ORAL LORE FROM PRE-COLONIAL TIMES
BEGINNING OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA
GOLD TEXTILES
IRON GLAS
HISPANIZATION OF THE PHILIPPINES
“… Filipinos were wearing bark and woven cloth and gold, bronze, stone and shell hair ornaments, earnings, pectoral disks, bracelets, finger rings and imported beads, and mined and worked gold for jewelry and iron for tools and weapons; they filed, stained, blackened or chipped their teeth and decorated them with gold, and had been chewing betel nuts for 3,000 years; they owned tens of thousands of valuable Chinese porcelain jars and plates but cooked in a type of local pot with a history going back to 1,000 B.C.; they deformed skulls, removed them, preserved them, and buried their dead supine, prone or flexed in caves, graves, jars or coffins, and disinterred them, reburied and venerated their bones.”
Through these studies, much can be
reliably inferred about pre-colonial
Philippine Literature from an analysis
of collected oral lore of Filipinos
whose ancestors were able to
preserve their indigenous culture by
living beyond the reach of Spanish
colonial administrators and the culture
of sixteenth-century Europe.
“NATIVES,” “ETHNIC MINORITIES”, “TRIBAL FILIPINO”
FOLK SONGS
Pamulinawem
Pamulinawen
usok indengam man Toy umas-asug Agrayod'ta sadyam.
Panunotem man Inka Pagintutulngan
Paruparong Bukid
Paruparong bukid na lilipad-lipad Sa gitna ng daan papaga-pagaspas
Isang bara ang tapis
Isang dangkal ang manggas Ang sayang de kola
Isang piyesa ang sayad May payneta pa siya — uy! May suklay pa man din — uy!
Nagwas de-ohetes ang palalabasin Haharap sa altar at mananalamin
Leron, Leron Sinta
Leron, Leron, sinta
Buko ng papaya Dala dala'y buslo
Sisidlan ng sinta Pagdating sa dulo'y
Nabali ang sanga, Kapos kapalaran
Humanap ng iba.
Halika na Neneng, tayo'y manampalok Dalhin mo ang buslo, sisidlan ng hinog
Pagdating sa dulo'y uunda-undayog Kumapit ka Neneng, baka ka mahulog.
Halika na Neneng at tayo'y magsimba At iyong isuot ang baro mo't saya
Ang baro mo't sayang pagkaganda-ganda Kay ganda ng kulay -- berde, puti, pula.
Ako'y ibigin mo, lalaking matapang
Ang baril ko'y pito, ang sundang ko'y siyam Ang lalakarin ko'y parte ng dinulang Isang pinggang pansit ang aking kalaban.
As literary woks created in the setting of
society where the resources for economic subsistence—land, water and forest—
were communally owned, the oral
literature of the pre-colonial Filipinos bore the marks of the community.
At this phase of literary development, any
member of the community was a potential poet, singer, or story-teller as long as he knew the language and had been attentive to the conventions of the forms.
CONVENTIONS OF THE VARIOUS ORAL LITERARY FORMS • Formulaic repetitions • Stereotyping of characters • Regular rhythmic • Musical devices
OWNERSHIP OF LITERARY COMPOSITION
Not emphasized in the process of oral
transmission
Conceivable
NATIVE SYLLABARY
3 vowel (a, e-i, u-o) and 14 consonants (b,
d,g, h, k, l, m, n, ng, p, s, t, w, and y)
No way of indicating the consonantal
ending words
Disuse of Syllabary
•Information about pre-colonial culture was LOST. •Fewer Filipinos kept the record of their oral lore •Fewer and fewer can decipher
2 WAYS BY WHICH THE UNIQUENESS OF INDIGENOUS CULTURE SURVIVED THE
COLONIZATION
1. By resistance to colonial rule
Maranaws, Maguindanaws and the
Taosug of Mindanao, Igorots, Ifugaos, Bontocs and Kalingas of the Mountain Province
2. By virtue of isolation from centers of
colonial power
Tagbanwas, Tagabilis, Mangyans,
Bagobos, Manuvus, Bilaan, Bukidnons and Isnegs
RIDDLES AND PROVERBS
•simplest forms of oral literature •Started early in the 17th century
Ambahan
-is the traditional poetry of the Hanunuo
Mangyans of Oriental Mindoro.
-The syllabic script and the ambahan poetry have complemented each other, contributing to their continued existence today.
AMBAHAN
-It is usually written
on bamboo in the
Surat Mangyan, a
centuries-old
pre-Spanish script.
TANAGA
The Tanaga is a type of Filipino poem,
consisting of four lines with seven syllables each with the same rhyme at the end of each line.
"Katitibay ka Tulos
Sakaling datnang agos! Ako'y mumunting lumot sa iyo'y pupulupot."
PROSE NARRATIVES IN PREHISTORIC PHILIPPINES
Myths
Hero tales Fables
DRAMA
Philippine theater
-Mimetic dances imitating natural cycles and activities
• Ch’along
-is part of a wedding rite, involving the
propiatiation of evil spirits who might bring harm upon the couple.
RIDDLES
Lucy had it first Ethel had it last Mary Lungel
had it twice until she married Peter Stupid and never had it again. What is it?
Answer: L
The queen tilt her head but the crown did not
fall
RIDDLES
Five coconut trees, one stands out.
Answer: Fingers
A deep well that is full of chisels.
Answer: Mouth
What can travel around the world while staying in a
corner?
Answer: Stamp
What kind of tree can you carry in your hand?
Answer: Palm
How many of each species did Moses take on the ark
with him?
PROVERBS
"The pen is mightier than the sword.“
Trying to convince people with ideas and
words is more effective than trying to force people to do what you want
"Necessity is the mother of invention."
When you're really in need, you think of creative solutions to your problems.
"The darkest hour is just before the
dawn."
E. ARSENIO MANUEL
he surveyed “ethnoepics” (folk epics)
1962: he was able to describe a total of 19
epics found in the Philippines:
13: PAGAN Filipinos
2: CHRISTIAN Filipinos 4: MUSLIM Filipinos
COMMON FEATURES OF FOLK EPICS:
(ACCD. TO MANUEL)
Narratives of sustained length Based on oral tradition
Revolving around supernatural events or
heroic deeds
In the form of verse (chanted or sung) With a certain seriousness of purpose
LAM-ANG
1889: first recorded Christian Ilokos
TUWAANG
1956: discovered
Pagan epic among Manuvus of Central
Mindanao
“The Maiden of the Buhong Sky”
Tuwaang
The Maiden
HINILAWOD
Recorded only recently
Pagan epic: Sulod of Panay
Longest epic so far recorded in the
Philippines
Noted for it’s richly inventive narration and
magnifence of it’s fantasy.
HINILAWOD
1ST PART: 2ND PART: Labaw Denggan Aso Mangga Buyung Buranogan Buyung Humadapnon Buyung Dumalapdap Humadapnon Nagmalitung YawaBANTUGAN
Maranaw epic
Central character (the prince) is the most
popular hero of the Muslim epic song
A prince who excels not only as a valiant
warrior but also a fabulous lover
More than 15 songs are said to detail his