Spanish Period

Learning Outcomes

 Trace the development of Philippine Literature during the Spanish Colonial Period.
 Develop understanding of the different Literary Forms that were introduced by the
Spaniards.
 Culture

 “Culture, or civilization, taken in its broad, ethnographic sense, is

that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals,
law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as
a member of society.”

Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (1832 –1917)

 Monopoly of printing presses by religious orders prior to the nineteenth century explains the religious content of
early written literature.
 The literature of the pagans made the missionaries and priests apprehensive, especially because a number of
uprisings motivated by religious nativism had erupted early during the colonial period. Oral literature was
"Christianized" where it could not be suppressed or eradicated.
 Doctrína Christiána en lengua española y tagala (1593)

 The Dominicans were the first to set up a printing press, and Doctrina
Christiana, the first book ever published in the Philippines, was their
output.
 Fray Juan de Plasencia, a Franciscan, worked on the Tagalog
translation and it was approved by Obispo Salazar.
 Memorial de la vida cristiana (1605)

 The first printed literary work in Tagalog appeared in one of the books produced by the friar-
Iexicographer Francisco Blancas de San Jose.
 This was the poem "May Bagyo Ma't May Rilim (Though It Is Stormy and Dark)" which was
published in Memorial de la vida Cristiana.
May bagyo ma't, may rilim Naguiua ma't, nabagbag
ang ola'y titiguisin, dalayong matataas
aco,y, magpipilit din: aco'y magsusumicad
aquing paglalacbayin babagohin ang lakas
toloying cong hanapin dito rin hahaguilap
Dios na Ama namin. timbulang icaligtas

Cun di man magupiling Cun lompo ma't, cun pilay

Tocsong mabaomabauin, anong di icahacbang
aco,y, mañgañgahas din: naito ang aacay
itong libro,y, basahin, magtuturo nang daan:
at dito co hahañgoin toncod ay inilaan
aquing sasandatahin. sucat pagcatibayan.

Cun dati mang nabulag

aco,y, pasasalamat
na ito ang liwanag
Dios ang nagpahayag
sa Padreng nagsiualat
nitong mabuting sulat.
 Gaspar Aquino de Belen

 a Filipino poet and translator of the 17th century

 Considered as the first Filipino literary artist, the first one to produce a long work that bore the signs of conscious
design and careful composition.
 Ang Mahal na Passion ni Jesu Christong Panginoon (1704).
 After Aquino, the genre that evolved came to be designated as pasyon, a permanent tribute to the 1704 poem.
Cenaculo

 A related genre in the native theater was the cenaculo, a

stage play on the passion and death of Christ.
Komedya

 It drew its plot from medieval Spanish ballads about highborn warriors and their colorful
adventures for love and fame, providing Filipino viewers a glimpse of an idealized European
society that exemplified the virtues of religious piety and steadfast loyalty to the monarch.
 Moro-moro

 Comedia de capa y espada- a melodrama which depicted the conflict between the Christians and
the Muslims.
 Awit & Korido

 Awit - It consists of four monoriming dodecasyllabic (12) lines.

 Korido - It consists of four monoriming octosyllabic (8) lines.
 Both of them are narrative poems, drawing their subject matter from the same Spanish ballads that
provided many a komedya with plots.
 Both were sung or chanted, never simply read, and apparently they circulated the way oral literature
circulated, enabling the more popular ones to reach a wide audience.
Example of Korido

 Na ang sabi sa historia

nang panahong una-una,
sa mundo'i nabubuhay pa
yaong daquilang monarca.
 At ang caniyang esposa
yaong mariquit, na reina,
ang pangala't bansag niya
ay si Doña Valeriana.

Excerpt from Ibong Adarna

 Francisco Baltazar (1788-1862)

 The first half of the nineteenth century witnessed the peak of the awit as a poetic genre in the
masterwork of the poet Francisco Baltazar, popularly known as Balagtas.
 La India Elegante y el Negrito Amante (The Fashionable India and Her Negrito Suitor, n.d.), a short
farce
 Orosman at Zafira, ca. 1857-60, a full length komedya
 Pinagdaanang Buhay ni Florante at Laura sa Cahariang Albania [The Life Florante and Laura Went
through in the Kingdom of Albania, ca. 1833), a well-known awit
 Florante at Laura

 The poem related the story of two lovers who are parted by the political intrigues fomented by an evil
member of the royal household of Albania.
 Florante is lured into a trap by his rival and is exposed to wild beasts in a forest outside the kingdom.
Florante is rescued by Aladin who has wandered into the forest.
 Laura is saved by Flerida, a Persian princess.
 Eventually, Albania was liberated and Florante and Laura are proclaimed the new monarchs, and Aladin
and Flerida submit themselves to Christian baptism.
VENGEFUL HEAVEN: Mahiganting Langit

 Soliloquy - an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or

regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play.
 VENGEFUL HEAVEN: Mahiganting Langit
Modern Tagalog
 Mahiganting langit! bangis mo'y nasaan?
ngayo'y naniniig sa pagkagulaylay;
bago'y ang bandila ng lalong kasam-an
sa Reynong Albanya'y iniwawagayway.
 Sa loob at labas ng bayan kong sawi,
kaliluha'y siyang nangyayaring hari,
kagalinga't bait ay nalulugami,
ininis sa hukay ng dusa't pighati.
English Translation
 Just heaven, where is your wrath?
You take your time in impotence
While the banner of the grossest evil
Waves over Albanian land.
 All over my hapless country
Treason has established its reign,
While goodness and wisdom lie prostate,
Buried alive by grievous grief.
 VENGEFUL HEAVEN: Mahiganting Langit

 Kaliluha't sama ang ulo'y nagtayo
at ang kabaita'y kimi at nakayuko;
santong katuwira'y lugami at hapo,
ang luha na lamang ang pinatutulo.
 Treachery and evil tilt their heads in pride
While virtue is timid and bowed;
Godly justice lies groveling and helpless,
All it can do is shed copious tears.
 VENGEFUL HEAVEN: Mahiganting Langit
 O, taksil na pita sa yama't mataas!
O, hangad sa puring hanging lumilipas!
ikaw ang dahilan ng kasam-ang lahat
at niring nasapit na kahabag-habag!
 Sa korona dahil ng Haring Linceo,
at sa kayamanan ng dukeng ama ko,
ang ipinangahas ng Konde Adolfo
sabugan ng sama ang Albanyang Reyno.
 Ah, perfidious desire for wealth and power,
Ah, covetousness for honor fleeting like the wind,
You're the cause of every ill
And of this, my piteous state!
 For King Linceo's crown
And the wealth of the duke, my father,
Count Adolfo dared what he did:
Sow evil all over Albania.
 VENGEFUL HEAVEN: Mahiganting Langit
 Ang lahat ng ito, maawaing Langit,
iyong tinutungha'y ano't natitiis?
mula ka ng buong katuwira't bait,
pinayagang mong ilubog ng lupit.
 Makapangyarihang kamay mo'y ikilos,
papamilantikin ang kalis ng poot;
sa Reynong Albanya'y kusang ibulusok
ang Iyong higanti sa masamang-loob.
 All this, O merciful heaven;
You see from above, and yet allow,
The fountainhead of virtue and wisdom,
You let brutality submerge them.
 Swing your powerful sword arm,
Let the saber of fury lash out;
Upon Albania send down
Revenge against all evil hearts.
 VENGEFUL HEAVEN: Mahiganting Langit
 Bakit kalangita'y bingi ka sa akin?
ang tapat kong luhog ay hindi mo dinggin?
'di yata't sa isang alipusta't iring
sampung tainga mo'y ipinangunguling?
 Datapuwa't sino ang tatarok kaya
sa mahal mong lihim, Diyos na dakila?
walang mangyayari sa balat ng lupa,
'di may kagaligang iyong ninanasa.
 Why, O merciful heaven, have you turned deaf,
Why ignore my fervent Plea?
To one down-trodden and despised,
Is it possible you turn your ears astray?
 But then which mortal man can comprehend
Your holy secret, my awesome God?
Nothing on the face of the earth transpires
That you didn't mean to bring some good.
 VENGEFUL HEAVEN: Mahiganting Langit
 "Kung siya mong ibig na ako'y magdusa,
Langit na mataas, aking mababata;
isagi mo lamang sa puso ni Laura
ako'y minsan-minsang mapag-alaala."
 "At dito sa laot ng dusa't hinagpis,
malawak na lubhang aking tinatawid;
gunita ni Laura sa naabang ibig,
siya ko na lamang ligaya sa dibdib."
 If you have willed this suffering,
Dear heaven, I can bear its weight,
If only you'd touch Laura's heart
Once in a while with thoughts of me.
 For in the sea of grief and woe,
This broad expanse of tears I'm crossing,
Laura's thoughts upon her fallen love
Would give my heart its sole delight
 VENGEFUL HEAVEN: Mahiganting Langit
 "Nguni, sa aba ko! sawing kapalaran!
ano pang halaga ng gayong suyuan
kung ang sing-ibig ko'y sa katahimikan
ay humihilig na sa ibang kandungan?"
 "Sa sinapupunan ng Konde Adolfo,
aking natatanaw si Laurang sinta ko;
kamataya'y nahan ang dating bangis mo,
nang 'di ko damdamin ang hirap na ito?"
 But woe, alas for my ill fate!
Of what use are those days of love
When now my love lies unperturbed
Yielding herself in another’s lap.
 Against the chest of Count Adolfo
I can see my beloved Laura leaning’..
Death, where now the fierceness you were wont to
have?
I want this pain I feel to end'
 Leona Florentino (1849 -1884)

 She was a Filipino poet in the Spanish and Ilocano languages. Born to a wealthy and prominent family
in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, Florentino began to write her first verses in Ilocano at a young age.
 Florentino was tutored by her mother, and then a series of private teachers. An Ilocano priest taught her
advanced Spanish and encouraged her to develop her voice in poetry.
 A RATHER HUMOROUS GREETING: Naangawan A Cablaaw
 Lantang hasmin ang makakatulad,
Pag byente-otso na ang iyong edad,
Kaya tunay lamang at karapat-dapat,
Ang pagtanda mo'y ikabagabag.
Dahil anuman ang iyong gawin,
Di na pweden pang pigilin,
Lalo pa't paghakbang mo'y medyo alanganin,
At nawawala na ang tikas na angkin.
 You become like a wilted jasmine
When you reach the age of 28
And you must be worried indeed
Of this coming time of aging.
 For whatever you do
You cannot stop the bending
Like a flower from falling
Its fragrance vanishing
 A RATHER HUMOROUS GREETING: Naangawan A Cablaaw
 Kaya nga ngayon pa ma'y iyo nang iwasan,
Ang landas ng kapos-kapalaran,
Ipagparangyaan ang iyong kariktan,
Sa kabila ng papalapit na katandaan.
 A, but early on you must avoid
These very ordinary curses
You must show your flare even as you age
Even if you grow to be an old maid.
 You can do this especially
If you become an expert
At vending wine, why, if you do this,
Your admirers will be as plenty, like, S. and B.
 A RATHER HUMOROUS GREETING: Naangawan A Cablaaw

 Avoid being too grumpy, and angry

 Sapagkat lalo ka pang didilag For you will only grow old and ugly
Sa pagtatakal mo ng alak,
Marami ang sa iyo'y ninanakawan Even as you know, someone cheats you
Ni G na may katarayan. Like this one flirt, named G.

Pamalagiing masigla ang iyong isipan,

 Keep your spirits up
Tingnan mo nga kung maglambingan Especially when you see
Sina D at M ang mga hukluban,
Parang mga tuging sa imbudo'y naggigitgitan. Old fellows like D. and M.
Still cuddling each other like the tugui.
Siya, siya, kung ganyan ang ikikilos mo,
Walang duda, baka sakaling kamtin mo
 If you endure life this way,
Ang ikapitong sakramento You will be surprised that one day
Na idudulog ni Don Domingo!
Someone will offer you a seventh heaven
Perhaps one iike Don Domingo.
 The Growth of a Nationalist Consciousness

 A royal decree in 1863 opened new horizons to the emergent middle class when it provided for a complete
educational system consisting of elementary, secondary and collegiate levels.
 These institutions produced writers who had a changing concept of “Filipino”, which at this stage had
ceased to refer only to Philippine-born Spaniards and now included Spanish mestizos, Chinese mestizos
and Hispanized indios.
Marcelo H. del Pilar (1850-1896)

 also Plaridel in some of his Spanish essays, was well-versed in the art of poetic jousting called duplo
before he assumed the post of editor of La Solidaridad.
 Duplo

 a traditional game in the form of a poetic joust, usually played at a funeral

wake, at which the presiding judge is called "King." The “King" may open
the game by accusing a player of killing his pet bird or picking a blossom
from a favorite rosebush. The accused may choose to defend himself or
another player may do it for him. In whichever case' the defense has to be
argued out in verse
Jose Rizal (1861-1896)

 He was only eleven years old when the priest-martyrs Gomez, Burgos and Zamora were
executed in 1872, but as his Spanish novels would reveal, he was sensitive to the forces that
were building up in Philippine society as the clamor for reforms was met with repression
that in turn generated a more insistent clamor for change.
 Noli Me Tangere, 1887

 It is about Ibarra who, having obtained a university education in Europe, comes home to the Philippines full of
the zeal and idealism. He believes that education holds the key to social change and gears his energy in this
direction.
 However, he finds himself obstructed at every turn by Friar Damaso and Fray Salvi. Through the machination
of Fray Salvi, an uprising is organized which implicates Ibarra as financier and leader of the rebels.
 An outlaw named Elias comes to Ibarra’s aid. A successful escape is engineered for Ibarra, but Elias loses his
life when he is hit by bullets intended for the fleeing Ibarra.
 El Filibusterismo, 1891

 A mysterious stranger named Simoun is bent on hastening the downfall of the colonial regime, employing the
double-tactic of abeting the corruption of friars and civil officials through money on the one hand, and on the other,
instigating an armed rebellion among the masses.
 Simoun is Ibarra in disguise. He has come back to rescue Maria Clara from the convent in which she had sought
virtual entombment after the rumored death of Ibarra.