Cebuano literature
Encyclopedia
Cebuano literature refers to the literary works written in Cebuano
, a language widely spoken in the southern Philippines
. The term is most often extended to cover the oral literary forms in both indigenous and colonial Philippines.
While the majority of Cebuano writers are from the Visayas
and Mindanao
region, the most recognized Filipino literary outlet for them, including the Bisaya Magasin
, is based in Makati City
in Metro Manila
, while there is also a lively Cebuano community of writers in the language which is based outside the country. The term Cebuano literature, therefore, encompasses not only those Visayas and Mindanao-based writers writing in Cebuano, but all written output in Cebuano, wherever its source.
, started with fables and legends of the early people in the Philippines and colonial period, right down to the Mexican
(Viceroyalty of New Spain) and Spanish
influences. Although existence of a pre-hispanic writing system in Luzon
is attested, there is proof that baybayin
was widespread in the Visayas. Most of the literature produced during that period was oral. They were documented by the Spanish Jesuit Fr. Ignatio Francisco Alzinal. During the Spanish colonial period, the religious theme was predominant. Novenas and gozos, most notably the Bato Balani for the Santo Niño.
The first written Cebuano literature is Maming, by Vicente Sotto
, The Father of Cebuano Literature. The story was published in the first issue (July 16, 1900) of his Ang Suga. Two years later Sotto wrote, directed, and produced the first Cebuano play, Elena
.It was first performed at the Teatro Junquera (in what is now Cebu City) on May 18, 1902. The play established Sotto's reputation as a writer. The dedication of the play by the playwright reads, "To My Motherland, that you may have remembrance of the glorious Revolution that redeemed you from enslavement. I dedicate this humble play to you."
Vicente Sotto
attacked the decadent forms of linambay in his newspaper Ang Suga. He was challenged by a friend to write his own play as he was always attacking the linambay form. Sotto wrote the Cebuano "Ang Paghigugma sa Yutang Nataohan" (Love of the Native Land) as a response. The play was successful; Sotto organized the Compania de Aficionados Filipinos. Within the year, two more plays were written by Sotto: "Elena", which deals of a girl's love for an insurrecto; and "Aurora", which deals with a scandal involving the priests and nuns of the Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion. Realism in Cebuano theater was stretched too much however; even Sotto himself was a victim of the movement he started, when prior to his running for mayor in 1907, a play entitled "Ang Taban" (1906, by Teodulfo V. Ylaya) was released. The play dealt with a kidnap allegation involving Sotto.
During the American period, Ang Suga became the medium for publication of Cebuano writers. A community of writers slowly grow, to include the names of Florentino Rallos, Filomeno Veloso, Marcial Velez, Timoteo Castro, Segundo Cinco, Vicente Ranudo, Dionisio Jakosalem, Selestino Rodríguez, Filomeno Roble, Juan Villagonzalo, Leoncio Avila and Filemon Sotto. (Most of these people were recognized for their achievements by the generation right after them, as evidenced by the use of their names for major streets in Cebu City
, but their role in the furtherance of Cebuano culture is lost to subsequent generations.) Juan Villagonzalo was the first to write a Cebuano novel.
Four typical novels on the love theme written by popular writers during the American period would represent the pre-war writers' subconscious but collective efforts in creating a common core of meanings and values in the face of new American culture. These are Felicitas by Uldarico Alviola in 1912, Mahinuklugong Paglubong Kang Alicia ("The Sad Burial of Alicia") by Vicente Garces in 1924, Apdo sa Kagul-anan ("Bitterness of Sorrow") by Angel Enemecio in 1928-29, and Ang Tinagoan ("The Secret") by Vicente Rama in 1933-34. While Felicitas and Paglubong assert the value of marital fidelity and Apdo that of feminine chastity
, Tinagoan challenges the emergent value that tolerates divorce
. Such novels were seen as fictionalized renditions of their writers' stand or traditions and practices which were subjected to debate in the school stage and within the pages of periodicals.
The pre-war period in the Philippines is sometimes referred to as the Golden Age of Vernacular Literature, with the 1930s marking a boundary between two kinds of popular writing: the predominantly propagandistic and the more commercialized escapist literature that proliferated since the Commonwealth period. In the year 1930, Bisaya Magasin
started publishing in Cebuano.
In 1936 Cebuano writers started publishing anthologies; readers engaged in amateur literary criticism; and complaints of plagiarism livened up the weekly news. Periodicals that featured creative writing mushroomed, although most of these were short-lived.
The generally considered first feminist Cebuano novel, Lourdes by Gardeopatra G. Quijano was serialized in the period May 26 to September 23, 1939 in Bag-ong Kusog (literary "New Force"), the most popular pre-war periodical. It has been predicted by no less than the late novelist and Philippine National Artist for Literature N. V. M. González
that Philippine literature in English will die, leaving the regional literature (Ilokano
, Waray
, etc.). In the case of Cebuano literature, this has been the case.
Some of the prominent writers and poets in the Visayas and Mindanao who used to write in English have shifted to Cebuano. Among them are Davao
-based Macario Tiu, Don Pag-usara, and Satur Apoyon, and Cebu
-based Ernesto Lariosa (a Focus Philippines Poetry Awardee in 1975) and Rene Amper (a two-time Palanca awardee for English poetry. These giants of Cebuano literature are now regularly contributing to Bisaya Magasin
; their shift to Cebuano writing has influenced young Cebu and Mindanao-based writers in English to follow suit (among them are Michael Obenieta, Gerard Pareja, Adonis Durado, Januar Yap, Jeneen Garcia, Marvi Gil, Delora Sales, Cora Almerino
and Raul Moldez).
In 1991, Cebuano poet Ernesto Lariosa received a grant from the Cultural Center of the Philippines
. He used the grant to introduce the 4-s in Cebuano poetry: social sense, sound and story. The language he used was slack, devoid of strong metaphors. He used the language of the home and of the streets. Writer-scholar Dr. Erlinda Alburo
, director of the Cebuano Studies Center of the University of San Carlos
noted in a forum sponsored by the university's theater guild in 2003 that the young writers (those given above) have given a new voice to Cebuano fiction. They have introduced modern writing styles, experimented with the Cebuano language and explored themes which have never been elaborated before by their predecessors.
There are now emerging number of publications featuring fiction and poetry in Cebuano. The ownership of the de-facto literary journal, Bisaya Magasin
, was transferred from the Chinese-owned Liwayway Publishing, Inc. to Napoleon Rama's Manila Bulletin Publishing in 2003, ushering a change in layout, acceptance policies and an increase in contributors' fees.
Aside from the reinvigoration of Bisaya Magasin, Cebu-based publishing houses have also started tabloids in the language (Banat News of Freeman Publications and SunStar SuperBalita of SunStar Publications). These tabloids have bigger circulation than their English counterparts.
The U.P. National Writers Workshop
every October and the Iligan National Writers Workshop every summer have reserved slots for Cebuano writers. In every edition of these workshops, there are Cebuano works that are being dissected or discussed by the panelists.
In 1998, the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature opened the Cebuano literature category.
Cebuano language
Cebuano, referred to by most of its speakers as Bisaya , is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people mostly in the Central Visayas. It is the most widely spoken of the languages within the so-named Bisayan subgroup and is closely related to other Filipino...
, a language widely spoken in the southern Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. The term is most often extended to cover the oral literary forms in both indigenous and colonial Philippines.
While the majority of Cebuano writers are from the Visayas
Visayas
The Visayas or Visayan Islands and locally known as Kabisay-an gid, is one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Mindanao and Luzon. It consists of several islands, primarily surrounding the Visayan Sea, although the Visayas are considered the northeast...
and Mindanao
Mindanao
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...
region, the most recognized Filipino literary outlet for them, including the Bisaya Magasin
Bisaya Magasin
Bisaya Magasin is a weekly Cebuano magazine now published by the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation, Philippines. It has the record of being the oldest magazine in Cebuano which is still published now, and "the most successful periodical in Cebuano" Bisaya Magasin is a weekly Cebuano magazine...
, is based in Makati City
Makati City
The City of Makati is one of the 17 cities that make up Metro Manila, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. Makati is the financial center of the Philippines and one of the major financial, commercial and economic hubs in Asia...
in Metro Manila
Metro Manila
Metropolitan Manila , the National Capital Region , or simply Metro Manila, is the metropolitan region encompassing the City of Manila and its surrounding areas in the Philippines...
, while there is also a lively Cebuano community of writers in the language which is based outside the country. The term Cebuano literature, therefore, encompasses not only those Visayas and Mindanao-based writers writing in Cebuano, but all written output in Cebuano, wherever its source.
History
Cebuano literature, as much as most literature of the PhilippinesLiterature of the Philippines
Philippine literature is the literature associated with the Philippines and includes the legends of prehistory, and the colonial legacy of the Philippines, written in both Indigenous, and Hispanic languages. Most of the notable literature of the Philippines was written during the Spanish period and...
, started with fables and legends of the early people in the Philippines and colonial period, right down to the Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
(Viceroyalty of New Spain) and Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
influences. Although existence of a pre-hispanic writing system in Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
is attested, there is proof that baybayin
Baybayin
Baybayin , is a pre-Spanish Philippine writing system. It is a member of the Brahmic family and is recorded as being in use in the 16th century...
was widespread in the Visayas. Most of the literature produced during that period was oral. They were documented by the Spanish Jesuit Fr. Ignatio Francisco Alzinal. During the Spanish colonial period, the religious theme was predominant. Novenas and gozos, most notably the Bato Balani for the Santo Niño.
The first written Cebuano literature is Maming, by Vicente Sotto
Vicente Sotto
Vicente Yap Sotto was a Filipino politician and former Senator of the Philippines. Senator Vicente Yap Sotto was the main author of the Press Freedom Law -Personal life:...
, The Father of Cebuano Literature. The story was published in the first issue (July 16, 1900) of his Ang Suga. Two years later Sotto wrote, directed, and produced the first Cebuano play, Elena
Elena (play)
Elena is a Cebuano play in three acts written by Vicente Sotto. It was first performed at the Teatro Junquera on May 18, 1902. The play established Sotto's reputation as a playwright....
.It was first performed at the Teatro Junquera (in what is now Cebu City) on May 18, 1902. The play established Sotto's reputation as a writer. The dedication of the play by the playwright reads, "To My Motherland, that you may have remembrance of the glorious Revolution that redeemed you from enslavement. I dedicate this humble play to you."
Vicente Sotto
Vicente Sotto
Vicente Yap Sotto was a Filipino politician and former Senator of the Philippines. Senator Vicente Yap Sotto was the main author of the Press Freedom Law -Personal life:...
attacked the decadent forms of linambay in his newspaper Ang Suga. He was challenged by a friend to write his own play as he was always attacking the linambay form. Sotto wrote the Cebuano "Ang Paghigugma sa Yutang Nataohan" (Love of the Native Land) as a response. The play was successful; Sotto organized the Compania de Aficionados Filipinos. Within the year, two more plays were written by Sotto: "Elena", which deals of a girl's love for an insurrecto; and "Aurora", which deals with a scandal involving the priests and nuns of the Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion. Realism in Cebuano theater was stretched too much however; even Sotto himself was a victim of the movement he started, when prior to his running for mayor in 1907, a play entitled "Ang Taban" (1906, by Teodulfo V. Ylaya) was released. The play dealt with a kidnap allegation involving Sotto.
During the American period, Ang Suga became the medium for publication of Cebuano writers. A community of writers slowly grow, to include the names of Florentino Rallos, Filomeno Veloso, Marcial Velez, Timoteo Castro, Segundo Cinco, Vicente Ranudo, Dionisio Jakosalem, Selestino Rodríguez, Filomeno Roble, Juan Villagonzalo, Leoncio Avila and Filemon Sotto. (Most of these people were recognized for their achievements by the generation right after them, as evidenced by the use of their names for major streets in Cebu City
Cebu City
The City of Cebu is the capital city of Cebu and is the second largest city in the Philippines, the second most significant metropolitan centre in the Philippines and known as the oldest settlement established by the Spaniards in the country.The city is located on the eastern shore of Cebu and was...
, but their role in the furtherance of Cebuano culture is lost to subsequent generations.) Juan Villagonzalo was the first to write a Cebuano novel.
Four typical novels on the love theme written by popular writers during the American period would represent the pre-war writers' subconscious but collective efforts in creating a common core of meanings and values in the face of new American culture. These are Felicitas by Uldarico Alviola in 1912, Mahinuklugong Paglubong Kang Alicia ("The Sad Burial of Alicia") by Vicente Garces in 1924, Apdo sa Kagul-anan ("Bitterness of Sorrow") by Angel Enemecio in 1928-29, and Ang Tinagoan ("The Secret") by Vicente Rama in 1933-34. While Felicitas and Paglubong assert the value of marital fidelity and Apdo that of feminine chastity
Chastity
Chastity refers to the sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the moral standards and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion....
, Tinagoan challenges the emergent value that tolerates divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
. Such novels were seen as fictionalized renditions of their writers' stand or traditions and practices which were subjected to debate in the school stage and within the pages of periodicals.
The pre-war period in the Philippines is sometimes referred to as the Golden Age of Vernacular Literature, with the 1930s marking a boundary between two kinds of popular writing: the predominantly propagandistic and the more commercialized escapist literature that proliferated since the Commonwealth period. In the year 1930, Bisaya Magasin
Bisaya Magasin
Bisaya Magasin is a weekly Cebuano magazine now published by the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation, Philippines. It has the record of being the oldest magazine in Cebuano which is still published now, and "the most successful periodical in Cebuano" Bisaya Magasin is a weekly Cebuano magazine...
started publishing in Cebuano.
In 1936 Cebuano writers started publishing anthologies; readers engaged in amateur literary criticism; and complaints of plagiarism livened up the weekly news. Periodicals that featured creative writing mushroomed, although most of these were short-lived.
The generally considered first feminist Cebuano novel, Lourdes by Gardeopatra G. Quijano was serialized in the period May 26 to September 23, 1939 in Bag-ong Kusog (literary "New Force"), the most popular pre-war periodical. It has been predicted by no less than the late novelist and Philippine National Artist for Literature N. V. M. González
N. V. M. González
Néstor Vicente Madali González was a Filipino writer.-Biography:He was born on 8 September 1915 in Romblon, Philippines. González, however, was raised in Mansalay, a southern town of the Philippine province of Oriental Mindoro. González was a son of a school supervisor and a teacher...
that Philippine literature in English will die, leaving the regional literature (Ilokano
Ilokano literature
Ilokano literature or Iloko literature pertains to the literary works of writers of Ilocano ancestry regardless of the language used - be it Iloko, English, Spanish or other foreign and Philippine languages. The terms "Iloko" and "Ilokano" are different...
, Waray
Waray literature
Earliest accounts of this literature date back to 1668 when a Spanish Jesuit by the name of Fr. Ignatio Francisco Alzina documented the poetic forms such as the candu, haya, ambahan, canogon, bical, balac, siday and awit. He also described the susumaton and posong, early forms of narratives...
, etc.). In the case of Cebuano literature, this has been the case.
Some of the prominent writers and poets in the Visayas and Mindanao who used to write in English have shifted to Cebuano. Among them are Davao
Davao City
The City of Davao is the largest city in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Its international airport and seaports are among the busiest cargo hubs in the Philippines....
-based Macario Tiu, Don Pag-usara, and Satur Apoyon, and Cebu
Cebu City
The City of Cebu is the capital city of Cebu and is the second largest city in the Philippines, the second most significant metropolitan centre in the Philippines and known as the oldest settlement established by the Spaniards in the country.The city is located on the eastern shore of Cebu and was...
-based Ernesto Lariosa (a Focus Philippines Poetry Awardee in 1975) and Rene Amper (a two-time Palanca awardee for English poetry. These giants of Cebuano literature are now regularly contributing to Bisaya Magasin
Bisaya Magasin
Bisaya Magasin is a weekly Cebuano magazine now published by the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation, Philippines. It has the record of being the oldest magazine in Cebuano which is still published now, and "the most successful periodical in Cebuano" Bisaya Magasin is a weekly Cebuano magazine...
; their shift to Cebuano writing has influenced young Cebu and Mindanao-based writers in English to follow suit (among them are Michael Obenieta, Gerard Pareja, Adonis Durado, Januar Yap, Jeneen Garcia, Marvi Gil, Delora Sales, Cora Almerino
Cora Almerino
Cora Almerino is a well-known Cebuano Visayan writer. Her poems were included in Sinug-ang: A Cebuano trio published by Women in Literary Arts in 1999.-References:* -- defunct...
and Raul Moldez).
In 1991, Cebuano poet Ernesto Lariosa received a grant from the Cultural Center of the Philippines
Cultural Center of the Philippines
The Cultural Center of the Philippines is a government-owned and controlled corporation established to preserve, develop and promote arts and culture in the Philippines. The CCP was established through Executive Order No. 30 s. 1966 by President Ferdinand Marcos...
. He used the grant to introduce the 4-s in Cebuano poetry: social sense, sound and story. The language he used was slack, devoid of strong metaphors. He used the language of the home and of the streets. Writer-scholar Dr. Erlinda Alburo
Erlinda K. Alburo
Erlinda Kintanar Alburo is a prolific contemporary Cebuano language scholar and promoter of the language. She is the Director of the Cebuano Studies Center of the University of San Carlos, Philippines. She is an active member of Women in Literary Arts , and writes poetry both in English and cebuano...
, director of the Cebuano Studies Center of the University of San Carlos
University of San Carlos
The University of San Carlos is a Roman Catholic university governed by the Society of the Divine Word since 1935 in Cebu City. It offers pre-elementary and basic education as well as undergraduate and graduate courses, and a broad spectrum of academic programs through its eight colleges.It...
noted in a forum sponsored by the university's theater guild in 2003 that the young writers (those given above) have given a new voice to Cebuano fiction. They have introduced modern writing styles, experimented with the Cebuano language and explored themes which have never been elaborated before by their predecessors.
There are now emerging number of publications featuring fiction and poetry in Cebuano. The ownership of the de-facto literary journal, Bisaya Magasin
Bisaya Magasin
Bisaya Magasin is a weekly Cebuano magazine now published by the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation, Philippines. It has the record of being the oldest magazine in Cebuano which is still published now, and "the most successful periodical in Cebuano" Bisaya Magasin is a weekly Cebuano magazine...
, was transferred from the Chinese-owned Liwayway Publishing, Inc. to Napoleon Rama's Manila Bulletin Publishing in 2003, ushering a change in layout, acceptance policies and an increase in contributors' fees.
Aside from the reinvigoration of Bisaya Magasin, Cebu-based publishing houses have also started tabloids in the language (Banat News of Freeman Publications and SunStar SuperBalita of SunStar Publications). These tabloids have bigger circulation than their English counterparts.
The U.P. National Writers Workshop
U.P. National Writers Workshop
The University of the Philippines National Writers Workshop, is an annual literary workshop held for two weeks every summer in Baguio City by the University of the Philippines' Institute of Creative Writing...
every October and the Iligan National Writers Workshop every summer have reserved slots for Cebuano writers. In every edition of these workshops, there are Cebuano works that are being dissected or discussed by the panelists.
In 1998, the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature opened the Cebuano literature category.
See also
- Cebuano theaterCebuano theaterCebuano theater refers to the theater arts of the Cebuano people and those conducted in the Cebuano language. It also refers to contemporary productions and adaptations produced in Cebu City.-Pre-19th century:Cebu has a long tradition of the theater arts...
- Philippine Literature in FilipinoPhilippine Literature in Filipino-Notable Literary Works in Philippine languages:Florante at Laura, by Francisco Balagtas.-Availability of literature in Filipino outside of the Philippines:...
links to literatures of other Philippine languages