The variety and abundance of Philippine
literature evolved even before the colonial periods. Folk tales, epics, poems
and marathon chants existed in most ethnolinguistic groups that were passed on
from generations to generations through word of mouth. Tales associated with
the Spanish conquest also took part in the country’s rich cultural heritage.
Some of these pre-colonial literary pieces showcased in traditional narratives,
speeches and songs are Tigmo in Cebuano, bugtong in Tagalog, patototdon is
Bicol and paktakon in Ilongo. Philippine epics and folk tales are varied and
filled with magical characters. They are either narratives of mostly mythical
objects, persons or certain places, or epics telling supernatural events and
bravery of heroes, customs and ideologies of a community.
Philippine Literature is
a diverse and rich group of works that has evolved side-by-side with the
country’s history. Literature had started with fables and legends made by the
ancient Filipinos long before the arrival of Spanish influence. The main themes
of Philippine literature focus on the country’s pre-colonial cultural
traditions and the socio-political histories of its colonial and contemporary
traditions.
It is not a secret that
many Filipinos are unfamiliar with much of the country's literary heritage,
especially those that were written long before the Spaniards arrived in our
country. This is due to the fact that the stories of ancient time were not
written, but rather passed on from generation to generation through word of
mouth. Only during 1521 did the early Filipinos became acquainted with
literature due to the influence of the Spaniards on us. But the literature that
the Filipinos became acquainted with are not Philippine-made, rather, they were
works of Spanish authors.
So successful were the
efforts of colonists to blot out the memory of the country's largely oral past
that present-day Filipino writers, artists and journalists are trying to
correct this inequity by recognizing the country's wealth of ethnic traditions
and disseminating them in schools through mass media.
The rise of nationalistic
pride in the 1960s and 1970s also helped bring about this change of attitude
among a new breed of Filipinos concerned about the "Filipino identity."
Philippine
literature is written in Spanish, English, Tagalog,
and/or other native Philippine Languages.
Why do we need to
study Philippine Literature?
Whatever nationality you
are it is always very important to study the literature of your country.
In doing so you are not only learning about the historical aspects of
your land, but you are also keeping alive the thoughts, beliefs and cultural
variations of your ancestors that differentiate your country from the
rest of the world.
A
country's literature also tells us about its civilization in a form other than
straight fact. Literature is usually one person's description of a situation
told through their own personal feelings; eyewitness testimony
to historical events that we were not present at.
Writers have a talent for bringing the past back to life with emotive language
and metaphor, helping us to imagine scenarios that may have happened decades,
or even centuries, ago.
