Phil .Literature Essay

Philippine literary production during the American Period in the Philippines was spurred by devil significant developments in pedagogics and culture. One is the introduction of free public instruction for all children of school age and two, the use of English as medium of instruction in all levels of education in public schools. Free public education do knowledge and information accessible to a greater number of Filipinos. Those who availed of this education through college were able to improve their social status and joined a good number of educated masses who became p artistic creation of the countrys center field class.The use of English as medium of instruction introduced Filipinos to Anglo-American modes of thought, culture and life ways that would be embedded not only in the literary productions produced save in like manner in the psyche of the countrys educated class. It was this educated class that would be the wellspring of a vibrant Philippine Literature in English. Philippine books in English, as a direct result of American colonization of the country, could not escape being imitative of American models of paper especially during its arrest of apprenticeship.The poetry written by other(a) poets manifested studied attempts at versification as in the following poem which is proof of the poets kind of elementary exercise in the English language Vacation days at last are here, And we drop time for fun so dear, every(prenominal) boys and girls do gladly cheer, This welcomed season of the year. In early June in school well meet A harder task shall we complete And if we fail we must repeat That ego aforesaid(prenominal) task without retreat. We simply rest to come again To school where boys and girls obtain The Creators gift to men Whose sanguine hopes in us remain. Vacation means a time for playFor young and old in night and day My wish for all is to be gay, And evil no(prenominal) lead you astray- Juan F. Salazar Philippines Free Press, May 9, 1909 The poem was anthologized in the first collection of poetry in English, Filipino Poetry, change by Rodolfo Dato (1909 1924). Among the poets featured in this anthology were Proceso Sebastian Maximo Kalaw, Fernando Maramag, Leopoldo Uichanco, Jose Ledesma, Vicente Callao, capital of Chile Sevilla, Bernardo Garcia, Francisco Africa, Pablo Anzures, Carlos P. Romulo, Francisco Tonogbanua, Juan Pastrana, Maria Agoncillo, Paz Marquez Benitez, Luis Dato and many others.Another anthology, The English German Anthology of Poetsedited by Pablo Laslo was published and covered poets published from 1924-1934 among whom were Teofilo D. Agcaoili, Aurelio Alvero, Horacio de la Costa, Amador T. Daguio, Salvador P. trotz, Angela Manalang Gloria, Trinidad Tarrosa, Abelardo Subido and Jose Garcia Villa, among others. A third pre-war collection of poetry was edited by Carlos Bulosan, Chorus for America Six Philippine Poets. The six poets in this collection were Jose Garcia Villa, Rafael Zu lueta da Costa, Rodrigo T. Feria, C. B. Rigor, Cecilio Baroga and Carlos Bulosan.In fiction, the period of apprenticeship in literary piece in English is marked by imitation of the style of account statementtelling and strict adherence to the craft of the short tale as practiced by popular American fictionists. Early short story writers in English were often dubbed as the Andersons or Saroyans or the Hemingways of Philippine letters. Leopoldo Yabes in his study of the Philippine short story in English from 1925 to 1955 points to these models of American fiction exerting profound influence on the early writings of story writers like Francisco Arcellana, A.E. Litiatco, Paz Latorena. . When the University of the Philippines was founded in 1908, an elite group of writers in English began to exert influence among the culturati. The U. P. Writers Club founded in 1926, had stated that one of its aims was to enhance and propagate the language of Shakespeare. In 1925, Paz Marquez Benitez short story, Dead Stars was published and was made the landmark of the maturity of the Filipino writer in English. Soon later Benitez, short story writers began publishing stories no longer imitative of American models.Thus, story writers like Icasiano Calalang, A. E. Litiatco, Arturo Rotor, Lydia Villanueva, Paz Latorena , Manuel Arguilla began publishing stories manifesting both skilled use of the language and a keen Filipino sensibility. This combination of writing in a borrowed tongue plot dwelling on Filipino customs and traditions earmarked the literary output of major Filipino fictionists in English during the American period. Thus, the major novels of the period, such as the Filipino Rebel, by Maximo Kalaw, and His Native Soil by Juan C.Laya, are discourses on cultural identity, nationhood and being Filipino through with(p) in the English language. Stories such as How My companion Leon Brought Home a Wife by Manuel Arguilla scanned the scenery as well as the folkways of Ilocandia while N. V. M. Gonzaless novels and stories such as Children of the Ash Covered Loam, evince the panorama of Mindoro, in all its customs and traditions while configuring its characters in the human dilemma of nostalgia and poverty.Apart from Arguilla and Gonzales, noted fictionists during the period included Francisco Arcellana, whom Jose Garcia Villa lauded as a protagonist storyteller, Consorcio Borje, Aida Rivera, Conrado Pedroche, Amador Daguio, Sinai Hamada, Hernando Ocampo, Fernando Maria Guerrero. Jose Garcia Villa himself wrote several short stories but devoted well-nigh of his time to poetry. In 1936, when the Philippine Writers League was organized, Filipino writers in English began discussing the value of literature in society. Initiated and led by Salvador P.Lopez, whose essays on Literature and Societyprovoked debates, the discussion centered on proletarian literature, i. e. , engaged or committed literature versus the art for arts sake literary orientatio n. But this discussion curiously left out the issue of colonialism and colonial literature and the whole place of literary writing in English under a colonial rectify-up that was the Philippines then. With Salvador P. Lopez, the essay in English gained the upper hand in day to day discourse on politics and governance. Polemicists who used to write in Spanish like Claro M.Recto, slowly started using English in the discussion of current events even as theme dailies moved away from Spanish reporting into English. Among the essayists, Federico Mangahas had an easy facility with the language and the essay as genre. Other noted essayists during the period were Fernando Maramag, Carlos P. Romulo , Conrado Ramirez. On the other hand, the peak of a vibrant literary tradition due to historical events did not altogether hamper literary production in the native or autochthonic languages.In fact, the early period of the 20th century was remarkable for the significant literary output of all m ajor languages in the various literary genre. It was during the early American period that seditious plays, using the form of the zarsuwela, were mounted. Zarsuwelistas Juan Abad, Aurelio Tolentino ,Juan Matapang Cruz. Juan Crisostomo Sotto mounted the classics like Tanikalang Ginto, Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas and Hindi Ako Patay, all directed against the American imperialists. Patricio Marianos Anak ng Dagat and Severino Reyess Walang Sugat are equally remarkable zarsuwelas staged during the period.On the eve of World War II, Wilfredo Maria Guerrero would gain dominance in theatre through his one-act plays which he toured through his mobile theatre. Thus, Wanted a Chaperone and The Forsaken Housebecame very popular in campuses throughout the archipelago. The novel in Tagalog, Iloko, Hiligaynon and Sugbuanon also highly-developed during the period aided largely by the steady publication of weekly magazines like the Liwayway, Bannawag and Bisaya which serialized the novels. Among the e arly Tagalog novelists of the 20th century were Ishmael Amado, Valeriano Hernandez Pena, Faustino Aguilar, Lope K.Santos and Lazaro Francisco. Ishmael Amados Bulalakaw ng Pag-asa published in 1909 was one of the earliest novels that dealt with the theme of American imperialism in the Philippines. The novel, however, was not released from the printing press until 1916, at which time, the author, by his own admission and after having been sent as a pensionado to the U. S. , had other ideas apart from those he wrote in the novel. Valeriano Hernandez Penas Nena at Neneng narrates the story of two women who happened to be best of friends as they fight with their relationships with the men in their lives.Nena succeeds in her married life while Neneng suffers from a stormy marriage because of her jealous husband. Faustino Aguilar published Pinaglahuan, a love triangle set in the early years of the century when the workers movement was being formed. The novels hero, Luis Gatbuhay, is a wor ker in a printery who isimprisoned for a false accusation and loses his love, Danding, to his rival Rojalde, son of a wealthy capitalist. Lope K. Santos, Banaag at Sikat has almost the same theme and motif as the hero of the novel, Delfin, also falls in love with a rich woman, daughter of a wealthy landlord.The love story of course is set also within the footing of development of the workers trade union movement and throughout the novel, Santos engages the readers in lengthy treatises and discourses on socialism and capitalism. Many other Tagalog novelists wrote on variations of the same theme, i. e. , the interplay of fate, love and social justice. Among these writers are Inigo Ed Regalado, Roman Reyes, Fausto J. Galauran, Susana de Guzman, Rosario de Guzman-Lingat, Lazaro Francisco, Hilaria Labog, Rosalia Aguinaldo, Amado V. Hernandez.Many of these writers were able to produce three or more novels as Soledad Reyes would bear out in her book which is the result of her dissertation , Ang Nobelang Tagalog (1979). Among the Iloko writers, noted novelists were Leon Pichay, who was also the regions poet laureate then, Hermogenes Belen, and Mena Pecson Crisologo whose Mining wenno Ayat ti Kararwa is considered to be the Iloko version of a Noli me Tangere. In the Visayas, Magdalena Jalandoni and Ramon Muzones would lead most writers in writing the novels that dwelt on the themes of love, courtship, life in the farmlands, and other social upheavals of the period.Marcel Navarra wrote stories and novels in Sugbuhanon. Poetry in all languages continued to flourish in all regions of the country during the American period. The Tagalogs, hailing Francisco F. Balagtas as the nations beginning(a) poet invented the balagtasan in his honor. Thebalagtasan is a debate in verse, a poetical joust done almost spontaneously between protagonists who debate over the pros and cons of an issue. The first balagtasan was held in March 1924 at the Instituto de Mujeres, with Jose Corazon d e deliveryman and Florentino Collantes as rivals, bubuyog (bee) and paru-paro (butterfly) aiming for the love of kampupot (jasmine).It was during this balagtasan that Jose Corazon de Jesus, known as Huseng Batute, emerged swaggering to become the first king of the Balagtasan. Jose Corazon de Jesus was the finest master of the genre. He was later followed by balagtasistas, Emilio Mar Antonio and Crescenciano Marquez, who also became King of the Balagtasan in their own time. As Huseng Batute, de Jesus also produced the finest poems and lyrics during the period. His debates with Amado V. Hernandez on the political issue of independence from America and nationhood were mostly done in verse and are testament to the vitality of Tagalog poetry during the era.Lope K. Santos, epic poem, Ang Panggingera is also proof of how poets of the period have come to master the language to be able to translate it into effective poetry. The balagtasan would be echoed as a poetical fiesta and would be d uplicated in the Ilocos as thebukanegan, in honor of Pedro Bukaneg, the supposed transcriber of the epic, Biag ni Lam-ang and theCrissottan, in Pampanga, in honor of the esteemed poet of the Pampango, Juan Crisostomo Sotto. In 1932, Alejandro G. Abadilla , armed with new criticism and an orientation onmodernist poetry would taunt traditional Tagalog poetics with the publication of his poem, Ako ang Daigdig. Abadillas poetry began the era of modernism in Tagalog poetry, a departure from the traditional rhymed, measured and orally recited poems. Modernist poetry which utilized free or blank verses was intended more for silent reading than oral delivery. famed poets in Tagalog during the American period were Julian Cruz Balmaceda, Florentino Collantes, Pedro Gatmaitan, Jose Corazon de Jesus, Benigno Ramos, Inigo Ed. Regalado, Ildefonso Santos, Lope K.Santos, Aniceto Silvestre, Emilio Mar.Antonio, Alejandro Abadilla and Teodoro Agoncillo. Like the writers in English who formed themselv es into organizations, Tagalog writers also formed the Ilaw at Panitik, and held discussions and workshops on the value of literature in society. Benigno Ramos, was one of the most politicized poets of the period as he aligned himself with the peasants of the Sakdal Movement. Fiction in Tagalog as well as in the other languages of the regions developed alongside the novel. Most fictionists are also novelists.Brigido Batungbakal , Macario Pineda and other writers chose to dwell on the vicissitudes of life in a changing rural landscape. Deogracias Del Rosario on the other hand, chose the urban center and the emerging social elite as subjects of his stories. He is considered the father of the modern short story in Tagalog Among the more popular fictionists who emerged during the period are two women writers, Liwayway Arceo and Genoveva Edroza Matute, considered forerunners in the use of light fiction, a kind of story telling that uses language through poignant rendition.Genoveva Edroz a Matutes Akoy Isang Tinig and Liwayway Arceos Uhaw ang Tigang na Lupa have been used as models of fine writing in Filipino by teachers of composition throughout the school system. Teodoro Agoncillos anthology 25 Pinakamahusay na Maiikling Kuwento (1945) included the foremost writers of fiction in the pre-war era.The separate, yet parallel developments of Philippine literature in English and those in Tagalog and other languages of the archipelago during the American period only prove that literature and writing in whatever language and in whatever climate are able to survive mainly through the active imagination of writers. Apparently, what was absentminded during the period was for the writers in the various languages to come together, share experiences and come to a conclusion on the elements that constitute good writing in the Philippines.