Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The variety and abundance of Philippine literature evolved even before the
colonial periods. Some parts of the Philippine literature are influenced by some Asian
countries that first traded with the Filipinos long time ago. Folk tales, epics, poems and
marathon chants existed in most ethno linguistic groups that were passed on from
generations to generations through word of mouth. Literary works Filipinos are oral
because of the reason that written literature is inaccessible. Even though Filipinos had
their own system of writing, it cannot be preserved in durable materials. They started
writing on clays, barks of trees and other natural resources available in the Pre Colonial
Period.
Belief in indigenous spiritual beliefs is pervasive in the olden times. This religion
is also known as animism. The term animism applies to the belief that within all
creatures and all objects there exists a soul or personality. It is thus a spiritual belief, and
many scholars have offered the idea that animism was the first spiritual concept of
humankind, and that it underlies all further religious thought. Filipinos believed that there
Animism gave birth to folk narratives, riddles, proverbs, songs, ritual chants and
epics. These literatures are community-bound and rose from the experiences and
observations of the community’s people. Yet, this literary works were used more of
Filipino folktales ( kwentong bayan ) sprung and spread in the olden days.. Filipino
folktales are stories that form part of the oral tradition in the Philippines. They have been
passed on generation to generation by word of mouth rather than by writing, and the
stories have been modified by continuous retellings before they were written down and
recorded in the modern times. Folktales in general include legends, fables, jokes, tall
stories and fairy tales. Many of the folktales in the Philippines involve mythical creatures
Folktales in the Philippines are thought to show the tradition of the Philippines. Folktales
1. PHILIPPINE MYTHS are about the creation of the universe, God ( Bathala or
Maykapal), and the origin of man, supernatural beings and native Filipino heroes.
2. FILIPINO LEGENDS (alamat) relate the origin of local phenomena, places, plants,
animals, things and names. Legends are stories that tell the origin of certain things,
places, etc.
Myths and legends served to explain natural phenomena and people’s belief so
that the members of their communities would understand mysterious things in their
many islands
3. FILIPINO FABLES are stories about animals and inanimate beings that are made to
speak and act like rational beings. Filipino fables tell moral lessons to people.
4. FANTASY STORIES are stories about the unseen world or the underworld and with
CHANTS
Chants also refer to folk songs. Folk songs help express the feeling and reactions
of Filipinos in their daily life. Folk songs touches all aspects of life, be it love, lullaby,
game, hunting, hailing, sailing, etc. The continuous celebrations gave birth to these folk
songs.
RIDDLES
between two different objects. Riddles are used to entertain people. The custom, thought,
everyday life, and native environment of the Filipinos are pictured by means of riddles.
Answering riddles is a native game of the mind common in the Philippines. One good
and "wisdom of experience," salawikain, as is called in Tagalog, are sayings that are
EPIC
The most substantial of Pre-Spanish Literature is the Epic. It is one of the most
important literary works in Pre Spanish Period. An epic is a long narrative poem telling
heroic deeds and supernatural events that happened long time ago. Epics are tales of love
and adventures of native heroes possessing powers of gods, battling against monsters and
triumphs over big armies. Usually, an epic hero is portrayed as a man of strength, ideal,
courage and wisdom. The legendary adventure of the epic hero is full of obstacles put up
the battle, the epic hero is aided with friendly supernatural beings. On the epic hero’s
quest, he learns some life values. The verses of an epic were chanted or sung while being
passed from generation to generation before being written on paper. Due to continuous
retells, a lot of Philippine epics survived and have been recorded in places least colonized
Some of the famous epics are: Indarapatra and Sulayman; Handiong; Ibalon; Biag ni
To show one example of an epic, here is the summary of Biag ni Lam- Ang:
BIAG NI LAM-ANG
Nine months before Lam-ang was born to a noble family, his father Don Juan left for the
mountains to defeat an evil tribe of Igorots. Unfortunately, he was beheaded, and his head
was displayed at the center of the village as a prize. When Lam-ang's mother Ina
Namongan gave birth to him, she was surprised that he could talk immediately after birth.
He selected his own name, chose his own sponsor, and asked for his father’s presence.
Lam-ang promised to find out what happened to his father by going up the mountains
himself. There, helped by a good tribe of Igorots, he encountered the evil tribe and killed
every one of them in vengeance, using just a single spear. When he returned home, he
was so tired that he wanted to bathe. He dipped into the Amburayan River, which was
instantly inundated with mud and blood. So filthy was the water that the fish in the river
crawled out and died on its shores. The following day, he told his mother Ina Namongan
that he wanted to marry. Using his supernatural abilities, he predicted he would wed a
woman named Ines Kannoyan in a place called Calanutian. Accompanied by his pets, a
rooster and a dog, he journeyed to meet her. On the way, he encountered a man called
Sumarang with very big eyes. They fought and Lam-ang won, killing Sumarang. The
beautiful Ines Kannoyan had a multitude of suitors, and they crowded her house in
Calanutian. So many were they that Lam-ang had to step on their heads and walk through
a window just to enter the house. Lam-ang’s rooster flapped its wings, and the long house
toppled. This amazed everybody, especially Ines. Then, Lam-ang’s dog barked and the
long house rose again. Ines Kannoyan was so immediately impressed by his strength that
she agreed to marry him. Nevertheless, her parents were skeptical: they needed a dowry
from his parents in return for Ines Kannoyan’s hand. Lam-ang agreed to return in a week
to bring his mother as well as wealth and goods. Back in his town, Lam-ang prepared a
gilded house filled with fruit, jewels, statues, and other amenities. When he sailed back to
Calanutian, Ines Kannoyan’s family was stunned. The wedding was held on the spot.
After the wedding Lam-ang was tasked to catch some fish in the Amburayan River and
when he dove into the water he went straight into the mouth of the Berkakan, a river
monster. His wife was deeply anguished. The old diver Lacay Marcos was fetched to get
the bones of Lam-ang excreted by the Berkakan. When the bones were retrieved, the pets
- Source: http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Biag_ni_Lam-ang
GENERALIZATION
Even before the colonization of the Spaniards, Filipinos already had teir own
literature. A few of them were preserved because the materials where they kept written
literature are easily to be destroyed. It has been proven that the indigenous spiritual belief
gave birth to different forms of literary works like the chant, riddles, folk tales and the
folk epic. These literary works are used more for entertainment than information. The
early Filipinos used to tell their experiences to lessen their fear of objects. Early Filipinos
handed down these folktales orally, from generation to generation. Early Filipinos wanted
to express their feelings through literature. They sung chants to show celebration. The
epic is one of the most substantial in the Pre Spanish Period. Myths and legends
With all the information, we have proven that the without these ancient literature,
the modern literature today will be weak. And the true Filipino literature can be seen
6. wikipedia.org
7. google.com
GROUP A
YEAR 2 - EULER