LESSON 1 | TRADITIONS AND LOCATIONS | THE FILIPINO POEM

SUBLIME EXPERIENCES
 Experiences that move the artist or poets to create art.
Example. An erupting volcano.

POETRY
 “The root and crown of language” – termed by Gemino Abad.
 Pieces of writing that have figurative language (words or phrases that convey a different meaning) , written in
separated lines that have repeated rhythm, and rhyme.
 Old as human language itself; It was originally sung, rather than spoken.
 What is in a Poem?
 Meter – rhythmic structure.
 Allusion – figure of speech that refers to another textual work.
 Image – represents objects, events, actions or ideas; stimulates senses of the reader.
 Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Hyperbole and Metonymy
 Dramatic situation – readers can relate emotionally.
 Irony and Paradox – play with how the truth is presented.
 Theme – a general idea about human experiences.
 Expansion– possibility of images to go beyond what they normally mean; not merely literal but become figurative.

HISTORY OF FILIPINO POETRY

 Pre-Hispanic times
 Awit (Song)
o Became influenced by European romances, and became romantic themselves.
o Uyayi (lullaby), Soliranin (travelers), Kumintang (war), Maluway (collective labor), Kundiman
(melancholy love), and pamamanhikan (hand in marriage).
 Bugtong (Riddle)
o Used talinghaga (metaphor)
 Sawikain (Proverb)
o Used to express wisdoms or beliefs important to Filipino society.
 Epiko (Epic)
o Long, episodic, chanted poems which told a story, usually about a hero fighting supernatural
creatures, that inspires those who listened.

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HISTORY OF FILIPINO POETRY
 Spanish Rule
 Baybayin, other epics and poem, were suppressed by Spanish friars; were considered blasphemous due to
existing supernatural elements.
 Old epic heroes were replaced by Jesus Christ.
 Poems were religious in nature.
Example. “Pasyon” by Gaspar Aquino
 Francisco Baltazar “Balagtas”
o Florante at Laura – showcased tyranny in Philippines.
o The first among the rise of Filipino middle class, educated but not Spanish, such as the Illustrados.
 Illustrados
o Jose Rizal and his fellow people; their writings would center on national identity.
 “Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Bayan” by Andres Bonifacio

 Arrival of Americans
 Use of English and poetic styles.
o Free Verse
o New Criticism
 Angela Manalang Gloria and Jose Garcia Villa
o Pushed envelopes of both form and content, challenging established conventions.
 Salvador P. Lopez
o Developed a new concern among writers beyond romance; made writers examine their place in
society.

REGIONS AND REGIONAL CULTURE

 The Philippines have a unique cultural landscape; languages and traditions based on their regions.
 The national identity of Philippines, is not confined within one center of power (Manila), as there exists other
influential regions, hence the need to de-center.

BIKOL LITERATURE
 Multilingual writers; proficient in Bikol, English and Filipino.
 Ricky Lee and Marne Kilates
 Riddles, Proverbs and Sayings remained in use
 “An matakot sa doron/Daing aanihon” (Those afraid of locusts/Will not harvest anything)
 Tigsikan
 Game of creating witty, versified extemporaneous toasts during a round of drinking.
 Many corridos and religious works
 Comedia and Zarzuela (1800s and early 1900s) – forms of entertainment.

Negative Capability – Be comfortable with facing events with uncertainty.

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LESSON 2 | REPRESENTATION AND THE PHILIPPINE CANON

OPPRESSION
 Oppression of the less privileged by the elite, or gender by the patriarchal society.
 Common theme in Filipino literature
EXAMPLE. “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” by Jose Rizal
“Hibik ng Pilipinas sa Inang Espanya” by Hermenigildo Flores
“Sagot ng Espanya sa Hibik ng Pilipinas” by Marcelo Del Pilar
 “Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas” by Aurelio Tolentino
 Controversial during the American Period due to sharp criticism of US, how their presence stymied or
hindered the Philippine revolution.
 “Sa Dakong Silangan” by Jose “Batute” de Jesus
 Retelling of history of Philippines through allegory
 Presents US as conspiring with Spain to fool the Philippines into submission.

DRAMATIC SITUATION
 Poets used oppression as dramatic situations to help readers greatly understand the issues at hand and how those
affect our lives; combination of characters, settings, and action in a poem that engages the reader.

PERSONA
 The speaker in the poem that present the dramatics situations.
 Can be a character who is involved in the dramatic situation, or an observer who watches the situation unfold.

ALLEGORY
 Not literal; representative of other ideas or personalities.
 Symbol and Allegory function by referring to something else, but Allegory is more specific, focusing on one point of
reference, while Symbol focuses on more than one point of reference.
EXAMPLE. Man and Country. (from “Third World Geography” by Cirilo Bautista)

PERSONIFICATION
 Giving non-human objects human qualities.

NATIONAL ARTIST
 Filipino citizens who have been given the rank and title of National Artist, in recognition of their significant
contributions to the development of Philippine Arts and Letters.
 Bestowed by the President in the fields of Music, Dance, Theater, Visual Arts, Literature, Film and Broadcast Arts,
and Architecture or Allied Arts.

CANON
 The collection of works determined by society to have significant value and importance.

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LESSON 3 | PHILIPPINE LITERATURE WRITING IN THE REGION

ESSAY
 A short piece of writing on a particular subject.

LITERARY WORKS
 Well written works that have long lasting value.

CONTEXT
 Collection of interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs.
 What is around us, which influences us just as we influence it; In the case of Filipinos, region determines context.

REGIONAL WRITERS
 Very clear about their origins, as seen in their works.
 However, their regional pieces must deal with a Manila-centered national culture while preserving the uniqueness of
their origins.

PAMPANGO LITERATURE
 Struggling; needs of new writing to revitalize it (Lourdes Vidal, “Filipino Writings: Philippine Literature from the
Regions”)
 After the Pampango embraced foreign influences, two traditions existed: Many Spanish works were translated into
Pampango, but there was a continuing oral tradition that was critical of the Kapampangan elite.
 Thus, became a literary landscape with influences of Spanish, American and traditional Pampango.

STYLE
The unique way of expressing oneself.

TONE
The attitude being conveyed by the language used by the writer.

HUMOR
A funny or amusing quality of something

SCENE
The division in a written work where an action occurs without a break in time.

HOME OF THE ASHFALL by John Jack Wigley

 Wigley’s essay of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption.
 Wigley used humor as a way of defamiliarizing the reader, making them see the events, or other issues in a different,
more distant light; not to emphasize emotion or ridicule the events.
 Wigley used several major scenes; in Manila (where he was staying for 6 months; he had finished watching a film
when he encountered Mt. Pinatubo’s ashfall), Abacan River (when he arrives in Pampanga), and when he arrives at
his mother’s house.

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LESSON 4 | Writing the Regions: Traditions and Trends

Fiction – stories that are written about events that are not real.
Plot – series of events in a story which have a casual relationship with each other.
Plot devices – techniques that the writer uses to creatively present the events in the story.
Narrative – the way by which a story is told.
Flashback – plot devices where the story moves away from the current events happening in the story to a time in the
past.
Foreshadowing – a plot device where the story presents an image or a scene which gives clues to what will happen in
the future.

Kurditan Samtoy – Ilocano writing, means “our language written here”

El Ilocano – first regional newspaper in the Philippines.
Biag ni Lam-ang – epic, sung poem performed before Spaniards arrive.
Ti Langit Ti Inanamtayao (The Glory of our Hopes) – first Ilocano short story.
Bannawag magazine – Ilocano’s greatest contribution to Philippine writing.

DEFINITION OF NATIONAL LITERATURE

 Found in the regions, than the center which is heavily westernized.

 Frantz Fanon’s definition  Bienvenido Lumbera’s definition

 Literature becomes truly nationalist  Literature becomes national literature if

when it stops addressing the colonizer it provokes the Filipino reader with ideas
and begins to address the nation itself. and subject matter. It discusses issues
affecting the nation.

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LESSON 5 | EMERGING TRENDS IN THE PHILIPPINE LITERATURE: THE LITERARY ESSAY

Description – an account of a person, object, or event that enables the reader to get a clear picture of what is being
described.
Narration – act of telling a story.
Anecdotes – short stories based on true accounts.
Characteristics – mental and moral qualities that make someone distinctive.
Dialogue – conversations found in written works such as books, plays, or films.
Insight – the capacity to gain understanding about something.
Creative non-fiction – uses creative writing techniques found in fiction, has clear narrative elements, or use fiction
techniques such as dialogue and characterization.

LESSON 6 | THE LANGUAGE OF LITERATURE

The school of Russian Formalism — literature uses language that is not the predictable, default language of everyday
life; to mimic (copying sound of spoken language and lilt of words as they make meaning).
Joan Silber – In fiction, “life can be seen as intelligible”
 The chaotic or disjointed events in life can be arranged into a coherent narrative.

Binukot – family treasure or isolated.

Biography – an account of a person’s history written by another person.
Autobiography – written by subject himself.
Characterization – the literary crafting of personality.
Fabula – the chronological order of events.
Syuzhet – the organization and orchestration of the narrative.
Narrative structure – the movement of a particular literary discourse.

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LESSON 7 | PHILIPPINE LITERATURE TURNS AND TROPES

Trope – creative use of language mostly found in literature

Figurative language – uses tropes and figures of speech
Simile – comparison using connective words.
Metaphor – compares without connective words.
Tenor – the subject of comparison to which characteristics are attributed
Vehicle – part of the metaphor that is the object that possessed attributed characteristics.
Literal level – relates to dramatic situation.
Metaphorical level – where literal dramatic situations unfold into a figurative articulation of what is taking place.

LESSON 8 | WHAT SURROUNDS THE LITERARY TEXT

Novel – features people faced with conflicts, and their struggles to overcome these conflicts.
Realism – authentic rendition of reality.
Verisimilitude – the quality of feeling real, the most important quality of realism.
Naturalism – pessimistic literary viewpoint that sees social, hereditary and historical conditions are inescapable.
Social realism – literary viewpoint that criticizes oppressive social structures.
Narrative – sequencing of a story that creates a singular effect.
Heteroglossia – a term that describes the diverseness of the novel’s language.

LESSON 9 | THE REGION IN THE NATION

Character – the composition of a person in a work of fiction.

Round character – usually dynamically changes by the end of the story.
Flat character – states the same at the end of the story.
Foil – a character that stands in contrast to another character.
Setting – time and place where the story unfolds.

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Center and the periphery – describe a binary with the former occupying a position of privilege and the latter a position
of marginality.
 Center – seat of power that dominates over everything; Manila
 Periphery – regions
Hamartia – character flaw
Hubris – mistake brought about by pride
Anagnorisis – discovery
Pathos – suffering

LESSON 10 | TEXTS AND CONTEXTS

Four basic literary approaches

 Expressive – considers author’s creative intent.
 Mimetic – literature as the mirror of the world.
 Pragmatic – considering the effect of literature on readers.
 Objective – considering only the work.

Point of view – perspective in which a story is being told.

 First person – “I” narrator
 Second person – “you”
 Third person – objective; all knowing

Exposition – introduces the character, the setting and circumstances of the story.
Rising action – escalates the circumstances into a conflict.
Climax – the point where the conflict or tension explodes.
Denouement – action subsides.
Resolution – the story concludes in a view of transformation.
Internal qualities – manifested through dialogue, motivation and action.
External qualities – physical attributes, get-up and mannerisms.
Local color – specific details that enhance reality crafted by the story.
Context – parts of text preceding and following a passage giving it fuller meaning that it were read by itself.