FILIPINO

CANONICAL
WRITERS
21st Century Literature
 EDITH L. TIEMPO
 She is a poet, fictionist, teacher and literary critic
and one of the finest Filipino writers in English whose
works are characterized by a remarkable fusion of
style and substance, of craftsman and insight.
 She founded and directed the Silliman National
Writers Workshop in Dumaguete City.
 The workshop produced some of the country’s
best writers.
 A Blade of Fern, The Native Coast, The Alien corn
 BIENVENIDO LUMBERA
 He introduced to Tagalog literature what is now
known as Bagay poetry, a landmark aesthetic
tendency that has helped to change the
vernacular poetic tradition.
 He is the author of the following works:
1. Likhang Dila
2. Mga Tulang Lunot at Manibalang
3. Sa Sariling Bayan
4. Apat na Dulang May Musika
5. Agunyas sa Hacienda Luisita
6. Pakikiramay
 VIRGILIO S. ALMARIO
 He is also known as Rio Alma, and redefined
how the Filipino poetry is viewed and paved the
way for the discussion of the same in his 10
books of criticisms and anthologies, like:
1. Ang Makata sa Panahon ng Makina
2. Balagtasismo versus Modernismo
3. Walong Dekada ng Makabagong Tula Pilipino
4. Mutyang Dilim
5. Barlaan at Josaphat
 CIRILO F. BAUTISTA
 As a teacher of Literature, He has realized
that the classroom is an important training
ground for Filipino writers.
 In De La Salle University, he was
instrumental in the formation of the
Bienvenido Santos Creative Writing
Center.
 Some of his works are, The Trilogy of Saint
Lazarus and Galaw ng Asoge
 NICK JOAQUIN
 He enriched the English Language with critics
coining “Joaquinesque” to describe his baroque
Spanish-flavored English or his reinventions of
English based on Filipinisms.
 Some of his works:
1. Candido’s apocalypse
2. The Order of Melchidezedek
3. Doña Jeronima
4. The Woman Who Had Two Navels
5. The Ballad of Five Battles
 F. SIONIL JOSE
 He captures the sweep of Philippine history while
simultaneously narrating the lives of generations of
the Samsons whose personal lives intertwine with
social struggles of the nation.
 His five-novel masterpiece:
1. The Pretenders
2. Tree
3. My Brother
4. My Executioner
5. Mass
6. Po-on
 ALEJANDRO ROCES
 “You cannot be a great writer; first,
you have to be a good person”
 He is considered as the country’s
best writer of comic short stories.
 He is known for his widely
anthologized “My Brother’s Peculiar
Chicken.
 FRANCISCO ARCELLANA
 He pioneered the development of the short
story as a lyrical prose-poetic form.
 For him, the pride of fiction is “that is able to
render truth , that is able to present reality.
 He kept alive the experimental tradition in
fiction, and had been the most daring in
exploring new literary forms to express sensibility
of the Filipino people.
 The Poetry and Politics, The State of Original
Writing in English in the Philippines Today
 Writers use CONTEXT,
so readers are able to
understand and their
stories written.

What is Context?
 CONTEXT
 It is a background, environment, setting,
framework, or surroundings of events or
occurences.
 Context means circumstances forming a
background of an event, idea or statement,
in such a way as to enable readers to
understand the narrative of a literary piece.
 It is necessary in writing to provide
information, new concepts, and words to
develop thoughts.
 Literary Context
 It relates to the particular form of a
passage takes and to the words,
sentences, and paragraphs that surround
the passage you are studying.
 Literary Context consists of understanding
the literary genre that the book of the
Bible exists in.
How does genre change how
we interpret the Bible?
 When we read the Bible, we need to
always start by reading it literally. The
author meant what he meant when he
wrote what he wrote.
 When you read a passage, make sure
that you understand whether the passage
is intended to be read literally or
figuratively.
 Biographical Context
 Another term for this is Authorial Context.
 The authors write from their own
experiences with a sort of imagination,
and their lives always influence their work.
 But it doesn’t mean that the author
identifies with the main character or even
a narrator in a novel. Somehow the
author is just reporting what he or she
witnessed.
 Linguistic Context
 It refers to culturally specific words from
languages that are not necessarily spoken
fluently.
 It refers to how meaning is understood
without relying on intent and assumptions.
 Meaning of the story is formed through
sensory experiences, even though sensory
stimulus cannot be easily articulated in
language or signs.
 Sociocultural Context
 It refers to the immediate physical and
social setting in which people live or in
which something happens or develops.
 It includes the culture that the individual
was educated or lives in, and the people
and institutions with whom they interact
Ex.
Looking at Slang and Idiomatic Language
Write to be understood,
speak to be heard, read
to grow.