Philippine Literature

After discovering that is was a new continent the Spanish decided to explore. To see what this new world had to offer, and they found it had a lot. It had gold and silver as well as new unique food and spices. Resources that Spain could use to make a profit and so they did. However, in the process they impacted both the indigenous population as well as the citizens of

Although the major theme of the novel is the evils of colonialism, unlike many Diasporic writers, the United States is not Hagedorn’s only villain. The characters and the Philippine nation are guilty of victimizing themselves. While they may dream of escaping from a country where they can only passively watch to see what will happen, few actually do escape. Hagedorn explains that like Rio, she left the Philippines and “settled in the country of my oppressor” because the U.S. is a “country that allows you to reinvent yourself,” whereas in the Philippines, people can become trapped by politics, culture and money. Hagedorn has the same love/hate conflict that many Filipinos in Diaspora feel towards their country. In the introduction to her collection of poetry Danger and Beauty, Hagedorn explains that her work is a “love letter to my motherland: a fact and a fiction

Ronald Takaki’s chapter in his sweeping 1989 text, Strangers from a Different Shore, “Dollar a Day, Dime a Dance: The Forgotten Filipinos”, outlines the experiences of primarily male Filipino immigrants to the U.S in the 1920’s and 1930’s. The author did a good job showing what the Filipino went through. Like many immigrants before them, they came seeking work and a better livelihood. They faced backbreaking work, low wages, and at time, extreme racism. However, in many ways the Filipino immigrant experiences were extremely different from other ethnic groups, the Chinese and Japanese immigrants.

The Filipino people had helped the US fight the Spanish-American War in hope to gain independence in return. However, instead of gaining independence the Philippines was annexed to the United States on December 10, 1898. When the Filipino’s had found they were going to be ruled over once again they were very unhappy, after all they had helped the US. When Aguinaldo had found out that the Philippines were going to be controlled by the US, he had declared war on the United States.

The acquisition of Philippines by the United States is the topic that is going to be focused upon throughout this paper. The historical context of this topic deserves to analyzed with reference to both the primary and secondary readings assigned. The highlighted issue takes place after the treaty of Paris was signed between the United States and Spain which liberated Spain’s remaining colonies. Towards the end of the 19th century, Americans were influenced by the ideology of imperialism. They believed that advanced industrialized nations like the United States, Great Britain and France needed to acquire colonies in order to provide raw materials to feed their industrial economies. Extensive markets were wanted in order to sell finished products to those colonial masses.

• the persistence of broad cultural traditions, especially in the Mesoamerican, Andean, Chinese, European, and Indian civilizations.

Document Two: Aguinaldo criticizes America’s policies as America’s imperialistic effort to deny Philippines independence. In 1898 the U.S helped the Philippines gain their independence from Spain and they succeeded as Spain surrendered. His idea was to let the U.S know that he will fight for the Philippines real independence as U.S didn’t really let the Filipinos have their say on how they wanted to do things. He also brings up how the U.S government ignored all their promises and ignored the Filipinos rights and treated them as if they were an enemy. He then mentions how the U.S where governed by the British government and how they rebelled from it and the U.S succeeded to govern themselves. And he asks that the Filipinos get the same opportunity to

The swift sandy beaches of the Caribbean were once desolate and unknown rule by the natural habitat of Taino natives whose sole existence revolved around primitive nature. These Virgin Islands would be a critical and strategic discovery for the strengthening Spanish empire during the 15th century under the rule of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabel of Castile . On October 1492, a man by the name of Christopher Columbus would take the power of the Spanish crown to excellency and great dominion over the new world. The lives of both the natives and the Spaniards would be revolutionized and two completely different worlds would collide for the first time. The discovery of the New World was masked by preconceptions, ancient interpretations of

The two works that I have chosen is, "Inferno" by Dante Alighieri and "Song of Roland" by

For the kickoff of this celebration, we are recommending a collection of books by Filipino authors which ranges from Middle Grade, Young Adult to Adult. Most of the titles in this list are starring by Filipino characters while some features non-Filipinos but are written by Filipino authors.

Another is that Filipinos have a culture of apathy and tend to use religion incorrectly and passively. People depend on religion and settle for what’s okay. In addition, the initial reaction of Filipinos to change is resistance, and this is why the country does not necessarily progress, or at least, progress at a continuous rate. Then, countries like Spain and Portugal only rode the “economic tiger” after “they realized that the only way to survive was change” (3.Y). Plus, according to another critic, the Philippines already had the experience of being under the parliamentary system during the time of Marcos which only resulted in a People Power Revolution. So why should the country bother going back to that? (4.Y)

Octavio Paz became one of the most prominent liberal and one of the first authors to write a novel. His novel expresses it with Indian theme and he gained this intellectual from his grandfather who was a great author who also write novels. As a child, he embedded into literature poetry and he followed his grandfather’s footstep in agrarian uprising led by Emiliano Zapata (Nobel e-Museum).

Unity of elite and masses resulted to the Philippine independence in 1896 as well as freedom from authoritarian rule in 1986 EDSA revolution. The abovementioned national identity can be attributed to the unity of the elites and the masses since they only have one goal and that is freedom. According to Fartz Fanon (1961), national consciousness should embrace the innermost hopes of the whole people. Hence, it is only compared to any case of an empty shell. An idea of what it might have been. It is considered as traditional weakness which is present in most under-developed country. It cannot only be attributed to the result of the colonization period but also to the intellectual laziness of the nation. Ignorance and lack of information can be a good example. History teaches us to appreciate the past and learned from them. However, it was ignored and the process of enlightenment was not revealed.

The foundation of the Philippine culture is a mixture of a variety of other cultures that has a long standing history within the

“Rizal had a burning desire to know exactly the conditions of the Philippines when the Spaniards came ashore to the islands. His theory was the country was economically self-sufficient and prosperous.  Rizal entertained the idea that it had a lively and vigorous community enriched with the collective and sensitive art and culture of the native population. He