Philippine literature in Spanish

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Philippine literature in Spanish (Spanish: Literatura Filipina en Castellano) is a body of literature

made by Filipino writers in the Spanish language. Today, this corpus is the third largest in the
whole corpus of Philippine literature (Philippine Literature in Filipino being the first, followed by
Philippine literature in English). It is slightly larger than the Philippine literature in the vernacular
languages. However, because of the very few additions to it in the past 30 years, it is expected
that the former will soon overtake its rank.
History
According to Marias (1974) Philippine Literature in Spanish can be divided into 5 stages of
development[1] namely:
Works of Spanish Religious About the Philippines (15931800)
Formative Stage (18001883)
Nationalist Stage (18831903)
The Golden Age (19031966)
Modern Works (1966present)
Spanish religious works about the Philippines (1593 - 1800)
The arrival of the Spaniards in 1565 brought Spanish culture and language editors. The
Spanish conquerors, governing from Mexico for the crown of Spain, establish a strict class system
that imposed Roman Catholicism on the native population. Augustinian and Franciscan
missionaries, accompanied by Spanish soldiers, soon spread Christianity from island to island.
Their mission was implemented the forced relocation of indigenous peoples during this time, as
the uprooted natives turned to the foreign, structured religion as the new center of their lives.
The priests and friars preached in local languages and employed indigenous peoples as
translators, creating a bilingual class known as ladinos.
The natives, called "indios", generally were not taught Spanish, but the bilingual individuals,
notably poet-translator Gaspar Aquino de Beln, produced devotional poetry written in the
Roman script in the Tagalog language. Pasyon, begun by Aquino de Belen, is a narrative of the
passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which has circulated in many versions. Later, the
Mexican ballads of chivalry, the corrido, provided a model for secular literature. Verse narratives,
or komedya, were performed in the regional languages for the illiterate majority. They were also
written in the Roman alphabet in the principal languages and widely circulated.
In the early 17th century a Chinese Filipino printer, Tomas Pinpin, set out to write a book in
romanized phonetic script writer, His intention was to teach his fellow Tagalog-speakers the
principles of learning Spanish. His book, published by the Dominican press (where he worked)
appeared in 1610. Unlike the missionary's grammar (which Pinpin had set in type), the native's
book dealt with the language of the colonizers instead of the colonized. Pinpin's book was the
first such work ever written and printed by a Philippine native.[citation needed] As such, it is
richly instructive for what it tells us about the interests that animated Tagalog translation and, by
implication, Tagalog conversion in the early colonial period. Pinpin construed translation in simple
ways to help and encourage Tagalog readers to learn Spanish.
Formative stage (1800 - 1873)
During the so-called 'Formative Stage', Filipino writers began to recognize the Philippines a
separate entity from Spain and codified these in different form of expressions.
Among the first Filipinos to produce works is Luis Rodrguez Varela, a mestizo born in Tondo
(which was province outside Manila walls but now incorporated as a district) in 1768.

Among the works, the earliest recognised work in this era is "Proclama historial que para
animar a los vasallos que el Seor Don Fernando VII tiene en Filipinas a que defendian a su Rey
del furor de su falso amigo Napolen, primer Emperador de fanceses, escribe, dedicada e
imprime a su costa Don Luis Rodrguez Varela". As the title expresses, the work is full of
prohispanic sentiments.
In 1810, a year later the publication of the said work, Fernndez de Folgueras, Governor
General to the Philippines was granted by the 'Office of the Censor' to publish three books. The
books were entitled: "Elogio a las Provincias de los Reynos de la Espaa Europea", "Elogio a la
mujer" and "El Parnaso Filipino". The last book, a collection of poems written by various Filipino
poets at that time, is still now one of the most important works in the entire corpus of Philippine
Literature in Spanish. And although it was severely criticised during its heyday (in 1814), it bears
the merit of being the first book about the Philippines in Castilian that is purely literary and not
didactic or religious.
This era also saw the publication of works by Jos Vergara, one of the Philippine
representative to the Spanish Cortes; and Juan Atayde (18381896), a military official. Most of
the works published during these years are poetry.
But since most of the people who are knowledgeable in Spanish are those that belong to the
Catholic hierarchy, religious works still make up a large part of the corpus.
During his stay as Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Manila, Fr. Pedro Pelez, S.J., (1812
1863) founded the "El Catlico Filipino", a journal of religious nature. While serving the said post,
he also taught at the University of Santo Tomas and acted as a correspondent to "La
Generecin", a journal published in Madrid. In his works, Pelez worked much to the defence of
his fellow Filipinos.
Though it was first printed anonymously, a flyer published in Madrid in 1862 entitled
"Documentos importantes para la cuestin pendiente sobre la provisin de curatos en Filipinas"
was also attributed to him. It was also Pelez who first used the term "PERLA DE ORIENTE" to
refer to the Philippines. This was made popular later by Jos Rizal in his last poem and the
modern translation into Filipino by the national anthem. The term was first used in 1855 in his
work entitled "Sermn de San Andrs".
With the death of Pelez, another priest continued the battle for self-identity in the person of
Fr. Jos Apolonio Burgos (18371877). Burgos was a student of Pelez at UST. A year after an
earthquake of 1863 that took the life of his teacher, he graced the Madrid journal "La Verdad"
with "Manifesto que a la noble Nacin Espaola dirigen los leales filipinos" to defend the heavy
criticisms of the regular priests against the Filipinos of that time. He also able to publish "El Eco
Filipino" in order to reiterate the call of reform to the Philippine government and hierarchy.
His other notable works are "Mare MAgnum" (1851), "Estado de Filipinas a la llegada de los
espaoles" (witten in 1871 but published posthomustly in 1894), "Ciencias y costumbres de los
filipinos" (1868), "Cuentos y leyendas filipinas" (1860), "Es verdad los milagros" (1860) and "Los
Reyes Filipinos".
With the opening of the Suez Canal, many Espaoles came to the Philippines. Some even
studied in the islands which gave birth to some publications like "La Oceana Espaola", "El
Comercio" and "La Voz de Espaa".
Nationalist stage (1873 - 1903)

During these years, Filipinos who could afford the European standard of living began to send
their children to Spain for education. This formed a circle of learned indios who called themselves
Los Indios Bravos. The Filipinos were also received by their Spanish peers so welcomingly that
they were able to found the Circulo Hispano-Filipino, whose members include prominent
personalities of the day. Nationalism was actually more propagated in the Spanish language
rather than the vernaculars.
A potent tool in promoting Filipino nationalism in Spanish was the foundation of La
Solidaridad (more fondly called La Sol by the members of the propaganda movement) on 15
February 1885. With the help of this organ, Filipino national heroes like Jos Rizal, Graciano Lopez
Jaena, Marcelo H. del Pilar, etc. were able to voice out their sentiments.
Perhaps, the best-known editors of the Sol is Graciano Lopez Jaena (18561896). Some of
his more famous works include "Fray Botod" and "La Hija del Fraile".
Pedro Paterno also tried to establish some newspaper like "La Patria", "El Libera", "Soberana
Nacional" and "Asamblea Filipina". This also became outlets where Filipino were able to publish
their works in Spanish.
Filipino novels in Spanish are quite rare. And aside from Jos Rizal's Noli Me Tngere and El
Filibusterismo, Paterno published an earlier novel entitled "Ninay" in 1885. The work was
depicting local colour and one of the inspirations that led Jos Rizal to write his own.
Aside from "Ninay", Paterno were able to publish "Doa Perfecta" (1876), a novel; and
"Sampaguita" (1880), a collection of poems; "La antigua civilizacin tagalog" (1887), "El
cristianismo en la antigua civilizacin tagalog" (1892), and "La familia tagala en la historia
universal", all expositories.
If Paterno was able to introduce the Tagalogs into the world, Isabelo de los Reyes (fondly
called Don Belong by contemporaries) did the same for the Ilocanos.
In 1882, Don Belong published his "La invasin de Limahong". This made him enter the
world of journalism which gave him all the outlets he needed to express his nationalism. Some of
the newspapers he worked for were "El Diario de Manila", "La Oceana Espaola", "Revista
Catolica", "El Progreso", "El Republicano" and "El Heraldo".
Considered the founder of the workers' movement in the Philippines, Don Belong founded
the "La actividad del obrero" in 1902 that served as the main voice of the working class. Later,
he founded the Iglesia Filipina Independiente as a revolt to the abuses of the Catholic hierarchy
in his hometown. The foundation of the church was instrumental in the translation of the Holy
Scriptures in Ilocano.
Some of Don Belong's more renowned works include "El Folklore Filipino" (1889), "Las Islas
Visaya en la poca de la Conquista" (1889), "Historia de Filipinas" (1889) and "Historia de Ilocos"
(1890).
The era also say the works of Jos Rizal, Antonio Luna, Eduardo de Lete, Emilio Jacinto, Jos
Palma, Felipe Caldern and Apolinario Mabini.
In Cebu, the first Spanish newspaper, El Boletn de Ceb, was published in 1886.
The Golden Age (1903 - 1966)
Ironically, the greatest portion of Spanish literature by native Filipinos was written during the
American commonwealth period, because the Spanish language was still predominant among
the Filipino intellectuals.[2] One of the country's major writers, Claro Mayo Recto, continued
writing in Spanish until 1960. Other well-known Spanish-language writers, especially during the
American period were Francisco Alonso Liongson (El Pasado Que Vuelve, 1937), Isidro Marfori,
Cecilio Apstol (Pentlicas, 1941), Fernando Ma. Guerrero (Crislidas, 1914), Gaspar Aquino de
Beln, Flavio Zaragoza Cano (Cantos a Espaa and De Mactn a Tirad) and others. Manila, Cebu,

Bacolor and many other cities and towns across the Philippines had its share of writers in
Spanish, most of whom flourished during the early decades of the century.
Among the newspapers published in Spanish were El Renacimiento, La Democracia, La
Vanguardia, El Pueblo de Ilolo, El Tiempo and others. Three magazines, The Independent,
Philippine Free Press and Philippine Review were published in English and Spanish.
In 1915, the local newspapers began publishing sections in English and after World War II
and the destruction of Intramuros where a large part of the Hispanic community was based,
Hispano-Filipino literature started declining and the number of books and magazines written in
Spanish by Filipino authors was greatly reduced.
Modern works (1966 - present)
Although the output of Philippine literature in Spanish has diminished in later years, there
are still some notable writers, like Jos del Mar, who won a Zbel Prize (Premio Zbel) for his
work, Perfiles, in 1965, Francisco Zaragoza (1914-1990), author of "Castala ntima", Guillermo
Gmez Rivera, academic director of the Academia Filipina de la Lengua Espaola (Philippine
Academy of the Spanish Language), Edmundo Farolan, director of "Revista Filipina" and recipient
of the Premio Zobel in 1982 for his poetry work "Tercera Primavera" or Lourdes Castrillo
Brillantes, a prominent Filipino female writer, author of "80 Aos del Premio Zobel" (80 Years of
the Zobel Prize), a compilation of Spanish literature written by Filipinos.
Notable writers in Spanish

Jos Rizal
Marcelo H. del Pilar
Claro M. Recto
Francisco Alonso Liongson
Cecilio Apstol
Guillermo Gmez Rivera
Guillermo Gmez Windham
Jess Balmori
Graciano Lpez Jaena
Fr. Ignatio Francisco Alzina
Antonio Abad
Edmundo Faroln
Lourdes Castrillo Brillantes
Uldarico A. Alviola
Fernando Mara Guerrero
Evangelina Guerrero

Notable Spanish works

Doctrina Christiana
Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo - both written by Jose Rizal in Spanish - created
controversy among the Spanish authority in the Philippines. They were instrumental in
creating a Filipino sense of identity during the Spanish colonial period by caricaturing and
exposing the abuses of the Spanish colonial government and religious authority.
Urbana at Felisa Book written by a friar telling the Filipino women about modesty, chastity,
and other virtues.
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas by Antonio de Morga

Maragtas - A collection of legends of ten chiefs (datus) who escaped from the tyranny of
Datu Makatunaw of Borneo to the island of Panay. The chiefs and followers are believed to
be ancestors of the Visayans. The arrival is celebrated in the festival of the Ati-atihan ni
Kalibo, Aklan. While they are legends, they are also based on facts and events. The
legends were compiled into a book by Pedro Alcantara Monteclaro in 1907.