INTRODUCTION OF THE ART OF PRINTING

The existing literature of the Philippine ethnic groups at the time of conquest and
conversion into Christianity was mainly oral, consisting of epics, legends, songs, riddles, and
proverbs. The conquistador, especially its ecclesiastical arm, destroyed whatever written
literature he could find, and hence rendered the system of writing (e.g., the Tagalog syllabary)
inoperable. Among the only native systems of writing that have survived are the syllabaries
of the Mindoro Mangyans and the Tagbanua of Palawan.
The Spanish colonial strategy was to undermine the native oral tradition by substituting
for it the story of the Passion of Christ (Lumbera, p. 14). Although Christ was by no means
war-like or sexually attractive as many of the heroes of the oral epic tradition, the appeal of
the Jesus myth inhered in the protagonists superior magic: by promising eternal life for
everyone, he democratized the power to rise above death. It is to be emphasized, however,
that the native tradition survived and even flourished in areas inaccessible to the colonial
power. Moreover, the tardiness and the lack of assiduity of the colonial administration in
making a public educational system work meant the survival of oral tradition, or what was
left of it, among the conquered tribes.
The church authorities adopted a policy of spreading the Church doctrines by
communicating to the native (pejoratively called Indio) in his own language. Doctrina
Christiana (1593), the first book to be printed in the Philippines, was a prayerbook written in
Spanish with an accompanying Tagalog translation. It was, however, for the exclusive use of
the missionaries who invariably read them aloud to the unlettered Indio catechumens
(Medina), who were to rely mainly on their memory. But the task of translating religious
instructional materials obliged the Spanish missionaries to take a most practical step, that of
employing native speakers as translators. Eventually, the native translator learned to read and
write both in Spanish and his native language.
This development marked the beginning of Indio literacy and thus spurred the creation of
the first written literary native text by the native. These writers, called ladinos because of
their fluency in both Spanish and Tagalog (Medina, pp. 55-56), published their work, mainly
devotional poetry, in the first decade of the 17th century. Among the earliest writers of note
were Francisco de San Jose and Francisco Bagongbata (Medina). But by far the most gifted
of these native poet-translators was Gaspar Aquino de Belen (Lumbera, p.14). Mahal Na
Pasion ni Jesu Christo, a Tagalog poem based on Christs passion, was published in 1704.
This long poem, original and folksy in its rendition of a humanized, indeed, a nativized Jesus,
is a milestone in the history of Philippine letters. Ironically and perhaps just because of its
profound influence on the popular imagination as artifact it marks the beginning of the end
of the old mythological culture and a conversion to the new paradigm introduced by the
colonial power.
Until the 19th century, the printing presses were owned and managed by the religious
orders (Lumbera, p.13). Thus, religious themes dominated the culture of the Christianized
majority. But the native oral literature, whether secular or mythico-religious continued. Even
among the Christianized ethnic groups, the oral tradition persisted in such forms as legends,
sayings, wedding songs such as the balayan and parlor theater such as theduplo (Medina, p.
32).

In the 18th century, secular literature from Spain in the form of medieval ballads inspired
the native poetic-drama form called the komedya, later to be called moro-moro because these
often dealt with the theme of Christians triumphing over Moslems (Lumbera, p. 15).
Jose de la Cruz (1746 1829) was the foremost exponent of the komedya during his
time. A poet of prodigious output and urbane style, de la Cruz marks a turning point in that
his elevated diction distinguishes his work from folk idiom (as for instance, that of Gaspar
Aquino de Belen). Yet his appeal to the non-literate was universal. The popularity of the
dramatic form, of which he was a master, was due to it being experienced as performance
both by the lettered minority and the illiterate but genuinely appreciative majority.
Francisco Baltazar (1788 1862), popularly called Balagtas, is the acknowledged
master of traditional Tagalog poetry. Of peasant origins, he left his hometown in Bigaa,
Bulacan for Manila, with a strong determination to improve his lot through education. To
support his studies, he worked as a domestic servant in Tondo. He steeped himself in classical
studies in schools of prestige in the capital.
Great social and political changes in the world worked together to make Balagtas career
as poet possible. The industrial revolution had caused a great movement of commerce in the
globe, creating wealth and the opportunity for material improvement in the life of the
working classes. With these great material changes, social values were transformed, allowing
greater social mobility. In short, he was a child of the global bourgeois revolution. Liberal
ideas, in time, broke class and, in the Philippines even racial barriers (Medina). The
word Filipino, which used to refer to a restricted group (i.e., Spaniards born in the
Philippines) expanded to include not only the acculturated wealthy Chinese mestizo but also
the acculturated Indio (Medina). Balagtas was one of the first Indios to become a Filipino.
But the crucial element in Balagtas unique genius is that, being caught between two
cultures (the native and the colonial/classical), he could switch codes (or was perceived by
his compatriot audience to be switching codes), provide insight and information to his
oppressed compatriots in the very style and guise of a tradition provided him by a foreign
(and oppressive) culture. His narrative poem Florante at Laura written in sublime Tagalog, is
about tyranny in Albanya, but it is also perceived to be about tyranny in his Filipino
homeland (Lumbera).
Despite the foreign influence, however, he remained true to his native traditions. His
verse plays were performed to the motley crowd. His poems were sung by the literate for the
benefit of the unlettered. The metrical regularity and rhyme performed their age-old
mnemonic function, despite and because of the introduction of printing.
Printing overtook tradition. The printed page, by itself, became the mnemonic device, the
stage set for the development of prose. The first Filipino novel was Ninay, written in Spanish
by Pedro Paterno, a Philippine-bornilustrado (Medina p. 93). Following the sentimental style
of his first book Sampaguitas (a collection of poems in Spanish), the novel endeavored to
highlight the endearingly unique qualities of Filipinos.
National Hero Jose Rizal (1861 1896) chose the realistic novel as his medium.
Choosing Spanish over Tagalog meant challenging the oppressors on the latters own turf. By
writing in prose, Rizal also cut his ties with the Balagtas tradition of the figurative indirection
which veiled the supposed subversiveness of many writings at that time.

Rizals two novels, the Noli Me Tangere and its sequel El Filibusterismo, chronicle the
life and ultimate death of Ibarra, a Filipino educated abroad, who attempts to reform his
country through education. At the conclusion of theNoli, his efforts end in near-death and
exile from his country. In the Filibusterismo, he returns after reinventing himself as Simoun,
the wealthy jeweler, and hastens social decay by further corrupting the social fabric till the
oppressed react violently to overthrow the system. But the insurrection is foiled and Simoun
suffers a violent death.
In a sense, Rizals novels and patriotic poems were the inevitable conclusion to the
campaign for liberal reforms known as the Propaganda Movement, waged by Graciano Lopez
Jaena, and M.H. del Pilar. The two novels so vividly portrayed corruption and oppression that
despite the lack of any clear advocacy, they served to instill the conviction that there could be
no solution to the social ills but a violent one.
Following closely on the failed reformist movement, and on Rizals novels, was the
Philippine revolution headed by Andres Bonifacio (1863 1897). His closest aide, the
college-bred Emilio Jacinto (1875 1899), was the revolutionary organizations ideologue.
Both were admirers of Rizal, and like Rizal, both were writers and social critics profoundly
influenced by the liberal ideas of the French enlightenment, about human dignity. Bonifacios
most important work are his poems, the most well-known being Pag-Ibig Sa Tinubuang
Lupa. Jacinto wrote political essays expressed in the language of the folk. Significantly,
although either writer could have written in Spanish (Bonifacio, for instance, wrote a Tagalog
translation of Rizals Ultimo Adios), both chose to communicate to their fellowmen in their
own native language.
The figure of Rizal dominates Philippine literature until the present day. Liberalism led
to education of the native and the ascendancy of Spanish. But Spanish was undermined by the
very ideas of liberation that it helped spread, and its decline led to nativism and a renaissance
of literature in the native languages.
The turn of the century witnessed not only the Philippine revolution but a quieter though
no less significant outbreak. The educated women of the period produced significant poetry.
Gregoria de Jesus, wife of Andres Bonifacio, wrote notable Tagalog poetry. Meanwhile, in
Vigan of the Ilocano North, Leona Florentino, by her poetry, became the foremost Ilocano
writer of her time.
The influences from Spain have become permanently embedded in Filipino culture.
The Filipino people themselves have internalized them. They cannot be undone anymore. For
good or bad, they have catapulted the Filipinos into the world of Spanish culture, into the
world of Spanish civilization and its products. Nevertheless, it must be said that the Filipinos
did not receive the cultural influences from Spain sitting down. They responded in a way that
demonstrated their capacity to master the new and to balance the new against the old, in a
way that called for their capacity to bring values and principles to bear with a critical and
informed judgment, and in a way that called for them to be able to sift what is essential from
what is trivial. Thus they responded selectively to the novelties the Spaniards brought with
them to the Philippine Islands. The Filipinos accepted only those that fitted their
temperament, such as the "fiesta" that has become one of the most endearing aspects of life in
these islands, and made them blend with their indigenous lifestyle to produce a precious
Philippine cultural heritage.