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Philippine Pre-Colonial Literature

Rona C. Catubig

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Pre-colonial literature may be classified into :

• floating or oral;•written literature

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songs, dance and the drama probably developed simultaneously

most of the pre-colonial drama was held in the sambahan or places of worship

these dealt with various subjects including love, war, legends, the memory of the deceased, and war heroes

Pre-colonial Literature

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dramas developed into different forms such as the pagbati, karagatan, tagayan, pananapatan, sabalan, and tibaw

the karagatan was a debate in verse in which a problem is resolved; it developed into the duplo during the Spanish period and then into the balagtasan in 1924 during the American period

tibaw on the other hand is perform during the pasiyam

Pre-colonial Literature

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Tagalog Literaturebugtong (riddle)suliranin and indulanin (street songs)sabi (maxim)sawikain (saying) talindaw (boat songs)diyuna (song of revelry)kumintang (war song which evolved into a love song),dalit and umbay (dirge) tagumpay, balikungkong,dupayinin and hiliraw (war songs)uyayi and hele (lullabies) ihiman (bridal song), tagulaylay(mournful song) tigpasin (rowing song), tingad (household song)kutang-kutang (couplets usually chanted by the blind)

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Ilocano Literature

has many kinds of songs sung on different occasions;

this include dal-ot (song during baptismal party, wedding, or a feast),

badeng (love song sung in a serenade), anddung-aw (dirge)

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Maranaw Literature

inspired by Islamconsisted of tutul (folk tale)tubad-tubad (short love poems)pananaro-on (sayings and proverbs)sowa-sowa-i (drama)antoka (riddle or puzzle), and darangan (epic poetry)

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Pre-colonial Epics

• Filipinos were fond of composing epic poetry, which is why the country is unique for having more than twenty epic poems. Examples:Hudhud and Alim (Ifugao),Biag ni Lam-Ang (The Life of Lam-Ang /Ilocano)Bantugan, Indarapatra and Sulayman,

and Bidasari (Moslems)

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Igorots reciting Hudhud

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Prince Bantugan

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Indarapata & Sulayman

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stories originating in popular culture, typically passed on by word of mouth.

prose narratives which are regarded as fiction

they are not considered as history, they may or may not have happened

FOLKTALES

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Philippine Folktales

Aponibolinayen and the Sun

The Monkey and the Turtle

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MYTHS

myths form an important genre of folk literature

"a sacred narrative explaining how the world and man came to be in their present form" 

Philippine myths show that our ancient peoples believed in one supreme god and in a number of lesser gods and goddesses

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Philippine Myths

The Good God and the Bad God

Why the Sky is High

Tungkung Langit and Alunsina

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LEGENDS

are usually very old stories with little or no evidence to prove them.

are often passed on by word-of-mouth. They are very similar to myths.

tell stories of where certain things came from

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Philippine Legends

The Legend of Rice

The Legend of Mount Kanlaon