1. Literature in the Spanish
Colonial Period
An Overview

2. Brief Timeline
 1521 was the year the Spanish
colonizers came
◦ the start of the rule of the “cross and the
sword”
◦ Half a century later, colonization and
evangelization, through Miguel Lopez de
Legaspi and Fray Andres Urdaneta
respectively

3. Brief Timeline
 1834
◦ International trade opened
 1869
◦ Opening of the Suez Canal
 Event leads to burgeoning of agricultural
industry
◦ Carlos Ma. De la Torre, a sympathetic
governor-general, was
appointed, opening up a movement led by
middle class for reforms

4. Brief Timeline
 1593, the year when Doctrina
Christiana, was printed, first book ever
printed in the country

5. Notes on Spanish
Colonization
 The use of faith (Christian) to supplant
the existing native, local belief
◦ Politics and religion were already mixing
at that time!
 Colonial strategy was to undermine
oral tradition
 The Spaniards eventually hired
translators for the instructional
materials, marking the beginning of
“Indio” literacy

6. Colonial Writers of Philippine
Literature
 Francisco de San Jose, Fernando
Bagong Banta and Gaspar Aquino de
Belen
◦ Translators of Spanish texts
◦ The most famous is de Belen, a poet
translator who wrote the Tagalog version
for the Passion of Christ

7. Colonial Writers of Philippine
Literature
 Jose dela Cruz
◦ The foremost proponent of komedya
◦ His appeal to the non-literate was
universal

8. Colonial Writers of Philippine
Literature
 Francisco Baltazar
◦ Also known as “Balagtas”
◦ Acknowledged master of traditional poetry
◦ Was a child of the global bourgeois
revolution, thanks largely to the Industrial
Revolution
◦ Best known for his work, Florante at Laura
about tyranny in Albania

9. Colonial Writers of Philippine
Literature
 Pedro Paterno
◦ Wrote Ninay, first Filipino novel and
written in Spanish

10. Colonial Writers of Philippine
Literature
 Jose Rizal
◦ chose realistic novel as his medium
◦ Chose prose over poetry, challenging
figurative tradition set by Balagtas
◦ Famous for his works Noli Me Tangere
and El Filibusterismo

11. Colonial Writers of Philippine
Literature
 Graciano Lopez-Jaena and Marcelo
Del Pilar
◦ Liberal Reformists
◦ Formed the Propaganda Movement, and
printed works that were considered
subversive

12. Colonial Writers of Philippine
Literature
 Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto
◦ Writers and social critics
REVOLUTIONARIES!