Philippine Lit Essay

Literature and history ar closely interrelated. In discovering the history of a race, the feelings, aspirations, customs and traditions of a people are surely to be included . . . and these feelings, aspirations, customs and traditions that are written is books. History do-nothing also be written and this too, is literature. Events that layabout be written shoot are part of true literature. Literature, therefore, is part of history. Literature and history, however, also concord differences.Literature may be figments of the imagination or events devoid of truth that have been written down, while history is do up of events that in truth happened. The Pre-Spanish Period Long before the Spaniard and other foreigners landed on Filipino shores, our forefathers al glance overy had their own literature stamped in the history of our race. Our ancient literature shows our customs and traditions in everyday life as trace in our folk stories, old plays and short stories. Our ancestors also had their own alphabet which was divergent from that brought by the Spaniards.The first alphabet used by our ancestors was similar to that of the Malayo-Polynesian alphabet. Whatever record our ancestors left were either burned by the Spanish friars in the belief that they were works of the devil or were written on materials that easily perished, like the barks of trees, dried leaves and bamboo cylinders which could not have remained undestroyed even if efforts were do to preserve them. Other records that remained showed folk songs that proved existence of a ab declinati cardinal culture truly our own. close to of these were passed on by word of mouth till they reached the hands of some publishers or printers who took interest in depression the manuscripts of the ancient Filipinos. The Spaniards who came to the Philippines tried to prove that our ancestors were really fond of poetry, songs, stories, riddles and proverbs which we still hump today and which serve to show t o generations the true culture of our people. Pre-Spanish Literature is characterized by A. LEGENDS. Legends are a form of prose the common theme of which is about the origin of a thing, place, location or name.The events are imaginary, devoid of truth and unbelievable. superannuated Filipino customs are reflected in these legends. Its aim is to entertain. Here is an spokesperson of a legend is THE LEGEND OF THE TAGALOGS. B. FOLK TALES. Folk tales are made up of stories about life, adventure, love, horror and humor where one can realise lessons about life. These are useful to us because they help us appraise our environment, evaluate our personalities and improve our perspectives in life. An example of this is THE MOON AND THE SUN. C. THE EPIC AGE.Epics are long narrative poems in which a series of heroic achievements or events, usually of a hero, are dealt with at length. Nobody can feel which larges are the oldest because in their translations from other languages, even in E nglish and Spanish. We can only determine their origins from the time mentioned in the said epics. Aside from the same epics, there are still other epics that can be read and studied like the following epics. a. Bidasari-Moro epic b. Biag ni Lam-ang-Ilokano epic c. Maragtas-Visayan epic d. Haraya-Visayan epic e. Lagda-Visayan epic f.Epigrams, Riddles, Chants, Maxims, Proverbs or Sayings 1. Epigrams (Salawikain). These have been customarily used and served as laws or rules on good behavior by our ancestors. To others, these are like allegories or parables that impart lessons for the young. 2. Riddles (Bugtong) or Palaisipan. These are made up of one or more measured line of works with rhyme and may consist of quaternary to 12 syllables. 3. Chant (Bulong). Used in witchcraft or enchantment. 4. Maxims. Some are rhyming couplets with verses of 5, 6 or 8 syllables, each line having the same number of syllables. 5. Sayings (Kasabihan).Often used in teasing or to comment on a persons ac tuations. 6. Sawikain (Sayings with no surreptitious meanings) The Spanish Period (1565-1898) It is an accepted belief that the Spanish colonization of the Philippines started in 1565 during the time of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the first Spanish governor-general in the Philippines. Literature started to flourish during his time. This squirt continued unabated until the Cavite Revolt in 1872. The Spaniards colonized the Philippines for more than cardinal centuries. During these times, many changes occurred in the lives of Filipinos.They embraced the Catholic religion, changed their names, and were baptized. Their lifestyles changed too. They built houses mad of stones and bricks, used gorgeous furniture like the piano and used kitchen utensils. Carriages, trains and boats were used as agent of travel. They held fiestas to honor the saints, the pope and the governors. They had cockfights, horse races and the theater as means of recreation. This gave betterment to the formation o f the different classes of society like the rich and the landlords. Some Filipinos sunk courses like medicine, law, agriculture and teaching.