Literature and The Pre-Colonial Times

Literature and The Pre-Colonial Times

• Literature encompasses oral and written works that reflect a society's beliefs, values, and struggles, conveying the people's aspirations.
• Classified into prose (ordinary sentences and paragraphs) and poetry (verses and stanzas with a non-ordinary language).
• Pre-colonial literature is primarily oral, showcasing community life through daily experiences such as chores and gatherings.

Characteristics of Pre-Colonial Literature

• Oral tradition with communal ownership of literary works, implying everyone has the potential to contribute as an author.
• Utilizes common day-to-day language.
• Employs literary conventions like repetition, character stereotyping, and rhythmic musical devices.
• Rich variety includes folk tales, epics, and marathon chants passed down orally within ethno-linguistic groups.
• Specific forms presented in traditional narratives and poetic expressions include tigmo (Cebuano), bugtong (Tagalog), patototdon (Bicol), and paktakon (Ilongo).

Themes in Pre-Colonial Literature

• Literature often features magical characters and myths revolving around extraordinary events, heroism, customs, and community ideologies.

Identifying Representative Texts from the Northern Region

• Pre-colonial literature is communal; everyone is a potential author, with oral traditions dominating this period.
• Riddles (Bugtong) and Epigrams (Salawikain) are the two most common forms of poetry.

Riddles

• Riddles present clever, metaphorical questions reflecting everyday objects or situations.
• Examples include:
  • "Maputi na parang uwak, lumilipad na parang lawin." (Answer: Smoke)
  • "Dua nga agsapsaputen, agliliwanag da." (Answer: Eyes)
  • "Isang punongkahoy, anim na sanga." (Answer: A candelabra)

Epigrams

• Brief, clever statements functioning as rules for behavior.
• Examples include:
  • "Sarsarita a sangi, aupagan latta." (A talkative tongue slips often.)
  • "Ang bayaning masugatan, nag-iibayo ang tapang." (The wounded hero gains more courage.)
  • "Manmano ka abras, maid mo paganaden." (However busy you are, don't forget your obligations.)

Identifying Short Poems and Songs

• Pre-colonial literature also includes poems and songs, characterized by specific structures and forms.
• Monorhyming Heptasyllabic Lines: Comprise lines of seven syllables with identical rhyme patterns, noted in the Vocabulario de la lengua Tagala.
• Tanaga: A short poem often formatted as a mono-riming heptasyllabic quatrain, expressing proverbs with deep emotion.
• Folk Songs: Traditional songs from specific regions, played with simple instrumentation, encapsulating cultural narratives.