Pre-Colonial Philippine Literature 12-Songkran

Coronel Jr., Willie

Judal, Denver
Apiladas, Mary Nichole
Camacho, Andrea Mae
Camarao, Trisha Mae
De Leon, Ma. Andrea Yvette
Paela, Maria Ariana
Real, Kayla

PRE-COLONIAL PHILIPPINE LITERATURE

 Covers the timeline from when the first inhabitants came to our
country up to the period shortly after the Spaniards came (1564)
 showcase a rich past through their folk speeches, folk songs, folk
narratives and indigenous rituals and mimetic dances that affirm our
ties with our Southeast Asian neighbors.
 a literature of varying human interest
 close to the religious and political organizations of the ancient
Filipinos
 the verses were addressed to the ears rather than the eyes
 Passed down from generations to generations through the words of
the mouth

Literary Forms
Three Types of Pre-Colonial Literature
• Poetry (Panulaan)
 sprang from sources close to the personal relationships, social
institutions, religious and political organization of the ancient
filipinos
 Types of Poetry
• Riddles - battle of wits among participants
• Proverbs – wise sayings
• Whispers – used to ask for permission or forgiveness to
the other worldly creatures such as “lamang-lupa” and
“duwende”
• Folk Songs – a form of folk lyric expressing peoples’ hopes
and aspirations, lifestyles, and their loved ones
• Tanaga – expresses insights and lessons in life
• Epic – narrative of a hero’s deeds and adventures
• Tales (Tuluyan)
 emerged from the belief of the native spirit
 Types of Tales
• Myth – explains how the world was created, how certain
 animals possess certain characteristics, why some places
have waterfalls, volcanoes, mountains, flora or fauna
• Legend – explains the origin of things
• Fable – uses animals as characters
• Fantastic Story (Kuwentong Kababalaghan) – deals with
underworld characters such as “tiyanak”, “aswang”,
“kapre”, etc.
• Drama (Dula)
 has no plot, always about laughter
 Types of Drama
• Dances
• Rituals
 Form of religious worship

Common Themes of Pre-Colonial Literature

1. Nature
 Filipinos are proved to be witty and a keen observant of their
surroundings (seen through riddles and legends)
 They try to describe their surroundings
 They try to explain why natural phenomena happen to make the
environment less fearsome and more comprehensible to them
 How the world was created
 Some people worship the caves, mountains, sun, trees, forests
2. Indigenous rituals and Ceremonies showcasing their beliefs
 Most pre-colonial people are animistic. They believe that plants,
animals and other things have spirits. They also believed that good
and evil spirits inhabit the world
 They show their worship through folk speeches, chants, mimetic
dances
3. Common Experiences of people that constitute a village
 Folk Songs usually express people’s hopes, aspirations and lifestyles
 Lullabies showing relationship between a mother and her child
 Loves songs, day to day life
4. Culture
 System of government (tribes or barangays headed by a datu)
 Quack Doctors
 Their belief in Bathala (Supreme God)
 Mythical Creatures (Aswang, Tikbalang, Mangkukulam, Diwata)
5. Heroism
 Through the epics
 Bravery of men or even women is an important characteristic

DESCRIPTION OF CONTEXT
• based on oral tradition.
• crude on ideology and phraseology.
• not cultural artifacts, like tools to ritual article, but are to be seen as
cultural items useful in the reconstruction of a period of our literary
history that has been obscured by the intrusion of a foreign culture
• oral literature bore the marks of the community
• subject matter was invariably the common experience of the people
constituting a village
• language was the language of daily life
• conventions of the various literary forms, like formulaic repetitions,
stereotyping of characters, regular rhythmic and musical devices,
were aid to the performers who were better able to recall the pieces
because of their conventions
• problem encountered in the writing of the oral literature
• written on perishable materials
• Women enjoy equal status with men
• People live in tribes or different barangays headed by a datu
• Even before the Spaniards came, the pre-colonial Filipinos have the
Baybayin, their own system of writing
• Oral literature bores the mark of the community