Influence,

1. ALIBATA

2. Christian Doctrine

3. Spanish language became the literary language this time

4. European legends and traditions

5. Ancient literature was collected and translated to Tagalog

6. Grammar books were printed in Filipino

7. Religious tone

function

history

Spanish colonization of the Philippines started in 1565 during the time of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the
first Spanish governor-general in the Philippines. Literature started to flourish during his time. The spurt
continued unabated until the Cavite Revolt in 1872.

EARLY SPANISH

On March 17, 1521, Ferdinand Magellan landed on Philippine shores, but it was not about half a
century later, that colonization and evangelization began. By 1593, the Dominicans had introduced
printing equipment, a xylographic press that was rather cumbersome but which produced religious
literature consisting of booklets on catechism, narratives of mission and martyrs, religious stories, and
the passion of Christ. Tagalog versifiers called ladinos led the pioneering groups of poetically inclined
writers, two of whom were Fernando Bagonbata and Tomas Pinpin. Most of the versifications pertained
to religion and to morality. The folk song mirrored the inevitable modifications of their folk ways. These
songs were spontaneous and informal expressions of the people’s nature and their reaction to their
environment, thus the songs Bahay Kubo, Planting Rice, Fisherman’s Song, Tuba Gatherer’s Song, etc.
Love songs, serenades, lullabies, and even comic songs proliferated. The precursors of drama were the
carillo, a play of cardboard figures projected on a white screen; the duplo, an elaborate dramatic debate
in verse dealing with contemporary personalities and social questions of the day; and the karagatan, a
less elaborate debate. The duplo and karagratan were usually done during a wake. Then came the moro-
moro, a play depicting encounters between Christian and Muslim Filipinos. Other literary forms that
flourished were the corrido and the awit. Both are metrical tales usually based on European tales or
legends like Charlemagne, Song of Roland, etc.

LATER PART OF THE SPANISH REGIME When our country was opened to world trade, liberal
ideas from other countries began to come in. This helped awaken the nationalistic consciousness of the
Filipinos. Those who were actively involved in the struggle for reform were called, at first, propagandists,
and later, revolutionaries. Among them were Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, and Graciano Lopez-Jaena.
The literature of the period was fiercely nationalistic and mostly satirical and critical in nature. The bulk
of Filipino writing was published in the Diaryong Tagalog, a Spanish-Tagalog newspaper, the publication
which signaled the open campaign for reforms. In 1889, The La Solidaridad, an underground newspaper,
became the mouthpiece of the Reform Movement. The literature of the Reform Movement centered
around the writings of Jose Rizal whose novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo emphasized the
need for radical changes in the social, political, and religious affairs of the country. Some of the foremost
writers of the period were Andres Bonifacio, the founder of Katipunan; Emilio Jacinto, the Brains of
Katipunan; Apolinario Mabini, the Brains of the Revolution and als0o known as the Sublime Paralytic;
and Jose Palma, the soldier who sang songs in the battle field instead of killing enemies.

Style

American