INTRODUCTION TO LITEARATURE AND LITERARY GENRE
DEFINITION OF LITERATURE
The word literature is derived from the Latin term litera which means letter. It has been defined differently by various writers. Some loosely interpret literature as any printed matter written within a book, a magazine or a pamphlet. Others define literature as a faithful reproduction of man’s manifold experiences blended into one harmonious expression.
Because literature deals with ideas, thoughts and emotions of man, literature can be said to be the story of man. Man’s loves, grieves, thoughts, dreams and aspirations coached in beautiful language is literature.
In order to know the history of a nation’s spirit, one must read its literature. Hence it is, that to understand the real spirit of a nation, one must “trace the little rills as they course along down the ages, broadening and deepening into the great ocean of thought which men of the present source are presently exploring.”
Brother Azurin said that “literature expresses the feelings of people to society, to the government, to his surroundings, to his fellowmen and to his Divine Creator.” The expression of one’s feelings, according to him, may be through love, sorrow, happiness, hatred, anger, pity, contempt, or revenge.
For Webster, literature is anything that is printed, as long as it is related to the ideas and feelings of people, whether it is true, or just a product of one’s imagination.
In PANITIKING PILIPINO written by Atienza, Ramos, Salazar and Nazal, it says that “true literature is a piece of written work which is undying.
WHY STUDY LITERATURE?
We study literature so that we can better appreciate our literary heritage. We cannot appreciate something that we do not understand. Through a study of our literature, we can trace the rich heritage of ideas handed down to us from our forefathers. Then we can understand ourselves better and take pride in being a Filipino.Like other races of the world, we need to understand that we have a great and noble tradition which can serve as the means to assimilate other cultures.
Above all, as Filipinos, who truly love and take pride in our own culture, we have to manifest our deep concern for our own literature and this we can do by studying the literature of our country.
Through such a study, we will realize our literary limitations conditioned by certain historical factors and we can take steps to overcome them.
LITERATURE AND HISTORY
Literature and history are closely interrelated. In discovering the history of a race, the feelings, aspirations, customs and traditions of a people are sure to be included . . . and these feelings, aspirations, customs and traditions that are written is literature. History can also be written and this too, is literature. Events that can be written down are part of true literature. Literature, therefore, is part of history.
Literature and history, however, also have differences. Literature may be figments of the imagination or events devoid of truth that have been written down, while history is made up of events that really happened.
LITERARY COMPOSITIONS THAT INFLUENCED THE WORLD.
1. The Bible or the Sacred Writing
2. Koran
3. The Iliad and the Odyssey
4. The Mahabharata
5. Canterbury Tale
6. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
7. The Divine Comedy
8. El Cid Compeador
9. The Song of Roland
10. The Book of the Dead
11. The Book of the Days
12. One Thousand and One Nights or The Arabian Nights
GENERAL TYPES OF LITERATURE
Literature can generally be divided into two types; prose and poetry.
PROSE
Prose consists of those written within the common flow of conversation in sentences and paragraphs.
TYPES OF PROSE
1. NOVELS
A long narrative divided into chapters and events are taken from true-to-life stories.
Example: WITHOUT SEEING THE DAWN by Stevan Javellana
2. SHORT STORY
This is a narrative involving one or more characters, one plot and one single impression.
Example: THE LAUGHTER OF MY FATHER by Carlos Bulosan
3. PLAYS
This is presented on a stage, is divided into acts and each act has many scenes.
Example:THIRTEEN PLAYS by Wilfredo M. Guerrero
4. LEGENDS
These are fictitious narratives, usually about origins.
Example: THE BIKOL LEGEND by Pio Duran
5. FABLES
These are also fictitious and they deal with animals and inanimate things that speak and act like people and their purpose is to enlighten the minds of children to events that can mold their ways and attitudes.
Example: THE MONKEY AND THE TURTLE
6. ANECDOTES
These are merely products of the writer’s imagination and the main aim is to bring out lessons to the reader.
Example: THE MOTH AND THE LAMP
7. BIOGRAPHY
This deals with the life of a person which may be about himself, his autobiography or that of others.
Example: CAYETANO ARELLANO by Socorro O. Albert
8. NEWS
This is a report of everyday events in society, government, science and industry, and accidents, happening nationally or not.
9. ORATION
This is a formal treatment of a subject and is intended to be spoken in public. It appeals to the intellect, to the will or to the emotions of the audience.
POETRY
Poetry refers to those expressions in verse, with measure and rhyme, line and stanza and has a more melodious tone.
TYPE OF POETRY
A. NARRATIVE POETRY
This form describes important events in life either real or imaginary.
Types of Narrative Poetry
1. EPIC
This is an extended narrative about heroic exploits often under supernatural control.
Example: THE HARVEST SONG OF ALIGUYON translated in English by Amador T. Daguio
2. METRICAL TALE
This is a narrative which is written in verse and can be classified either as a ballad or a metrical romance.
Examples: BAYANI NG BUKID by Al Perez
HERO OF THE FIELDS by Al Perez
3. BALLADS
Of the narrative poems, this is considered the shortest and simplest. It has a simple structure and tells of a single incident. There are also variations of these: love ballads, war ballads, and sea ballads, humorous, moral, and historical or mythical ballads. In the early time, this referred to a song accompanying a dance.
B. LYRIC POETRY
Originally, this refers to that kind of poetry meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a lyre, but now, this applies to any type of poetry that expresses emotions and feelings of the poet. They are usually short, simple and easy to understand.
1. FOLKSONGS (AWITING BAYAN)
These are short poems intended to be sung. The common theme is love, despair, grief, doubt, joy, hope and sorrow.
Example: CHIT-CHIRIT-CHIT
2. SONNETS
This is a lyric poem of 14 lines dealing with an emotion, a feeling, or an idea. These are two types: the Italian and the Shakespearean.
Example: SANTANG BUDS by Alfonso P. Santos
3. ELEGY
This is a lyric poem which expresses feelings of grief and melancholy, and whose theme is death.
Example: THE LOVER’S DEATH by Ricaredo Demetillo
4. ODE
This is a poem of a noble feeling, expressed with dignity, with no definite number of syllables or definite number of lines in a stanza.
5. PSALMS (DALIT)
This is a song praising God or the Virgin Mary and containing a philosophy of life.
6. AWIT (SONG)
These have measures of twelve syllables (dodecasyllabic) and slowly sung to the accompaniment of a guitar or banduria.
Example: FLORANTE AT LAURA by Franciso Balagtas
7. CORRIDOS (KURIDOS)
These have measures of eight syllables (octosyllabic) and recited to a martial beat.
Example: IBONG ADARNA
C. DRAMATIC POETRY
1. COMEDY
The word comedy comes from the Greek term “komos” meaning festivity or revelry. This form usually is light and written with the purpose of amusing, and usually has a happy ending.
2. MELODRAMA
This is usually used in musical plays with the opera. Today, this is related to tragedy just as the farce is to comedy. It arouses immediate and intense emotion and is usually sad but there is a happy ending for the principal character.
4. TRAGEDY
This involves the hero struggling mightily against dynamic forces; he meets death or ruin without success and satisfaction obtained by the protagonist in a comedy.
5. FARCE
This is an exaggerated comedy. It seeks to arouse mirth by laughable lines; situations are too ridiculous to be true; the characters seem to be caricatures and the motives undignified and absurd.
6. SOCIAL POEMS
This form is either purely comic or tragic and it pictures the life of today. It may aim to bring about changes in the social conditions.
The word literature is derived from the Latin term litera which means letter. It has been defined differently by various writers. Some loosely interpret literature as any printed matter written within a book, a magazine or a pamphlet. Others define literature as a faithful reproduction of man’s manifold experiences blended into one harmonious expression.
Because literature deals with ideas, thoughts and emotions of man, literature can be said to be the story of man. Man’s loves, grieves, thoughts, dreams and aspirations coached in beautiful language is literature.
In order to know the history of a nation’s spirit, one must read its literature. Hence it is, that to understand the real spirit of a nation, one must “trace the little rills as they course along down the ages, broadening and deepening into the great ocean of thought which men of the present source are presently exploring.”
Brother Azurin said that “literature expresses the feelings of people to society, to the government, to his surroundings, to his fellowmen and to his Divine Creator.” The expression of one’s feelings, according to him, may be through love, sorrow, happiness, hatred, anger, pity, contempt, or revenge.
For Webster, literature is anything that is printed, as long as it is related to the ideas and feelings of people, whether it is true, or just a product of one’s imagination.
In PANITIKING PILIPINO written by Atienza, Ramos, Salazar and Nazal, it says that “true literature is a piece of written work which is undying.
WHY STUDY LITERATURE?
We study literature so that we can better appreciate our literary heritage. We cannot appreciate something that we do not understand. Through a study of our literature, we can trace the rich heritage of ideas handed down to us from our forefathers. Then we can understand ourselves better and take pride in being a Filipino.Like other races of the world, we need to understand that we have a great and noble tradition which can serve as the means to assimilate other cultures.
Above all, as Filipinos, who truly love and take pride in our own culture, we have to manifest our deep concern for our own literature and this we can do by studying the literature of our country.
Through such a study, we will realize our literary limitations conditioned by certain historical factors and we can take steps to overcome them.
LITERATURE AND HISTORY
Literature and history are closely interrelated. In discovering the history of a race, the feelings, aspirations, customs and traditions of a people are sure to be included . . . and these feelings, aspirations, customs and traditions that are written is literature. History can also be written and this too, is literature. Events that can be written down are part of true literature. Literature, therefore, is part of history.
Literature and history, however, also have differences. Literature may be figments of the imagination or events devoid of truth that have been written down, while history is made up of events that really happened.
LITERARY COMPOSITIONS THAT INFLUENCED THE WORLD.
1. The Bible or the Sacred Writing
2. Koran
3. The Iliad and the Odyssey
4. The Mahabharata
5. Canterbury Tale
6. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
7. The Divine Comedy
8. El Cid Compeador
9. The Song of Roland
10. The Book of the Dead
11. The Book of the Days
12. One Thousand and One Nights or The Arabian Nights
GENERAL TYPES OF LITERATURE
Literature can generally be divided into two types; prose and poetry.
PROSE
Prose consists of those written within the common flow of conversation in sentences and paragraphs.
TYPES OF PROSE
1. NOVELS
A long narrative divided into chapters and events are taken from true-to-life stories.
Example: WITHOUT SEEING THE DAWN by Stevan Javellana
2. SHORT STORY
This is a narrative involving one or more characters, one plot and one single impression.
Example: THE LAUGHTER OF MY FATHER by Carlos Bulosan
3. PLAYS
This is presented on a stage, is divided into acts and each act has many scenes.
Example:THIRTEEN PLAYS by Wilfredo M. Guerrero
4. LEGENDS
These are fictitious narratives, usually about origins.
Example: THE BIKOL LEGEND by Pio Duran
5. FABLES
These are also fictitious and they deal with animals and inanimate things that speak and act like people and their purpose is to enlighten the minds of children to events that can mold their ways and attitudes.
Example: THE MONKEY AND THE TURTLE
6. ANECDOTES
These are merely products of the writer’s imagination and the main aim is to bring out lessons to the reader.
Example: THE MOTH AND THE LAMP
7. BIOGRAPHY
This deals with the life of a person which may be about himself, his autobiography or that of others.
Example: CAYETANO ARELLANO by Socorro O. Albert
8. NEWS
This is a report of everyday events in society, government, science and industry, and accidents, happening nationally or not.
9. ORATION
This is a formal treatment of a subject and is intended to be spoken in public. It appeals to the intellect, to the will or to the emotions of the audience.
POETRY
Poetry refers to those expressions in verse, with measure and rhyme, line and stanza and has a more melodious tone.
TYPE OF POETRY
A. NARRATIVE POETRY
This form describes important events in life either real or imaginary.
Types of Narrative Poetry
1. EPIC
This is an extended narrative about heroic exploits often under supernatural control.
Example: THE HARVEST SONG OF ALIGUYON translated in English by Amador T. Daguio
2. METRICAL TALE
This is a narrative which is written in verse and can be classified either as a ballad or a metrical romance.
Examples: BAYANI NG BUKID by Al Perez
HERO OF THE FIELDS by Al Perez
3. BALLADS
Of the narrative poems, this is considered the shortest and simplest. It has a simple structure and tells of a single incident. There are also variations of these: love ballads, war ballads, and sea ballads, humorous, moral, and historical or mythical ballads. In the early time, this referred to a song accompanying a dance.
B. LYRIC POETRY
Originally, this refers to that kind of poetry meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a lyre, but now, this applies to any type of poetry that expresses emotions and feelings of the poet. They are usually short, simple and easy to understand.
1. FOLKSONGS (AWITING BAYAN)
These are short poems intended to be sung. The common theme is love, despair, grief, doubt, joy, hope and sorrow.
Example: CHIT-CHIRIT-CHIT
2. SONNETS
This is a lyric poem of 14 lines dealing with an emotion, a feeling, or an idea. These are two types: the Italian and the Shakespearean.
Example: SANTANG BUDS by Alfonso P. Santos
3. ELEGY
This is a lyric poem which expresses feelings of grief and melancholy, and whose theme is death.
Example: THE LOVER’S DEATH by Ricaredo Demetillo
4. ODE
This is a poem of a noble feeling, expressed with dignity, with no definite number of syllables or definite number of lines in a stanza.
5. PSALMS (DALIT)
This is a song praising God or the Virgin Mary and containing a philosophy of life.
6. AWIT (SONG)
These have measures of twelve syllables (dodecasyllabic) and slowly sung to the accompaniment of a guitar or banduria.
Example: FLORANTE AT LAURA by Franciso Balagtas
7. CORRIDOS (KURIDOS)
These have measures of eight syllables (octosyllabic) and recited to a martial beat.
Example: IBONG ADARNA
C. DRAMATIC POETRY
1. COMEDY
The word comedy comes from the Greek term “komos” meaning festivity or revelry. This form usually is light and written with the purpose of amusing, and usually has a happy ending.
2. MELODRAMA
This is usually used in musical plays with the opera. Today, this is related to tragedy just as the farce is to comedy. It arouses immediate and intense emotion and is usually sad but there is a happy ending for the principal character.
4. TRAGEDY
This involves the hero struggling mightily against dynamic forces; he meets death or ruin without success and satisfaction obtained by the protagonist in a comedy.
5. FARCE
This is an exaggerated comedy. It seeks to arouse mirth by laughable lines; situations are too ridiculous to be true; the characters seem to be caricatures and the motives undignified and absurd.
6. SOCIAL POEMS
This form is either purely comic or tragic and it pictures the life of today. It may aim to bring about changes in the social conditions.