PHILIPPINE LITERATURE DURING AMERICAN PERIOD

US COLONIALISM
1898-1945

Brief History

 The Filipino revolutionist won against the Spaniards who colonized

Philippines for more than 300 years.

 The Philippine flag was hoisted on June 12, 1898 as a symbol of

independence. Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo was elected the first president of the
Philippine Republic, which was short – lived.

 Americans colonized the country. And in 1901, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo

surrendered to the Americans.

Many Filipino started writing again and the nationalism of the people remain
undaunted. Filipino writers went into all forms of literature like news reporting,
poetry, stories, plays, essays and novels. Their writings clearly depicted their love
of country and their longings for independence.

FEATURES OF PHILIPPINE LITERATURE UNDER AMERICAN REGIME

Spanish and Tagalog and the Vernaculars were the languages used in writing
during the first years in American period, but Spanish and Tagalog were the
predominated language.

 In 1910, a new group started to write in English. Hence, Spanish, Tagalog,

the Vernaculars and finally English, were the mediums used in literature
during these times.

Historical Background
The creation of Philippine literacy works during the American Period in the
Philippines was advanced by two significant developments in education and
culture.

Philippine Literature in English is divided into three-time frames:

With some newspapers having a space for literary pieces, writers were given the chance to show and
prove the true talent of the Filipinos.

Some of these newspapers were:

 Muling Pagsilang (1903, Tagalog),

 Ang Kaluwasan (1902, Cebuano),
 Makinaugalingon (1913, Ilonggo), and
 Nueva Era (1908, Ilokano).

The best-known magazines that capitalized on short stories and poems were

 Liwayway (1922, Tagalog),

 Bisaya (1930, Cebuano),
 Hiligaynon (1934, Ilonggo), and
 Bannawag (1934, Ilokano).

The literary genres that flourished during the American Period were:

 poetry,
 sarswela,
 short story, and the
 novel.

Poetry was written in the three languages –

 Filipino,
 Spanish,
 English,

and in the different dialects.

Some of the known poets during the American period were:

 Maximo Kalaw,
 Carlos P. Romulo,
 Maria Agoncillo,
 Paz Marquez Benitez,
 Salvador P. Lopez,
  Jose Garcia Villa,
 Carlos Bulosan, and many others.

There were three collection of poems printed namely:

 Filipino Poetry edited by Rodolfo Dato,

 The English German Anthology of Poets edited by Pablo Laslo, and a
 pre-war collection by Carlos Bulosan.

The balagtasan, named after Francisco F. Balagtas, is a debate in verse, a poetical joust done almost
spontaneously between protagonists who debate over the pros and the cons of a certain issue.

The first ever balagtasan was held in March 1924 at the Insituto de Mujeres, with Corazon de Jesus and
Florentino Collantes as rivals. Jose Corazon de Jesus, known also as Huseng Batute, became the first ever
king of the Balagtasan.

The founding of the U. P. Writers Club in 1926 whose aim was to enhance and propagate the "language
of Shakespeare.

With the publication of Paz Marquez Benitez' "Dead Stars," it was made the landmark of the maturity
of the Filipino writer in English. Many writers followed Benitez like Icasiano Calalang, Arturo Rotor, A. E.
Litiatco, Paz Latorena, and Manuel Arguilla.

Works like "His Native Soil" by Juan C. Laya, "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife" by Manuel
Arguilla, and many others depicted the Filipino life in English.

The other novelists of this period are Jose Garcia Villa, Francisco Arellana, Fernando Maria Guerrero,
Amador Daguio, and Sinai Hamada.

SARSWELA gained popularity. Most of the sarwelas if not all are directed against the American
imperialists. The works of Severino Reyes ("Walang Sugat") and Patricio Mariano ("Anak ng Dagat") are
equally remarkable sarwelas during the period. Here are the other noted sarswelistas: Aurelio Tolentino,
Juan Abad, Juan Matapang Cruz, and Juan Crisostomo Sotto.

Liwayway Arceo and Genoveva Edroza Matute are two fictionist writers that became popular during the
American rule.

Their works "Uhaw ang Tigang na Lupa" and "Ako'y Isang Tinig" respectively are used as models for fine
writing. Both writers use a style of storytelling that uses language through poignant rendition. Teodoro
Agoncillo's "25 Pinakamahusay na Maikling Kuwento" included the foremost writers of fiction before
World War II.
The Manila Times published its first issue in October 1898, making it the first English-language
newspaper in the islands.

Among the newspapers taking this stance were La Democracia and Consolidacion
Nacional. Among the papers holding out for independence were El Renacimiento, Muling
Pagsilang, El Debate, La Opinion and Los Obreros.

Another influential newspaper was the Bulletin, which originally was established by H.G. Harris
and Carson Taylor in 1900 as a shipping journal and to encourage shipping and commerce in the
islands. The Bulletin used as its primary sources the news agencies Associated Press, United
Press International and the Chicago Tribune Service. For its first three years the Bulletin was
published free of charge; it became a full-fledged paper in 1912.
In 1917, Manuel Quezon purchased the Manila Times and held it for four years. Ownership
changed hands a few times after that until the Times joined the press holdings of Alejandro
Roces Sr. Among Roces' other newspapers at the time were Taliba, the Tribune and La
Vanguardia.

Journalists were deported or imprisoned for exercising freedom of the press, and papers such
as La Justicia, and the Cebuano newspaper El Nueva Dia, were suspended many times for
championing nationalistic views.

Historians say El Renacimiento was the only true independent newspaper during these dark
days, and its light was later extinguished by a libel case brought against the paper by an
American official.

THE PERIOD OF RE-ORIENTATION (1898-1910)

The Period of Re-orientation covered the early years of American period and the landing of the
Americans to Philippine shores including the Philippine-American War. Even during the war, the
Americans established public school system in areas that have been pacified. English
language was used as medium of instruction in public schools as early as 1900 in the Corregidor
Island.

 The first English teachers were the American soldiers stationed in various areas.
 Later on, the professional teachers arrived via US Army transport ship “USS Thomas” hence, these
pioneering teachers were called “Thomasites.”
 These Thomasites established numerous public Elementary, Secondary and Tertiary schools
throughout the archipelago.
 They established the University of the Philippines with Murray Bartlett, a Thomasite, as the First
President; which was the first to use English language in the higher education.
 They also established Philippine School of Arts and Trades (which became Polytechnic University
of the Philippines), Philippine Normal School (which became Philippine Normal University),
Silliman University and Xavier University, in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Pioneer English Newspapers
The revolutionary newspaper “El Renacimiento” edited by Rafael Palma, who later on became
UP President, was the pioneering newspaper to publish works written in English Language.

The Philippines Free Press founded by R. McCullough Dick & D. Theo Rogers was the first
privately owned publication to publish English works of Filipino writers. They pay the Filipino
writers when their work was chosen to be published.

Pioneer Filipino English writers

 Justo Juliano wrote “Sursum Corda” as the first literary work published in English in 1907.
 Juan F. Salazar wrote “My Mother” and “Air Castles” which were published in 1909.
 Proceso Sebastian wrote “To my Lady in Laoag” which was published in 1909.

 1910 - English - Medium of instruction on public schools

 El Renacimiento - Rafael Palma - 1901
 Philippines Free Press - 1905
 Sursum Corda - Justo Juliano - 1907 - first work published in English
 My Mother and Air Castles - Juan F. Salazar - 1909

THE PERIOD OF IMITATION (1910-1925)

 1919 - UP College Folio

 1920 - Bulletin, Philippine Herald
 1924 - The Philippine Review, the Independent, Rising Philippines and
Citizens, and the Philippine Education Magazine.

This period was characterized by the Filipino writers imitating the American and English
writers. The UP College Folio, the school publication of the University of the Philippines,
published literary compositions in English written by the pioneers in English poetry, essays and
short stories.

Period of Imitation Poets

1. Fernando Maramag wrote the “Rural Maid.” Other poets include:
2. Juan F. Salazar
3. Jose M. Hernandez
4. Vicente del Fierro
5. Francisco Tonogbanua
6. Maximo Kalaw
7. Vidal A. Tan
8. Francisco Africa
9. Victoriano Yamzon
Period of Imitation Essay writers
Essay was a Filipino literary genre that was born in the Period of Imitation. The following
essayists wrote Formal essays which were truly scholarly, full of sobriety, substance and
structure. Pioneers in formal essay include:

1. Carlos P. Romulo
2. Jorge C. Bocobo
3. Mauro Mendez
4. Vicente Hilario
Informal essay writers also emerged and they are composed of:

1. Ignacio Manlapaz
2. Godofredo Rivera
3. Federico Mangahas
4. Francisco B. Icasiano
5. Salvador P. Lopez
6. Jose Lansang
7. Amado G. Dayrit
Period of Imitation Short Stories
Short story as a literary genre was brought along by the Americans. Filipinos readily adopted
short story because as a form of relaxation and entertainment, it proved to be worthwhile for one
can read such in just a short while. There were even Filipino (Tagalog) and other vernacular
versions of them. By and large, short stories began to be published in various school newspapers
and periodicals such as:

1. UP College Folio which became Philippine Collegian

2. Bulletin
3. The Philippine Herald
4. The Philippine Review
5. The Independent
6. Rising Philippines
7. Citizens
8. The Philippine Education Magazine
Many Filipino writers became popular during this period due to their masterful works. Notable
writers include:
1. Paz Marquez Benitez who wrote the “Dead Stars” which stand out as model of perfection in
character delineation, local color, plot and message. She also became the editor of Women’s
Journal, the first literary magazine in English published in the Philippines
2. Bernardo P. Garcia wrote the poem “George Washington.”
3. Eulogio B. Rodriguez was a research writer of UP College of Liberal Arts who won Villamor Prize
in the Provincial History Competition
4. Marcelo de Gracia Concepcion wrote the award-winning poem “Azucena.”
5. Procopio Solidum wrote “Never mind and Other Poems.”
6. Lorenzo E. Paredes wrote the first poetry anthology “Reminiscenses.”
7. Zoilo Galang published his first volume of essay entitled “Life and Success.”
8. Eliseo Quirino and Vicente Hilario wrote the essay “Thinking for Ourselves.”
9. Zoilo Galang published the first anthology of short stories in “Tales of the Philippines.”
10. Rodolfo Dato published his anthology “Filipino Poetry.”
11. Carlos P. Romulo published a collection of plays entitled “Daughters for Sale and other Plays.”

THE PERIOD OF SELF-DISCOVERY (1925-1941)

In this period Filipino writers acquired mastery of the English Language. Evidently, they began
to write confidently and competently. They wrote in free verse, sonnets, odes, elegies and others.
They even started to write novels and dramas.

Period of Self-Discovery and Growth Poetry

 The Philippine Writers Association was organized in 1925.
 Luis Dato wrote “Manila: A Collection of Verses”
 Marcelo De Gracia Concepcion wrote “Bamboo Flute”
 Aurelio S. Alvero wrote “Moon shadows on the Water”
 Pablo Laslo edited the “English-German Anthology of Filipino Poets”
 Luis Dato published “My Book of Verses”
 Rafael Zulueta da Costa wrote “First Leaves”
 Aurelio S. Alvero wrote “Nuances”
 Abelardo Subido wrote the sonnet “Soft Night”
 Rafael Zulueta da Costa won the Commonwealth Literary Contest with his compilation “Like the
Molave and other Poems”
 Jose Garcia Villa published “Poems by Doveglion” and he also published his books in the US.
Period of Self-Discovery and Growth Short Story
Aside from poetry, short story has likewise flourished during this time. Numerous short story
writers were motivated due to incentives given by these publications:

1. Philippine Free Press

2. The Graphic
3. The Philippine Magazine
4. UP Literary Apprentice
Short story became the most popular literary genre during this time. Popular short story writers
during this time include:

1. Paz Marquez Benitez published her first short story anthology “Filipino Love Stories.”
2. Jose Garcia Villa published “Philippine Short Stories.” He won first place the Philippine Free Press
short story writing contest with his “Mir-i-nisa.”
3. Manuel Arguilla won the Commonwealth Literary Contest for short story with his “How my
Brother Leon brought home a Wife.”
4. Paz Latorena wrote “Sunset”
5. Jose Lansang wrote “Broken Parasol”
6. Sinai C. Hamada wrote “Talanata’s Wife”
7. Fausto Dugenio wrote “Wanderlust”
8. Amado G. Dayrit wrote “His Gift” and “Yesterday”
9. Amador T. Daguio wrote “The Woman who looked out of the Window”
10. Arturo B. Rotor
11. Osmundo Sta. Romana
Period of Self-Discovery and Growth Essay
The essay during this period was greatly improved in quality and quantity. There have been
improvements on the subject, content and style of writing essays. During this period, various
Filipino essayists were classified according to:

1. Political, social, and reflective essays. These essays were opinions and viewpoints by the essayists
using their newspaper columns which appeared regularly hence, they were very popular during this
time. Some political, social and reflective essayists include:
A. Federico Mangahas
B. Salvador P. Lopez
C. Pura Santillan Castrence
D. Vicente Albano Pacis
E. Ariston Estrada
F. Jose Lansang
2. Critical essays. These essays were serious treatment of various issues during this period.As these
essayists regularly appear in various newspaper columns, they became very popular during this time.
The critical essayists during this time include:
A. Salvador P. Lopez
B. I.V. Mallari
C. Ignacio Manlapaz
D. Jose Garcia Villa
E. Arturo B. Rotor
 F. Leopoldo Y. Yabes
G. Maximo Soliven wrote the prize-winning essay entitled, “They Called it Brotherhood.”
3. Personal or familiar essays. These essays were casual and light in terms of the mood they were
written. They provided sort of entertainment and relaxation for the readers. Popular essayists of this
kind include:
A. Francisco “Mang Kiko” B. Icasiano
B. Alfredo E. Litiatco
C. Solomon V. Arnaldo
D. Amado G. Dayrit
E. Consuelo Gar Catuca
Period of Self-Discovery and Growth Notable Essays
1. “Literature and Society” was written by Salvador P. Lopez. This is a collection of critical
reflections and serious essays. It won first place in the Commonwealth Literary Contest in essay.
2. “The Filipino Way of Life” was written by Camilo Osias. This is a series of essays on the Filipino
way of life as drawn from history, folkways, philosophy, and psychology of the Philippines.
3. “Mang Kiko” was a reprint of Francisco B. Icasiano’s essays in the “Sunday Times Magazine”
under the column “From my Nipa Hut.” It is an essay of the common tao and is written with humor
and sympathy.
4. “I am a Filipino” was an editorial essay written by Carlos P. Romulo printed in the “Philippines
Herald” magazine. It was published in his book “My Brother Americans” in New York by Double
Day & Company in 1945.
Period of Self-Discovery and Growth Drama
The University of the Philippines introduced playwriting as a course. UP established the UP
Little Theater and provided incentives for playwrights who wrote plays.

 Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero became director of UP Theater and popularized drama performances in the
country.
 He founded the UP Mobile Theater which performed in various place throughout the country.
 The UP Mobile Theater also performed in various universities worldwide.
Some of the notable dramas during this period include:

1. Daughters for Sale and other Plays written by Carlos P. Romulo

2. The Radiant Symbol written by Jorge Bocobo
3. The Husband of Mrs. Cruz & A Daughter of Destiny written by Vidal A. Tan
4. The Waves written by Hilarion Vibal
5. The Oil Lamp & The Earthquake written by Augusto C. Catanjal
6. The Land of our Fathers written by Severino Montano
7. Panday Pira, the Cannon Maker written by Jose M. Hernandez
8. 13 Plays was a collection of plays written by Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero
Period of Self-Discovery and Growth Biography
Writing biography and autobiography became fashionable during this period. Some notable
biographies during this period include:

1. Quezon was a biography written about Manuel L. Quezon by I.P. Caballero and Marcelo de Gracia
Concepcion.
2. The Great Malayan was a biography which won the Commonwealth Literary Contest for
biography about Rizal. It was written by Carlos Quirino, the most famous biographer of this period.
3. Quezon, the Man of destiny was another biography written about Manuel L. Quezon by Carlos
Quirino, the most famous biographer of the period.
4. The Birth of Discontent was an autobiography written by I.V. Mallari.

Some of the Filipino Writers during American Colonization

Maximo Maguiat Kalaw (1891-1955)

He studied at the Philippine Normal School and the University of the Philippines
wherein he became the editor of Collegio Folio, the first school paper in UP.

 Usapin ng mga Pilipino (1915)

 The Development of Philippine Politics (1926)
 The Filipino Rebel: A Romance of the American Occupation of the
Philippines (1931)

Parts of A Newspaper

News section

Editorial Page

Business and Finance Section

Sports Page

Classified Ads Section

Entertainment section

weather Section
Announcement and obituary page

Faustino S. Aguilar (1882-1955)

He was one of the first novelists in the Philippines to explore and present social
realism through literature.

Pinaglahuan was Faustino’s response against imperialism and colonialism.

KINDS OF NOVELS

ALLEGORY

Comic

Epistolary

Feminist

Gothic

Magic Realism

Realism

Romance

Picaresque

Satire

Paz Marquez-Benitez (1894-1983)

Authored the first Filipino modern English language short story, Dead Stars,
Published in the Philippine Herald in 1925.

Benitez was among the first generation of Filipinos trained in the American
education system which used English as the medium of instruction.
Elements of a Short Story

 setting
 characterization
 plot
 conflict
 climax
 resolution
 theme
 point of view

Zoilo Galang (1895-1959)

A self-starter, he learned typing and stenography in English and Spanish all by

himself. Attracted to the English language, he took special courses at the
University of the Philippines in 1925, then went to Columbia University for further
studies in Literature.

He was soon writing books of fiction, biography and philosophy, and his output
was prodigious. His early poems saw print on the Kapampangan paper, “E
Mangabiran". He authored “A Child of Sorrow”, the first English novel written by a
Filipino. This was later made into a movie in 1930.

STRUCTURE AND POETRY

STANZAS

 couplet (2 lines)
 tercet (3 lines)
 quatrain (4 lines)
 cinquain (5 lines)
 sestet (6 lines)
 septet (7 lines)
 octave (8 lines)

Form:
  Lyric Poetry
 Ode
 Elegy
 Sonnet
 Narrative Poem
 Ballad
 Epic
 Descriptive Poem

Amado Vera Hernandez (1903-1970)

A Filipino writer and labor leader who was known for his criticism of social
injustices in the Philippines and was later imprisoned for his involvement in the
communist movement. He was the central figure in a landmark legal case that
took 13 years to settle.

While being a reporter, columnist and editor of several newspaper and magazines
including Watawat, Mabuhay, Pilipino, Makabayan and Sampaguita, he also
honed his poetic craft. He received the Republic Cultural Heritage Award, a
number of Palancas and an award from the National Press Club for his journalistic
achievements.

Manuel Arguilla (1911-1944)

 He graduated in University of the Philippines with a Bachelor of Science

Education degree.
 He was a member of the first class of the University of the Philippines,
graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912.
 Authored the short story "How My Brother Leon brought Home a Wife",
which won first prize in the Commonwealth Literary Contest in 1940

Juan Cabreros Laya (1911-1952)

 He was a Filipino novelist and publisher.

 He was the founder of Inang Lupa publishing and was active in textbook in
the 1950s.
 He also wrote many stories and novels about his country and native land.
  He was awarded a Commonwealth prize for his English novel "His Native
Soil".

Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero (1911-1995)

He also became the director Filipino Players from 1941-1947.

He wrote well over a hundred plays, 41 one which have been published. His
published and unpublished plays have either been broadcast over the radio or
staged in various parts of the Philippines.

Additional