Philippine Pre-Colonial Literature Characteristics

Types of Literature

• Anonymous, timeless, and placeless literature is often circulated orally, referred to as folklore or oral tradition.
• Epic literature celebrates the achievements of heroes, often detailing their adventures and significant life events.

Myths and Their Purpose

• Myths serve to explain the origins of the world, natural phenomena, and cultural practices; they often carry moral lessons or cultural truths.

Characteristics of Folk Narratives

• Folk narratives are characterized by their communal, shared nature, often reflecting the values and beliefs of the community from which they originate.

Distinctions in Literature

• Folktales differ from legends primarily through their content; folktales focus on everyday life and are imaginative, while legends often contain historical elements and are based on real people or events.

Oral Tradition

• Oral literature is characterized by being passed down through generations, allowing cultural heritage and narratives to persist without written documentation.

Story Types and Literary Forms

• Myths typically involve creation stories or explain natural phenomena and cultural customs through divine or supernatural elements.
• Proverbs express insights and lessons on life, encapsulating wisdom in concise statements.

Animal Fables and Moral Lessons

• Fables utilize animal characters to convey moral lessons, highlighting human traits and lessons through anthropomorphized animals.

Witty Exchanges

• Stories featuring battles of wits are common in trickster tales, where characters often outsmart each other in clever contests.

Underworld Characters

• Folklore that involves characters such as 'tiyanak' and 'aswang' typically falls under supernatural myths, reflecting cultural fears and beliefs about the afterlife.

Poetic Structure

• A literary form characterized by seven syllables per line is referred to as 'heptasyllabic poetry,' common in traditional poetry.

Origin Stories

• Literature that explains the origins of things, like why certain fruits have specific features, is often embedded within myths or folklore, providing context to cultural phenomena.

Examples of Literary Forms

• The phrase 'Kumukulo ang dulo at pagsusunog ng kilay.' exemplifies a proverb or idiom, conveying deeper meanings within a cultural context.
• 'Hele or oyayi' fall under the category of lullabies in Filipino literature, often characterized by soothing melodies and themes of nurturing and care.