Philippine literature in English has its roots in the efforts of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, then engaged in a
war with Filipino nationalist forcesThe Philippine–American War, sometimes known as the Philippine War of Independence was an armed military conflict between the Philippines and the United States, which arose from the struggle of the insurgent First Philippine Republic against United States annexation of the islands...
at the end of the 19th century. By 1901, public education was institutionalized in the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
, with English serving as the medium of instruction. That year, around 600 educators in the S.S. Thomas (the "
ThomasitesThe Thomasites is a group of about five hundred pioneer American teachers sent by the U.S. government to the Philippines in August 1901.-Foundation, purpose and etymology:...
") to replace the soldiers who had been serving as the first teachers. Outside the academe, the wide availability of reading materials, such as books and newspapers in English, helped
FilipinosThe Filipino people are the nationals of the Republic of the Philippines and to persons having Filipino ancestry. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines and about 11 million outside the Philippines....
assimilate the language quickly.
Philippine literature in English has its roots in the efforts of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, then engaged in a
war with Filipino nationalist forcesThe Philippine–American War, sometimes known as the Philippine War of Independence was an armed military conflict between the Philippines and the United States, which arose from the struggle of the insurgent First Philippine Republic against United States annexation of the islands...
at the end of the 19th century. By 1901, public education was institutionalized in the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
, with English serving as the medium of instruction. That year, around 600 educators in the S.S. Thomas (the "
ThomasitesThe Thomasites is a group of about five hundred pioneer American teachers sent by the U.S. government to the Philippines in August 1901.-Foundation, purpose and etymology:...
") to replace the soldiers who had been serving as the first teachers. Outside the academe, the wide availability of reading materials, such as books and newspapers in English, helped
FilipinosThe Filipino people are the nationals of the Republic of the Philippines and to persons having Filipino ancestry. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines and about 11 million outside the Philippines....
assimilate the language quickly. Today, 52% of the population can understand or speak English (see
List of countries by English-speaking population).
The Commonwealth Period
The founding of Silliman University by Presbyterian missionaries and the Philippine Normal School (PNS) in 1901 and the University of the Philippines (U.P.) in 1908, as well as of English newspapers like the
Daily Bulletin 1900,
The Cablenews 1902, and the
Philippines Free Press 1905, helped boost the spread of English. The first ten years of the century witnessed the first verse and prose efforts of Filipinos in student publications such as The
Filipino Students’ Magazine first issue, 1905, a short-lived quarterly published in Berkeley, California, by Filipino pensionados (or government scholars); the
U.P. College Folio (first issue, 1910);
The Coconut of the Manila High School (first issue, 1912); and
The Torch of the PNS (first issue, 1913).
However, the beginnings of anything resembling a professional market for writing in English would not be realized until the 1920s with the founding of other newspapers and magazines like the
Philippines Herald in 1920, the
Philippine Education Magazine in 1924 (renamed
Philippine Magazine in 1928), and later the
Manila Tribune, the
Graphic, Woman’s Outlook, and
Woman’s Home Journal. The publications helped introduce the reading public to the works of Paz Marquez Benitez, (Jose Garcia Villa), Loreto Paras, and Casiano Calalang, among others. Cash incentives were given to writers in 1921 when the
Free Press started to pay for published contributions and awarded P1,000 for the best stories. The organization in 1925 of the Philippine Writers Association and in 1927 of the University of the Philippines National Writers Workshop, which put out the
Literary Apprentice, also helped encourage literary production. In 1939, the Philippine Writers League was put up by politically conscious writers, intensifying their debate with those in the "art for art’s sake" school of Villa.
Among the significant publications of this fertile period were:
- Filipino Poetry (1924) by Rodolfo Dato;
- English-German Anthology of Filipino Poets (1934) by Pablo Laslo;
- Jose Garcia Villa
Jose Garcia Villa was a Filipino poet, literary critic, short story writer, and painter. He was awarded the National Artist of the Philippines title for literature in 1973, as well as the Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing by Conrad Aiken...
’s Many Voices (1939) and Poems of Doveglion (1941);
- Poems (1940) by Angela Manalang-Gloria
Angela Manalang-Gloria was a Filipino female poet in the English language.-Biography:Angela Caridad Legaspi Manalang was born on August 2, 1907 in Guagua, Pampanga to parents, Felipe Dizon Manalang and Tomasa Legaspi . However, their family later settled in the Bicol region, particularly in Albay...
;
- Chorus for America: Six Philippine Poets (1942) by Carlos Bulosan
Carlos Sampayan Bulosan was a Filipino American novelist and poet best-known for the semi-autobiographical America Is in the Heart.Carlos Bulosan was born in The Philippines in a rural village of Mangusmana, in the town of Binalonan, Pangasinan...
;
- Zoilo Galang’s "A Child of Sorrow" (1921), the first Filipino novel in English, and "Box of Ashes and Other Stories" (1925), the first collection of stories in book form;
- Villa’s Footnote to Youth: Tales of the Philippines and Others (1933);
- "The Wound and the Scar" (1937) by Arturo Rotor, a collection of stories;
- "Winds of April" (1940) by N. V. M. Gonzalez
Néstor Vicente Madali González was a Filipino writer.-Biography:He was born on 8 September 1915 in Romblon, Philippines. González, however, was raised in Calapan City, the capital of the Philippine province of Oriental Mindoro. González was a son of a school supervisor and a teacher...
;
- "His Native Soil" (1941) by Juan C. Laya;
- Manuel Arguilla
Manuel Estabillo Arguilla was an Ilokano writer in English, patriot, and martyr.He is known for his widely anthologized short story "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife," the main story in the collection "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife and Other Short Stories" which won first prize in...
’s "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife and Other Stories" (1941);
- Galangs’s "Life and Success" (1921), the first volume of essays in English; and
- the influential "Literature and Society" (1940) by Salvador P. López
Salvador P. Lopez , born in Camarines Sur, is an Ilokano writer, journalist, educator, diplomat, and statesman....
.
Dramatic writing took a backseat due to the popularity of Filipino vaudeville (
bodabil) and Tagalog movies, although it was kept alive by the playwright Wilfredo Ma. Guerrero.
The post-war period
During the
Japanese occupationThe Japanese occupation of the Philippines was the period in the history of the Philippines between 1941 and 1945, when the Empire of Japan occupied American-controlled Philippines during World War II. The invasion of the Philippines started on December 8, 1941 ten hours after the attack on Pearl...
, when
TagalogTagalog is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 22 million people.It is related to Austronesian languages such as Chamorro , Indonesian, Malay, Javanese and Paiwan , Cham , and Tetum...
was favored by the
Japanese militaryThe Imperial Japanese Army , or literally Army of the Empire of Greater Japan was the official ground based armed force of Imperial Japan from 1867 to 1945...
authority, writing in English was consigned to limbo, since most of the English writers are forced to write in Tagalog or joined in the underground and write English stories based on the battles to serve as propaganda pieces in boosting the morale of the guerrillas. It picked up after the war, however, with a fervor and drive for excellence that continue to this day.
Stevan JavellanaStevan Javellana was a Filipino novelist and short-story writer in the English language. He is also known as Esteban Javellana.-Biography:...
’s
"Without Seeing the Dawn" (1947), the first postwar novel in English, was published in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 1946, the Barangay Writers Project was founded to help publish books in English.
Against a background marked by political unrest and government battles with
HukbalahapThe Hukbalahap was the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines , formed in 1942 to fight the Japanese Empire's occupation of the Philippines during World War II. It fought a second war from 1946 to 1954 against the pro-Western leaders of their newly independent country...
guerrillas, writers in English in the postwar period honed their sense of craft and techniques. Among the writers who came into their own during this time were, among many others:
- T.D. Agcaoili
- Estrella Alfon
- Carlos Angeles
- Francisco Arcellana
Francisco Arcellana was a Filipino writer, poet, essayist, critic, journalist and teacher. He was born on September 16, 1916. Arcellana already had ambitions of becoming a writer during his years in the elementary. His actual writing, however, started when he became a member of The Torres Torch...
- Gregorio Brillantes
- Carlos Bulosan
Carlos Sampayan Bulosan was a Filipino American novelist and poet best-known for the semi-autobiographical America Is in the Heart.Carlos Bulosan was born in The Philippines in a rural village of Mangusmana, in the town of Binalonan, Pangasinan...
- Linda Ty Casper
Linda Ty Casper is a Filipino writer who has published over fifteen books, including the historical novel DreamEden and the political novels Awaiting Trespass, Wings of Stone, A Small Party in a Garden, and Fortress in the Plaza...
- Gilda Cordero-Fernando
Gilda Cordero-Fernando is a multiawarded writer, publisher and cultural icon from the Philippines. She was born in Manila, has a B.A. from St. Theresa’s College-Manila, and an M.A. from the Ateneo de Manila University....
- Amador Daguio
- Luis Dato
- Ricaredo Demetillo
- N. V. M. Gonzalez
Néstor Vicente Madali González was a Filipino writer.-Biography:He was born on 8 September 1915 in Romblon, Philippines. González, however, was raised in Calapan City, the capital of the Philippine province of Oriental Mindoro. González was a son of a school supervisor and a teacher...
- Sinai C. Hamada
- Alejandrino Hufana
- Dominador Ilio
- Nick Joaquin
Nicomedes Márquez Joaquín was a Filipino writer, historian and journalist, best known for his short stories and novels in the English language. He also wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila...
- F. Sionil José
F. Sionil José or in full Francisco Sionil José is one of the most widely-read Filipino writers in the English language. His novels and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino society...
- Virginia Moreno
- Vicente Rivera Jr.
- Alejandro R. Roces
- Bienvenido Santos
Bienvenido N. Santos is a Filipino-American fictionist, poet and nonfiction writer. He was born and raised in Tondo, Manila. His family roots are originally from Lubao, Pampanga, Philippines...
- Abelardo and Tarrosa Subido
- Edilberto K. Tiempo
Edilberto Kaindong Tiempo was a Filipino writer and professor. He and his wife, Edith L. Tiempo, are credited by Silliman University with establishing "a tradition in excellence in creative writing and the teaching of literacy craft which continues to this day" at that university...
- Kerima Polotan Tuvera
Kerima Polotan Tuvera is a Filipina authoress.-Early life:She was christened as Putli Kerima. Her father was an army colonel, and her mother taught home economics...
- Manuel A. Viray
- Oscar de Zuñiga
Fresh from studies in American universities, usually as Fulbright or
RockefellerThe Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
scholars, a number of these writers introduced
New CriticismNew Criticism was a dominant trend in English and American literary criticism of the mid twentieth century, from the 1920s to the early 1960s. Its adherents were emphatic in their advocacy of close reading and attention to texts themselves, and their rejection of criticism based on extra-textual...
to the country and applied its tenets in literature classes and writing workshops. In this way were born the illiman Nationa
Literary awards and competitions
In 1940, the first Commonwealth Literary Awards were given by President
Manuel L. QuezonManuel Luis Quezon y Molina was the first Filipino president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines under U.S. colonial rule in the first half of the 20th century. He is considered by most Filipinos to have been the second President of the Philippines, after Emilio Aguinaldo...
to Salvador P. Lopez for
"Literature and Society" (essay),
Manuel ArguillaManuel Estabillo Arguilla was an Ilokano writer in English, patriot, and martyr.He is known for his widely anthologized short story "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife," the main story in the collection "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife and Other Short Stories" which won first prize in...
for
"How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife and Other Stories" (short story),
R. Zulueta da CostaR. Zulueta da Costa was a graduate of De La Salle College where he specialized in business administration. He began writing poems in Spanish and later he also wrote in English...
for
"Like the Molave" (poetry), and Juan C. Laya for
"His Native Soil" (novel).
Government recognition of literary merit came in the form of the Republic Cultural Heritage Awards (1960), the Pro Patria Awards for Literature (1961), and the
National Artist AwardsA National Artist of the Philippines is a title given to a Filipino who has been given the highest recognition for having made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts. Such Filipinos are announced, by virtue of a Presidential Proclamation, as National Artist or in Filipino,...
(1973). Only the last of these three awards survives today. Writers in English who have received the National Artist award include:
Jose Garcia VillaJose Garcia Villa was a Filipino poet, literary critic, short story writer, and painter. He was awarded the National Artist of the Philippines title for literature in 1973, as well as the Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing by Conrad Aiken...
(1973), Nick Joaquin (1976),
Carlos P. RomuloCarlos Peña Rómulo was a Filipino diplomat, politician, soldier, journalist and author. He was a reporter at 16, a newspaper editor by the age of 20, and a publisher at 32...
(1982),
Francisco ArcellanaFrancisco Arcellana was a Filipino writer, poet, essayist, critic, journalist and teacher. He was born on September 16, 1916. Arcellana already had ambitions of becoming a writer during his years in the elementary. His actual writing, however, started when he became a member of The Torres Torch...
(1990),
N. V. M. GonzalezNéstor Vicente Madali González was a Filipino writer.-Biography:He was born on 8 September 1915 in Romblon, Philippines. González, however, was raised in Calapan City, the capital of the Philippine province of Oriental Mindoro. González was a son of a school supervisor and a teacher...
, Rolando Tinio (1997),
Edith L. TiempoEdith L. Tiempo , poet, fictionist, teacher and literary critic is one of the finest Filipino Writers in English whose works are characterized by a remarkable fusion of style and substance, of craftsmanship and insight...
, (2000), F. Sionil José (2003), and
Bienvenido LumberaBienvenido Lumbera is a prizewinning poet, critic and dramatist from the Philippines.He is a National Artist of the Philippines and a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communications...
(2006).
A select group of local writers have also received the international Magsaysay Award, namely,
F. Sionil JoséF. Sionil José or in full Francisco Sionil José is one of the most widely-read Filipino writers in the English language. His novels and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino society...
,
Nick JoaquinNicomedes Márquez Joaquín was a Filipino writer, historian and journalist, best known for his short stories and novels in the English language. He also wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila...
and
Bienvenido LumberaBienvenido Lumbera is a prizewinning poet, critic and dramatist from the Philippines.He is a National Artist of the Philippines and a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communications...
.
Contemporary Writers
Despite the lack of a professional writer's market, poetry and fiction in English continue to thrive and be written with sophistication, and insight. Among the notable fictionists of recent years are:
- Dean Francis Alfar
Dean Francis Alfar , is a Filipino playwright, novelist and writer of speculative fiction. His plays have been performed in venues across the country, while his articles and fiction have been published both in his native Philippines and abroad, such as in Strange Horizons, Rabid Transit, The...
- Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is a Filipina author of historical fiction based in California, U.S.A.. She was born in Cebu, Philippines, attended St. Theresa's College in Cebu and in San Marcelino, Manila. She also went to Maryknoll College in Quezon City from 1964 to 1968, graduating with a Bachelor...
- Linda Ty Casper
Linda Ty Casper is a Filipino writer who has published over fifteen books, including the historical novel DreamEden and the political novels Awaiting Trespass, Wings of Stone, A Small Party in a Garden, and Fortress in the Plaza...
- Ian Casocot
Ian Rosales Casocot is a creative writer and journalist from Negros Oriental, Philippines. He is perhaps best known for his prizewinning short stories Old Movies, The Hero of the Snore Tango, Rosario and the Stories, and A Strange Map of Time...
- Erwin Castillo
- Jose Dalisay, Jr.
Jose Y. Dalisay Jr. is a Filipino writer. He has won numerous awards and prizes for fiction, poetry, drama, nonfiction and screenplay, including 16 Palanca Awards.-Early life and education:Dalisay was born in Romblon in 1954...
- Antonio Enriquez
- Eric Gamalinda
- Vicente Garcia Groyon
- Amadis Ma. Guerrero
- F. Sionil José
F. Sionil José or in full Francisco Sionil José is one of the most widely-read Filipino writers in the English language. His novels and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino society...
- Luis Joaquin Katigbak
- Ma. Francezca Kwe
- Angelo Rodriguez Lacuesta
- Susan Lara
- Jaime An Lim
- Rosario Cruz Lucero
- Renato Madrid
- Resil Mojares
Resil Mojares is a Filipino literature professor, historian and critic. He has a Ph.D. in Literature from the University of the Philippines. He is retired as Professor at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City...
- Timothy Montes
- Wilfredo Nolledo
- Charlson Ong
- Ninotchka Rosca
- Menchu Aquino Sarmiento
- Lakambini Sitoy
- Katrina Tuvera
- Alfred A. Yuson
- Jessica Zafra
Notable poets include:
- Gemino Abad
Gémino H. Abad is a poet and critic from Cebu, Philippines. His family moved to Manila when his father, Antonio Abad, was offered professorships at Far Eastern University and the University of the Philippines. He earned his B.A. English from the University of the Philippines in 1964 and Ph.D. in...
- Alexis Abola
- Merlie Alunan
- Cirilo Bautista
Cirilo F. Bautista is a multi-awarded Filipino poet, fictionist, critic and writer of nonfiction. He received his basic education from Legarda Elementary School and Mapa High School . He received his degrees in AB Literature from the University of Santo Tomas , MA Literature from St...
- Salvador Bernal
- Elsa Coscoluella
- Ricardo de Ungria
- Lourd Ernest De Veyra
- Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta
Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta is an editor, poet, author, and teacher. She was born in San Juan, Rizal in the Philippines.Dimalanta is a full professor of English and has held the position of Dean of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Arts and Letters...
- Simeon Dumdum, Jr.
Simeon Dumdum, Jr. is a Regional Trial Court Executive Judge in Cebu City, The Philippines, and a published poet.He once studied for the priesthood in Galway, Ireland, but left the seminary to take up law. After years of practicing law, he was appointed Regional Trial Court judge in Cebu. He won...
- Federico Licsi Espino Jr.
- Marjorie Evasco
Marjorie Evasco is an award- winning Filipino poet, born in Maribojoc, Bohol in September 21, 1953. She writes in two languages: English and Cebuano-Visayan and is a supporter of womens' rights, especially of women writers...
- J. Neil C. Garcia
- Ramil Digal Gulle
- Ma. Luisa Igloria
- Mookie Katigbak
- Marne Kilates
- Emmanuel Lacaba
- Paolo Manalo
- Danton Remoto
- Angelo Suarez
- Ramon Sunico
- Anthony Tan
- Joel Toledo
- Emmanuel Torres
- Naya Valdellon
External links
- "Summit Books home page"
- Linh Dinh
Linh Dinh is a Vietnamese-American poet, fiction writer and translator.-Biography:Dinh was born in Saigon, Vietnam, came to the US in 1975, and is living in Philadelphia. In 2005, he was a David Wong fellow at the University of East Anglia, in Norwich, England...
interviewing Marianne Villanueva about *contemporary Philippine poetry
See also
- Literature of the Philippines
Philippine literature is the literature associated with the Philippines and includes the legends of prehistory, and the colonial legacy of the Philippines, written in both Indigenous, and Hispanic languages. Most of the notable literature of the Philippines was written during the Spanish period...
- Philippine Literature in Spanish
This article chronicles the history of Filipino literature in the Spanish language.-Colonial literature :The arrival of the Spaniards in 1565 brought Spanish culture and language editors...
- Philippine Literature in Filipino
-Availability of literature in Filipino outside of the Philippines:Although almost every medium to large city in the World has at least one Filipino store, these stores do not stock any form of Filipino literature beyond small romance novels , and occasionally cookery books...
- Literature of the Philippines
Philippine literature is the literature associated with the Philippines and includes the legends of prehistory, and the colonial legacy of the Philippines, written in both Indigenous, and Hispanic languages. Most of the notable literature of the Philippines was written during the Spanish period...
- Philippine English
Philippine English is the variety of English used in the Philippines by the media and the vast majority of educated Filipinos. English is taught in schools as one of the two official languages of the country, the other being Filipino, an official and liberalized form of Tagalog.English is used in...
- List of countries where English is an official language
- List of countries by English-speaking population