramatic.
1. The Narrative Poetry is a long descriptive poem about life and
events which may be real or imaginary. The writers, because of the
natural artistry and emotional desire and aspirations tried to write
the different kinds of poetry.
A. The Epic is a long narrative form about exploits of heroes,
sometimes gods and goddesses are included in the poem.
B. The Metrical tale is narrative which is written in verse and can either
be a ballad or a metrical romance.

C. Ballads. These re considered the shortest and simplest form of poetry.


A ballad tells a single incident written in verse. There are variations of
ballads: love ballads, war ballads, sea ballads. This is sometimes sung
and accompanied by a dance.
2. LYRIC POETRY is a kind of poetry intended to be sung to the
accompaniment of a lyre. This time, however, lyric poetry applies
to any type of poetry that expresses emotions and feelings of the
poet. Lyric poetry is usually short, simple and easy to understand.
These include:
A. Folksongs. These are short poems intended to be sung. The
theme is about love, despair, grief, doubts, joys and sorrow.
B. Sonnets. These are lyric poems of 14 lines with an emotion, a
feeling or ideas.
C. Elegy. It is a lyric poem which expresses feelings of grief for
someone who had passed away.
D. Ode. This is a poem of a noble feeling and expression of
dignity to someone loved.
E. Psalms. These are songs of praise to God and to the Virgin
Mary.

3. DRAMATIC POETRY is a long poetry which has the intention


of being presented on stage. These include:
A. Comedy. It is light in nature with a purpose of amusing and
usually with happy ending.
B. Melodrama. A musical play with the opera. It arouses emotion
with happy ending of the principal character.
C. Tragedy. This involves the principal character or hero struggling
against dynamic forces. He meets death and he faces the
catastrophe with dignity and courage.

• Filipino writers find these types of literary works not only


interesting but good vehicles in expressing their moods, feelings,
and experiences. These are also good means to show their artistry
in language with the use of figurative language. 

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