PERIODS OF PHILIPPINE LITERATURE

PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD – The first period of the Philippine

literary history is the longest. Long time before the Spaniards
and other foreigners landed on Philippine shores, our
forefathers already had their own literature stamped in the
history of our race.
SPANISH COLONIZATION PERIOD – Spanish occupied
Philippines in early 15th century. The Spanish colonization
period has two distinct classifications – religious and secular.
The Spanish colonizers wanted to undermine the native oral
tradition by substituting for it the story of the Passion of Christ.
However, the native tradition survived and even flourished in
areas inaccessible to the Spaniard.
AMERICN COLONIZATION PERIOD – Philippine literature in
English, as a direct result of American colonization of the
country, could not escape being imitative of American
models of writing especially during its period of
apprenticeship.
JAPANESE COLONIZATION PERIOD – Philippine Literature was
interrupted in its development when the Philippines was
again conquered by another foreign country, Japan.
Philippine literature in English came to a halt. Except for the
TRIBUNE and the PHILIPPINE REVIEW, almost all newspapers in
English were stopped by the Japanese. This had an
advantageous effect on Filipino Literature, which
experienced renewed attention because writers in English
turned to writing in Filipino.
CONTEMPORARY PERIOD – is characterized by the use of
native languages as the main tool of literary expression
rather than foreign languages. The contemporary period
began in the 1960s but truly began to flourish following the
end of the martial-law dictatorship in 1986.
 PHILIPPINE LITERRAY FORMS AND GENRES

A. ORAL LITERATURE

RIDDLES (bugtong) – battle of wits among participants.

PROVERBS (salawikain) – wise sayings that contain a
metaphor used to teach as a food for thought.
TANAGA OR APHORISMS – one stanza poems consisted
usually of four lines with seven syllables, all lines rhyming
FOLK SONGS – expresses the hopes and aspirations, the
people’s lifestyle as well as their loves; often repetitive or
sonorous.
FOLK TALES MYTHS – explain how the world was created, how
certain animals possess certain characteristics, why some
places have waterfalls, volcanoes, mountains, flora and
fauna
LEGENDS – explain the origin of things.
FABLES – used animal characters and allegory.
FANTASY STORIES – deal with underworld characters such as
tiyanak, aswang, kapre and so on.
EPICS – these are narratives of sustained length based on
oral tradition revolving around supernatural events or heroic
deeds.
FOLK TALES – made up of stories about life, adventure, love,
horror and humor where one can derive lessons about life.
B. RELIGIOUS LITERATURE
PASYON – long narrative poem about the passion and death
of Christ.
SENAKULO – dramatization of the pasyon, it shows the
passion and death of Christ.
RELIGIOUS DRAMA – setting forth events recorded in the Bible
or moral lessons to be drawn from religious teaching.
MORO MORO – native poetic drama that is often dealt with
themes of Christians triumphing Moslems.

C. SECULAR LITERATURE
 AWIT – colorful tales of chivalry made for singing and
chanting.
PROSE NARRATIVES – written to prescribe proper decorum.
KORIDO – is a metrical tale or a tale that follows the structure
of a poem.

D. PROPAGANDA LITERATURE – These were in the forms of satires,

editorials, and news articles that aimed to attack the Spanish
Rule.
POLITICAL ESSAYS – helped inflame the spirit of revolution.
POLITICAL NOVELS

E. REVOLUTIONARY LITERATURE – are exposes that sparked

revolution and resistance in the hearts of Filipinos.
POLITICAL ESSAYS – helped inflame the spirit of revolution.
POEMS
F. Poetry
HAIKU – a poem of free verse that the Japanese liked. It is
made up of seventeen (17) syllables divided into three (3)
lines.
TANAGA – like the haiku, it is short, but has measure and
rhyme. Each line has seventeen syllables and is also
allegorical in meaning
G. FICTION– The field of the short story widened during the
Japanese Occupation. Many wrote short stories.
THE FILIPINO SHORT STORY DURING THE JAPANESE PERIOD –
The field of the short story widened during the Japanese
Occupation.
H. DRAMA – The drama experienced a lull during the Japanese
period because movie houses showing American films were
closed. The big movie houses were just made to show stage
shows. Many of the plays were reproductions of English plays to
Tagalog.
FILIPINO DRAMA DURING THE JAPANESE PERIOD – The drama
experienced a lull during the Japanese period because
movie houses showing American films were closed. The big
 movie houses were just made to show stage shows. Many of
the plays were reproductions of English plays to Tagalog.
I. NEWSPAPERS– Writings that came out during this period were
journalistic in nature. Writers felt suppressed but slowly, the
spirit of nationalism started to seep into their consciousness.
While some continued to write, the majority waited for a
better climate to publish their works.
J. ESSAYS – Essays were composed to glorify the Filipinos and at
the same time to figuratively attack the Japanese.
K. ONOMATOPEIA – the use of words that imitate the sounds
associated with the objects or actions they refer to.
L. MESSAGES IN POETRY – the idea about life that a poet writes
about is called the theme or message of the poem.
M. FREE VERSE – a poem that has no regular rhyme or rhythm.
N.CAUSE AND EFFECT USING ADJECTIVES – is a word that
describes, limits, or points out a noun.

21ST CENTURY PHILIPPINE LITERARY FORMS AND GENRES

ILLUSTRARTED NOVELS – story through text and illustrated
images.
DIGI-FICTION GRAPHIC NOVELS – triple media literature
MANGA – Japanese world comics
DOODLE FICTION – literary presentation where the author
incorporates doodle writing and drawings, and handwritten
graphic in place of traditional forms.
TEXT-TALK NOVELS – Blog, Email, IM Format Narratives
 FAMOUS AUTHORS AND THEIR WORKS IN REGION 2

FLORENTINO HORNEDO
BORN: October 18, 1938 in Batanes
 WORKS:

The power to be
Laji
The glitter of gold in Batanes cultural heritage
Ideas and ideals
Taming the wind
Culture and community in the Philippine fiesta and other
celebrations
On the trail of Dominican engineers, artists & saints in the
Cagayan Valley & Batanes
PAGAPAPAKATAO and other essays in contemporary
PHILOSOPHY and literature of ideas
Christian education
Pagmamahal and pagmumura
The favor of the gods

FERNANDO MARAMAG
BORN: JANUARY 21, 1983 in Ilagan, Isabela
 WORKS:
“The Rural Maid”
“Sonnet on sympathy”
“Pagan Madonna”
“On a Rose”
“Lost Friendship”
“ The Dreamer’s Heritage”

 EDITH L. TIEMPO
 BORN: APRIL 22, 1919, NUEVA VIZCAYA
 WORKS:
 NOVELS
 A Blade of Fern (1978)
 His Native Coast (1979)
 The Alien Corn (1992
 One, Tilting Leaves (1995)
 The Builder (2004)
 The Jumong (2006)
 Poetry collections
 The Charmer's Box and Other Poet (1993)
 Marginal Annotations and Other Poem
 Commend Contend. Beyond Extensions (2010)
 The Tracks of Babylon and Other Poems (1966)
 Short story collections
 Abide, Joshua, and Other Stories (1964)
All Fiction
Drama Stories - composed in verse or prose, usually for theatrical
performance, where conflicts and emotion are expressed through
dialogue and action.
Fable Narration - demonstrating a useful truth, especially in which
animals speak as humans; legendary, supernatural tale.
Fairy Tale Story - about fairies or other magical creatures, usually
for children.
Fantasy Fiction - with strange or other worldly settings or
characters; fiction which invites suspension of reality.
Fiction Narrative - literary works whose content is produced by the
imagination and is not necessarily based on fact.
Fiction - in Verse Full-length novels with plot, subplot(s), theme(s),
major and minor characters, in which the narrative is presented in
(usually blank) verse form.
Folklore - The songs, stories, myths, and proverbs of a people or
"folk" as handed down by word of mouth.
Historical Fiction - Story with fictional characters and events in a
historical setting.
Horror Fiction - in which events evoke a feeling of dread in both
the characters and the reader.
Humor Fiction - full of fun, fancy, and excitement, meant to
entertain; but can be contained in all genres Legend Story,
sometimes of a national or folk hero, which has a basis in fact but
also includes imaginative material.
Mystery Fiction - dealing with the solution of a crime or the
unraveling of secrets.
Mythology - Legend or traditional narrative, often based in part on
historical events, which reveals human behavior and natural
phenomena by its symbolism; often pertaining to the actions of
the gods.
Poetry - Verse and rhythmic writing with imagery that creates
emotional responses.
Realistic Fiction - Story that can actually happen and is true to life.
Science Fiction - Story based on impact of actual, imagined, or
potential science, usually set in the future or on other planets.
Short Story - Fiction of such brevity that it supports no subplots.
Tall Tale - Humorous story with blatant exaggerations, swaggering
heroes who do the impossible with nonchalance.
All Nonfiction
Biography/Autobiography - Narrative of a person's life, a true story
about a real person.
Essay - A short literary composition that reflects the author's
outlook or point.
Narrative Nonfiction - Factual information presented in a format
which tells a story.
Nonfiction - Informational text dealing with an actual, real-life
subject.
Speech - Public address or discourse