1946- all the literary works written and

published in the Philippines

Economy - rehabilitation, reconstruction
Sacrifices and suffering in the lives of filipinos
Spanish and American rule and the Japanese
occupation
Other subject and themes include:
Religious faith
Superstitions
Fantasy
Social problems
Poverty
Politics
Nationalism
Morality
Philippine literature flourished even more
during the postwar and contemporary
period. Writers were able to produce short
stories, novels, essays, and poem that
continue to be read byFilipinos today.
The Filipino literary 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.
The Philippines were first invaded by the Spanish in
1521, followed by the United States in 1898 and the
Japanese in 1941. Filipino literature transformed to
take on the occupiers' language during these times.
A rich culture of folk narratives and traditions served
as the foundation of Filipino literature prior to the
Spanish invasion in 1521. With the Spanish
invasion, these native literary traditions were
undermined and replaced with Spanish language
traditions. One of the most heralded Filipino writers,
Jose Rizal, wrote all his works in Spanish when he
called for a revolution against Spanish occupation.
With the invasion of the United States in 1898,
the language for literary works turned to
English, and new literary forms were introduced,
including the short story, essay and free-verse
poem. Many Filipino writers during this period
attended American and British schools and
brought Western literary traditions back to the
Philippines. English was suppressed during the
Japanese occupation in 1941 and replaced with
Japanese literary traditions until 1946, when the
Philippines became independent.
The contemporary movement toward the use
of native languages in Filipino literature was
slow to begin due to the oppressive martial-
law dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos from
1972 to 1986. However, following the end of
the dictatorship, the Philippines undertook an
effort to resurface their native language
literary history, and the Philippine Commission
on Higher Education made it obligatory to
teach Philippine literature to students.