American Colonization

Philippine literary production during the American Period in the Philippines was spurred by two
significant developments in education and culture. One is the introduction of free public instruction for all
children of school age and two, the use of English as medium of instruction in all levels of education in public
schools.
Free public education made knowledge and information accessible to a greater number of Filipinos.
Those who availed of this education through college were able to improve their social status and joined a good
number of educated masses who became part of the country's middle class.
In fiction, the period of apprenticeship in literary writing in English is marked by imitation of the style of
storytelling and strict adherence to the way the shoe story is practiced by popular American fictionists.
It was during the American colonization when the experimental stages happened with the use of free
verse while the traditional rhyme and meter were retained. There was abundance in novels that appeared in
magazines and newspapers though most of these were in the vernacular due to a struggle in the use of the
English language.
From the Balagtas tradition of writing poems, modernist poetry was highlighted and influenced a lot of
young writers at that time. Short stories in English with the infusion of Filipino ideals about life and morality
blossomed which were shown in the works of Paz Marquez Benitez "Dead Stars". The use of vivid imagery of
Nagrebcan in llocos was shown in the work of Manuel Arguilla's "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife".
Many other Tagalog novelists wrote on variations of the same theme, i.e., the interplay of fate, love and
social justice. Among these writers arr (nip Ed Regalado, Roman Reyes, Fausto J. Galauran, Susana de Guzman,
Rosario de Guzman-Lingat, Lazaro Francisco, Hilaria Labog, Rosalia Aguinaldo, Amado V. Hernandez.
Among the lloko writers, noted novelists were Leon Pichay, who was also the region's poet laureate
then, Hermogenes Belen, and Mena Person crisologo whose Mining wenno Ayat ti Kararwa is considered to be
the lloko version of a Noli me Tangere.
In the Visayas, Magdalena Jalandoni and Ramon Muzones would lead most writers M writing the nova
that dwelt on the themes of love, courtship life in the farmlands, and other social upheavals of the period.
Marcel Navarra wrote stories and novels in Sugbuanon.
Poetry in all languages continued to flourish in all regions of the country during the American period.
The Tagalogs, hailing Francisco F. Balagtas as the nation's foremost poet invented the Balagtasan in his honor.
Balagtasan is a debate in verse, a poetical battle done almost simultaneously between protagonists who debate
over the pros and cons of an issue.
The separate, yet parallel developments of Philippine literature in English and those in Tagalog and other
languages of the archipelago during the American period only prove that literature and writing in whatever
:cage and in whatever climate are able to survive mainly through the active imagination of writers.

Post War and Contemporary Period

The flowering of Philippine literature in the various languages continue especially with the appearance
of new publications after the Martial Law. Filipino writers continue to write poetry, short stories, novellas,
novels and essays whether these are socially committed, gender/ethnic related or are personal in intention or
not.
 According to Francis C. Macasantos and Priscilla Macasantos in their essay on Philippine Literature in
the Post-War and Contemporary Period, they wrote, “The Philippine novel, whether written in English or any of
the native languages, has remained social-realist. Edgardo Reyes' Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag (1966), for instance,
is a critique of urban blight, and Edilberto K. Tiempo's To Be Free is a historical probe of the western idea of
freedom in the context of indigenous Philippine culture. Kerima Polotan Tuvera's novel The Hand of the Enemy
(1972), a penetratingly lucid critique of ruling-class psychology, is entirely realistic, if Rizalian in its moments of
high satire, although unlike the Rizalian model, it falls short of a moral vision."
Of course the Filipino writer has become more conscious of his art with the proliferation of writers
workshops here and abroad and the bulk of literature available to him via the mass media including the internet.
The various literary awards such as the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, the Philippines Free
Press, Philippine Graphic, Home Life and Panorama literary awards encourage him to compete with his peers
and hope that his creative efforts will be rewarded in the long run.
Spanish Colonization
When the Spaniards came in 1521, it paved the way for the use of paper and so written literature in the
Philippines was born. The most prominent characteristic of our literature during the Spanish era is the use of
religion as the content in the works of the early literature. One great example of this is the idea of goodness
that will be rewarded and that evil deeds will be punished.
Religion introduced theatre which we would come to know as komedya, the sinakulo, the sarswela, the
playlets and the drama. Spain also brought to the country ideas about internationalism that influenced our own
Filipino intellectuals and writers for them to understand the meanings of “liberty and freedom”.
Literature in this period may be classified as religious prose and poetry and secular prose and poetry.
Religious lyrics from the poems of ladinos (Filipinos who know both Spanish and Tagalog) was
included in catechisms during that period. This was a way of teaching Filipinos the Spanish language.
Among the religious poetry from the period is the pasyon in octosyllabic quintillas that played an
important part in the Filipinos’ way of remembering Christ’s agony. Gaspar Aquino de Belen’s “ Ang
Mahal na Passion ni Jesu Christong Panginoon natin na tola” (Holy Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ in
Verse) put out in 1704 is the country’s earliest pasyon.
Other know pasyons chanted during the Lenten season are in Ilocano, Pangasinan, Ibanag,
Cebuano, Ilongo, Bicol and Waray.
Spanish Colonizxation also brought about the romantic tradition that gave birth to
metrical romance, specifically the awit and korido in Tagalog. The awit was a popular poetic
genrereached new heights in Balagtas’ Florante at Laura”, the most famous of the country’s metrical
romances. Some of the leading poets of all time were Jose Corazon de Jesus (Huseng Sisiw), and Francisco
Balagtas. Some secular poets who wrote in the same tradition were Leona Florentino, Jacinto Kawili,
Isabelo de los Reyes and Rafael Gandioco.
Much written during the period both in Spanish and Tagalog about the other themes like
love for one’s country and discontent for Spanish rule. Jose Rizal wrote Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewll)
to express his love for his native soil, while Andres Bonifcacio wrote a patriotic poem entitled Pag-ibig sa
Tinubuang Lupa (Love for the Native Land).