Introduction to the Development of Philippine Literature in English

What Literature is
Literature deals with ideas, thoughts and emotions of man. It is a reproduction of man’s
aspirations, dreams, loves, grief thoughts and experiences written in imaginative and beautiful language.
Filipinos are, by nature, imaginative and creative. These then brought about their strong desire to write
literature.

Reasons Why Filipinos Wrote Philippine Literature in English

The development of Philippine literature in English can be traced back to the time when the
Philippines gained its independence in Cawit, Cavite in 1898. The need to put their thoughts on the
events that followed resulted in the development of Philippine literature in English. For after the Cavite
affair, the Filipinos’ hopes to be included in the Spanish-American treaty of Paris, fueled another
conflict. This became primary cause of conflict between the Filipinos and the Americans which
compelled General Miguel Malvar to surrender in 1903. Nevertheless, the Filipinos were not
disheartened by the events and they continued to aspire for freedom through peaceful means. Their
dreams, anxieties, joys, grief, and aspirations through the years were put into writing. Thus, Philippine
Literature in English started.

At first, the early Filipinos who attempted to write in English found difficulty in expressing
themselves since English was a new language to them. They had problems in translating the Filipino
dialect to the English Language. Nonetheless, the Filipinos’ undaunted desires to express their dreams
and nationalistic emotions allowed them to hurdle the problem and thereby learn the English language.
When schools reopened in 1903, most of the early writers in the native dialects and in Spanish pursued
their studies. The students and the people, in general, learned English so quickly that when the Daily
bulletin was founded in 1900, and the Philippine Free Press in 1903, many Filipino writers, immediately,
started sending literary contributions to the newspapers. By then, Philippine Literature started.

Types of Literature early Filipino writers engaged in

Writers in English became inspired and they attempted to write almost all types of literature
genres. They wrote prose and poetry to express their thoughts ranging from their deep concern for their
fellowmen to nationalistic sentiments. Although their first literary compositions were copied and
imitated from literature brought in by the Spaniards from Europe and the Americans upon their arrival
in the country, they were able to incorporate their emotions in their works.

Prose was one of the favourite compositions written by the earlier writers. Prose are those
written within the common flow of conversation in sentences and paragraphs. Types of literature
engaged in by the writers are novels, short stories, biographies, drama, legends, essays and speeches,
including editorials
1. The Novel is a long narrative story divided into chapters and may involve numerous or few
characters. The events may be true-to-life or fictitious and it covers a long period of time. The
first novel of Philippine literature written in English was the “ Child of Sorrow”, by Zoilo M.
Galang in 1924.
2. The short stories which are short narrative involving one or more characters, one plot and one
single impression or idea, were among the favourite of the early writers. The Philippine Herald
 published the “ Dead Stars” by Paz Maquez-Benitez in 1925.There were, however, other short
stories published after this.
3. The essays, an expression of the view and opinion of the writer about a particular event, were
also tried by several writers. In 1921, Zoilo M. Galang published “Life and Success’, the first
volume of essays in English.
4. Biographies and autobiographies deal with the life of a person or maybe about other person
(biography) or maybe about himself (autobiography) were also written. In 1938, “The Great
Malayan” by Carlos Quirino won a prize in the national contest sponsored by the
Commonwealth of the Philippines. Quirino also wrote “Quezon, the Man of Destiny”.
5. Drama reveals the character through dialogues presented on stage. It is divided into acts and
each act has many scenes. Drama during the period may not reach the heights attained by the
novels and short stories, however, the University of the Philippines provided incentives to
playwrights, so writers of other types of literature ventured to playwriting. Among the
playwrights and their selections were:
“The Radiant Symbol” by Jorge Bocobo
“ The Oil Lamp” by Augusto C. Catanjal
“ The Waves” by Hilarion Vidal
6. Legends were also favourite selections written by the writers. “ The Creation of the First Man
and Woman” of the Bagobos of Southern Mindanao is one of the favorites even nowadays.
7. Fables are fictitious in nature and the characters are animals and inanimate things who speak
and act like human are very familiar among children. The purpose of which is not only to
enlighten the minds of the children but mold their ways and attitudes. Children find these
stories entertaining. A good example of a fable is “ The Monkey and the Turtle”.
8. Anecdotes are merely product of the writer’s imagination, but, renders find them interesting
because they bring lessons to the readers. “ The Moth and the Lamp” is an anecdote.
9. News Items are everyday reports of events which may be happening anywhere in the world.
News is published in newspapers, and early writers were deeply engaged in news writing to
reveal their ideas and emotions.

POETRY are among the early favourite of Filipino writers. Writers of poems in Spanish tried their luck
in English. They wrote the three types of poetry: Narrative, Lyric, and Dramatic.
1. The Narrative Poetry is a long descriptive poem about life and events which may be real or
imaginary. The writers, because of the natural artistry and emotional desire and aspirations
tried to write the different kinds of poetry.
a. The Epic is a long narrative form about exploits of heroes, sometimes gods and goddesses
are included in the poem.
b. The Metrical tale is narrative which is written in verse and can either be a ballad or a
metrical romance.
c. Ballads. These re considered the shortest and simplest form of poetry. A ballad tells a single
incident written in verse. There are variations of ballads: love ballads, war ballads, sea
ballads. This is sometimes sung and accompanied by a dance.
2. LYRIC POETRY is a kind of poetry intended to be sung to the accompaniment of a lyre. These
time, however, lyric poetry applies to any type of poetry that expresses emotions and feelings of
the poet. Lyric poetry is usually short, simple and easy to understand. These include:
a. Folksongs. These are short poems intended to be sung. The theme is about love, despair,
grief, doubts, joys and sorrow.
b. Sonnets. These are lyric poems of 14 lines with an emotion, a feeling or ideas.
c. Elegy. It is a lyric poem which expresses feelings of grief for someone who had passed away.
 d. Ode. This is a poem of a noble feeling and expression of dignity to someone loved.
e. Psalms. These are songs of praise to God and to the Virgin Mary.
3. DRAMATIC POETRY is a long poetry which has the intention of being presented on stage. These
include:
a. Comedy. It is light in nature with a purpose of amusing and usually with happy ending.
b. Melodrama. A musical play with the opera. It arouses emotion with happy ending of the
principal character.
c. Tragedy. This involves the principal character or hero struggling against dynamic forces. He
meets death and he faces the catastrophe with dignity and courage.

Filipino writers find these types of literary works not only interesting but good vehicles in
expressing their moods, feelings, and experiences. These are also good means to show their
artistry in language with the use of figurative language.